CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY DATE DUE ^IM..1»..I vnvy 1--^ iinui nm ^M-^Pf^f^fH ■ Hi^ ItrferlihfMTiiDafl . ]^^ FRAGILE PAPER Please handle this book with care, as the paper is brittle. CAVLORD PfllNTEOINU.B.A. I ' li i i .ii i mniii F 87W3 C68 " ""'"""•" '""'"^ "'*lfflii.fi,!,.fe!!MISP,.an.d,.Kem olin 3 1924 028 840 Oil Overs n XI Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028840011 HISTORY OF Washington and Kent Counties, RHODE ISLAND, including Their Early Settlement and Progress to the Present Time; A Description of their Historic and Interesting Lo- calities; Sketches of their Towns and Villages; Portraits of some of their Prominent Men, AND Biographies of many of their Representative Citizens. By J. R. COLE. ILLUSTRATED New York : W. W. PEESTON & CO. 1889. \M 3 c I- <^"^ /\1< '600 Press of J. HENRY PROBST, 36 Vesey St. , New York. [ PREFACE. In the preparation of the history of the Narragansett country every available source of information has been utilized, yet it is to be regretted that every work of this kind contains im- perfections. It is hoped, however, that the defects in this work are comparatively trifling and that the citizens of Washington and Kent counties will have reason to be satisfied with the record. Records of every kind, town, church and court, unpublished manuscripts, standard histories, private diaries, letters and local traditions have furnished the material, which has been sifted, collated and arranged according to the writer's ability. When making extracts from records and ancient documents we have given as far as possible faithful transcripts of the originals, copying the dates and spelling as written. This will account for the occasional inconsistency in the orthography of names. In many instances the spelling of the names has changed, as that of Pierce, written Peirce, and also by others, Pearce. The author sincerely thanks the many kind friends who have generously aided in the preparation of this work. Particular ac- knowledgment. is due to Frederick T. Rogers, M. D., of Westerly, who wrote the medical history of Washington county, and to Doc- tor James H. Eldredge, who wrote the history of the physicians of East Greenwich and other sketches of that town ; to Peleg F. Pierce and to ex-Governor John J. Reynolds for their assistance in the preparation of the history of North Kingstown ; to John G. Clarke for the history of the Great Swamp Fight and of the County Agricultural Society ; to Mrs. B. F. Robinson and Jeffrey IV PREFACE. W. Potter, both of South Kingstown, and Thomas A. Reynolds of East Greenwich, for various sketches furnished ; to Joseph Peace Hazard, of South Kingstown, who contributed the follow- ing views: " Hazard Memorial Castle," " Druidsdream," "The Cottage," "Home of the late Rowland Gibson Hazard, LL.D.," "Oakwoods," "The Acorns," " Peace Dale Mills," and "Congre- gational Church, Peace Dale "; to Reverend J. L. Cottrell and Deacon A. Langworthy for assistance in the preparation of the town history of Hopkinton ; to Professor W. F. Tucker, who wrote the history of Charlestown, and to Charles W. Hopkins, who prepared the sketches for the history of the town of West Greenwich ; to Edwin Babcock for the history of the banks of Westerly ; to George H. Babcock and Honorable Henry E. Chamberlin for the business history of Westerly ; to Dwight R. Adams, who wrote the history of the Masonic fraternity of Kent county, and to others for various contributions. Mention should also be made of the following list of books, pamphlets and papers from which we have copied freely and without comment : Reverend Frederick Denison's History of Westerly, Reverend S. S. Griswold's History of Hopkinton, Reverend J. R. Irish's History of Richmond, David S. Baker's History of North Kingstown, Doctor Greene's History of East Greenwich, Doctor Fuller's History of Warwick and William B. Spencer's History of Phenix and adjacent villages, published in the Pawtuxct Valley Gleaner and kindly furnished us by Mr. John H. Campbell, its proprietor and editor. Thanks are especially due to the press of Washington and Kent counties for free access at all times to their files. In short the citizens of both counties have opened up every avenue within their reach, and it is hoped the work now before the reader will stimulate a healthy emulation by exciting a truer appreciation in others for our ancestors who, going before, have made these counties distinguished in the annals of American history. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE INDIANS. PAGE. The Indian Country and Its Discovery by the White Settlers.— The Signifi- cant Challenge.— The Erection of an Indian Fort.— The Narragansett Indians.— The Visit of the Great Sachem.— The Various Tribes of Indians and Their Modes of Warfare and Subsistence.- Indian Gods.— Lands Deeded to Roger Williams by the Indians.— Williams' Letters.— The Pe- quots.— The Behavior of the Pequots Toward Other Indians and the Whites. — Contentions about Misquamicut. — Preparations for War. — Trumbull's Description of the Fight.— The Warwick Purchase.— War with the Mohegans. — Miantinomo. — Niantics. — Ninigret and his Success- ors. — The Sachems of the Various Tribes. — The Manisses and Montauks and Their Feuds, by F. Denison.— The Great Swamp Fight 1 CHAPTER II. THE NARRAGANSETT COUNTRY. Situation. — Trading Houses. — Boundary Lines. — The Colonial Controversy. — Altercations with Plymouth and Connecticut . — Petitions to the Throne. , —The Charter of 1663.— Roger Williams' Letter.— The Trouble with Connecticut. — Meeting of the Commissioners. — The New Boundary Lines. — The King's Province. — The Letter to the King. — Decision of the King's Commissioners. — Final Settlement of the DifiSculty. — The Palatine Light. — The King's Highway. — The Dark Day.— Slavery and the Slave Trade. — Lake Narragansett and other places 37 CHAPTER III. EARLY SETTLERS OP NARRAGANSETT. , Richard Smith. —The Fones Record.— The Petitioners' List.— The Clarke Family. — The French Settlement. — The Landed Aristocracy. — Extensive Farms and their Dairy Products. — Governor Robinson. — Pettaquamsoutt and its Surroundings. — Gilbert Stuart. — George Rome and his Country Villa. — An Extraordinary Answer to Prayer. — Theophilus Whaley. — The Willetts. — The Hazards. — Ministry Lands. — The Pettaquamsoutt Purchase. — The Church Difficulty. — The Decision of the King's Council. — Reverend James McSparran, D. D 49 71 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER IV. WASHINGTON COUNTY. PAGE The Erection of the King's Province.— Joseph Dudley's Proclamation.— Names Given to the Different Towns.— The Erection of Kings County.— The Act of the Assembly Changing Kings to Washington County.— The Court House and County Jail.— Execution of Thomas Carter.— Daniel Harry, the Indian Convict.— The Great September Gale.— The Beginning of the Present Century.— Ship Building.— Social Indulgences. —Washington (^unty Agricultural Society.— Public Schools.— News- papers CHAPTER V. MILITARY HISTORY. Revolutionary Period. — Original Causes of the War. — Destruction of the British Vessels "Liberty" and " Gaspee." — Forces Raised by the Vari- ous Towns. — Reminiscences of the Sanguinary Conflict. — Kentish Guards. — The Capture of Major-General Prescott. — Colonel Christopher Greene. — Major-General Nathaniel Greene. — The Dorr Rebellion. — The Civil War. 105 CHAPTER VI. THE BENCH AND BAR OP WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. History of the Courts. — List of Rhode Island Governors from Washington and Kent Counties. — The Attorneys-General. — Bar Compact. — Daniel Updike. — Lodowick Updike. — Wilkins Updike. — Samuel Ward. — Harry Babcock. — James Mitchell Varnum. — Stephen Arnold. — Richard Ward Greene. — Rouse T. Helme. — Archibald Campbell. — Jacob Campbell. — Joseph L. Tillinghast. — Nathan F. Dixon. — John H. Cross. — Elisha R. Potter, Sr. — Elisha R. Potter. — Judge Dutee Arnold. — Sylvester Gardiner Shearman. — George A. Brayton. — Albert Collins Greene. — Nathan Whit- ing. — William G. Bowen. — Joseph Windsor. — William E. Peck. — John Hall.— David S. Baker, Jr.— William C. Baker.— Elisha C. Clark.— Henry Howard. — Henry B. Anthony. — Thomas H. Peabody. — Charles Perrin. — Albert B. Crafts. — Albert B. Burdick. — Henry Whipple. — Eugene F. Warner. — Nathan B. Lewis. — Samuel W. K. Allen. — Benja- min W. Case. — Charles J.]|Arms 153 CHAPTER VII. The Medical Profession. PHYSICIANS of WASHINGTON COUNTY. James Noyes. — (xeorge Stillman. — Thomas Rodman. — William Vincent. — Joshua Babcock. — SylvesterGardiner.— Joseph Comstock.— John Aldrich. — Daniel Lee. — James Noyes. — George Hazard Perry. — Nathan Knight. — Israel Anthony. — Peleg Johnson. — William G. Shaw. — Amos Collins. — Isaac Collins. — John Collins. — John JI. Collins. — Stephen F. Griffin. — Dan King. — William Robinson. — Horatio Robinson.^ John G. Pierce. Joseph H. GrifRn. — Henry Aldrich. — George Hazard Church. — William T. Thurston. — John B. Rose. — John E. Weeden. — Thomas A. Hazard. William H. Wilbur. — Edwin R. Lewis. — Edwin Anthony. — Joseph D. Kenyon. — John D. Kenyon. — Amos R. Collins. — Albert A. Saunders. Samuel B. Church. — Elisha P. Clarke. — John A. Wilcox.— Curtiss E. TABLE OF CONTENTS. vil PAGE. Maryott.— J. Howard Morgan.— John Wilbur.— John H. Merrill.— Henry N. CrandalL— George C. Bailey.— Alexander B. Briggs.— Charles Hitch- cock.— Etta Payne.— Lucy A. Baboock.— John E. Pen-y.- S. Oscar Myers. James N. Lewis.— H. W. Rose.— George H. Beebe.— Alvin H. Eccleston. —George V. Foster.— George F. Bliven.— Edward E. Kenyon.— Herbert J. Pomroy.— F. T. Rogers.— Henry K. Gardner.— Philip K. Taylor.— William J. Ryan.— Lorin F.Wood.— William James.— John Champlin. — Edwin R. Lewis.— Other Physicians. — County Medical Society. PHYSICIANS GF KENT COUNTY. Thomas Spencer.— Thomas Aldrich.— Dutee Jerauld.— Joseph Joslyn.— Peter Turner.— John Tibbitts.— Charles Eldredge.— Lucius M.Wheeler.— Daniel Howland Greene.— James H. Eldredge.— Sylvester Knight.— Stephen Harris. — John J.Wood. — John McGregor. — Job Kenyon. — Ira C. Win- sor. — John Winsor.— John Matteson.— F. B. Smith.— M. J. E. Legris.— James B. Tillinghast.— William J. Burge.— James Boardman Hanaford. — W. H. Sturtevant.— C. L. Wood.— E. G. Carpenter.— G. L. Richards. — Joseph Suprenant. — John F. Carpenter. — William Hubbard. — N. B. Kenyon.— Albert C. Dedrick.— Albert G. Sprague.— George T. Perry 183 CHAPTER VIII. TOWN OF WESTERLY. Principal Features of the Township.— The First Settlers of Westerly.— The Purchase of Misquamicut. — Hardships Encountered by the Early Settlers. — Doctor Joshua Babcock. — Roll of Early Freemen. — Town Records. — RoU of Representatives. — List of Town Clerks. — Present Officers. — Notes from Timothy Dwight. — Granite Quarries. — Watch Hill. — Ocean View. — Potter Hill. — Lottery Village.— White Rock. — Niantic— Indian Church. — Presbyterian Church. — The Union Meeting House. — The Gardner Church. — TheWilcox Church.— Friends' Society. — River Bend Cemetery. — Graveyards 238 CHAPTER IX. THE VILLAGE OF WESTERLY. The Village of Westerly, Its Location and Its Business History. — Early Mills. — Grist Mills. — Early Woolen Mills, Foundries and Machine Shops. — Printing Press Manufactory. — C. Maxson & Co. — Carriage Business. — Stillmanville.— Stillman Mill and Machine Shops.— O.M. Stillman.— Early Merchants of Westerly. — The Clothing Business. — The Furniture Trade. — The Grocery Trade. — The Boot and Shoe Trade.— Drug Stores. — Hard- ware. — Public Houses. — Banks of Westerly. — Schools. — Churches.— Fire District. — Library Association. — Societies, etc 294 CHAPTER X. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES— WESTERLY. Rowse Babcock. — The Chapman Family.— Peleg Clarke. — Benjamin F. Clark. — Charles B. Coon. — Calvert B. Oottrell. — Amos Cross. — Daniel F. Larkin. — Azro N. Lewis. — Jonathan Maxson. — Charles Maxson. — Charles Perry. — James Monroe Pendleton. — Eugene B. Pendleton. — Thomas Wells Potter.— Joseph H. Potter.— William D. Potter.— Thomas Wanton Segar. — Orlando Smith.— Orlando R. Smith.— Thomas V. Still- man. — Thomas Vincent. — Wager Weeden. — John E. Weeden. — Edwin Milner 337 viii TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XI. TOWN OP NOETH KINGSTOWN. PAGE. Description.— Population.— Noted Places.— Richard Smith's Block House.— The Updikes.— The Big Grave.— Early Settlement and Early Settlers. —List of Freemen.— The Erection of the Town.— Early Pastimes.— Negro 'Lections.— Town Clerks.— Town Officers.— Land Titles.— The Villages, their Industries, etc.— The Town Farm.— Murders.— Elm Grove Ceme- tery.— Schools.— First Baptist Church, Allenton.— Quidnessett Baptist Church, North Kingstown.— Six Principle Baptist Church.— Other Churches ^"^^ CHAPTER XII. VILLAGE OF WICKPOED. Situation of the Village.— Early Traders and Their Places of Business.— Notes of 1849.— Banks.— Jonathan Reynolds.— John J. Reynolds. -Pardon T. Hammond.— Hotels.— Thomas C. Peiroe.— Fire Engine Company.— The Annaquatucket Temple of Honor.— Jocelyn Council, No. 6. — Uncas Encampment. — Mails. — Washington Academy. — Libraries. — Sea Cap- tains. — St. Paul's Church — Baptist Church. — Methodist Church. — Ste- phen B. Reynolds.— Alfred Blair Chadsey 446 CHAPTER XIII. TOWN OF SOUTH KINGSTOWN. General Features. — Erection of the Township. — Town Clerks. — Township of Narragansett. — Freemen. — Early Births. — Reminiscences. — The Hazards, Robinsons, Rodmans, Watsons, Perrys, Sweets and other Families. — Amusing Incidents. — Short Sketches by Jeffrey W. Potter. — A Suicide. — Schools. — Town Farm. — Tower Hill. — Presbyterian Church. — Narragan- sett Pier. — Hotels. — Other Objects of Interest. — St. Peter's by the Sea. — Presbyterian Church 481 CHAPTER XIV. TOWN OF SOUTH KINGSTOWN (CONCLUDED). Wakefield. — Wakefield Mills. — Banks. — Hotels. — Episcopal Chui-ohes. — Bap- tists. — Catholics. — Riverside Cemetery. — Peace Dale. — Oil Mill. — Con- gregational Church. — Rocky Brook. — Church at Rocky Brook. — Little Rest. — Bank. — Kingston Church. — The Congregational Church. — Glen Rock. — Queen River Baptist Church. — Kingston Station. — Bui-nside. — Perryville. — Fort Tucker. — Curtis Corner. — South Ferry. — Greene Hill. — Mooresfield. — Life Saving Station. — Light House. — Point Judith Pond. —George W. Sheldon. — Daniel Sherman. — Stephen A. Wright 579 CHAPTER XV. TOWN OP CHARLESTOWN. Incorporation. — First Town Meeting. — Town Clerks. — Churches. — Schools. — Manufactories. — King's Purchase. — Mills. — Indian Burying Ground. — Library. — Public Halls. — Great Fire at Shannook. — Ponds. — Springs. —Hills.— Bridges.— Biographical Sketches 630 TABLE OF CONTENTS. IX CHAPTER XVI. TOWN OF EXETER. PAGE. Description of the Town.— Noted Places.— Queen's Fort.— Beach Pond.— Town Organization.— Town Officers.- List of Town Clerks.— Early Set- tlement.— Exeter Hollow.— Hallville.—Fisherville.— Pine Hill.— The Ex- eter Bank.— Lawtonville.-Browningville.—Millville.— Boss Rake Fac- tory.— Yawgoo.— The Town Farm and Asylum.— Schools.— Churches.— Library. — Biographical Sketches 663 CHAPTER XVII. TOWN OF RICHMOND. Oeneral Features of the Town and Places of Note. — Early Legislation. — Prominent Settlers. — Thomas Clarke, the Surveyor.— Disposition of Lands. — Town Records. — Town Officers. — Early Mills. — Wagons, when First Used. — Schools. — Hope Valley. — Arcadia. — Wyoming. — Carolina MiUs. — Shannock. — Clark's Mills. — Kenyon's Mills.— Woodville.—Wood- ville Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Plainville. — Wood River Chapel. — Hillsdale. — Tug Hollow Mills. — Usquepaug. — Queen's River Baptist Church. — Richmond Church. — Biographical Sketches 69S CHAPTER XVIII. TOWN OF HOPKINTON. General Features of the Town. — Early Legislation. — Civil Officers. — Toma- quag Valley. — The Lewis Family. — The Langworthy Family. — The Bab- cock Family. — The Wells Family. — Early Amusements. — Horse Insur- ance Company. — Schools. — Libraries. — Ashaway and its Mills, Stores and Banks. — The First Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Bethel. — Laureldale. — Hopkinton City, its Stores, Hotels, Manufactories and Churches. — Hope Valley.— Manufacturing.— Stores.— Banks. — Hotels. — Library. — Churches. — Locustville. — Barberville.— Wyoming.— Rockville.—Centerville.—Rock- ville Manufacturing Company. — Moscow. — Rockville Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Biographical Sketches 755 CHAPTER XIX. KENT COUNTY AND ITS INSTITUTIONS. The Aboriginal Inhabitants. — Sketches of Prominent Settlers.— Troubles with Massachusetts. — Erection of the County. — East Greenwich Acad- emy.— The Society of Friends.— Captain Thomas Arnold.— Extract from Daniel Howland's Diary.— Freemasonry in Kent County 843 CHAPTER XX. TOWN OF WARWICK. Important Features of the Towns.— Town Organization.— Protection Laws Against the Indians.— Land Grants.— Highways.— Town House.— List of Town Clerks.— Town Officers.— Schools.— Pawtuxet.— Rocky Point. —The Buttonwoods.— Oakland Beach.— Shawomet Baptist Church.— Apponaug and Coweset Shore, Industries, Churches, etc.— Crompton, its Early Manufacturing, Stores, Churches, etc.— Centreville.— Arctic, its Industries and Churches 920 X TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXI. TOWN OF WARWICK (CONCLUDED). PAGE. Phenix and Its Surrounding Villages.— Early History.— Lippitt Manufactur- ing Company.— Roger Williams Manufacturing Company and Phenix MiUs. — Stores. —Undertakers. — Railroad. — Hotels. — Fire District. — Water Company.— Fires.— Banks.— Public Library.— Tatem Meeting House. — Phenix Baptist Church. — Phenix Methodist Church. — Catholic Church, Phenix.— Episcopal Church.— Clyde Print Works.— River Point. — Congregational Church, River Point. — Natick. — Natick First Baptist Church.— Pontiac— First Free Will Baptist Church. — All Saints' Church. —Hill's Grove.— Methodist Church.— Biographical Sketches 974 CHAPTER XXII. TOWN OF EAST GREENWICH. General Description of the Town. — Division of Lands. — West Greenwich Set Ofe.— The Census of 1774.— Temperance.- The Poor, How Cared For. — Town Officers in 1888. — The Fry Family. — Commerce and the Fisher- ies. — The Spencer Family. — George Washington Greene. — Hugh Essex and the Old Grist Mill. — Education. — The Village of East Greenwich. — First Inhabitants and What They Did. — Samuel King. — The Mercan- tile Trade. — Libraries. — Banks. — Fii-e Department. — Water Works. — Electric Light. — Societies. — Churches. — Manufactures. — Biographical Sketches 1056 CHAPTER XXIII. TOWN OF WEST GREENWICH. General Features of the Town with Points of Interest. — Division of the Lands and Settlement of the Town. — Sketches of the Thirteen Original Purchasers. — Town Organization, Etc. — Industries. — Education. — The- ophilus Whaley. — Sketches of Some of the Leading Men of West Green- wich. — Nooseneck, its Manufacturing and Mex-cantile Interests. — Es- coheag. — West Greenwich Centre. — Robin Hollow. — Liberty. — The Churches 1140 CHAPTER XXIV. TOWN OF COVENTRY. Description. — Incorporation, etc. — The Coventry and Warwick Dividing Line. — Town Officers. — Town Asylum. — Coventry and Cranston Turn- pike. — Education. — Secret Societies. — Greenwood Cemetery. — Quidnick. — Tin Top Church. — Anthony. — Coventry Company. — Stores. — Central Baptist Church. — Maple Root Church. — Washington Village and its In- dustries. — Washington Methodist Church. — Coventry Manufacturing Company. — Coventry Centre. — Spring Lake. — Whaley. — Barclay. — Sum- mit. — The Christian Church. — Greene. — Fairbanks. — Hopkins' Hollow. — Harris. — Arkwright. — Black Rook. — Biographical Sketches 1175 CHAPTER XXV. ^Personal Paragraphs 1228 TABLE OF CONTENTS. xi PORTRAITS. PAGE. Adams, Dwight R 1035 Aldrich, David L 830 Allen, Edwin R 821 Allen, s. w. K !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!'.!!!!!!!!! iso Babcock, Rowse 338 Barber, Edward 833 Barber, Thomas A 833 Bennett, "William G 1037 Bodfish, William 1138 Briggs, A. B. , M. D 313 Briggs, Asa S 884 Briggs, Ira G 83& Browning, John A 441 Campbell, John H 98 Chaoe, Thomas W 1130 Chadsey, Alfred B. . . .- 478 Chapman, Courtland P 333 Chapman, Harris P 383 Chapman, Israel 330' Chapman, John 333^ Chapman, Sumner 331 Church, George H 194 Clark, Benjamin F 335 Clark, Charles 741 Clark, Charles P 743 Clark, Simeon P 743" Clarke, Peleg 334 Collins, Alfred 657 Collins, Amos R 313 Coon, Charles B 336 Cottrell, Calvert B 338 Cross, John H 168 Cross, William D 658 Davis, James M 411 Dews, Joseph 1131 Eldredge, James H 336. Ellis, John C 1038 Ennis, George N 744 Fry, Thomas G 1133 Gardner, Z. Herbert 684 Godfrey, John R 1030 Greene, Anson 745 (jreene, Charles J 746 Greene, Clarke S 686 Greene, Henry L 1033 Greene, Henry W 1035 Greene, Lauriston H 1133 Greene, Richard 1037 Greene, Simon Henry 103^ xii TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. Griffin, Joseph H 193 Griffin, Stephen W 1216 Hammond, Pardon T 456 Hazard, Isaac P 496 Hazard,, Joseph P 502 Hazard, Rowland 504 Hazard, Rowland G 500 Hazard, Thomas R 498 Heydon, Henry D 1039 Hill, Thomas J 1040 Hopkins, Pardon 1154 Howard, Henry ITS Hoxie, John W 748 Kenyon, E. A 660 Kenyon, Elijah 750 Kenyon, Job 330 Kenyon, John D 301 Kenyon, Joseph D *. 300 Kenyon, Thomas E 1134 Kilton, John J 1318 Langworthy, Benjamin P., 3d 828 Langworthy, Joseph 830 Langworthy, Josiah W 889 Langworthy, Oliver 831 Langworthy, Robert H 833 Langworthy, William A 833 Lanphear, Harris 834 Lapham, Enos 1044 Larkin, Daniel F 341 Legris, M. J. E 232 Lewis, Azro N 342 Lewis, Edwin R 199 Lewis, James 690 Lookwood, James T 1046 Madison, Joseph W 442 Maglone, John 444 Matteson, Charles 1220 Maxson, Charles 350 Maxson, Jonathan 348 May, Thomas 1136 Milner, Edwin 370a Money, Philip A 692 Morgan, J. Howard 212 Nichols, Gardner 836 Olney, George H 838 Peabody, Thomas H 103 Peckham, Pardon S 1222 Peckham, Thomas C 1224 Peirce, Thomas C ; 458 Pendleton, Eugene B 357 Pendleton, James M 354 TABLE OF CONTENTS. xiii PAGE. Perry, Charles 352 Pike, David ]^Q4g Pomroy, Herbert J 313 Potter, Horatio W 1049 Potter, Joseph H 360 Potter, Thomas "W 358 Potter, William D 363 Read, Byron 1226 Reoch, Robert 1050 Reynolds, Albert S 413 Reynolds, Allen 413 Reynolds, John J 455 Reynolds, Stephen B 4i74 Robinson, Jeremiah P 516 Robinson, Sylvester 512 Rodman, Isaac P 528 Rodman, Robert 416 Rodman, Samuel 526 Rogers, Frederick T 212 Rose, Henry W 810 Segar, Francis B 752 Segar, Thomas W 364 Segar, William F 753 Sheldon, George W 624 Sherman, Daniel 626 Smith, Orlando 366 Smith, Orlando R 367 Spencer, Christopher 1052 Spencer, Richard 1187 Spmk, Nicholas B 440 Sweet, Henry 408 Sweet, John T. G 696 Utter, George B 100 Vincent, Thomas , 368 Walton, WiUiam A 754 Waterhouse, Benjamin F 1054 Watson, Elisha F 532 Weaver, Silas 1138 WeUs, Augustus L 840 Wells, Jonathan R 842 Wilcox, John A 204 Wright, Stephen A 628 VIEWS, ETC. Map of Washington and Kent Counties 1 Residence of Edwin Thompson 300 Printing Press Manufactory of C. B. Cottrell & Sons 389 Bung-Town Patriot 853 Views at Davisville 406 Residence of Allen Reynolds 414 xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. Rodman Manufacturing Company 415 House of Mrs. H. Allen 418 House of Robert Rodman 418 House of Walter Rodman 418 House of Franklin Rodman 418 Quidnessett — Home of tlie late Nicholas Boone Spink 441 Cold Spring House 459 Hazard Memorial Castle 574 Druidsdream 576 The Cottage — Home of the late Isaac P. Hazard 592 The Home of the late Rowland Gibson Hazard, LL.D 594 Oakwoods — House of Rowland Hazard 596 The Acorns — House of Rowland G. Hazard 598 Peace Dale Mills 603 Congregational Church, Peace Dale, R. 1 606 Home of the late Stephen A. Wright 629 Residence of the late John T. Gardner 668 Plainview — Residence of Z. Herbert Gardner 685 E. Kenyon & Son's Woolen MiUs 722 W. A. Walton & Co.'s Wood River Mills 755 Nichols & Langworthy Machine Company's Works 804 Views at the Old Forge, Powtowomut Neck 922 Sunny-Side — Residence of Enos Lapham 966 Ehzabeth MiUs 1024 East Greenwich Academy 1078 Residence of Lauriston H. Greene 1133 MAP OF WASHINGTON. AND KENT COUNTIES. R. L WVW". PRBSTOH & CO.. PtiWishers 7l°J4ff LoKgitudp Wegt iVcmi Oeeiwidli 71' HISTORY OF Washington and Kent Counties. CHAPTER I. THE INDIANS. The Indian Country and Its Bisoovery by the White Settlers. —The Significant Challenge.— The Erection of an Indian Fort.— The Narragansett Indians.— The Visit of the Great Sachem.— The Various Tribes of Indians arid Their Modes of Warfare and Subsistence.— Indian Gods.— Lands Deeded to Roger Williams by the Indians.— Williams' Letters.— The Pequots.— The Behavior of the Pequots Toward Other Indians and the Whites.— Contentions Al)out Misquamicut.— Preparations for War.— Trumbull's Description of the Fight. — The Warwick Purchase.— War with the Mohegans.— Miantinomo.— Nian- tics. — Ninigret and his Successors, by W. F. Tucker.— The Sachems of the Various Tribes. — The Manisses and Montauks and Their Feuds, by F. Deni- son.— The Great Swamp Figlit, by John G. Clarke. IN April, 1606, King James I. divided the country claimed in America into two portions. The sotith half he allotted to a London company ; the north half to a company established at Plymouth, in the west of England. The council established at Plymouth was made patent in the year ]620, incorporating Lords Lenox, Arundel, Hamilton, Warwick and other lords and gentlemen to the number of forty. In the summer of 1621 Ply- mouth sent Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins to take a view of Massasoit and his country. These brought word on their re- turn, of the Narragansetts, a people that lived on the other side of the great bay, which were reported as a people strong and many in numbers. This was probably the first intimation that the English had of the existence of the Narragansetts. Upon the arrival of the whites in Narragansett they found a land overhung by a dense cloud, and a people covered by a great darkness. On the one side rolled the mysterious ocean, on the other was a forest of mantled mountains and valleys, tameless 1 2 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AXD KENT COUNTIKS. beasts, and but partial clearings in the glens and by the river banks. No rivers were bridged, no roads were opened, no cities nor towns nor even villages were founded, and nothing to show human animation save here and there the smoke of some frail wigwam, or the bark canoes of a swarthy, half clad pagan tribe, descending the shaded rivers, or they themselves creeping stealthily along their shores. Here was a wilderness, indeed, with none but wild men within the gates. But here again was the opportunity to test the boasted light of nature, and to ascer- tain what man's illumination could do on a grand scale. Here was a land of people with no literature, no monuments, and with no lineage of their fatherhood. All before this era of American history had been darkness, bewilderment, weakness and moral decay ; and here the histor}^ of the Narragansett country begins. We are to treat first of the Aborigines who inhabited the southern portion of Rhode Island. The tribes that first and last within the memory of the whites claimed jurisdiction over this country were three — the Niantics, the Pequots and the Narragan- setts. The first intercourse the whites had with the Indians was of a hostile character, and ominous of evil. The Narragansetts sent messengers to Plymouth, with a bundle of arrows tied together with a .snake-skin. The Indian who served the colonists as inter- preter told them it was a challenge. The governor returned them a very rough answer, that they might begin war when they pleased. In the summer of 1622 the Plymouth settlers, somewhat fear- ful that the Indians would commit depredations, built a fort for protection against them, for they had very improperly assisted Massasoit against the Narragansetts, and when the latter had captured the former and carried him off into captivity, the Eng- lish assisted in his deliverance, which they knew the Narragan- setts would resent. The Narragansetts and Massasoit were at variance on the arri^'al of the English, and Massasoit probably endeavored to make rise of the English to render himself inde- pendent of the Narragansetts. There were frequent broils be- tween these tribes, and in 1632, because of a difference, the Nar- ragansetts attacked the English house at Pokanoket, as was said to take Massasoit, but retired suddenly to fight the Pequots, with whom they were then out. In 1631 Canonicus' son, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, HISTORY OF \YASHINCrrON AND KENT COUNTIES. 3 came to the governor's house with John Sagamore. After they had dined he gave the governor a skin, and the governor re- quited him with a fair pewter pot, which he took very thankfully and staid, all night. In August of 1632 Miantinomo went to Bos- ton with his squaw and twelve sannups, and while he was attend- ing a sermon with the governor three of his sannups broke into a dwelling house. Upon the complaint of the governor and at his request Miantinomo caused them to be flogged and sent them home. The Narragansett tribe anciently held jurisdiction over most of the present state of Rhode Island. In their palmy days they were able to call into the field (when Canonicus and Miantinomo ruled over them) about four thousand warriors. They had rule over the tribes of Misquamicut, ?'. e., the townships of Westerly, Hopkinton, Charlestown and Richmond (the original limits of the town of Westerly), through their allies or confederates, the Niantics ; the island of Rhode Island and Shawomet. By this coalition, however, the sceptre of the Narragansetts virtually extended to the Pawcatuck. After King Phillip's war these tf ibes have all been spoken of under the title of Narragansetts, al- .though the Niantics stood aloof from this conspiracy, and there- fore suffered but little in that bloody" campaign. The Indians on the reservation from the first were largely Niantics, and their name should have been retained. The Nar- ragansetts subsisted by hunting and fisljing, and partially by agriculture. Their lands for eight or ten miles distant from the sea-shore were cleared of wood, and on these praries they raised Indian corn in abundance, and furnished the early settlers of Plymouth and Massachusetts with large quantities for subsistence. They were a strong, generous and brave race. They were al- Avays more civil and courteous to the English than any of the other tribes. Their kind and hospitable treatment of the immi- grants to Rhode Island, and the welcome reception they gave our persecuted ancestors should endear their name to us all. In civilization the Narragansetts were in advance of their neighbors. Hutchinson says that they were the most curious coiners of wampumpeage, and supplied other nations with their pendants and bracelets, and also with tobacco pipes of stone ; some blue and some white. They furnished the earthen vessels and pots for cookery and other domestic uses. They were con- 4 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. sidered a commercial people, and not only began a trade with the English for goods for their own consumption, but soon learned to supply other distant nations at advanced prices, and to receive beaver and other furs in exchange, upon which they made a profit also. Various articles of their skillful workmanship have been found from time to time, such as stone axes, tomahawks, mortars, pestles, pipes, arrowheads, peage, etc. Of their integrity, virtue and morals, Roger Williams, after a residence of six years among them, says : " I could never discern that excess of scandalous sins among them which Europe abounded with. Drunkenness and gluttony they know what sins they be, and though they have not so much to restrain them as the English have, yet a man never hears of such crimes among them as robberies, murders, adulteries, etc." Updike says : " The government of the Narragansetts appears to have been a patriarchial despotism. On the arrival of the English there were two chief sachems — Canonicus and Mian- tinomo — and under them several subordinate ones. The different small tribes under the several sub-sachems, composed the great Narragansett nation. The succession to chief authority was generally preserved in the same family. The sub-sachems oc- cupied the soil, and were reinoved from it at the will and pleasure of their chiefs." The Narragansett country became circumscribed as Canonicus and Miantinomo sold off their territory. After the sale of Provi- dence to Williams, the island of Rhode Island to Coddington, and Shawomet or old Warwick to Gorton, and their respective associates, those territories virtually ceased to be called Narra- gansett. After East Greenwich was erected into a township in 1667 the name of Narragansett was circumscribed to the limits of the present county of Washington, bounding northerh- on Hunt's river and the south line of the county of Kent. In speaking of their gods Denison says : " Of the religion of the aborigines of Rhode Island, Roger Williams, their intimate friend, in a letter under date of Feb. 28, 1638 (new style), says, ' They have plenty of gods, or divine powers ; the Sun, Moone, Fire, Water, Earth, the Deere, the Beare, &c. ... I broiight home lately from the Narrhiggansicks | Narragansetts] the names of thirty-eight of their gods, — all they could remember.' They made no images ; their divinities were ghosts ; they were ex- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 5 treme spiritualists. Every element and material and object had its ruling spirit,— called a ' god ' or ' manitou.' These divinities seemed ever passionate and engaged in war with each other ; hence the passionate and warlike character of the worshipers. They adored, not intelligence and virtue, but power and re- venge. " Every person was believed to be under the influence of some spirit, good or evil, — that is, weak or strong, — to further the per- son's desires. These spirits or manitous inhabited different ma- terial forms, or dwelt at times in the air. The symbolic signa- tures employed by sachems and chiefs in signing public deeds, represented in many cases the forms inhabited by their guardian or inspiring spirits ; these were bows, arrows, birds, fishes, beasts, reptiles and the like. " Yet the Indians had their superior gods, — one of good and one of evil. They held a tradition that their chief divinity, Kautantowit, made the first human pair from a stone ; but, being displeased with them, destroyed them, and made a second pair from a tree, from which last pair all mankind have descended. Such tradition seems to contain an allusion to Eden and the flood. The story not unlikely was brought by their fathers from Asia. " Roger Williams says, 'They had many strange relations bf one Wetucks, a man that wrought great miracles amongst them, and walked upon the waters, &c., with some kind of broken re- semblance to the .Sonne of God.' They believed that Kautanto- wit resided far away to the southwest, in the land of soft winds, summer warmth, perennial fruits and prolific hunting grounds. The highest hope of the Indian, at his death, was that he might safely reach Kautantowit's sunny fields. But they held that the grossly wicked, cowards, liars, thieves, murderers and traitors would forever wander in regions of coldness, barrenness and darkness. " The two great divinities among the Pequots were Kitchtau, the author of good, and Hobamocho, the author of evil. It is reporied that on great and urgent occasions they offered human sacrifices. The report should have the favor of a doubt. It is not known that they had altars capable of such a use. It is not at all probable that such sacrifices were ever offered on the soil of Mi.squamicut or within the bounds of Rhode Island." 6 history of washington and kent counties. Confirmatory Deed of Roger Williams and His Wife, of Lands Transferred kv Him to His Associates, rx the Year 1638. " Be it known unto all men by these Presents, that I, Roger Williams, of the Towne of Providence, in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, having in the yeare one thousand six hundred and thirty-four, and in the yeare one thousand six hundred and thirty-five, had several! treaties with Conanicusse and Mian- tonome, the chief sachems of the Narragansetts, and in the end purchased of them the lands and meadows upon the two ffresh rivers called Mooshassick and Wanasquatucket ; the two said sachems having by a deed under their hands, two yeares after the sale thereof, established and conffirmed the boundes of these landes from the river ffields of Pawtuckqut and the great hill of Neotaconconitt on the northwest, and the towne of Moshapauge on the west, notwithstanding I had the frequent promise of Miantenomy, my kind friend, that it should not be land that I should want about these bounds mentioned, provided that I satis- fied the Indians there inhabiting, I having made covenantes of peaceable neighborhood with all the sachems and natives round about us. And having, in a sense of God's merciful providence unto me in my distresse, called the place Providence, I desired it might be for a shelter for persons distressed of conscience ; I then, considering the condition of divers of my distressed countrymen, I communicated my said purchase unto my loving ffriends John Throckmorton, William Arnold, William Harris, Strikely Westcott, John Greene, senior, Thomas Olney, senior, Richard Waterman and others, who then desired to take shelter here with me, and in succession unto so many others as we should receive into the fellowship and societye enjoying and disposing of the said purchase ; and besides the flfirst that were admitted, our towne records declare that afterwards wee received Chad Brown, William ffield, Thomas Harris, sen'r, William Wicken- den, Robert Williams, Gregory Dexter, and others, as our towne booke declares. And whereas, by God's merciful! assistance, I was the procurer of the purchase, not by monies nor payment, the natives being so shy and jealous that monies could not doe it ; but by that language, acquaintance, and favour with the na. fives, and other advantages, which it pleased God to give me, and also bore the charges and venture of all the gratuetyes which I gave to the great sachems, and other sachems and natives round HISTORY OF ^^'ASHIXGTOX AXD KENT COUNTIES. 7 about us, and lay ingaged for a loving and peaceable neighbor- hood with them, all to my great charge and travele ; it was, there- fore, thought by some loving ffriends, that I should receive some loving consideration and gratuitye ; and it was agreed between us, that every person that should be admitted into the ffellowship of injoying landes and disposing of the purchase, should pay thirtye shillinges into the public stock ; and fhrst about thirtye poundes should be paid unto myselfe by thirty shillings a person, as they were admitted. This sum I received in love to my ffriends ; and with respect to a towne and place of succor for the distressed as aforesaid, I doe acknowledge the said sum and pay- ment as ffuU satisffaction. And whereas, in the year one thou- sand six hundred and thirtye seaven, so called, I delivered the deed subscribed by the two aforesaid chiefe sachems, so much thereof as concerneth the aforementioned landes ffrom myselfe and my heirs unto the whole number of the purchasers, with all my poweres, right and title therein, reserving only unto myselfe one single share equall unto any of the rest of that number, I now againe, in a more fformal wa}', under my hand and seal, conffirm my fformer resignation of that deed of the landes afore- said, and bind myselfe, my heirs, my executors, my administra- tors and assignes, never to molest any of the said persons already received or hereafter to be received into the societye of pur- chasers as aforesaid ; but they, theire heires, executors, adminis- trators and assignes, shall at all times quietly and peaceably in joy the premises and every part thereof ; and I do ffurther, by these presents, binde myselfe, my heirs, my exectitors, my administra- tors and assignes, never to lay claime nor cause any claime to be laid, to any of the landes aforementioned, or unto any part or parcell thereof, more than unto mine owne single share, by vir- tue or pretence of any former bargaine, sale or mortgage, what- soever, or joyntures, thirdes or intails made by me the said Roger Williams, or of any other person, either for, by, through or under me. In wittnesse thereof, I have hereunto sett my hand and seale this twenty eth day of December in the present year one thousand six hundred and sixty one. " Roger Williams, [l. s.J " Signed, sealed and delivered, in presence of us, " Thomas Smith, " Joseph Carpextek. 8 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " I, Mary Williams, wife unto Roger Williams, doe assent unto the premises. Wittness my hand this twentyeth day of Decem- ber, in the present year one thousand six hundred and sixty-one. "The marke of M. W. Mary Williams. " Acknowledged and subscribed before me. " WlLLlAAF Ffeild, General/ Assistant." The lands transferred by Roger Williams to his associates were subsequently divided into what are called " home lots " and "six acre lots." In the clerk's office of the city of Providence is a revised list of lands and meadows as they were originally lot- ted, from the beginning of the plantation of Providence in the Narragansett Bay, in New England, unto the then inhabitants of the said plantation. The first in order are the "home lots," beginning at the " Mile end Cove," at the south end of the town, between Fox Point and Wickenden street. This book gives a list of fifty-four persons who " received their lots with their loca- tion." Here we find the founders of the state of Rhode Island. Their names are perpetuated and transmitted to us by pages of various histories ; by inheritance of their numerous descend- ants ; and finally, by being connected with the establishment of a colony among the Indians of North America, and the toleration of religious liberty. A Partial List of the Fifty-four Nanh:s. Roger Williams, William Wickenden, William Harris, John Lippitt, John Greene, Robert West, William Arnold, Joshua Winsor, John Smith, Thomas Hopkins, Gregory Dexter, John Sweet, Chad Brown, Edward Hart, Daniel Abbott, William Man, Thomas Angell, Francis Weston, William Reynolds, Richard Scott, Thomas Olney, Robert Cole, William Carpenter, Thomas James. Dep(.)Sitk)N of Roger AVilliams Rela'itve to this Purchase FR(_)M the Indians. "Narraliaxsett, 18 June, l(i82. " I testify, as in the presence of the all-making and all-seeino- ' -od, that about fifty years since, I coming into this Narragansett HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 9 country, I found a great contest between three sachems, two (to wit, Cononicus and Miantonomy) were against Ousamaquin on Plymouth side ; I was forced to travel between them three, to pacify, to satisfy all their and their dependents' spirits of my honest intentions to live peaceably by them. I testify, that it was the general and constant declaration, that Cannonicus, his father, he had three sons, whereof Connonicus was the heir, and his youngest brother's son Miantinomy (because of his youth), was his Marshal and Executioner, and did nothing without his unkle Cannonicus' consent. And therefore I declare to posterity, that were it not for the favor that God gave me with Cannonicus, none of these parts, no, not Rhode Island, had been purchased or obtained, for I never got any thing out of Cannonicus but by gift. I also profess that, being inquisitive of what root the title or denomination Nahiganset should come, I heard that Nahigan- set was so named from, a little Island' between Puttisquomscut and Musquomacuk on the sea, and fresh water side. I went on purpose to see it, and about the place called Sugar Loaf Hill, I saw it, and was within a pole of it, but could not learn why it was called Nohiganset. I had learnt that the Massachusetts was so called from the Blue Hills, a little Island thereabout ; and Cannonicus' father and anchestors living in those southern parts, transferred and brought their authority and name into those northern parts all along by the sea side, as appears by the great destruction of wood all along near the sea side ; and I desire posterity to see the gracious hand of the Most Pligh (in whose hands is all hearts), that when the hearts of my countrymen and friends and brethren failed me, his infinite wisdom and luerits stirred up the barbarous heart of Cannonicus to love me as his son to his last gasp, by which means I had not only Miantonomy and all the Cowesit sachems my friends, but Ousamaquin also, who, because of my great friendship with him at Plymouth, and the authority of Cannonicus, consented freely (being also well gratified by me) to the Governor Winthrop's and my enjoyment of Prudence, yes, of Providence itself, and all the other lands I procured of Cannonicus which were upon the point, and in effect whatsoever I desired of him. And I never denyed him nor Mian- tinomy whatever they desired of me as to goods or gifts, or use of my boats or pinnace, and the travels of my own person day and night, which, though men know not, nor care to know, yet 10 HISTORY OF WASHINXrrON AND KENT COUNTIES. the all-seeing eye hath seen it, and his all-powerful hand hath helped me. Blessed be his holy name to eternity. " R. Williams." The Pcquot Indians occupied the neighborhood of New London, Groton and Stonington, with the Mohegans on the north of them. They came originally from the head waters of the Hudson. They supplanted the old Niantic tribe and were the most war- like and cruel of all the New England tribes. Sassacus, their sachem, had a strong fort between New London and the Mystic river. Their bows and battle axes were a terror in all the land. The terrible murders perpetrated by them and the awful tortures which they inflicted upon their English captives were sure warn- ings to the white people that something must be speedily done to check them or the colonists would be totally annihilated. Acting upon the maxim that to the victors belong the spoils, they claimed even the region of the Misquamicut, and hence aimed to expel the Eastern Niantics. The disputed territory now became the theatre of invasions and struggles. In April, 1632, the Pequots met the united Narragansetts and after a fierce struggle extended their territory ten miles east of the Pawtucket. This claim was continued after the first settlement of the' whites, and was the occasio;i of the disputed boundaries between the colonies. On the first day of May, 1637, the general court of Connecticut assembled at Hartford, declared war against the Pequots, raised an army of ninety men, and appointed Captain John IMason com- mander-in-chief of the expedition. The soldiers were enlisted and sailed from Hartford May 10th, 1037, accompanied byL^ncas and seventy friendly Indians. The little fleet, which consisted of three vessels, met adverse winds and finally sailed into Narra- gansett ba5^ Here on Tuesday evening, Alay 23d, the gallant little band landed, and immediately set out for the residence of Miantinomo. Mason marched the next morning, Alay 24th, for the Pequot fort. As he proceeded on his journey he was reinforced by a large party of Narragansetts sent on by Miantinomo. Their line of march from Narragansett was along the old Indian path trav- eled from time immemorial by the savages, and was on the great highway for all travel from Boston and the north and east to Connecticut and New York, the route being near the present Post road, through Tower Hill, Wakefield, Charlestown and Westerly. The next evening Mason reached Niantic fort. This fort was built on Fort Neck, which is about twelve miles HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 11 to the east of Westerly, and perhaps eighty rods to the south- west of Cross' mills. The land has steep laanks on the south side, next to the water, and it projects into Pawaget or Charlestown pond. The remains of the old fortress are still visible, with -traces of ditches and a wall of stone and earth. It was torn down by the white people, and the larger part of the stones used in building a wall to inclose the land. This fort contained three- fourths of an acre, and appears in the form of a square. There were three bastions, twenty feet square, one on each of three angles or corners, which completely covered the , ditches and walls of the fort. It appears that the main entrance to the fort was reached at the south corner near the pond, and the only corner without a bastion. On the 24th of May, 1637, while Mason and his troops halted here, it was then garrisoned by a large body of the Niantics, who would not allow any of Mason's men to enter the fortification. Undoubtedly it was a strong and well fortified position. Here then, is one particular instance on record in which the condition of the Niantic fort was known to the English. This fort Mason surrounded until morning to prevent any treachery of the Niantics. After a fatiguing march of twelve miles he reached the fording place in Pawcatuck river. After dinner Mason continued his march on to Taugwonk in Stoning- ton. Here he halted and learned for the first time that the Pe- quots had two very strong forts. He, however, resolved to move on and attack the fort at Mystic. The guides brought them to the fort two hours before light May 26th, 1637. Mason went for- ward, and when within a rod of the fort was discovered by a Pe- quot, who cried out, "Owanux ! Owanux!" (Englishmen! Eng- lishmen !) A hand to hand contest now ensued. Wigwams and fortress were set on fire and the destruction was terrible beyond description. As the Indians shot forth from their burning cells they were shot or cut to pieces by the English. The violence of the flames, the clashing and roar of arms, the shrieks and yells of the savages in the fort and without, exhibited an awful scene. After the termination of this engagement the authorities de- cided to exterminate the ruthless and barbarous Pequots wholly, and on the 25th of June the Connecticut troops, together with a company from Massachusetts, proceeded westward, but of their pursuit by the English and Narragansett and Mohegan tribes, V2 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. who were friendly to the settlers, we have nothing further to say here except to remind our readers of the methods then in vogue by the United Colonies. Firstly, having used the Narragansetts and Mohegans as a scourge to the Pequots in exterminating them by killing two thousand and capturing one thousand more, and* driving the remainder west to the Hudson river, where they were totally destroyed by the Mohawks, they appropriated their lands and taxed their allies for their services. They then, with the help of the Mohegans, whipped the Narragansetts, and imposed a fine upon their conquered foes of two thousand fathoms of wampum, an amount utterly beyond their ability to pay, which involved the forfeiture of their lands. Then thirdly, they caused the wiping out of the Mohegans, when their possessions were found to be more valuable than their services. All of these facts will give thought for study and reflection for the ambitious student of Indian history. As we proceed these facts will become more apparent, recollecting in the meanwhile that the bone of conten- tion which most occupied the attention of that generation was the jurisdiction and ownership of King's Province or Narra- gansett country, now Washington county, which was claimed by Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island. The Warwick Purchase. — On January 12th, 1642, the sale of Warwick was made by Miantinomo, chief sachem of Narragan- setts, to Randall Holden, John Green, John AVickes, Francis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard Waterman, John Warner, Rich- ard Carder, Samson Shotton, Robert Porter and William Wud- dal. The deed was made with the marks of Miantinomo and of Pomham, sachem of Shawomet, affixed to it. Nawashawsuc, an under sachem of Massasoit, also claimed a right to this tract. Sacconoco, a sachem of the country, had in 1641 made a deed to William Arnold, Robert Cole and AVilliam Carpenter, and in 1044 he deeded a considerable tract to Benedict Arnold. These four persons, having submitted themselves and their lands to Massachusetts, caused much dispute between Mas- sachusetts and Rhode Island. The Indians and the settlers Gor- ton and his associates had previously incurred the displeasure of Massachusetts and they were therefore ready to interfere. Pom- ham and vSacconoco were induced to make a formal submission of themselves and their lands also to that state, but the dispute turned upon the question whether or not the Shawomet or War- wick tribe was independent, and if so the sale from Miantinomo HISTORY OF WASHIXGTOX AND KENT COUNTIES. 13 was void. From Roger Williams' opinions it seems that the Warwick tribe was subject to the Narragansett nation, though Miantinomo seems to have been unable to prove their depen- dence satisfactorily to the Massachusetts authorities, who would not become satisfied because of the interference of their claim from Pomham. In this dispute Massachusetts showed her hatred toward Mian- tinomo because of his testimony, and also an evident disposition to retard the growth and prosperity of Rhode Island. For the part Miantinomo took in this affair was the cause of his being cruelly put to death when he fell into the hands of the Massa- chusetts authorities in his war with the ^Mohegans, although the authorities gave sanctimonious reasons for the deed. Gorton also suffered considerably. He was arrested, carried to Boston, tried and confined in irons for a considerable time. May 19th, 1643, a confederation of Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut and New Haven, for mutual defense, was made to protect themselves against the Indians. They refused to admit Rhode Island into the confederacy. This body was named the " Commissioners of the United Colonies." In 1643 Massachusetts procured an order from Cromwell and from the Earl of Warwick for government of Narragansett. On jNIarch 17th, 1643-4, Roger Williams procured a patent for Rhode Island, Providence Plan- tations and Narragansett, from the Earl of Warwick, governor and admiral of the Plantation and the other Lords Commission- ers of the plantations, signed by all. The patent includes to the west the Narragansett country " the whole tract extending about twenty-five English miles into the Pequot river and coun- try." This tract was occupied by citizens from various parts of the state. During this same year (1643) the animosity which had long existed between the Narragansetts and Mohegans broke out into open war. There had been an attempt made to assas- sinate Uncas by a Pequot and it was alleged that Miantinomo en- couraged it. Miantinomo encouraged the Bay folks to send this Pequot to Uncas for punishment, but on his way home from a visit to Boston the Pequot was put to death, and it was said Mi- antinomo was the author of this also. A quarrel having arisen between Sequassen, a sachem on the Connecticut river, and Uncas, the latter made war upon him, whereupon Miantinomo assisted Sequassen, being his friend and relative. Miantinomo took with him one thousand men into this 14 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. war, having previously, according to his agreement, given notice to Connecticut and Massachusetts of his intention to make war on Uncas. The governor of Massachusetts answered "that if Uncas had done him or his friends wrong and would not give satisfaction we should leave him to take his own course." They met. Uncas had four hundred men. A battle ensued and Mi- antinomo was taken, it is said, by the treachery of two Indians. A heavy suit of armor which Gorton had lent him is said to have embarrassed his motions and rendered his capture less difficult. They killed about thirty and caused the rest to flee. Among the wounded were two of Canonicus's sons and a brother of Mianti- nomo. Hubbard says that Uncas had, previous to the battle, offered to decide the dispute by single combat. After the battle Uncas carried Miantinomo prisoner to Hart- ford, and at his own request left him in custody of the English authorities there. Miantinomo's conduct while at Hartford seems to show that he indulged an expectation (doomed to end in disappointment) that he would receive more honorable treat- ment from the English than he could expect from his captor. He gave information to Major Haines, the magistrate of Connec- ticut, of a design of the Narragansetts to seize some of the com- missioners and hold them as hostages for his safety. The commissioners of the colonies met at Boston, September, 1643, and decided that Miantinomo should be put to death. They proceeded, as was the custom of the Puritan fathers, to take counsel of the elders of the church, and this, with many other deeds of a doubtful character, passed under the sanction and the cloak of religion. The reasons assigned for the death of Miantinomo were these : (1). It was clearly discovered there was a general conspiracy among the Indians, and Miantinomo was at its head. (2). He was a tu.rbu]ent and proud spirit, and would never be at rest. (3). He had promised to send to Uncas the Pequot who had at- tempted to assassinate him ; he had put him to death on his way home. (4). He beat one of Pomham's men, took away his wam- pum, and bid him go and complain to Massachusetts. The com- missioners therefore ordered that Uncas should put him to death, and that two Englishmen should go with him to see the execu- tion done. In answer to the above charges against the great Narragansett chief, Potter says : " The first, that Miantinomo was at the head of an Indian conspiracy against the English, can HISTORY OV WASHIXCTOX AXD KENT COUNTIKS. L"! be refuted from their own accounts and admissions. To the second, it might have been good policj- to have got rid of so tur- bulent, proud spirited and restless a rival, but we see no justice in it. The third lacks proof, and even if proved, admits of ex- planation. The fourth is absolutely too trifling to be noticed at all." According to the decision Uncas carried Miantinomo to the spot where he had been taken, supposed to be Sachem's plain, and the instant they arrived there one of Uncas' men split his head open from behind, killing him at once. The Mohegans buried him at the place of his execution, and erected a great heap or pillar on his grave. Trumbull relates that Uncas cut a large piece out of his shoulder and ate it in savage triumph. Sachem's plain is in the eastern part of Norwich. This was the end of Miantinomo, the most potent prince the people of New England ever had any concern with ; and this was the reward he received for assisting them seven years before in the wars with the Pequots. Surely a Rhode Island man may be permitted to mourn his unhappy fate and drop a tear on the ashes of Miantinomo and his uncle Canonicus, who were the best friends and greatest benefactors the colony ever had. They kindly received, fed and protected the first settlers of it when they were in distress, and were strangers and exiles, and all mankind elsewhere their enemies, and by this kindness to them drew upon themselves the resentment of the neighboring colonies and hastened the untimely end of the young king. Miantinomo was a very good personage, of tall stature, subtle and cunning in his contrivements, as well as haughty in his de- signs. Pessicus, the new sachem (aged about twenty), was Mian- tinomo's brother. He desired to make war on Uncas, and sent presents to Massachusetts to secure permission for that purpose, but received negative answers to both requests, and his presents were returned. He was told that they would stand by Uncas. Canonicus was an old man at the time of the first settlement in Rhode Island. He received and protected the first settlers, and always continued their friend. In his later years he had many gloomy fears and forebodings as to the future state of his nation. This wise and peaceful prince was succeeded by his son, Mexam. Henry E. Turner, M.D., of Newport, in a paper read before the Historical Society, February 27th, 1877, in speaking of the 16 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. course pursued by the United Colonies after they had extermin- ated the Pequots, says : " T'le next step necessary was to find or create a pretext for the like treatment of the other tribes ; and the Narragansetts having committed the indiscretion (to use a mild phrase) of giv- ing harbor to the God-defying refugees from the just displeasure of offended Massachusetts, were selected as the first victims of the series. " The United Colonies, accordingly, entered into a league with Uncas, as chief sachem of the Mohegans (though there is reason to believe that only their patronage made him so), under which they encouraged him to perpetrate annoyances and encroach- ments on the Narragansetts, denying them, at the same time, any resort to their traditional methods of redress ; and whenever any complaint was made to them by either Uncas or ]\liantonomi or any adherent of either, their decision was, invariable', adverse to the Narragansett, and he was enjoined to good behaviour on pain of punishment and the displeasure of the United Colonies, they being the allies and friends of Uncas, as they constantl)- took occasion to promulgate. Any person who will examine the records of the Commissioners of the United Colonies im- partially will endorse the accuracy of this statement ; the in- stances are too numerous for quotation or even for special refer- ence. " The fruits of this policy were very soon apparent ; the Nar- ragansetts, denied justice by the English and prohibited from any retribution on the Mohegans for wrongs suffered from them, according to their traditional customs, were provoked into such acts toward the Mohegans as made them amenable to English ideas of justice, and afforded the pretexts which the English sought. The United Colonies accordingly, despite the remon- strances of Roger Williams, who knew all the parties and ap- preciated the truthful and manly character of the Narragansett chief and the wily and treacherous disposition of Uncas, united with the Mohegans in a war on the Narragansetts, which culmi- nated in the prostration of the Narragansett power and the cap- ture of Miantonomi. " After the mockery of a trial by the English, at Hartford, Miantonomi was given up to Uncas for execution, and the Nar- ragansett tribe was fined 2,000 fathoms of peage, an amount utterly beyond their ability to pay. This levy was founded on HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES.' 17 the pretext principle of making the conquered pay the expenses of all parties. " To enable the Indians to pay this excessive mulct after their resources had been drained by the war, the principal men of the conquering party, to wit, John Winthrop, governor of Connecti- cut ; Major Humphrey Atherton, Richard Smith, Richard vSmith, Jr., Lieutenant William Hudson, of Boston, Ambrose Dickenson, of Boston, and John Ticknor, of Nashaway (no doubt), out of their generosity toward the poor natives, formed them- selves into what we should call a ' Credit Mobilier,' (though they probably never heard that phrase), advanced the sum required and received therefor deeds of the tract of lands known ever af- ter as the Atherton Purchase. One of these was a mortgage of course never redeemed." For further consideration of this feature of the subject the reader is referred to the history of Indians in Kent county. The Great Swamp Fight. — After the war between the Narra- gansetts and the Mohegans, the English in New England en- joyed comparative peace until the year 1671, when they again took up arms to revenge the death of one of their countrymen who had been inhumanly murdered by an Indian belonging to the Nipnet tribe, of which the celebrated Philip, of Mount Hope (now Bristol, R. I.), was sachem. Philip was sent for by the governor and council, before whom he went and made fair promises, but it was soon discovered that the wily Indian was playing a deep game, and that he was art- fully enticing the red men to rise oi masse against the English . and drive them out of the country. Trumbull states : " The Narragansetts for this purpose had engaged to raise 4,{)U0 fight- ing men." After a series of wars this great trouble culminated in the Narragansett Swamp Fight, of which John G. Clarke says: " The most important battle with the Indians in New England occurred on December 19th, 1675. The Narragansett tribe of Indians occupied all southern Rhode Island, and before 1620 held sway over all the Indian tribes from the Pawcatuck to the Merri. mac river and could muster 5,000 fighting men. " King Philip, whose Indian name was Metacom or Pumeta- comb, was the son of Massasoit. He was a man of great natural ability and sagacity, and foresaw that the time must soon come when the white or red men would become the sole possessors of the land. He desired to unite all the Indian tribes in New 3 18 HISTORY OF \VASIII.\(;T()\ and KENT COUNTIES. England in a war of extermination upon the white men. (_)f this the English settlers were informed and to get the first advantage and crush the Indian coalition before it became more formidable, was the cause of the war of ] 675. Had the English waited until the spring of 1676, before they attacked the Indians in their stronghold, the result might have been very different. There was a tradition that Philip was in the fort at the time of the bat- tle but it has since been ascertained that he was many miles away at that time. " The Narragansetts, anticipating a deadly war, selected as they thought a secure place in a great swamp, in the western part of what is now South Kingstown, Washington county, R. I., con- structed a great number of wigwams, and then collected the most of their men, women and children and also large quantities of corn and provisions. To destroy this place and kill or scatter the Indians was the object of the English. "The English army organized for a^ winter campaign, consisted of a thousand men under the command of (jeneral John Wins- low, governor of Plymouth colony. At a meeting of the Com- missioners of the United Colonies held at Boston November 2d, 167."), war was formerly declared against the Narragansetts. "On Sunday December 12th, the army left Providence and marched into ' Pomham's Country,' now Warwick, and arrived at Smith house, near Wickford on the 13th, and there found their vessels had arrived with provisions from Seekonk. On the 14th the army moved westward, destroyed an Indian village of one hundred and fifty wigwams, killed seven and captured nine In- dians. On Thursday December 1 6th, a portion of the army un- der Captain Prentice reached Pettaquamscutt, where the Connecti- cut troops had arrived, consisting of three hundred English and one hundred and fifty Mohegan Indians. " The weather was intensely cold. A severe storm set in and the snow fell two feet deep. The whole army encamped in an open field. On vSunday, December 19th, at an early hour, the army took up its march for the Indian fort, not knowing its ex- act location. After some circuitous marching (as they said some sixteen miles, the distance direct not being more than ten), about one o'clock the van of the army reached the vicinity of the fort and halted upon rising ground near what is now known as the 'Babcock house.' Here they captured alone Indian, and com- pelled him under pain of death, to guide them to the entrance of HISTORY OF WASHINdTOX AND KKXT COUiX'lTKS. ]!) the fort, not more than half a mile distant. To the mutual sur- prise of both parties, the army came suddenly upon the fort, the Massachusetts regiment first, Plymouth next and the Connecticut troops bringing up the rear. The troops at once opened fire ■upon those Indians in sight and upon the fort. The attack was answered by a volley from the Indians who fied into the fort. The so-called fort was located upon an island of five or six acres, the surface being not more than three feet above high water mark. At the east ran the vShickashem brook, a short distance west the Usquepaug river. " The island was surrounded by a dense swamp, almost impene- trable, except when the surrounding water was frozen, and it is probable that the Indians relied mainly upon the swamp to pro- tect them, although they had fallen trees around their wigwams, with the tops outward, and made a sort of palisade for defense. The work does not seem to have been quite completed. " The entrance was at the northwest corner, along a fallen tree across a run of water. The companies of Captains Davenport and Johnson were the first to reach this entrance, and gallantly charged over the log into the fort at the head of their companies. Johnson fell dead at the log, and Davenport a little within the fort. The troops met so heav}'' a fire that they were compelled to fall back, and in the .smoke and confusion the English killed some'of their own men. At or near the entrance there was said to be a block house, from which a galling fire was made upon the attacking troops. Captain Church, with a few soldiers, had found a weak place in the rear of the fort, which, being attacked, diverted the attention of the Indians from the front or entrance. "The bloody contest lasted three hours with no decided result. The commanding general was advised to set fire to the wigwams, of which there were said to be six hundred within the fort. This was contrary to the advice of Captain Church, who insisted that the battle was practically over, the Indians were retreating, and that the English troops could occupy the fort and rest after the long and weary march of the morning and the hard fighting, but his advice was unheeded, the fire was set, and the whole fort, con- taining many wounded men, women and children, beside large quantities of provisions, was consumed. "While the fort was yet burning the army formed its shattered columns, gathering the wounded and as many as possible of the dead, and commenced their dreary march back to Wickford, 20 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. being ignorant of the number of their foes in the vicinity, and not daring to encamp near the battle field. " The English loss was sixty-eight killed and one hundred and fifty wounded. Several wounded died on the march, from cold and exposure. The Indian loss must have been nearly one thousand. This must be classed as one of the most brilliant victories in our history, and considering all the difficulties over- come, displaying stubborn courage, patient endurance, and dash- ing intrepidity not excelled in American warfare." The Great Swamp above referred to is situated on the farm now owned by John G. Clarke. There is no doubt of the exact location of every point above mentioned. Mr. Clarke, who has given the subject much consideration, has, he says, plowed up charred corn, the relics of the battle, and of which the Indians had great quantities stored up for winter use. W. F. Tucker, in speaking of the different Indians, thus men- tions their sachems : The Narragansett Sachems. — Canonicus was the grand sachem of the Narragansetts when the whites settled at Plymouth. History gives no account of his predecessors. It commences with him. He died June 4th, 1647. Miantinomo was his nephew, son of his brother, Mascus. Canonicus, in his advanced age, admitted Miantinomo into the government, and they ad- ministered the sachemdom jointly. In the war between the Narragansetts and Mohegans, in 1643, Miantinomo was captured by Uncas, the sachem of the Mohegans, and executed. Pessi- cus, the brother of Miantinomo, was then admitted sachem with Canonicus. He was put to death by the Mohawks, in 1676. Canonchet, the son of the brave but unfortunate Miantinomo, was the last sachem of the race. He commanded the Indians in the Great Swamp fight in 1675. This battle exterminated the Narragansetts as a nation. He was captured near the Blackstone river, after the war, and executed for the crime of defending his country, and refusing to surrender the territory of his ancestors by a treaty of peace. It was glory enough for a nation to have expired with such a chief. The coolness, fortitude and heroism of his fall stands without a parallel in ancient or modern times. He was offered life upon the condition that he would treat for the submission of his subjects ; his untamed spirit indignantly rejected the ignominious proposition. And when he was told his sentence was to die, " he .said he liked it well, that he .should HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 21 die before his heart was soft, or he had spoken unworthy of him- self." His head was cut off, and sent to Hartford. The rest of his body was burnt. This ended the last chief of the Narra- gansetts, and with Canonchet the nation was extinguished for- ever. Ninigret was the sachem or sagamore of the Niantics, or the Westerly tribe, and since the division of that town, now styled the Charlestown tribe. Ninigret was tributary to Canonicus, Miantinomo and his successors. He was only collaterally re- lated to the family of Conanicus, Quaiapen, Ninigret's sister, having married Maxanno, the son of Canonicus. The whites purchased Ninigret's neutrality, during the Indian war of 1675, and for his treachery to his paramount sovereign and his race, the "Tribe Land" in Charlestown was allotted to him and his heirs forever, as the price of the treason. The Ninigret tribe never were the real Narragansetts, whose name they bear. It is a libel on their glory and their graves for them to have assumed it. Not one drop of the blood of Canonicus, Miantinomo or Canonchet ever coursed in the veins of a sachem who could sit neuter in his wigwam and hear the guns and see the conflagra- tion ascending from the fortress that was exterminating their nation forever. Ninigret died soon after the war. From this Ninigret, the succeeding Indian sachems were descended. By one wife he had a daughter, and by another he had a son, Nini- gret, and two daughters ; one of whom is sometimes designated as the " Old Queen." On Ninigret's death the first named daughter succeeded him, and the ceremonies of her inauguration took place at Chemunganock, now known as Shumuncanuc. These ceremonies were the presentation of peage and other presents, as an acknowledgment of authority ; and sometimes a belt of peage was publicly placed on the sachem's head, as an ensign of rank. On her death her half brother, Ninigret, suc- ceeded. He died somewhere about 1722. His will is dated 1716- 17. He left two sons, Charles and George Augustus Ninigret. The former succeeded as sachem, and dying, left an infant son; Charles, who was acknowledged as sachem by a portion of the tribe, but the greater portion adhered to George, his uncle, as being of pure royal blood. The dispute was encouraged by dif- ferent white people, who wished to retain an influence over the tribe and to purchase their lands. It seems to have been ended only by the death of young Charles. George Augu.stus was ac- 22 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. knowledged as sachem m 1736. He left a widow and three chil- dren, Thomas, George and Esther. On Thursday, the 6th of September, 1750, the bans of marriage being duly published at the church of St. Paul's, in Narragan- sett, no objection being made, John Anthony, an Indian man, was married to vSarah (^eorge, an Indian woman, the widow and dowager queen of George (Augustus) Ninigret, deceased, by Dr. McSparran. Thomas (commonly known as King Tom) was born in 1736, and succeeded as sachem in July, 1746. While he was sachem much of the Indian land was sold, and a considerable part of the tribe emigrated to the state of New York and joined the Indians there. William Kenyon, late of Charlestown, deceased, in a statement to Wilkins Updike, says : ' I knew King Tom Ninigret ; he had a son named Tom, his only child. He went away and died before his father. Tom's brother George having died, the crown de- scended to Esther, the next heir. I (continued Mr. Kenyon) saw her crowned, over seventy years ago. She was elevated on a large rock so that the people might see her ; the council sur- rounded her. There were present about twenty Indian soldiers with guns. They marched her to the rock. The Indians nearest the royal blood, in presence of her councilors, put the crown on her head. It was made of cloth, covered with blue and white peage. When the crown was put on the soldiers fired a royal salute and huzzaed in the Indian tongue. The ceremony was imposing, and everything was conducted with great order. Then the soldiers waited on her to her house, and fired salutes. There were 500 natives present besides others. Queen Esther left one son, named George ; he was crowned after the death of his mother. I was one of the jury of inquest (continues Air. Kenyon) that sat on the body of George. He was about 22 years old when he was killed. He was where some persons were cutting trees. One tree had lodged against another, and in cutting that one it fell and caught against a third, and George, undertaking to escape, a sharp knee struck him on the head and killed him ; a foot either way would have saved him. No king was ever crowned after him, and not an Indian of the whole blood now remains in the tribe." Thomas Ninigret, who was better known as King Tom, was born in 1736, and succeeded as sachem in July, 1746. At the age HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 23 of ten years he was crowned king of the Niantics. He received a common school education in England, where he was sent by his nation ; and on his return from school he brought a draft of a house with him ; and soon after built the structure known as the Sachem house, which served him as a dwelling place during the remainder of his days. It is commonly reported among the people that Thomas Ninigret was a large, fleshy man ; that he had an uncommon appetite for strong drink ; and that he became a confirmed inebriate toward the last years of his life. His wife, and Thomas Ninigret, his only son, left him and emigrated to the West. Idleness and intemperance soon reduced him to pov- erty and wretchedness. His authority was denied him ; his friends deserted him ; and, in brief, the most of his property passed out of his hands to cancel his debts. He died some time between the second Monday in September, 1769, and the last Monday in February, 1770. Very soon after his death a con- siderable portion of the tribe lands was sold to defray his ex- penses. The King's mansion was purchased by Nathan Kenyon, Esq., and from him it descended to James Kenyon, his son, and finally to James Nichols Kenyon, his grandson, the present proprietor. Esther Ninigret, the only sister of Thomas Ninigret, married Thomas Sachem ; and by him she had a son named George,who met with a tragical fate. The coronation of Queen Esther occurred as early as 1770, according to the best information that can be obtained. The rock on which she was elevated by her friends and councilors, preparatory to the reception of the crown, is sit- uated about twelve rods to the north of the late Thomas Nini- gret's residence. It is an isolated rock, projecting about three feet above the ground, well adapted to such occasion ; and it has become famous for this event. George Sachem, who met a premature death by a tree falling upon him, was the son of Queen Esther. The place, which has often been pointed out, where he was killed is located about sixty rods to the north of the school house pond, and at nearly the same distance from the child-crying rocks. It has not been learned, from any source, that he was ever crowned, although Mr. William Kenyon, of Charlestown, made the assertion many years ago. But in his death, when his sun went down to rise no more, the nation's last and final hope expired. 24 HISTORY OF WASHIiXGTOK AND KENT COUNTIKS. ''The Manisscs," says Reverend Mr. Denison, " were the inhabit- ants of Manisses, or Block Island. Our first knowledge of these seems to present them under the sceptre, or at least as allies, of the Niantics, whose fortunes they usually shared. At one time they fell under the yoke of the Pequots, but shortly regained their liberty, and returned to the protection of the confederated Narragansetts and Niantics. This was necessarily a small tribe, and never j-enowned for their exploits. " The Montimks. — This tribe po.ssessed the east end of :\Ietoac, or Long Island. Thev were concerned with the Manisses and Niantics chief! v by predatory incursions. They, too, for a time, were subject to the grasping Pequots, but finall}^ broke the yoke. Their notable sachem was Wyandance. With this king, through his sub sachem, or chief, called A.scas.sassatic, the Niantic king Ninigret had a war in 1(;(!4. The ilontauks had killed some of the Niantics. Ninigret achieved some retaliation. Wyandance then inflicted a blow upon Ninigret's men on Block Island, where the chiefs had agreed on a friendly visit. Of this feud Roger Williams says, ' The cause and root of all the present mischief is the pride of the two barbarians, Ascassassatic, the Long Island sachem, and Ninigret of the Narragansetts : the former is proud and foolish : the latter is proud and fierce.' In this struggle Ninigret was the victor. The first settlers of Connecticut pre- sumed to take the Long Island Indians under their protection, and sent messengers to Ninigret to demand peace. Ninigret an- swered, ' The Long Island Indians began the war, killed one of my sachem's sons and sixty men. If your governor's son were slain and several other men, would you ask coi:nsel of another nation how and when to right yourself ?' Against Ninigret was sent a force of two hundred and seventy foot and forty horse, under Major Willard. As Ninigret secured himself and his men in a swamp, after the Indian custom, the expedition was unsuc- cessful. Ninigret had a fort, but it was unsuited to meet the assault of English forces and arms. The swampy pastures re- ferred to were doubtless the cedar swamp near Burden's pond in Westerly. " The manner in which the once numerous Montauks were reduced to the humiliating necessity of seeking the protection of the planters of Connecticut, has been transmitted to us by tradition. In the bitter feud existing between Wyandance and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 25 Ninigret, both tribes made preparations for aggressive move- ments. On both sides secrecy was coupled with energy. Each tribe intended to secure a victory by surprise. It so occurred that both forces started for attack on the same night, a still, moonlight night of Indian summer. The savage fleets of log canoes were silently, swiftly speeding their way across the foot of the Sound. The moon was high and clear in the southwest, and its beams were hence so reflected by the glassy waters that the Niantic braves discovered the approaching Montauk fleet, while themselves remained unseen. Instantly Ninigret ordered his force to silently and speedily fall back to their own shore near Watch hill, where, hauling their canoes from the beach into concealed positions, they posted themselves in ambush over the sedgy and bushy banks to await the enemy. On came the in- vading host, all unconscious that the reflected moonbeams were revealing their motions and the place of their landing. Hushed and hopeful they struck the beach, hauled their fleet above the tide-marks, and were about to form in order for their march and marauding. The Niantics now rose and rushed upon the in- vaders like a tempest. The savage work was short and sanguin- ary. Scarce a remnant of the Montauk host escaped. But Nini- gret did not relinquish his contemplated invasion. Following up his success, he embarked for Metoac, where, finding the tribe of Wyandance unprepared and powerless, he greatly weakened them by slaughter and devastation. He returned with much booty, especially wampum and shells to be carved into wampum, for Montauk was regarded as an El Dorado. " We have noticed that for a time the Manisses were under the Pequot sceptre. During this period tradition informs us of a war between them and the Narragansetts, in the progress of which a princess of the Narragansetts or Niantics was taken prisoner and transported to the island. She was redeemable at a great price. The manner of her redemption linked the event with the history of the whites. Thomas Stanton, the celebrated Indian interpreter, by leave of the Connecticut colony, had set up a trading-house near the ford of the Pawcatuck to obtain furs and skins of the natives. He had a large quantity of Indian money. The price demanded for the redemption of the captured princess was so great that the natives were obliged to apply to Mr. Stanton for wampum. For the requisite fathoms of this coin the Indian authorities gave to Mr. Stanton a tract of land now in 26 HISTORY OF WASHINCTOX AND KENT COUNTIES. the township of Charlestown. The captive was ransomed and brought home from Manisses with great ceremony and rejoicing. Upon his lands thus obtained Mr. vStanton settled ; at least, his third son, Joseph, from whom the Rhode Island branch of the family are said to have descended. The event of the capture must not have been far from 1665." CHAPTER 11. THE NARRAGANSETT COUNTRY. Situation.— Trading Houses.— Boundary Lines.— The Colonial Controversy.— Al- tercations with Plymouth and Connecticut.— Petitions to the Throne.— The Charter of 1663.— Roger Williams' Letter.— The Trouble with Connecticut.— Meeting of the Commissioners.— The New Boundary Lines. — The King's Province.— The Letter to the King.— Decision of the King's Commissioners. —Final Settlement of the Difficulty.— The Palatine Light.— The King's High- way.— The Dark Day.— Slavery and the Slave Trade.— Lake Narragansett and other places. w '^ ^ WASHINGTON county lies wholly within what was for- merly called the Narragansett country. The extent of this territory, its early settlement, the claims of other colon- ies to its territory and the controversies relative to its possession and jurisdiction, its erection by the king into a distinct and sov- ereign government by the style of the King's Province, and its final reunion, form a subject that falls within our province and will be considered in the following pages. The Narragansett country was anciently bounded northerly as far as the present boundary of Rhode Island extends and how much farther is not now known ; northeasterly by the Blackstone river, easterly by the Narragansett bay, including the islands, and by the Seekonk river ; southerly by the Atlantic Ocean and westerly by Pawcatuck river. This was the territory inhabited by the Narragansett Indians. The Wampanoags, Nipmucs and other tribes of Indians more easterly and northerly, were tributaries to them, but threw off their allegiance after the arrival of the English. Of all the tribes between Boston and the Hudson river the Narragansetts were probably the most numerous. Roger Williams says they could raise five thousand fighting men, and Brinley says that they numbered thirty thousand men. Roger Williams observes when speaking of their population and settlement : " A man shall come to twenty towns, some bigger, .some le.sser, it may be a dozen in twenty miles travel." 28 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. At the time of the settlement of this country by the English, Canonicus and Miantinomo were the ruling sachems of the Nar- ragansett Indians. After the sale of Providence to Williams, the island of Rhode Island to Coddington and Shawomet or old Warwick to Gorton and their respective associates, those territor- ies virtually ceased to be called Narragansett. And after East Greenwich was conveyed and erected into a township in 1667, the name of Narragansett was circumscribed to the limits of the present county of Washington, bounding northerly on Hunt's river and on the soiith line of the county of Kent. The first settlements in the state were by Roger Williams at Providence in 1636, by Coddington at Portsmouth in 1638, and by Richard Smith at Wickford in Narragansett, in 1639. The three trading houses of .Smith, Williams and Wilcox were erected in 1642-3. As the power of the Indians became weak- ened from the increased settlements and intrusions of the whites, the question of the Narragansett country became a subject of avaricious contention. In 1631, Connecticut obtained her first patent, bounding them east on the Narragansett river, which they contended was what is now called Seekonk or Blackstone river. The Rhode Island patent obtained in 1643, bounded her on the north and northeast by Massachusetts, east and southeast by Plymouth, south by the ocean, west and northwest by the Nar- ragansetts, the whole tract extending about twenty-five English miles unto the Pequot river or country. The boundaries being loose and undefined by particular designated names or places, the geography being hardly emerged into any tolerable light, as Updike says, " that instead of ascertaining their limits on earth they fixed their boundaries in the Heavens." From this uncertainty of designation a controversy soon arose between the two colonies, respecting the charter jurisdiction of the Narragansett country. The settlements under the respective colonies were disputed, various and serious disturbances ensued, mingled with a bitter and acrimonious correspondence enforcing their respective titles. As soon as the town of Westerly, then called Misquamicut, began to be occupied by the whites, its jvir- isdiction fell into dispute. One ground of the disputes dated back to the Indian wars. The Pequots claimed posses.sion on the east side -of the PaM';catuck, and Massachusetts claimed the Pequot country by right of conquest, and when erecting South- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 29 erton (now Stonington) into a township they induded a section of Misquamicut (now Westerly) within its limits. In consequence of this claim by the Massachusetts colony, when Southerton was given up to Connecticut and named Stonington, Connecticut main- tained not only the old claim of conquest from Massachusetts formerly, but taking advantage of the loose and indefinite boundary lines between the contesting colonies, pushed their claims of jurisdiction from Narragansett river to Narragansett bay. Reverend Frederick Denison, A. M., in " Westerly and its Witnesses," thus plainly states the difficulty : " When Souther- ton was given up to Connecticut and named Stonington, Connec- ticut maintained not only the old claim of conquest from Massa- chusetts and the further claim of actual occupation, but taking advantage of the phraseology of the charters of Rhode Island and Connecticut, which named Narragansett river as the bound- ary between the two colonies, pushed the claim of jurisdiction to Narragansett bay. It was afterward decided that by Narra- gansett river was meant Pawcatuck river. In 1649 Thomas Stanton had a trading house on the Pawcatuck, and a monopoly of the trade at the mouth of the river, for a season granted by the Connecticut authorities. The Pequot claim extended to Weecapaug, about four miles east of the river. Massachusetts resigned her claim to Connecticut in 1658. In 1662 Harmon Garret, alias Wequascouke, governor of the remnant of the Pe- quots, stated that he and his people ' had broken up above a hun- dred lots, and lived quietly and comfortably, east of Pawcatuck River,' but had been • driven from their planting ground, — four- score Indian men, beside women and children, just at planting time.' They were expelled in part by Rhode Island men, since this colony claimed possession to the Pawcatuck, and the land had been purchased of the Indians." The old Rhode Island patent of 1643 included the Narragan- sett country, and the disputes about this tract had not only been a cause of contention with Connecticut, but occasional 'alterca- tions also with Plymouth. If the Narragansett was the Seekonk river, Connecticut claimed that the Narragansett country was embraced in her chartered limits ; and if the Narragansett was adjudged to be the Pawcatuck river, then Plymouth claimed the same territory as being embraced within her chartered limits, as the Narragansett river was her western boundary. Massachus- setts also claimed that part of Narragansett that lay west of the 30 lUSTORV f)F WASHING'l-ON AND KKNT COUNTIES. Weecapaug river, in Westerly, running about five or six miles east of Pawcatuck, as her part of the division of the Pequot country, obtained by the conquest in 1637. Updike, in his " History of the Narragansett Country," pub- lished in 1847, says : " Thus stood Rhode Island, possessed of only the towns of the island of Rhode Island, Providence, and the Shawomet settlements, contending singly for her rights against the power and physical energies of her three powerful neighbors, and only confronted and cheered by the distant hope of protection from the king. The Connecticut charter of 1662 embraced Narragansett ; Rhode Island, to sustain herself at this crisis, also petitioned the throne for a new charter, establishing her ancient jurisdiction, including the questioned title to Narra- gansett, which agitated anew at court the acrimonious dispute between the colony agents respecting the true location and name of the Narragansett river contemplated in their respective grants. For a more equitable adjustment of this litigated col- onial controversy the King called in the Connecticut charter, recently granted, for further consideration." In this posture of affairs, Mr. Winthrop, the agent of Connec- ticut, apprehensive of results fatal in other respects, from the inhibition, agreed with the agent of Rhode Island, Mr. Clark, to a general reference of the questions in dispute. William Bren- ton, Esq.., ;\Iaior Robert Thompson, Captain Richard Doane, Captain John Brookehaven and Doctor Benjamin Worsley were mutually chosen by the parties as the arbitrators to hear and decide the question. They fixed on terms which were signed and sealed by the agents of both colonies, Messrs. Winthrop and Clark, on the 7th of April, 1663, " That a river there commonly called by the name of Pawcatuck river shall be the certain bounds between those two colonies, which said river shall for the future be also called Narragansett river." " That the proprietors and inhabitants of that land about Smith's trading house claimed and purchased by Major Atherton and others shall have free liberty to choose to which of those colonies they will belong." On the 3d of July, 1663, they accordingly assembled and made choice of Connecticut. The Rhode Island charter of Julv 8th, 1663, mentioned and ccmfirmed the first article of the before mentioned award, but omitted the others. The charter, in No- vember, 1663, was received by Rhode Island, read publicly before the people, and accepted. This auspicious result inspired Rhode HISTORY OF WASHIXOTON AND KENT COUNTIKS. 31 Island with a confident hope that this irritating controversy was brovight to a successful termination. The agreement, solemn and formal as it was in its prospect, proved delusive. It did not settle the controversy. Connecticut contended that although Mr. Winthrop had a commission as agent to procure their char- ter, that in conformity thereto he did so and transmitted it to his house ; and upon that event his commission was fulfilled and to all intents his agency had ceased, and that thereafter he had no power to put their charter to arbitration, or authority to amend it, except instructed anew, and that the whole procedure was unknown to them. That in another respect Rhode Island her- self had nullified the agreement in not admitting the jurisdiction of Connecticut over the inhabitants of Narragansett, who had elected according to its provisions to live under their govern- ment. To relieve Rhode Island from a dilemma so pressing Roger Williams, in a letter to Major ^Nlason, of Connecticut, in explanation of the apparent perplexity that surrounded the transaction says : " Upon our humble address by our agent, Mr. Clark, to his Majesty, and his gracious promise of renewing our former charter, Mr. Winthrop upon some mistake had entrenched upon our line, but not only so but as it is said upon the lines of other charters also. Upon Mr. Clark's complaint your charter was called in again, and it had never been returned, but upon a report that the agents, Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Clark, were agreed by the mediation of friends (and it is true they came to a solemn agreement under hands and seals), which agreement was never violated on our part." This partial armistice rather exasperated than allayed the dis- position of the parties, and the contest was renewed with in- creased vigor. In the same year Rhode Island and Connecticut appointed magistrates in Narragan.sett to execute their respec- tive laws. In ]\larch, ]f5f)4, twenty armed men crossed the Paw- catuck, and with force entered the house of a citizen adhering to the government of Rhode Island, assaulted and seized the owner and carried him captive to Connecticut. Rhode Island, in the May following, seized John (ireene, of Quidnesit, an ad- herent of the opposite government, transported him to Newport, and threatened to arrest and imprison all others that would not subject themselves to their jurisdiction. The courts of each colonv holding their opposite sessions and promulgating their conflicting decisions, the continued arrests, captures and incar- 32 HISTORY OF WASHINcrroX AND KENT COUNTIKS. cerations of the adherents of each party seemed to threaten a speedy effusion gf blood. An inhabitant of Wickford, writing- to Connecticut for forces, says : " We are in greater trouble than ever and like to be war." These differences, intrusions and acts of violence and injustice reached the ears of the home government, and to prevent the threatened catastrophe tlie king in April, 1664, appointed Colonel Richard Nichols, .Sir Robert Carr, George Cartwright and vSam- uel ^laverick. Esquires, commissioners {of which Colonel Nichols during life was always to be one) to determine all complaints, caiises and matters, military, civil and criminal, in the colonies of New England. The commissioners met in :\lay, 1665 (Nichols absent), and erected the King's Province. By an order under their hands and seals the Narragansett country again put on new boundary lines. This territory westward was bounded by the Pawcatuck river, and from thence in a north line drawn to Massachusetts line from the middle of said river into an independent jurisdiction, called King's Province, and ordered, "That no person of luliatever colony soever, shall presume to exercise any jnrisdietion ivit/nn the Kings Province, but such as receive authority from us under our hands and seals until his majesty's pleasure be further knozun," and that the magistrates of Rhode Island exercise the authority of justices of the peace in the King's Province until May, 1665. After that day they empowered the governor, deputy gov- ernor and assistants only as magistrates to hold courts, etc., in said province. The letter of the king confirmed the decision of the commissioners as to the possession, government and absobite and immediate sovereignty of the King's Province. Thus Rhode Island became dissevered, and the Narragansett country, one- half of her territory, was erected into an independent and sov- ereign province by the name of King's Province. xVfter this all acts of parliament affecting the colony were referred to by the style of " The Colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Planta- tions and the King's Province." Yet the magistrates appointed in conformity to the king's commissioners probably never exer- cised independent jurisdiction over said province north of the Warwick line. This decision of the commissioners, however, was perplexing almost to madness to the enemies of the division. The incon- veniences arising from the erection of a new jurisdiction over lilSTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 33 one-half of her chartered domain, rather tended to fetter the energies of state instead of relieving her from impending troubles in subsequent contentions with her powerful rival. It was due to these facts that in 1666 an address was presented to the king, also another to Lord Chancellor Clarendon, praying the re-union of Narragansett to Rhode Island, but it proved una- vailing. In 167o the Indian war commenced, and although Rhode Island was at peace with the people, the circumstances under which she was now placed were perplexing. But the United Colonies, regardless of colonial jurisdiction, invaded the colony with arms and exterminated the Indians at a blow. Concerning this war with the Narragansetts Rhode Island, in a letter to the king, thus states : " It began in June, 1675, and broke forth betAveen King Philip and the colony of New Plymouth, and was prosecuted by the United Colonies, as they term themselves, and afterward several other nations of Indians were concerned in said war, whereby many and most of your majesty's subjects in these parts were greatly distressed and ruined. But this, your majesty's colony, not being con- cerned in the war only as a necessity required for the defense of their lives and what they could of their estates, and as coun- trymen did with our boats and provisions assist and relieve our neighbors, we being no other way concerned." In a letter to Connecticut Rhode Island says : " We are very apt to believe, if matters come to a just inquiry concerning the cause of the war that our Narragansett sachems, which were subjects of his majesty, and by his aforesaid commissioners taken into protection and put under our government, and to us at all times manifested their submission by appearing when sent for ; neither was there any manifestation of war against us from them till by the United Colonies they were forced to war or to such submission as it seems they could not subject to, thereby invoh"- ing us in such hazards, charge and losses which have fallen upon us in our out plantations that no colony hath received the like, considering our number of people." After the extermination of the Narragansetts they claimed the King's Province as a conquered territory, to which Rhode Island for this reason among others had no title. Under pre- tense of an amicable adjustment, Rhode Island being thus crip- pled and down trodden by the incursions of the United Colonies, 3 34 HISTORY OF WASHINGTOX AND KKNT COUNTIES. Connecticut offered peace upon a division of territory, saying, " That although our just rights, both by patent and conquest ex- tend much further, yet our readiness to amicable and neighborly compliance is such that for peace sake we content ourselves to take with Cowesit (that is from Apponaug to Connecticut line) to be the boundary between your colony and ours." In this state of exhaustion, and for the peaceful enjoyment of the remainder Rhode Island felt herself compelled to answer, " That if you would accept of one-half of all the land in the tract above un- purchased Ave should not much scruple to surrender it to be at your disposal, provided it may be inhabited by such persons as shall faithfully submit to this his majesty's authority in this jurisdiction. We have made this tender out of that respect we bear to the country in general." Connecticut refused this propo- sition, and Updike says : " Rhode Island in this state of de- spair threw herself upon her own energies, and determined if she fell to fall with dignitv." Connecticut was not satisfied with the decision of the king's commissioners, they alleging their award was void owing to the absence of Colonel Nichols, who was required always to be one of the board and because also he had subsequently revoked the order of the other commissioners. They therefore sent a com- mittee to the King's Province and after surveying, proceeded to lay out new plantations within the disputed boundaries, Rhode Island settling other portions with her adherents. Thus the dis- puted territory became occupied -with claimants under both gov- ernments. Proclamations fulminated from both colonies, breath- ing vengeance to intruders and conjuring all parties to fidelity. Both sides made arrests and captures, and laws were enacted by each government threatening forfeiture of estates to all who claimed under or acknowledged -the jurisdiction of the other. John Baffin, holding under Connecticut, was convicted at Newport of adhering to a foreign jurisdiction and his estate confiscated and others were prosecuted or imprisoned or bailed. In retalia- tion Connecticut seized several Rhode Islanders and imprisoned them at Hartford and New London. In the midst of this turbu- lent state of affairs, Rhode Island in 1680 appealed to the king and gave notice to Connecticut that she might prepare for trial without delay, of which the latter accepted and assured Rhode Island in return " that they should exercise no further govern- ment east of Pawcatuck river until his majesty decided 'the ap- peal." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 35 Agents were not dispatched by either party to prosecute the appeal and affairs remained in as disturbed a condition as before. In April, 1683, the king commi.ssioned Edward Cranfield, lieu- tenant-governor and commandef-in-chief of New Hampshire; William StoughtOn, Joseph Dudley, Edward Palmer, John Pyn- chon, Jr., and Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esq., for the purpose of the "quieting of all disputes that have arisen concerning the right of propriety to the jurisdiction and soil of a certain tract of land in New England called the King's Province or Narragan- sett country." From the constitution of this court being com- posed of commissioners selected from the United Colonies who.se feelings had ever been inimical to the existence of Rhode Island, she augured anything but auspicious results. The commissioners assembled at Smith's castle, near Wickford, in pursuance of their appointment, attended by the agents of Connecticut and Plym- outh to litigate their respective claims to the King's Province. Rhode Island peremptorily refused to acknowledge the authority ■of the court. Her legislature, assembled within a mile, denied their right to adjudicate, and ordered their sergeant-at-arms with his trumpet at the head of a troop of horse by loud proclamation, to prohibit them from keeping court in any part of their juris- diction. They adjourned to Boston and finally adjudged as might have been expected, "that the jurisdiction of the King's Province belonged of right to Connecticut." The sturdy re- mon.strance of Rhode Island to the king against the partial or- ganization of the court defeated the confirmation of its decision. In I680 another ill-advised effort was made to terminate the existing agitations. The king in that year commissioned Josepli Dudley as president of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and the King's Province — thus uniting the four provinces under one common head. Dudley assumed the government and by proclamation declared the King's Province a separate govern- ment independent of Rhode Island. He assembled his coun- cil at Smith's castle and in the plentitude of authority established courts, appointed magistrates and, to obliterate every recollection of their former political exi.stence, substituted the town names of Rochester for Kingstown, Haversham for Westerly and Dedford for Greenwich. Rhode Island, enfeebled by dismemberment, quietly submitted until the arrest of Andros and the subversion of his government, when she re-established her authority. All efforts of the home government proving fruitless, Rhode 36 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Island and Connecticut attempted to settle their boundaries by commissioners of their own. In 1703, after much negotiation, an agreement was made, but was not confirmed by Connecticut, and finally all efforts to produce a peaceful conclusion of the long and painful controversy failing, Rhode Island in a letter to Connecticut dated July 7th, 1720, declared, " As you rejected all endeavors [meaning the line of 1703, which was run near where the boundary is now established], as well as other endeavors for an accommodation and will not be satisfied without swallowing up the greatest part of our small colony, we are therefore deter- mined, with the blessing of God, with all expedition to make our appeal to the King in council for his determination and de- cree of our westerly bounds ; and that you may not be surprised we humbly notify you thereof that you make take such steps as you may think to justify and vindicate yourselves." Rhode Island appointed Joseph Jenckes, Esq., their lieutenant- governor, a special agent, to proceed to London to conduct the appeal. Connecticut appointed Jeremiah Dummer, the resident agent of ^Massachusetts, their agent for the same purpose, and the trial proceeded. Conflicts ceased, as if both parties were weary of the tedious, irritating and savage controversy, and waited with sullen patience the decision of the common umpire at Whitehall. The king and council promulgated the final de- cision, establishing Pawcatuck river as the west boundarj^ of Rhode Island, and uniting the Kings Province, which had ex- isted fifty years as an independent jurisdiction, to Rhode Island. The Palatine Light. — The richest tradition which the old islanders delight to relate, is the uncanny story of the burning Palatine ship, made famous by Whittier's fine poem, and Dana's " Buccaneer." The tale about the ship is so shrouded in the ob- scurity of tradition that its authenticity is quite uncertain. As narrated bj? the islanders the story is briefly this : "About 17.-)6 a German vessel laden with emigrants from the Palatinate, a former political division of Germany, sailed for the West In- dies. On the passage a mutiny had arisen, the captain had been killed and the passengers robbed. The ship was driven by a storm upon Long Point, Block Island. The passengers and crew were all landed except one lady, who refused to leave the vessel. The ship was subsequently fired and burned, with the unfortu- nate lady on board. Alost of th(we landed from the ship were sick and soon died. Three women alone survi\-ed, and two of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 37 them lived and died on tlie island. These two women were called ' Tall Kattern ' and ' Short Kattern.' The former married a negro, and some of their descendants are said to be still living." The more prosaic stor}' is that a German vessel in distress landed at the island, left several sick passengers, and after re- maining in port some time sailed away. Most of those put ashore died, but two or three survived and lived upon the island, as is related in the more correct tradition. Whether the ship was burned is a question which cannot be definitely settled, but the weight of evidence seems to favor the story that she was burned. The graves of the poor unfortunates buried on the island were clearly marked a few years since. Honorable William P. Sheffield, in his " Historical Sketch of Block Island," speaks as follows of the last resting place of the Palatinates : " On the south side of Block Island, but a few rods west of where the ' Ann Hope,' the India ship of Brown & Ives, of Providence, was wrecked, and some forty or fifty rods to the east of the ' Black Rock Gull}-,' on a little knoll is a cluster of graves; up to within a few years they were distinctly visible, but the un- feeling plow has passed over them, and has almost obliterated their existence. In the ' Pocock Meadow,' a mile further west- ward, and in a field lately owned by the late Jesse Lewis, were other clusters of graves, long within my memory, if not now, visible. These were all known as the ' Palatine Graves.' The existence of these graves and their designation will not be ques- tioned." Tradition has connected this story with an unexplained phe- nomenon, which was of frequent occurrence years ago, but which has not appeared in these latter days of scepticism. This is the wonderful light seen off the northern part of the island, known as the famous Palatine light. The story is that every year there appears the ship, under full sail, on fire in every part, as a terri- ble reminder to the islanders of the inhumanity of the inhabi- tants in firing the Palatine ship and burning to death the unfortunate lady who refused to leave the fated vessel. The tale is still implicitly believed in by many of the " oldest in- habitants ;" and by the superstitious islanders the strange light was long thought to be supernatural. It was first seen, it is said, after the burning of the Palatine ship, and it was believed to be 38 HISTORY OK \VASHIN(;T0N and KENT COUNTIES. a ship on fire. The credulous people easily supplied in imagina- tion the burning hull, spars and sails, and thought they beheld a spectre ship in a mass of flame. But this appearance is so well authenticated that its existence can not be doubted. A strange light has been seen at various times during the earlier part of the century. The testimony is numerous and almost unimpeach- able. What this light was has never been explained. Doctor Aaron C. Willey, a resident physician of the island, in Decem- ber, 1811, addressed to a friend in New York a letter in which he gave a full description of the Palatine light, as seen by himself- He describes it as follows : "This curious irradiation rises from the ocean near the north- ern part of the island. Its appearance is nothing different from a blaze of fire ; whether it actually touches the water, or mereh' hovers over it, is uncertain, for I am informed that no person has been near enough to decide accurately. vSometimes it is. small, resembling the light through a distant window ; at others expanding to the highness of a ship with all her canvas spread. When large it displays either a pyramidal form, or three con- stant streams. This light often seems to be in a constant state of mutation ; decreasing by degrees it becomes invisible, or resem- bles a lucid point ; then shining anew, sometimes with a sudden flare, at others by a gradual increasement to its former size. Often the mutability regards the lustre only, becoming less and less bright until it disappears, or nothing but a pale outline can be discerned of its full size, then resuming its full splendor in the manner before related. The duration of its greatest and least state of illumination is not commonly more than three minutes. '•■" * * It is seen at all seasons of the year, and for the most part in the calm weather which precedes an easterly or southerly storm." The writer adds that this blaze actually emits luminous rays. He states that he twice saw it personally. The following extract from a letter of Mr. Benjamin Congdon, formerly a resident of the Narragansett country, published in the Newport Mercury, ]\Iarch 23d, 1nd the publication of the Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner until 1888. A building 44 by 51 feet, three stories high, has been erected by Mr. Campbell on the opposite side of the street, between the highway and the mill pond, which is 7 98 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. known as the " Gleaner Building." The first story has two stores, the second is occupied by the Gleaner printing establishment since June, 1888, and the third story is occupied by the Grand Army of the Republic. John H. Campbell, printer and editor of the Paivtuxet Valley Gleaner, was born in Phenix, Rhode Island, May 27th, 1849. His father, Neil Campbell, was a native of the town of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, Scotland, where his birth occurred October 12th, 1817. He emigrated to America in October, 1848, and for a num- ber of years resided in Phenix and vicinity, from which point the family removed to Providence in 1856. In 1839 Mr. Campbell married Catherine Hart, who was born in Wiggin, in England, on the 25th of February, 1822, and came to America in May, 1849. Their son, John H., was educated in the public schools of Provi- dence and the Mt. Pleasant Academy. Choosing journalism as a profession, he entered the office of the Providence Press with a view to becoming familiar with the printer's art, and was subse- quently made foreman of the Chronicle, published at North Attle- boro, Massachusetts. In 1876 he, in company with a partner, es- tablished the Paivtuxet Valley Gleaner. Two years later, the firm being dissolved by the purchase of his partner's interest, he be- came sole owner. With the exceptional vigor and judgment evinced in its management, the paper now ranks among the leading journals of the state. Mr. Campbell, in 1874, married Miss Marie Louise Angus, daughter of James and Mary Louise Angus, of Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. In the year 1854 Mr. William N.Sherman purchased the press, type and other material formerly belonging to Mr. Lincoln and issued at East Greenwich the first number of the Rhode Island Penduluin, on the 27th of May, 1854. Mr. Josiah B. Bowditch is now proprietor of the Pendiilmn. The Greenwich Enterprise was established in 1879 as the local appendix of the Pendnhnn, which was printed in the city of Provi- dence. It was then a folio of four columns only, but has since been enlarged to seven, and its editor, Thomas C. Brown, has made it one of the most attractive and entertaining sheets pub- lished in the whole county. The paper continued as the local one for the older publication for eight years, when Mr. Brown purchased all interests of the paper, and made his first issue as AHTOTYPE, t. BIER6TADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 99 an independent paper January 6th, 1888. The Enterprise is in every way identified with the people of East Greenwich and their interests, and its patronage is good. Mr. Brown is a son of John Clark Brown, grandson of Captain Clark Brown and great- grandson of Daniel Brown, who was lost at sea with the vessel " Deborah." The first regular newspaper published in Westerly appeared in the spring of 1851 with the title of The Literary Echo. It was issued weekly, under the editorial and business management of Mr. George H. Babcock, now president of the Babcock & Wilcox Safety Steam Power Company in New York, who was assisted and advised to some extent by his father, Mr. Asher M. Babcock. As indicated in its title, this paper combined literary selections and local reports, which was done in a way to give general satis- faction to the reading public. The Echo was continued seven years under the management, at different periods, of its original proprietors and of Messrs. Edwin G. Champlin and James H. Hoyt. In the spring of 1858, the issue of that paper having become irregu- lar, and the printing material somewhat run down, the establish- ment was sold by Mr. Hoyt in equal halves to the original pro- prietors and Mr. John Herbert Utter, a practical printer, who had been for several years employed in the of&ce of The Sabbath Re- corder in New York city. On the 26th day of April, 1858, The Narragansett Weekly was issued as the successor of the Echo, the title of the new firm being J. H. Utter & Co. One year later, the half interest of the original proprietors was purchased by Mr. George B. Utter, the machinery and facilities of the office were greatly increased, and the general business of printing and pub- lishing extended under the firm name of G. B. & J. H. Utter, in which name the business continued without interruption for nearly thirty years, until the death of Mr. J. H. Utter, in October, 1887, when his interest in the concern was purchased by the sur- viving partner and passed over to Mr. George H. Utter (son of the survivor and nephew of the deceased), and the firm name be- came G. B. & G. H. Utter. In this connection it is proper to state that in the autumn of 1861, The Sabbath Recorder (the weekly organ of the Seventh-day Baptist denomination), which had been published in New York city eighteen years, mostly in charge of the senior member of the firm of G. B. & J. H. Utter, was removed from that city to Westerly, and its publication was continued there by the firm for eleven years, until 1872, when " the sub- 100 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. scription list, patronage and favor " of that paper were sold to the American Sabbath Tract Society, and the location of the paper was changed from Westerly to Alfred Center, N. Y. George B. Utter, though not a native of Washington county, is so direct a descendant from one of its old families, and has been so intimately connected with its social, religious and busi- ness interests, and especially with its public press, that his por- trait and some account of his life and work may appropriately find a place in this volume. His paternal grandfather, Abram Utter, was a native and a lifelong resident of Hopkinton City, so called, in Washington county, and his father, William Utter, grew up in that " city," which he left on his twenty-first birthday to settle temporarily in New Hartford, Oneida county, N. Y. His maternal grandfather, Reuben Wilcox, was a native of Middle- town, Connecticut, which place he left when a young man to settle in Whitestown, Oneida county, N. Y.,and there his mother, Dolly Wilcox, was born, said to have been the first white child born in that then new township. In due time William Utter and Dolly Wilcox, residing in adjoining townships, were married, and soon afterward took up their permanent residence in a village some twenty miles south of Utica, known as Unadilla Forks, in Otsego county, and there the subject of this notice was born, February 4th, 1819. Being the seventh son, his parents, as was common in those days, early entertained the idea of having him educated for the medical profession, and with that in view sent him, at twelve years of age, to the then popular academy at Whitesboro, N. Y. But he, tiring of school, and desiring more active employment, was allowed, a year or two later, to com- mence learning the trade of a printer, which he did in the office of a weekly religious newspaper, published at Homer, Cortland county, N. Y., called Tlie Protestant Sentinel. Two years after he entered that office the location of the paper (and his own as well) was changed from Homer to Schenectady, N. Y., where for two years he was quite intimately associated with several of the younger students in Union College, and where he becarrie a mem- ber of the Apprentices' Library Association, read many of its books, and took an active part in its private debates and public meetings. Having determined in these years to pursue a course of classical study, he entered the Oneida Institute, at Whitesboro, N. Y., in the fall of 1836, from which he graduated, valedictorian of his class, in June, 1840. In the October following he entered • >>&* « '*. "- ^'^K-Prestoni':"'! y(Lo./§ UtteTy^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 101 the Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, from which he graduated in June, 1843. Three weeks before graduating from the seminary, he was ordained to the work of the gospel ministry at a meeting of the Seventh-day Baptist Eastern Association, held in Piscataway, N.J., and at the request and by the appointment of that body, he sailed soon afterward for England, with a view of establishing closer fraternal relations between the Seventh-day Baptist churches of this country and those of kindred faith in that country. As in- cidental to this primary object of his mission, he was also to study in the library of the British jMuseum, in London, and in the Bodleian Library, at Oxford, the history of the Sabbath discus- sion in that country, and to collect books on the subject as the nucleus of a Sabbath library in this country. After accom- plishing to a good degree the object sought, he returned to New York city in the spring of 1844, when he joined with others in establishing a religious newspaper, called Tlie Sabbath Recorder, which soon became the recognized organ of the vSeventh-day Baptist denomination. For more than twenty-five years he edited and published that paper, at the same time taking an oversight of the monthly and quarterly periodicals and the books and re- ports of various kinds published for circulation in and by that denomination. After the breaking out of the civil war, in 1861, Mr. Utter hav- ing become interested in a printing establishment in AYesterly, removed to that place the New York periodicals and continued them there in connection with the publication of a local and gen- eral newspaper called The Narragansett Weekly until, in 1872, he sold the "subscription list, patronage and favor," of The Sabbath Recorder to a denominational society wishing to make that paper the nucleus of a publishing establishment located near the uni- versity at Alfred Center, N. Y. Since that time Mr. Utter's atten- tion has been given to the editing of The Narragansett Weekly at Westerly, to the publication of matters in which he had a per- sonal interest, to official duties connected with various benevolent societies and to different business enterprises. In the year 1843 he was associated with others in organizing the Seventh-day Baptist Missionary Society, and for most of the time since he has been a member of the board of managers of that society, having served as its recording secretary twelve consecutive years, from 1847 to 1858, and as its treasurer for twenty-one consecutive years, 102 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. from 1862 to 1883. To other benevolent societies of the denomi- nation -v^ith which he sympathized he has sustained relations similar in kind, though less intimate and exacting. He has also filled offices of trust and responsibility for the community in which he has resided, having been a member of the town council of Westerly for five years, from 1868 to 1873; a member of the board of assessors of the town for five years, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1882 and 1883, and a trustee of School District No. 1 of Westerly for five consecutive years, from 1869 to 1874, including the period in which the Central building of the district on Elm street was erected, the graded system was introduced, and the debt incurred by the district in enlarging and improving its educational facili- ties was fimded. In February, 1884, the Rhode Island Telephone was moved from Wickford, R.I. , to Westerly, and the paper was thereafter known as The Westerly News and Rhode Island Telephone, until January 7th, 1888. J. Warren Gardiner, during that time, was the editor and proprietor. Upon the latter mentioned date, Alva C. Lowrey as- sumed the charge thereof, changing the name of the publication to The Westerly Tribune. It continued to be issued as a weekly until September 6th, 1888, when the first number of The Westerly Daily Trihme appeared. Since that time a daily and weekly edition have been printed. The Daily Tribune has been well received and is rapidly becoming a prominent factor in the community. It has a large and growing circulation, and a good advertising patronage. It is independent in politics, but pronounced in its opinions upon all questions affecting the public interest. It was published by The Tribune Company, composed by Thomas H. Peabody and Alva C. Lowrey, until January 81st, 1889, when Mr. Peabody became sole proprietor. Thomas H. Peabody.— The grandparents of Mr. Peabody were Benjamin and Martha (Peckham) Peabody. His parents were Francis S. and Martha A. (Phillips) Peabody, of North Stoning- ton. Conn. Their son, Thomas H., was born September 28d, 1839, in North Stonington, where he continued to reside until his twenty-first year, meanwhile pursuing his studies at the pub- lic schools, and in 1857 at the East Greenwich Academy. He was then for awhile engaged in teaching, and also accepted a clerkship, which he filled until his majority was attained. En- oro. 9/ srnOFrELD unOh- ARTOTYPE, e. aiERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 103 taring the office of Messrs, Thurston & Ripley, of Providence, as a student at law, he was, at the expiration of his third year of study, admitted in May, 1864, to the bar of Rhode Island, and subsequently to the bar of Connecticut and that of the United States courts. He spent twelve months in the West, and on his return in 1865, opened an office in Westerly, where he continued in successful practice until 1886. In the latter year, and during an embarrassed condition of the Stillman Manufacturing Com- pany, he was elected its treasurer. Thereupon he relinquished his profession to devote his attention exclusively to a settlement of the company's affairs. At the age of fourteen Mr. Peabody served an apprenticeship as a printer's devil, and by a singular co-incidence, resumed his connection with newspaper work many years later. Circum- stances, in 1888, made him the owner of The Westerly Tribitne, in connection with Alva C. Lowrey. Discerning the fact that en- ergy and enterprise might greatly increase the circulation and influence of this paper, they soon issued a daily edition, which has won, by its activity and independence, a strong hold on the public. To this paper Mr. Peabody, as senior editor, has, since August 1st, 1888, given the larger share of his time and attention. January 31st, 1889, he purchased the interest of Mr. Lowrey in the Tribune, thus becoming sole proprietor thereof. As a law- yer he took a leading rank at the bar of the county, and was interested in most of the important cases that came before the courts. Realizing the inconvenience to Westerly from the holding of the courts in a distant part of the county, Mr. Pea- body made a determined effort to change the old system. After much labor, covering a period of seven years, and great cost to himself, he was ultimately successful, in connection with Hon. George Carmichael, of Shannock, and others, in obtaining, April 22d, 1881, an act of the legislature, by which four sessions of the supreme court and court of common pleas are annually held in Westerly. In politics the subject of this sketch was formerly a republican, and now casts his vote independently of party ties. He repre- sented his town in the general assembly in the years 1878-79, declining a re-election. A candidate for the supreme court bench, he was not successful, but received a flattering vote, and the solid support of his section of the state. An avowed prohi- bitionist, he was nominated by that party for governor in the spring of 1887, running largely ahead of the balance of his ticket, 104 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and for congress the following fall. He has also held many local offices and been foremost in the advocacy of measures tending to the improvement and growth of the town. He is one of the board of directors of the AVesterly Water Works. Mr. Peabody was, on the 8th of September, 1874, married to Lucy E., daughter of Ira G. Briggs, of Griswold, Conn. Both Mr. and Mrs. Peabody are members of the First Baptist church of Westerly. On the 20th of February, 1886, Mr. E. Anson Stillman issued a semi-monthly sheet, mainly for advertising purposes, under the title of Stillman s Idea, of which fifty-four numbers were printed, when it was discontinued. On the 19th of June, 1888, the first number appeared of a weekly newspaper called The Westerly Journal, of which Mr. Frank H. Campbell was the editor and proprietor. In the summer of 1888 twenty-six numbers were issued by Mr. George G. Champlin of a semi-weekly paper, under the title of The Surf, having in view mainly the reporting and advertising of matters of special interest to visitors at the various watering places in the vicinity of Westerly. The Wood Rive?- Advertiser yfa.s'printQdi in t\lQ^fil\^ige of Hope Valley, by L. W. A. Cole. November 1st, 1866, a new era was commenced in the history of this village by the introduction of a new press into the town by Mr. Cole, and thereafter work of this kind has not been done elsewhere. January 6th, 1879, Mr. Cole so prospered in business that he was induced to publish a local paper, which has since kept growth with the place, and has now, under the management and able pen of H. N. Phillips, become a recognized power for good in the village and town. Under Mr. Phillips' ownership the name of the paper has been changed to the Sentinel- Advertiser, and increased in size to a folio of seven columns. The Wiekford Standard is the youngest paper in Rhode Island. It was established in the summer of 1888, by Claude Gardiner, publisher, under the editorial charge and management of James H. Coggeshall. It is a folio of five columns, printed with new type, on good paper, and is meeting the expectations of the peo- ple of North Kingstown very satisfactorily. It is well gotten up and well arranged, and has become so firmly established as a first-class local family newspaper, that there is no doubt that its life in the village of Wiekford will be a long and prosperous one. CHAPTER V. MILITARY HISTORY. Revolutionary Period.— Original Causes of the War. — Destruction of the British Vessels "Liberty" and " Gaspee."— Forces Raised by the Various Towns.— Reminiscences of the Sanguinary Conflict.— Kentish Guards.— The Capture of Major-General Prescott. — Colonel Christopher Greene.— Major-General Nathaniel Greene.— The Dorr Rebellion.— The Civil War. THE uninterrupted quiet and prosperity the two counties of Washington and Kent had enjoyed was now to give place to the turmoil which necessarily precedes war. New in- dustries gave way to a languid business, and instead of the people being able to follow the avocations incident to peaceful and pros- perous times, the depths of society were stirred by the adverse winds of political opinion. Though the plan for a federal union of the colonies at Albany in 1754 failed of adoption, yet the novel idea was made apparent a few years subsequently, and eventually culminated in the act that rendered the fourth of Jul}?, 1776, a day memorable in the annals of the world. In, 1764 the celebrated stamp act was passed, lev3dng a duty on all paper used f^r instruments of writing, etc., and declaring all such writings on unstamped material to be null and void. A duty •on glass, leads, paints and paper, and an import duty of three pence a pound on tea, were proposed. On the arrival of the news of the stamp act, the people were much excited. In July, 1769, " the British armed sloop ' Liberty,' Captain William Reid, cruising in Long Island sound and Narra- gansett bay in search of contraband traders, had needlessly an- noyed all the coasting craft that came in her way. Two Connec- ticut vessels, a brig and a sloop, were brought into Newport on .suspicion of smuggling. An altercation ensued between the cap- tain of the brig and some of the ' Liberty's ' crew, in which the former was maltreated and his boat fired upon from the vessel. The same evening the people obliged Reid, while on the wharf. 106 HISTORY OF. WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to order all his men, except the first officer, to come on shore and answer for their conduct. A party then boarded the ' Liberty,' sent the officers on shore, cut the cable and grounded the sloop at the Point. There they cut away the mast and scuttled the ves- sel, and then carried her boats to the upper end of the town and burnt them. This was the first overt act of violence offered to the British authorities in this state. The two prizes escaped. This was followed by various acts of resistance of minor import- ance, all of which tended to the same result that eventually tran- spired." For several years previous to the actual outbreak of the war much trouble had been occasioned by an illicit trade carried on by vessels along the coast, which induced the commissioners of customs to place armed vessels to guard the coast. It was soon after this that the destruction of the " Gaspee " took place on the Warwick coast, and the first Tory blood shed in connection with the revolutionary war. The details of this affair are best given in a statement made in 1839 by Colonel Ephraim Bowen, who was concerned in the affair and was prob- ably the last survivor of the little band : " In the year 1772, the British government had stationed at Newport, Rhode Island, a sloop of war, with her tender, the schooner called the ' Gaspee,' of eight guns, commanded by William Duddingston, a lieutenant in the British navy, for the purpose of preventing the clandestine landing of articles subject to the payment of duty. The captain of this schooner made it his practice to stop and board all vessels entering or leaving the ports of Rhode Island, or leaving New- port for Providence. On the 10th day of June, 1772, Captain Thomas Lindsey left Newport, in his packet, for Providence, about noon, with the wind at north ; and soon after the ' Gaspee "" was under sail in pursuit of Lindsey, and continued the chase as far as Namcut Point, which runs off from the farm in Warwick, about seven miles below Providence, and is now owned by Mr. John B. Francis, our late governor. Lindsey was standing east- erly, with the tide on ebb, about two hours, when he hove about at the end of Namcut Point, and stood to the westward and Dud- dingston, in close chase, changed his course and ran on the Point near its end and grounded. Lindsey continued on his course up the river and arrived at Providence about sunset, when he im- mediately informed Mr. John Brown, one of our first and most respectable merchants, of the situation of the 'Gaspee.' He im- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 107' mediately concluded that she would remain immovable till after- midnight, and that now an opportunity offered of putting- an end to the trouble and vexation she daily caused. Mr. Brown imme- diately resolved on her destruction, and he forthwith directed one. of his trusty shipmasters to collect eight of the largest long boats, in the harbor, with five oars each, to have the oars and oar locks, muffled to prevent noise, and to place them at Fenner's wharf,, directly opposite the dwelling of Mr. James Sabin, who kept ai house of board and entertainment for gentlemen, being the same^ house purchased a few years later by Welcome Arnold, one of our enterprising merchants, and is now owned by and is the res- idence of Colonel Richard J. Arnold, his son. " About the time of the shutting of the shops, soon after sun- set, a man passed along the Main street, beating a drum, and in- formed the inhabitants of the fact that the ' Gaspee ' was aground on Namcut Point, and would not float off until three o'clock the next morning, and inviti'ng those persons who felt a disposition to go and destroy that troublesome vessel, to repair in the even- ing to Mr. James Sabin's house. About 9 o'clock I took my father's gun and my. powder horn and bullets and went to Mr.. Sabin's house, and found the southeast room full of people, when, I loaded my gun, and all remained there till about 10 o'clock, some casting bullets in the kitchen and others making arrange-- ments for departure ; when orders were given to cross the street, to Fenner's wharf and embark, which soon took place, and a sea- captain acted as steersman of each boat, of whom I recollect .Cap- tain Abraham Whipple, Captain John B. Hopkins (with whom I embarked), and Captain Benjamin Dunn. A line from right to> left was soon formed, with Captain Whipple on the right, and Captain Hopkins on the right of the left wing. The party thus proceeded till within about sixty yards of the ' Gaspee,' when a sentinel hailed, ' Who comes there ? ' No answer. He hailed again and no answer. In about a minute Duddingston mounted*, the starboard gunwale in his shirt and hailed, ' Who comes there ? ' No answer. He hailed again, when Captain Whipple answered as follows : ' I am the sheriff of the county of Kent * * * ; I have got a warrant to apprehend you '"' * * ; so surrender ■* * * .'I took my seat on the main thwart near the larboard row-lock, with my gun by my right side and facing forwards. As. soon as Duddingston began to hail, Joseph Bucklin, who was standing on the main thwart, said to me, ' Eph, reach me your 108 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. gun, I can kill that fellow?' I reached it to him accordingly, when, during Captain Whipple's replying, Bucklin fired and Dud- dingston fell, and Bucklin exclaimed : ' I have killed the rascal ! ' In less than a minute after Captain Whipple's answer, the boats were alongside of the ' Gaspee,' and she was boarded without op- position. The men on deck retreated below, as Duddingston en- tered the cabin. As it was discovered that he was wounded, John Mawney, who had for two or three years been studying physic and surgery, was ordered to go into the cabin and dress Duddington's wound and I was directed to assist him. On exam- ination it was found that the ball took effect about five inches directly below the navel. Duddingston called for Mr. Dickinson to produce bandages and other necessaries, for dressing the wound, and when finished, orders were given to the schooners company to collect their clothing and everything that belonged to them, and put them into the boats, as all of them were to be sent ashore.. All were soon collected and put on board the boats, including one of our boats. They departed and landed Dudding- ston at the old still-house wharf at Pawtuxet, and put the chief into the house of Joseph Rhodes. Soon after all the party were ordered to depart, leaving one boat for the leaders of the expedi- tion, who soon set the vessel on fire, which consumed her to the water's edge. " The names of the most conspicuous of the party are, Mr. John Brown, Captain Abraham Whipple, John B. Hopkins, Ben- jamin Dunn, and five others whose names I have forgotten, and John Mawney, Benjamin Page, Joseph Bucklin and Turpin Smith, my youthful companions, all of whom are dead, I believe every man of the party excepting myself ; and my age is eighty-six, this twenty-ninth day of August, eighteen hundred and thirty- nine." It is difficult at this late day to obtain full and accurate accounts of the military forces furnished for the war in any particular portion of the state. The forces were necessarily blended with the army of the country. It is certain, however, that the heart of this region throbbed strongly and warmly in the patriotic cause. The enemy captured Block Island, and also the island of Rhode Island, which they held till 1779. Marauding and plundering expeditions were frequent along the shores, and the two counties in particular were thoroughly aroused to action. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 109 Of the militia, in 1776, Joshua Babcock, of Westerly, was ma- jor general; Joseph Noyes, colonel ; Jesse Champlain, lieutenant colonel ; Jesse Maxson, major. Of the three regiments compris- ing the Rhode Island Brigade the one for Kent and Kings coun- ties was placed under the command of Colonel James Varnum, with Christopher Greene as major. By taking the muster roll of military companies with their of- ficers at different times we may form some accurate idea of the forces sent from these two counties. In 1777 Captain Samuel Champlain commanded the guard stationed on the seashore as a defense against the British barges. Colonel John Waterman, of Warwick, in January, 1777, commanded the regiment which drove the British from the island of Prudence, at the time Wallace landed and burnt the houses upon the island. Muster and size roll of recruits enlisted for the town of War- wick for the campaign of 1782 : Henry Straight, Rhodes Tucker, Daniel Hudson, George Westcott, George Parker, Caleb Mathews, Nathaniel Peirce, Benjamin Howard, Benjamin Utter, Stephen Davis, Anthony Church, Abel Bennet, James Brown. Officers of the Pawtuxet Rangers for 1776 were : Benjamin Ar- nold, captain ; Oliver Arnold, first lieutenant ; Sylvester Rhodes, second lieutenant, and James Sheldon, ensign. Officers of the Kentish Guards for 1776 were : Richard Frye, captain ; Hopkins Cooke, first lieutenant ; Thomas Holden, second lieutenant, and Sylvester Greene, ensign. Field officers of the state for Kent county for the year 1780 : Thomas Holden, colonel of the First Regiment of militia ; Thomas Tillinghast, lieutenant colonel ; Job Peirce, major. Archibald Kasson, colonel vSecond Regiment of militia; Thomas Gorton, lieutenant colonel ; Isaac Johnson, major. Officers to command the several trained bands or companies of militia within the state : For Warzvick. — First Company. — Job Randall, captain ; James Arnold, lieutenant ; James Carder, en- sign. Second Company. — Squire Miller, captain ; James Jerauld, lieutenant; John Stafford, ensign. Third Company. — Thomas Rice, son of Thomas Rice, captain ; Anthony Holden, lieuten- ant ; Stukely Stafford, ensign. In 1777 the Artillery Company of Westerly, Hopkinton and Charlestown counted "Augustus Stanton, captain; Thomas Noyes, first lieutenant ; William Gardner, second lieutenant ; Charles Crandall, ensign." 110 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. JVcster/j, besides being represented in the coast guard and ar- tillery, had three militia companies, officered as follows : " First Company : John Pendleton, captain ; Ephraim Pendleton, lieu- .tenant ; Simeon Pendleton, ensign. Second Company : John 'Gavitt, captain; Stephen Saunders, lieutenant ; William Bliven, ■ensign. Third Company: George Stillman, captain; Peleg .Saunders, lieutenant ; Asa Maxson, ensign." In CharUstoivn.—" First Company : John Parks, captain ; Gid- •eonHoxie, Jr., lieutenant; Christopher Babcock, ensign. Second Company : Amos Greene, captain ; Beriah Lewis, lieutenant ; Daniel Stafford, ensign." In Richmond.— ''W\xsX Company : Richard Bailey, Jr., captain ; John Woodmansie, lieutenant ; Joshua Webb, ensign. Second ■Company : John Clarke, captain ; Jeremiah Tefft, lieutenant ; Pardon Tefft, ensign." In Hopkiiiton. — " First Company : Henry Welles, captain ; Syl- vanus Maxson, lieutenant ; Thomas Welles, Jr., ensign. Second Company: George Thurston, Jr., captain; Randall Welles, lieutenant ; Joseph Thurston, ensign. Third Company : Jesse Burdick, captain ; Uriah Crandall, lieutenant ; Lebbeus Cottrell, •ensign." In the "Alarm Company" of Hopkinton, for 1779 we find, "Thomas Wells, 2d, captain ; Elias Coon, first lieutenant; John Pierce, second lieutenant ; John Brown, ensign." For the " Alarm Company " of Westerly, in the same year, we find, " Joseph Maxson, first lieutenant ; Peleg Barber, second lieutenant ; Silas Greenman, ensign." And of field officers in this region we find, " Joseph Stanton, Jr., colonel ; Jesse Maxson, Esq., lieutenant-colonel ; Joseph Pendleton, Esq., Jonathan Max- ;son, Esq., majors." In 1781 Westerly enrolled " four companies of militia," besides her quota in the continental battalions ; the whole must have .absorbed one fifth of her population, for in 1777 the town num- bered 1,812 inhabitants. In Hopkinton, in one district, there was scarcely a man, save the aged fathers, remaining to assist these heroines. In Westerly various committees were appointed to look after unpatriotic people engaged in speculating and raising prices, •contrary to the act provided. Nathan Babcock was appointed to secure materials for an am- :inunition cart. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Ill Captain Joseph Pendleton was a recruiting officer, January :30th, 1778, to collect the stockings that "are still deficient to serve the soldiers." Colonel James Back, June 3d, 1777, was chosen captain of the Train Artillery; Peleg Pendleton, lieutenant of said train. July 7th, 1780, the town voted " Three Gallons of Rum to treat the soldiers enlisted and to encourage those that had a mind to •enlist." March 8th, 1782, the town voted a " Bounty of Thirty Silver Dollars to each soldier enlisting to fill the Town's quota." Not only did the brave-hearted women of that day turn their earnest hands to the distaff, loom and needle, but they rose up to ■■do all home duties. They conducted the dairy ; they managed horses, cattle and flocks ; they even grasped the plow and the ; sickle. During one season, as nearly all the men were absent, watching the coast, besieging the enemy at Newport, marching to distant fields of action, the women organized themselves into a band to gather in the harvests. They would complete the work ■ of one farm and then pass on to another. Watch Hill was the point of lookout. This promontory was so named from a "watch tower" and " signal station " built there, ■ on Bear hill, during the old French war. The old signal was fire . and smoke — smoke by day and fire by night. This watch tower was renewed in the revolution by " the guard " of the coast, look- ing out for British ships and barges. Napatree Point (Naps and Tree Point) was then covered with thick woods, and offered an • opportunity for the enemy to land and conceal a force. Indeed, it is reported that the neck of land leading to the Naps was so .broad that it contained a swamp and pond that served as a haunt ifor foxes. The roots of the ancient trees, now far from the shore, .are frequently torn up by the waves in heavy gales. This is also true of the shore on the east side of Watch Hill. During the war of the revolution two English ships of the line, ■ on their way westward, were overtaken by a northeast gale, and, running in toward the land, came to anchor near Watch Hill, and there hoped to outride the storm. They were the " Cayenne " .and " Colodon." The " Cayenne," the smaller of the two, by cut- ;ting away her masts held her ground. The " Colodon " rode so heavily that she burned and broke her hawser, and then drove before the gale, blinded by the snow, and struck on Shagwang reef, and was dashed on the east point of Fort Pond bay, Long 112 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Island. That point is now known as Colodon point. The huge anchor of this man-of-war was secured by Mr. Hezekiah Wilcox and his sons. The Patriots of Hopkinton, R. /., i7'/'^.— " Hopkinton, Sept. 19, A. D., 1776. I, the subscriber, do solemnly and sincerely declare that I believe the War, Resistance and Opposition in which the United American Colonies are Engaged against the Fleets and Armies of Great Britain, is on the part of the said Colonies Just and necessary ; and that I will not directly or indirectly afford assistance of any sort or kind whatever to the said Fleets and Armies during the continuance of the present war, but that I will heartily assist in the defence of the United Colonies. " Daniel Coon, Joshua Clarke, John Larkin, Amos Maxson, John Coon, Thomas West, George Thurston, Edward Wells, Francis West, Zacheus Reynolds, Jr., William Thurston, Samuel Hill, Benjamin Randall, Benjamin Maxson, John Maxson, Robert Burdick, Mathew Randall, David Coon, William Witter, Samuel Reynolds, Jesse Maxson, Samuel Champlin, Phineas Maxson, Hezekiah Babcock, William Coon, Jr., Elisha Stillman, Caleb Potter, Elisha Coon, Joseph Maxson, Nathaniel Kenyon, Ben- jamin Colegrove, Stephen Potter, Joshua Coon, Ebenezer Hill, Thomas Wells, Abel Tanner, John Robinson, Jun., Lawton Pal- mer, Thomas Potter Gardiner, Eleazer Lewis, John Marshall, Benjamin Kenyon, William Tanner, Jr., Joseph Witter, Jr., Peter Kenyon, Mathew Maxson, Jonathan Coon, Stephen Maxson, William Coon, William Greene, William Bassett, William Tanner, Thompson Wells, Sylvanus Maxson, James Wells, Jun., Clarke Maxson, Caleb Church, Elnathan Wells, Zellenius Burdick, Josiah Witter, Nathan Burdick, Peter Ken- yon, Jr., John Cottrell, Hubbard Burdick, Francis Tanner, Moses Barber, Paul Burdick, Nathan Tanner, Parker Burdick, Moses Hall, Jacob Hall, Joseph Witter, Rufus Burdick, Abel Bur- dick, Daniel Peckham, Jr., Jonathan Wells, Jr., William Burdick, Jr., Asa Eaglestone, Jonathan West, John Brown, Elnathan Bur- dick, Amos Palmer, Jun., Nathan Palmiter, Uriah Saunders, Elisha Wells, Nathaniel Burdick, Peleg Maxson, Stephen R. Burdick, Bryant Cartwright, Jesse Burdick, Waite Burdick, Josiah Collins, John Vellett, Joseph Thurston, William Papple, Henry Clarke, William Needham, Francis Robinson, Samuel Button, Jr., Samuel Lewis, Barker Wells, Peter Wells, John Millard, Amos Langworthy, James Braman, Hezekiah Carpenter, John HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 113 Palmer, David Davis, Daniel Peckham, Jr., Ross Coon, Stephen Crandall, Oliver Davis, Simeon Babcock, Samuel Longworthy, Zebbius Sweet, Timothy Larkm, John Hall, Jr., Amos Button, Bryant Cartwright, Jr., Rouse Babeock, Asa Miner, Clarke Rey- nolds, John Braman, Samuel Witter, Samuel Babcock, Isaiah Maxson, Henry Foster, William White, James Kinyon, John Maxson, Jr., Jonathan Rogers, Joseph Barber, John Randall, John Satterly, Ichabod Paddock, Jeffrey Champlin, James Fry, Cyrus Button, Thomas Cottrell, Fones Palmer, Benjamin Rath- bun, Josiah Hill, Phineas Edwards, Thomas Wells, Jr., Billings Burch, John Brown, Henry Wells, Joseph Cole, Jr., Amos Coon, Hezekiah Babcock, Sr., Israel Stiles, Thomas Barber, Peleg Bar- ber, David Davis, Jr., Elias Coon, Gideon AUin, Josias Lillibridge, Joshua Wells, Jr., Joseph Crandall, Elijah Crandall, Joseph Long- worthy. " The aforegoing is a true account of those that subscribed the Test in the town of Hopkinton. " Abel Tanner, Town Clerk." Incidents of the Revolution. — The revolution, was the vindication of principles. The people of Westerly rose up to maintain their inalienable rights, and in resisting the tyranny of their oppressors suffered grievously. In that historic scene Westerly nobly avowed her sentiments, and her military honors were worthily won. Among those most prominent in that con- test was Governor Samuel Ward, son of Governor Edward Ward, of Newport. He was born in Newport, May 37th, 1725 ; gradu- ated at Harvard College in 1 743 ; married Anna Ray, of Block Island, at the age of twenty, and removed to Westerly. He was chosen governor three times — in 1762, in 1765 and in 1766. From the skillful pen of Frederick Denison, in " Westerly and Its Witnesses," we extract the following : "The tide of party politics ran high in the colony on account of the popularity of the two leaders. Ward and Hopkins. It was also the exciting period of the stamp act, the beginning of irre- concilable differences with the mother country. Governor Sam- uel Ward acted a cool, noble part in resisting the aggressions of England. The papers that emanated from his pen are among our cherished records. At the opening of the revolution, in 1774, he was chosen by the colony as colleague of Stephen Hop- kins, to represent Rhode Island in the first continental congress at Philadelphia. To this office he was reappointed in 1775, and 114 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. while in the laborious discharge of his duty died in Philadelphia, March 25th, 1776, deeply mourned by congress as by his native colony. At the time of his death, Governor Ward was attended by his faithful body servant and slave, Cudjo, who, in returning to Westerly, brought on safely his master's papers and personal effects. Cudjo's wife, also a slave, was named Pegg Ward. From an old family paper, executed in reference to Cudjo's support by Governor Ward's heirs, we find that this faithful servant was living as late as 1806, and was under the care and protection of Oliver Wilcox. " Samuel Ward, 2d (son of Governor Samuel Ward), born in Westerly, November 17th, 1756 ; graduated at Brown University in 1771 ; joined the Rhode Island army of observation, and rose to a captaincy in 1775. He joined the forces besieging Boston. In September of the same year, at the head of a company, he connected himself with the daring and perilous expedition, un- der General Arnold, that marched against Quebec. In a letter, under date of November 26th, 1775, when near the city, he says: ' We have gone up one of the most rapid rivers in the world, where the water was so shoal that, moderately speaking, we have waded 100 miles. We were thirty days in a wilderness that none but savages ever attempted to pass. We marched 100 miles upon short three days' provisions, waded over three rapid rivers, marched through snow and ice barefoot, passed over the St. Law- rence when it was guarded by the enemy's frigates, and are now about twenty -four miles from the city, to recruit our worn out natures.' In the attack on the city, Captain Ward, with most of his company, penetrated the first barrier, but was finally overcome. " He was exchanged in 1776, and on the 1st of January, 1777, was commissioned as major under Colonel C. Greene. He co- operated in the gallant defense of the fort at Red B^nk, and in the same year was aid-de-camp to General Washington. In 1778 he acted in defense of Rhode Island, under Generals Greene, Lafayette and Sullivan. Here he once commanded a regiment, and was commissioned lieutenant-colonel, to take rank from May 1st, 1778. After this he was in Washington's army in New Jer- sey, ' in the toil and glory of that service.' He was present at the defense of the bridge at Springfield, by a part of the Rhode Island line, against the Hessian general, Knyphausen, in June, 1780. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 115 " At the close of the war he turned to the pursuits of peace, and became a distinguished merchant, going abroad for a few years, and finally settling in New York. For a time, after ac- quiring a competence, he owned a farm and lived at East Green- wich, but at last went to Jamaica, L. I., where, near his children, and in the midst of honors, he spent the remainder of his days. His death occurred in New York, August 16th, 1832, in his sev- enty-sixth year. " His wife, Phebe (Greene) Ward, born March 11th, 1760, died in October, 1828. Colonel Ward left a gifted family. " Worthy of conspicuous and enduring record are the noble sentiments expressed by the freemen of Westerly in the begin- ning of 1774, at a meeting which ' was the largest ever held in the town, and not a dissenting vote.' We quote from the records : — " ' At a town meeting specially called, and held at the dwelling- house of Major Edward Bliven, in Westerly, in the County of Kings, February 2d, A. D. 1774. " ' The Honorable Samuel Ward, Esq., chosen Moderator. " ' The Moderator and several other gentlemen laid before the meeting the vast importance of civil and religious liberty to so- ciety, and then stated the natural and constitutional rights and privileges of the Colonists, and the many infringements of those rights by several acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in America, and other constitutional purposes : upon which the Moderator and Joshua Babcock, Esq., Mr. James Rhodes, Col. Wm. Pendleton, Mr. Geo. Sheffield, Oliver Crary, Esq., and Capt. Benj. Parke were appointed a committee to take the important subjects before the meeting into their consideration, and report as soon as may be, what measures will be proper for the town to take in the present alarming situation of the Colonies. The meeting was adjourned for a few hours, and the freemen being again assembled, the committee reported the following resolves, all of which were unanimously received and voted : — " ' 1st, Resolved, That our ancestors, being oppressed in their native country, and denied the liberty of worshiping God ac- cording to the dictates of their consciences, had a natural and just right to emigrate from Britain to this or any other part of the world. "'2d. That upon their arrival in America, they found the country in the actual possession of the Indian natives, who had 116 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the sole and absolute jurisdiction of the same, and a perfect and exclusive right and property in the soil and in its produce of every kind. " ' 3d. That they purchased the soil, and with it the jurisdiction of the country, of the Sachems, the then sole lords and proprie- tors thereof, and accordingly became possessed of an exclusive, natural and just right and property in the same, with a right to improve or dispose of the same and its various produce, in any manner which they chose, and might have incorporated them- selves into distinct or separate societies or governments, with- out any connection with any European power whatsoever. " ' 4th. That their attachment to their native country and its excellent Constitution made them forget their former sufferings, and hope for better times, and put themselves and the vast terri- tory which they had acquired under the allegiance of the Crown of England, upon express conditions that all their natural, civil, and religious rights and privileges should be secured to them and their heirs forever. This security was solemnly granted and con- firmed accordingly in their respective charters, with all the ' lib- erties and immunities of free and natural subjects within any of the dominions of the then King of England, &c., his heirs or suc- cessors, to all intents, constructions, and purposes whatsoever, as if they or every one of them had been born within the realm of England, and these privileges have been since confirmed by sev- eral acts of Parliament. " ' Sth. That the charter of this Colony doth in the strongest manner possible, grant unto the inhabitants thereof, all those rights and privileges, with complete jurisdiction within the terri- tory they had purchased, and an entire exemption from all ' serv- ices, duties, fines, forfeitures, claims and demands whatsoever, except the fifth part of all ore of gold and silver found in the Colony, which is reserved in lieu of all other duties.' " ' 6th. That the act of the British Parliament, claiming a right to make laws binding upon the colonies in all cases whatsoever, is inconsistent with the natural, constitutional, and charter rights and privileges of the inhabitants of this Colony. " ' 7th. That the acts of Parliament forbidding us to transport our wool by water from one town to another, or prohibiting the working up the iron or other raw materials which the country affords, are arbitrary, oppressive, and inconsistent with our nat- ural and charter rights. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 117 " ' 8th. That all acts of Parliament for raising a revenue in America are a notorioiis violation of the liberties and immunities granted by charter to the inhabitants of this Colony, and have a tendency to deprive them of the liberties, which, as freemen, they have a right to, by Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights, and also to deprive them of the fruits of their own labor and the produce of their own lands ; and make the present colonists and all their property, slaves to the people, or rather to the ministry of Great Britain. " ' 9th. That the granting of salaries to the Governors and Judges of the colonies; the enlarging the jurisdiction of the Court of Admiralty ; the appointment of the Board of Commis- sioners ; the increase of the Custom House officers ; the arbitrary power given to those officers to break into any man's house (ever considered by law as a sacred retirement from all force and vio- lence till now), and to forcibly enter his bed-chamber, break open his desk and trunks, and offer all kinds of insults to his family ; the introducing fleets and armies to supply those officers and en- force a submission to every act of oppression, are inconsistent with every idea of liberty, and will certainly, if not immediately checked, establish arbitrary power and slavery in America, with all their fatal consequences. '■■ ' 10th. That the act of Parliament entitled an ' Act for the bet- ter preserving His Majesty's Dock-yards,' &c., is a flagrant viola- tion of all our natural and constitutional rights ; for by this act any man in America may be seized and carried to any part of Britain, there to be tried upon a pretense of his being concerned in burning a boat, vessel, or any materials for building, or any naval stores, &c., and being deprived of a trial by his peers in the vicinage, and subjected to a foreign jurisdiction, under the direc- tion of those who neither know nor regard him ; tho' innocent, he is sure to be entirely ruined. " ' 11th. That the act allowing the East India Company to ex- port tea to America, subject to a duty payable here, and the ac- tual sending the tea into the colonies by the Company, are mani- fest attempts to enforce the revenue acts, and undoubtedly de- signed to make a precedent for establishing the taxes and monop- olies in America, in order that a general tax upon all the neces- saries of life, and all our lands, may take place ; and monopolies of all valuable branches of commerce may be established in this country. We will, therefore, neither buy, sell, nor receive as a 118 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. gift, any dutied tea, but shall consider all persons concerned in introducing dutied tea into this Town as enemies to their country. " ' 12th. That it is the duty of every man in America who loves God, his King, or his country, to oppose by all proper measures, every attempt upon the liberties of his country, and particularly the importation of tea subject to a duty, and to exert himself to the utmost to obtain a redress of the grievances the colonies now groan under. " ' 13th. That the inhabitants of this Town ever have been, and now are, loyal and dutiful subjects to their Sovereign ; that they have a most affectionate regard for their brethren in Britain and Ireland ; that in all the wars in America, they have, when the Government has been constitutionally applied to by the Crown, granted all the aid in their power, and frequently more than was expected ; that they are still ready, when called upon in a consti- tutional way, to grant such aid and assistance to the crown as the necessity of the case may require, and their ability will admit ; but though we are ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes for the true honor and interest of our sovereign and the good of our mother country, we cannot give up our liberties to any person upon earth ; they are dearer to us than our lives. We do, there- fore, solemnly resolve and determine, that we will heartily unite with the other towns in this and all our sister colonies, and exert our whole force and influence in support of the just rights and privileges of the American colonies. " ' 14th. That the Moderator and Joshua Babcock, Esq., Mr. James Rhodes, Mr. George Sheffield, Major James Babcock, or the major part of them, be a committee for this town to corre- spond with all other committees appointed by any town in this or the other colonies ; and the committee is directed to give the closest attention to everything which concerns the liberties of America ; and if any tea subject to a duty should be imported into. town, or anything else attempted injurious to liberty, the com- mittee is directed and empowered to call a town meeting forth- with, that such measures may be taken as the public safety may require. " ' 15th. We highly applaud, and sincerely thank our brethren in the several sister colonies of America, particularly in Boston,. Virginia and Philadelphia, for their noble and virtuous stand in defense of the common liberties of America ; and we return our HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 119 thanks to the town of Newport for their patriotic resolutions to maintain the liberties of their country, and the prudent measures they have taken to have the other towns in the colony to come into the same generous resolution. " ' Voted. That the proceedings of this town meeting be pub- lished in the Newport Mercury.' "It is sufficiently evident that the above patriotic paper was penned by Governor Samuel Ward ; he, however, wrote for the hearts of his fellow-townsmen. The people cherished no disloy- alty to law and legitimate government, but simply the opposition of principle to manifest usurpation and oppression. Nobly had they defended the Crown in the French and Indian wars." David Sherman Baker, in his historical sketch of North Kings- town, thus portrays to his readers the scenes and events incident to the revolutionary period in that town : " North Kingstown early caught the spirit of independence and was ardent in the cause of liberty. Already she had extended her sympathy in the substantial form of money and cattle to the citizens of Boston, who were suffering from the aggressions of the British soldiery, and February 16th, 1775, more than a month before the battle of Lexington, the people of the town, now organized for action, called for one hundred and forty guns. These were promptly furnished, and in the following month the committee appointed by the general assembly apportioned to the town its share of powder, lead and flints. In June of the same year Charles Til- linghast and two others were appointed enlisting officers for the town. From this time companies were formed and enlistments continued to be made ; and during the whole war North Kings- town's sons fought in many battles on sea and land. When in 1777 General Washington ordered the continental troops in Rhode Island to join the army in the Jerseys, it left the state in an almost defenseless condition. North Kingstown, whose geo- graphical position rendered attacks from the bay an easy matter, was especially open to the incursions of the enemy. It was at this time that George Waite Babcock, Joseph Taylor, John Slo- cum and Christopher Pearce, having the welfare of their country at heart and willing to defend it with their lives, believing that the enemy were about to make an attack, raised a company ' to guard the town of Updike's Newtown,' and petitioning the as- sembly to grant a charter. ' Whereupon it was voted and resolved that the petitioners, with such others as shall enlist with them. 120 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. not exceeding sixty-four men, exclusive of commissioned officers, be incorporated into a separate and distinct military company by the name of the ' Newtown Rangers, to be commanded by one captain, two lieutenants and one ensign.' By an act of the legis- lature slaves were allowed to enlist. Soon afterward a large company composed wholly of negroes (many of whom had been slaves) and officered by white men, was raised in the town, and Thomas Cole and Benjamin Peckham were chosen captain and lieutenant. " During the whole war North Kingstown was frequently an- noyed by predatory incursions. Small parties would stealthily land along the shore and plunder the people of their cattle and grain, and on some occasions they would even seize the inhabi- tants themselves. At one time Oliver Spink and Charles Tilling- hast, who was the grandfather of Senator Charles T. James, and who, it will be remembered, was the first enlisting officer ap- pointed by the town, were taken from their houses in Quidnes- sett and imprisoned in Newport. Here they contracted the small- pox, of which Spink died, but Tillinghast, who, with true Yankee ingenuity had previously vaccinated himself, passed safely through the disease. In June, 1779, a number of British soldiers landed in the night on the Quidnessett shore and surrounded the houses of John Allen and Christopher Spencer. The inmates, who at the time were asleep, were awakened and rudely turned out of doors and Allen's house was burned to the ground. The one in which Spencer lived belonged to a Tory, and on that ac- count escaped destruction. Half clad and terribly frightened, the other members of the two families were commanded to si- lence, and by the light of the burning dwelling saw Allen and Spencer marched at the bayonet's point to the shore, roughly thrust into a boat and carried to Newport. Here they were con- fined in a loathsome prison, where Spencer remained until the English troops evacuated Rhode Island ; but Allen, through the intercession of a lady friend of his family, was released a few months before. " Early in the war the General Assembly voted ' That one of the field pieces assigned to South Kingstown should be sent to and for the tise of North Kingstown.' The story of this old gun is as remarkable as it is interesting. It once saved Wickford from destruction, and again, as if to repay the debt, won great glory for the town which originally loaned it. In 1777 a com- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 121 pany was sent out in a barge from the British fleet to burn the village of Wickford, which was supposed to be undefended. They proceeded unmolested until they arrived at the mouth of the harbor, when, to their great surprise, the old gun, which had been stationed on the point where the light house now stands, fired into them, killed one man and caused them to hastily retrace their course. Soon after this occurrence news ■came that a British man-of-war had grounded on Point Judith. Excitement ran high and the old gun was again resorted to ; but upon examination it was found that the Tories had spiked it. This difficulty was speedily removed. Samuel Bissell drilled it ■out, and in a few hours, drawn by four oxen, it was on its way to the Point, where it was mounted on the shore behind the rocks, and after a vigorous firing of a few minutes, the ship, which proved to be the ' Syren,' a twenty-eight gun frigate, sur- rendered, and her crew of a hundred and sixty, officers and men, were carried prisoners to Providence. George Babcock, whose name heads the petition for the charter of the Newtown Rangers, was afterward one of the most successful commanders •of the American navy. In the ' Mifflin,' a twenty-gun ship, manned by 130 men, enlisted in North Kingstown and Exeter, he took prize after prize, and many an abler ship struck her ■colors before the invincible Babcock and his men. While cruising ■off the banks of Newfoundland in 1779, they fell in with the English ship ' Tartar,' mounting twenty-six guns, fourteen swivels, and with a complement of 162 men. The odds weighed heavily against them ; but,- after a fierce engagement of two hours and a half, the enemy struck her flag, and a few days afterward, amid the wildest enthusiasm, the firing of guns, the ringing of bells and the illumination of the city, James Eldred, a Wickford boy who had bfeen placed in command of the ' Tartar,' with a number of other prizes, sailed triumphantly into the har- bor of Boston. " Samuel Phillips, a man distinguished for his bravery, whose uncle, the Honorable Peter Phillips, was commissary under Gen- eral Nathaniel Greene in ' The army of Observation,' was at this lime lieutenant of the ' Mifflin.' Two years before, with Daniel Wall, his fellow-townsman, he volunteered under Colonel Barton and commanded one of the five boats in the daring expedition that captured Prescott and brought him safely through the ^British fleet. In a journal written by himself Captain Phillips 122 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. says : ' I have been in the late war Lieutenant of four twenty-gun. ships, one cutter of fourteen guns and commander of a brig of fourteen guns. I have ever strove hard and suffered much to help gain the independence of my country and am ready to step- forth again and oppose any power that shall endeavor to injure my country and her rights.' " The Kentish Guards. — The history of the Kentish Guards deserves more than a passing notice, for on three separate and distinct occasions they responded most gallantly to the voice of the authorities summoning them to action and perilous service. First the distant rumbling of the revolution called them into being, and when their organization was but half a year old their career was begun on the battle fields of Concord and Lexington. Two generations later, in the year 1842, they were again called into service to perform a deed requiring no small amount of fortitude and determination. Nineteen years more elapsed and again, within the memory of men now living, in the year 1861, when our commonwealth was again racked by the convulsions of war, an order comes from the capital of the state to the Kentish Guards to report at once to the commander-in-chief of the mili- tary of Rhode Island. One hundred strong, like their revolu- tionary sires a century ago, they responded without delay. The First Rhode Island Regiment being already filled, they waited until the formation of the Second, in which they enrolled as Company H. Beginning with the revolutionary struggle we find military organizations were being formed all over the country previous to the actual outbreak of hostilities. At the October session of 1774, the general assembly granted a charter to the Pawtuxet Rangers ; also one to the Kentish Guards, an independent com- pany for the three towns of Warwick, East Greenwich and Cov- entry, from which at a later day were to be taken General James Mitchell Varnum, General Nathaniel Greene and Colonel Chris- topher Greene, with others of less note. The news of the battle of Lexington, on the 19th of April, 1775, aroused the patriotic spirit of Rhode Island to a still higher point, and three days after the battle of Lexington, the assembly met at Providence, and " Voted and resolved that fifteen hundred men be enlisted, raised and embodied as aforesaid, with all the expedition and despatch that the thing will admit of." This army was designed especi- ally as an army of observation, with its quarters in this state, " and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 123 also if it be necessary, for the safety and preservation of any of the colonies, to march out of this colony and join and co-operate with the forces of the neighboring colonies." It was subsequently formed into one brigade under the command of a brigadier-gen- eral, and the brigade was divided into three regiments, each of which was to be commanded by one colonel, one lieutenant- colonel and one major, while each regiment was to consist of eight companies. Nathaniel Greene was chosen the brigadier- general. The following act is copied from an old schedule of the doings of the general assembly in the year 1774 : " An act establishing an Independent Company by the name of Kentish Guards. " Whereas, The preservation of this Colony in time of war de- pends, under God, in the military skill and discipline of its in- habitants, and whereas a number of inhabitants of the Town of East Greenwich (to wit) : James Mitchell Varnum, Christopher Greene (son of Philip), Nathaniel Greene, Jr., Daniel Greene, Griffin Greene, Nathaniel Greene (son of Richard), Christopher Greene (son of James), John Greene, Charles Greene, Sylvester Greene, William Greene (son of Richard), Hopkins Cooke, Rich- ard Fry, Joseph Joslyn, Micah Whitmarsh, Augustus Mumford, John Cooke, Richard Mathewson, John S. Dexter, John Fry, Gideon Mumford,William Arnold, Archibald Crary, John Glazier, Stephen Mumford, Andrew Boyd, Eser Wall, Abial Brown, Oliver Gardiner, Clark Brown, Benjamin Spencer, James Searle, Gideon Freeborn, Wanton Casey, Job Peirce, John Reynolds and Samuel Brown, have petitioned this Assembly for an act of Incorporation, forming them and such others as shall be joined unto them (not exceeding One Hundred Men, Rank and file), into a Company by the name of the Kentish Guards ; " Wherefore, This General Assembly to encourage a Design so laudable, have Ordained, Constituted and Granted, and hereby do Ordain, Constitute and Appoint, that the said Petitioners and such others as may be joined to them (not exceeding One Hun- dred Men, Rank and File), be and they are hereby declared to be an Independent Company, by the name of the Kentish Guards, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and shall have all the Rights, Powers and Privileges in Grant here- after mentioned. 124 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ''First, It is Granted unto the said Company, that they, or the major part of them, shall and may once in every year, to wit: on the last Wednesday in April, meet and assemble themselves together, in some convenient place by them appointed, then and there to choose their Officers, to wit : One Captain, Two Lieuten- ants and One Ensign, and all other Officers necessary for train- ing, disciplining, and well ordering said Company ; at which meeting no Officer shall be chosen, but by the greater number of votes then present ; The Captain, Lieutenants and Ensign to be approved of by the Governor and Council for the time being ; and shall be commissioned in the same manner as other Military Officers in this Colony. " Secondly, That the said Company shall have liberty to meet and exercise themselves upon such other days and as often as they shall think necessary and not be subject to the Orders or Direc- tions of the Colonel or other Field Officers of the Regiment in whose District they live in such meetings and exercisings ; and that they be obliged to meet for exercising at least four times in each year, upon the penalty of paying to, and for the use of the Company, to wit : the Captain for each day's neglect, three pounds, lawful money, the Lieutenants and Ensign, each twenty shillings, lawful money, the Clerk and other subaltern Officers, each twelve shillings, lawful money, and private Soldiers, six shillings, lawful money, to be collected by warrant of distress, directed to the Clerk from the Captain or other Officer. " Thirdly, That said Company or the greater number of them make all such laws. Rules and Orders among themselves as they shall deem expedient for the well ordering and disciplining said Company and lay any Penalty or Fine for the breach of such Rules, not exceeding twelve shillings, lawful money, for one offence to be collected as aforesaid. " Fourthly, That all those who shall be duly enlisted in the said Company, so long as they shall continue therein, shall be ex- empted from bearing arms or doing other militarj^ duty (watch- ing and warding duty excepted) in the several Companies, or Train Bands, in whose District they respectively live, excepting such as shall be Officers in any of the said Company's or Train Bands. ''Fifthly, That if any Officer or Officers of the Company shall be disapproved by the Governor or Council, or shall remove out of the said County of Kent, or shall be taken away by death, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 125 that then, and in such cases the Captain of said Company, or Superior Oflficer, for the election of another, or others in their or his stead, who shall be so removed. " Sixthly, For the further of said Company, it is granted that the Captain of said Company shall be of the rank of Colonel, and that the first Lieutenant be of the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, that the Second Lieutenant be of the rank of Major, and that the Ensign be of the rank of Captain ; that the said OfEcers shall be of the Court Martial and Council of War, in the Regiment, in whose district they live ; that upon all General Reviews and General Musters, the said Company shall rank the First Inde- pendent Company for the County of Kent, and that in time of alarm the said Company shall be under the immediate direction of the Commander-in-Chief in the Colony. "It is Voted and Resolved, that the Secretary of this Colony be, and he is hereby directed to make a fair copy of the preceding Act, establishing the Company called the Kentish Guards, affix the Colony Seal thereto, and transmit the same to the said Com- pany. " And it is further Voted and Resolved, at the request of the said Company, that the following Officers be, and they are hereby ap- pointed to command the same : " James Mitchell Varnum, Captain. Richard Fry, First Lieutenant. Christopher Greene, Second Lieutenant. Hopkins Cooke, Ensign." This company furnished more officers of importance for the revolutionary army than any other in New England, or perhaps in the United States. It furnished one major-general, Nathaniel Greene ; one brigadier-general, James M. Varnum ; two colonels, Christopher Greene and Archibald Crary; one major, John S. Dexter ; and one captain, Thomas Arnold ; besides a large num- ber of inferior ones. The following sketches, taken from Doctor Greene's history of East Greenwich, will be read with interest in this connection. The first, a letter belonging to Wanton Casey, Esq. (the first cashier of the Rhode Island Central Bank), is very interesting as a record of the writer's personal experience. It was written to Judge Johnson, of South Carolina, who published a " Life of General Greene ": " I was one of the petitioners to the General Assembly to grant 126 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. a Charter for an Independent Company, called the Kentish Guards ; said petition was granted in October, 1774 ; previous to the battle of Lexington, in 1775. The Company was dressed in uniform, well armed and disciplined, amounting to between eighty and one hundred men, rank and file. On the morning after the battle of Lexington, and in two or three hours after the news arrived, we were on the march with one hundred and ten men, rank and file, for the scene of action, several volunteers having joined ; we marched to Pawtucket, about twenty miles from East Greenwich, and there received another express, say- ing that the British Troops had returned to Boston ; we there- fore returned to East Greenwich, where we continued to do duty by keeping up a regular guard for a long time. " Captain Wallace, who commanded a British ship, mounting between twenty and thirty guns, and Captain Ascough, mounting about twenty, with several smaller vessels as tenders, kept us constantly on the alert ; Captain Wallace, being the senior officer, could land, including marines, between two hundred and fifty or three hundred men ; he landed with a number of his men on Canonicut Island, and burnt most of the houses on the Island, and burnt or took away the furniture, provisions and sheep, shot many cattle, and killed some of the inhabitants, and others he made prisoners. " East Greenwich, situated on Narragansett Bay, was exposed to his depredations, and I believe that nothing but the continued efforts of the Kentish Guards prevented their burning the Town. We erected a Fort at the entrance of the harbor, and had eight or ten cannon mounted, to prevent their Boats and Tenders get- ting into the harbor, and kept a regular guard there for a long time ; a vessel had been driven on shore and taken by the enemy at Warwick Neck by two Tenders full of men ; the Commander of the Kentish Guards, Colonel Richard Fry, proposed to retake her ; we crossed the outer harbor (about four miles) in boats, and marched down opposite the vessel, behind a beach, and after oc- casionally firing and receiving the fire from the two Tenders for three or four hours, we drove them off, and retook the vessel ; during this action one of our men named Ned Pearce was wounded, and was obliged to have his arm amputated. " Some time afterward Captain Wallace came up the Bay from Newport, and anchored between Bristol and the Island of Pru- dence, and plundered the inhabitants ; Colonel Fry proposed our HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 127 ■going to prevent their landing ; we accordingly took boats, it be- ing about six miles by water, and landed very early in the morning ; while eating breakfast at the north end of the Island, we received news by a man who ran very fast, that the enemy were landing three or four miles below ; we had already sent back the boats we came in, for a reinforcement, being disap- pointed in not meeting ninety men from the Island of Rhode Island, who had engaged to meet us ; our resource was to brave the danger as well as we could, being only about eighty men, rank and file, when we knew that the enemy could land two hun- dred and fifty; we immediately formed, with drums beating and colors flying, which daring had the desired effect ; on discerning cus- they returned to their vessels, and we were reinforced in the afternoon; during the night following the enemy got under weigh and returned to Newport, while we returned to East 'Greenwich. "Some time after this the enemy landed on Prudence and burnt most, if not all the houses on the Island; our company was frequently called out in the night to march to Quidnesitt, two or three miles below East Greenwich, to prevent the enemy taking ■off cattle and plundering the inhabitants ; the British were joined by a number of Tories, well acquainted with that part of the ■country, and until there were two pieces of Artillery attached to the Company, we could not keep their boats at a respectful dis- tance ; before and after the British fleet took possession of the Island of Rhode Island, in 1776, detachments from our Com- pany were frequently called for to take up Tories and suspected -persons, many of whom were in the Colony at that time, particu- larly in our neighborhood, and as I kept a fleet horse, was often -called on ; I well remember going out one night, under the com- mand of General Varnum and Colonel Sherbourn in search of a man named Hart (a spy from the enemy), and after riding all night, and taking some suspected persons, who informed us where to find him, we surrounded a house in Exeter, just at day- light, and after searching sometime we found where he was se- •creted ; he was tried by a Court Martial in Providence and con- victed ; he had enlisted a number of men, some of whom procured boats and joined the enemy on Rhode Island. " Our Company (the Kentish Guards) was on Rhode Island at -what was called Sullivan's Expedition, but we came off before 128 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEx\T COUNTIES. the battle, our time having expired, and there being no prospect of attacking the enemy ; but as soon as we heard the firing of the advance on the day of the action (which we could very dis- tinctly from East Greenwich), we embarked on board of a sloop with the intention of landing on the north end of the Island as a reinforcement, but after passing Prudence Island an armed vessel of the enemy endeavoured to cut us off, and we were compelled to bear away and land on Pappoosesquaw Point, about two miles north of Prudence Island and directly opposite the Town of Bristol; we there learned that the enemy intended to retreat from the Island, and we had orders not to go on, but helped to take care of the wounded who were brought to said place. " During the latter part of the year 1775 and in 1776, thirty-five members of the Kentish Guards entered the Continental service ; among whom were General Nathaniel Greene, General James- Mitchell Varnum, Colonel Christopher Greene, who defeated the Hessians at Red Bank — having under him a number of Officers from our Company — Major Flagg, Colonel Archibald Crary, Major John S. Dexter and others." The old fort at East Greenwich, alluded to by Mr. Casey, was. erected on the bank near the entrance of our harbor, about mid- way between our village and Chipinoxet, and nearly opposite Long Point. After the war, the cannon mounted there were re- moved to West Point, and the embankments of the fort gradually went to decay. At the present time not the slightest trace of Fort Daniel is to be seen. Mr. Wanton Casey was born in East Greenwich in 1760, and consequently was only fourteen years old in 1774, when he joined the Kentish Guards, being one of the original petitioners for the charter, and probably was the youngest man in the country who took up arms during the revolutionary war. He continued to perform duty in the company until 1778, at which time, in conse- quence of constant exposure, his health was so much impaired that he was compelled to leave the army. His physician advised a sea voyage and a milder climate. He therefore went to France, where he resided for a number of years, extensively engaged in business as one of the firm of the large importing house of Silas Casey & Son, of East Greenwich. In Bartlett's " Colonial Records," is the following paper refer- ring to East Greenwich : HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 129 "Subscription for the Relief of the Inhabitants of Boston and Charles- town, in the Tozvn of East Grecnwicli : " East Greenwich, August 1774. " We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of East Green- wich in the Colony of Rhode Island, taking into the most serious consideration the present alarming situation of our brethren in the towns of Boston and Charlestown, in the Province of Massa- chusetts Bay, occasioned by the late cruel, malignant and worse than savage acts of the British Parliament ; and whereas a tame submission to the first approaches of lawless power will undoubt- edly involve this extensive continent in one scene of misery and servitude, than which, a glorious death, in defence of our unques- tionable rights is far more eligible ; convinced likewise, that the only true glory and unfading grandeur of the British Monarch consists in governing his extensive empire with equal and im- partial laws, founded in reason and rendered sacred by the wis- dom of ages ; and that every attempt to impair that noble consti- tution, which hath ever been the envy and terror of Europe, con- stitutes the blackest treason — from the most earnest abhorrence to the deep-laid schemes of his prime minister, whom we esteem the most determined foe to royalty ; and from our love to our country, which nothing but death can abate, we do promise and engage to pay by the first day of October next, the respective sums to our names annexed, to James Mitchell Varnum, Esq., Messrs. A. Mumford, Preserved Pearce and William Pearce, to be laid out and expended in such articles of provisions, for our dis- tressed brethren, as the majority of us shall agree upon to be sent to the committee of ways and means for employing the poor in Boston, by the first conveyance. — Providence Gazette." A somewhat important event occurred at this time, at the rais- ing of the Congregational church in East Greenwich. After the large number of men who had assembled for the purpose of rais- ing the building had finished their labor, they met and burned the effigy of Stephen Arnold, a man of some note in the county, who at that time had made himself very unpopular by his violent Tory principles. On hearing of this insult, Stephen Arnold, who resided about four or five miles from the village, collected a num- ber of his friends for the purpose of marching down and destroy- ing it. He enlisted several hundred men, exercised and man- oeuvred them privately, until his plans were completed, and fixed on a time and place preparatory to making a descent on the vil- 9 130 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. lage. The place of meeting was about two miles west of the vil- lage at the corner of the two roads, near the residence of the late Daniel Rowland. The scheme was so well arranged, and the secret so well kept, that nothing but the treachery of one of his men, to whom the whole plan was disclosed, saved the village from destruction. The prime mover divulged the secret to Thomas Tillinghast, sup- posing from his well-known Tory feelings, he would readily fall into the scheme ; but Mr. Tillinghast, although belonging to the same political party with Arnold, would not join a treasonable band collected for the gratification of private revenge. He there- fore proceeded to put the inhabitants of East Greenwich on their guard. He arrived here about midnight, and after calling up some of the people, placed before them the whole affair. The story appeared so improbable that it had few believers. Very few could think that such men would seriously contemplate so daring an act. However, as Mr. Tillinghast was well known to be perfectly trustworthy, they prepared themselves for the worst. At that time there resided in the village an old lady, called Peggy Pearce, who was a remarkably shrewd, observing sort of person, and therefore one well fitted for an emergency. She kept a shop on Main street, and was in the habit of trading with the people of West Greenwich, where most of the rioters lived, and was therefore well situated to fulfill the part of a spy. The next day after the alarm she went on horseback through a portion of West Greenwich and Coventry, with the ostensible purpose of purchasing woolen yarn and linen thread, then furn- ished solely by the farmers' wives and daughters, but her real ob- ject was to ascertain if possible when the attack was to be made. By dropping a few casual remarks, and making some apparently idle inquiries, she learned not only that the report was true, but also that the attack would be made on the following day or night. She returned to the village and made known the result of her mission. A meeting was hastily called by the inhabitants, and Samuel Brown was dispatched to Providence requesting the gov- ernor to send the military to their assistance. The governor an- swered the call promptly, sending the light infantry and cadets to their aid. The rioters assembled at their rendezvous, but on learning that their intentions were discovered and that the inhabitants were prepared for the encounter, they sent out Arnold and others as HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 131 scouts, who, happening, in their eagerness, to approach rather too near the village, were captured. Stephen Arnold was compelled to make an apology to the villagers, expressing his sorrow and regret, and upon promising to desist from all further attempts, and dismiss his followers, he was released. And thus ended the riots. Judge Staples, in his book entitled the " Annals of Providence," refers to this affair in the following manner : "The following month (September, 1774), the Light Infantry and Cadet Companys were requested by the Sheriff of the Coun- ty of Kent, at East Greenwich, to disperse a mob there assembled, and threatening to destroy the village ; an express arrived here (Providence), about two in the morning, and these two companies reached their place of destination, at nine the same morning. "It seems that the people of East Greenwich had charged Stephen Arnold of Warwick, one of the Judges of the inferior court in that County, with propagating principles unfriendly to American liberty, and hung him in effigy ; he had called together his friends to the number of some hundreds, to avenge himself for these insults ; after the arrival of the military, he acknowl- edged that he had been indiscreet in his proceedings, being ac- tuated by fear and resentment ; he signed a paper confessing these facts and declaring himself to be a friend to the liberties of his country, and that he disapproved of those measures which were intended to impose any taxes on America without her con- sent ; upon this and his promising to discourage all such unlaw- ful assemblies for the future, peace was restored in the village and the Military returned home." The battle of Bunker Hill having been fought, increasing preparations were made throughout the Rhode Island colony for the struggle. Every man capable of bearing arms was required to equip himself for service and to drill half a day semi-monthly. Six additional companies of sixty men each were ordered to be raised and to join the brigade, which had now been placed under the general direction of Washington, who was now in the vicin- ity of Boston.- A brig from the West Indies had been captured off Warwick Neck, and the adjacent shore pillaged of much live stock. Additional forces were raised throughout the colony. In January, 1776, Warwick Neck was fortified, and a company of ar- tillery and minute men were sent to defend it. Two new regi- ments of seven hundred and fifty men each were raised, and 132 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. united in one brigade. Of one of these regiments, Henry Bab- cock was colonel, and Christopher Lippitt, of this town, was lieu- tenant-colonel. The following account of Colonel Lippitt is from the pen of John Howland, Esq. At the time it was written, Mr. Howland was president of the Rhode Island Historical Society : " Christo- pher Lippitt was a member of the General Assembly. In Jan- uary, 1776, he was appointed Lieut. Col. of the regiment raised by the State — Col. Harry Babcock was commander. He shortly quitted the service and Lieut. Col. Lippitt was promoted to the of&ce of Colonel. I enlisted in Capt. Dexter 's company. We were stationed on the island of Rhode Island. The regiment was taken into the continental service, and the officers commis- sioned by Congress. After the disastrous battle of Long Island, we were ordered to join Washington's army, at New York. " On the 31st of Dec, 1776, while the army under Washington was in Jersey, the term of all the continental troops expired, ex- cept Lippitt's regiment, which had eighteen days more to serve. The brigade to which they were attached consisted of five regi- ments, three of which (Varnum's, Hitchcock's and Lippitt's) were from Rhode Island. Col. Hitchcock commanded the brigade, and Lippitt's regiment counted more than one third of the whole. This was the time that tried both soul and body. We had by order of the General left our tents at Bristol, on the other side of the Delaware. We were standing on frozen ground, cov- ered with snow. The hope of the commander-in-chief was sus- tained by the character of these half-frozen, half-starved men, that he could persuade them to serve another month, until the new recruits should arrive. He made the attempt and it succeeded. Gen. Mifflin addressed our men, at his request ; he did it well. The request of the General was acceded to by our unanimously poising the firelock as a signal. Within two hours after this vote we were on our march to Trenton. Col. Lippitt's regiment was in the battle at Trenton, when retreating over the bridge, it be- ing narrow, our platoons were in passing it, crowded into a dense and solid mass, in the rear of which the enemy were making their best efforts. The noble horse of Gen. Washing- ton stood with his breast pressed close against the end of the west rail of the bridge ; and the firm, composed, and majestic countenance of the general inspired confidence and assurance, in a moment so important and critical. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 133 "They did not succeed in their attempt to cross the bridge. Although the creek was fordable between the bridge and the Delaware, they declined attempting a passage in the face of those who presented a more serious obstruction than the water. On one hour — yes, on forty minutes, commencing at the moment when the British first saw the bridge and the creek before them — depended the all-important, the all-absorbing question, whether we should be independent States or conquered rebels ! Had the army of Cornwallis within that space crossed the bridge or forded the creek, unless a miracle had intervened, there would have been an end to the American army. " Col. Lippitt was in the battle of Princeton. The commander- in-chief after the action, took the commander of our brigade (Col. Hitchcock) by the hand, expressing his high approbation of his conduct and that of the troops he commanded, and wished him to communicate his thanks to his officers and men. " Col. Lippitt continued in service during the war. He after- terward removed to Cranston. He was appointed major-general of State's militia. He died on his farm in Cranston. Charles Lippitt, the brother of Col. Lippitt, was an officer in the revolu- tionary war, and for many years a member of the General As- sembly. He died in Providence, in August, 1845, aged 91. " Christopher Lippitt, son of Moses, was born November 29th, 1712. He married Catherine Holden, daughter of Anthony and Phebe (Rhodes) Holden, January 2d, 1736, and had twelve chil- dren, of whom Colonel Christopher Lippitt, the revolutionary hero, was the fourth." The exposed condition of the seaboard towns rendered it ad- visable for the women and children to remove into the interior, and many of them accordingly left their homes for safer quarters. Warwick Neck was defended by Colonel John Waterman's regi- ment, and Pawtuxet by that of Colonel Samuel Aborn. In July, 1777, one of the most daring and skilfully executed acts that oc- curred during the war, resulted in the seizure of General Pres- cott, the British commander on Rhode Island, by Lieutenant- Colonel William Barton, who was at the time stationed at Tiver- ton. Prescott was quartered about five miles from Newport, on the west road leading to the ferry. Capture of Prescott. — The following is from Lossing's " Pictorial Field-Book," which fully describes the bold and suc- cessful expedition of General Barton : 134 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " Early in May, 1777 (one hundred years ago), the command of the British troops who held possession of Newport, devolved upon Major-General Prescott, infamous in the annals of war, as one of the meanest of petty tyrants when in power, and of das- tards when in danger. Possessing a narrow mind, utterly untu- tored by benevolence or charity ; a judgment perverse in the extreme ; a heart callous to the most touching appeals of sym- pathy, but tender when avarice half opened its lips to plead, he was a most unfit commander of a military guard over people like those of Rhode Island, who could appreciate courtesy ; but he was a tyrant at heart, and having the opportunity he exercised a tyrant's doubtful prerogatives. " General Lee was captured by the British in New Jersey, in December, 1776, while passing from the Hudson to join Wash- ington on the Delaware ; the Americans had no prisoner of equal military rank to exchange for him, therefore Colonel Barton con- ceived the bold plan of capturing General Prescott, in order to exchange him for General Lee ; it was accomplished on the. night of the liJth of July, 1777, six months after the capture of Lee. " At that time General Prescott was quartered at the house of a Quaker named Overing, about five miles above Newport, on the west road leading to the ferry, at the north part of the Island. Barton's plan was to cross Narragansett Bay from the main, seize Prescott and carry him to the American camp. It was a very hazardous undertaking, for at that time there were three British frigates, with their guard-boats, lying east of Prudence Island, and almost in front of Prescott's quarters. With a few chosen men Colonel Barton embarked in four whale boats, with muffled oars, at Warwick Neck, at nine o'clock in the evening, and passed unobserved over to Rhode Island, between the islands of Pru- dence and Patience. They heard the cry, ' All's well,' from the guard-boats of the enemy, as they passed silently and unob- served, and landed in Coddington's Cove, at the mouth of a small stream which passed by the quarters of Prescott. Barton divided his men into several squads, assigning to each its duty -and sta- tion, and then with the strictest order and profound silence, they advanced towards the house. The main portion of the expedi- tion passed about midway between a British guard-house and the encampment of a company of light horse, while the remainder was to make a circuitous route to approach Prescott's quarters HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 135 from the rear and secure the doors. As Barton and his men ap- proached a gate, a sentinel hailed them twice, and then de- manded the countersign. 'We have no countersign to give,' Barton said, and quickly added, ' Have you seen any deserters here to-night ?' The sentinel was misled by this question, sup- posing them to be friends, and was not undeceived until his musket was seized and himself bound and menaced with instant death if he made any noise. The doors had been secured by the division from the rear, and Barton entered the front passage boldly. Mr. Overing sat alone, reading, the rest of the family being in bed, and Barton inquired for General Prescott's room. Overing pointed upward, signifying that it was directly over the room in which they were standing. With four strong men and Sisson, a powerful negro who accompanied them. Bar- ton ascended the stairs and gently tried the door. It was locked ; no time was lost in parleying ; the negro drew back a couple of paces, and using his head for a battering-ram, burst open the door at the first effort. The general, supposing the intruders to be robbers, sprang from his bed and seized his gold watch that was hanging upon the wall. Barton placed his hand gently upon the general's shoulder, told him he was his prisoner, and that perfect silence was his only safety now. Prescott asked time to dress, but it being a hot July night, and time precious, Barton refused acquiescence, feeling that it would not be cruel to take him across the bay, where he could make his toilet with more care, at his leisure. So, throwing his cloak around him, and placing him between two armed men, the prisoner was hurried to the shore. In the mean time. Major Barrington, Prescott's aid, hearing the noise in the general's room, leaped from a win- dow to escape, but was captured, and he and the sentinel sta- tioned in the centre of the party. At abotit midnight captors and prisoners landed at Warwick Neck Point, where General Prescott first broke the silence by saying to Colonel Barton, ' Sir, you have made a bold push to-night.' ' We have been fortunate,' coolly replied Barton. " Captain Elliot was there with a coach to convey the prison- ers to Providence, where they arrived at sunrise. Prescott was kindly treated by General Spencer and other officers, and in the course of a few days was sent to the headquarters of Washing- ton, at Middlebrook, on the Raritan. Prescott was exchanged 136 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. for General Charles Lee in April following, and soon afterwards resumed his command of the British troops on Rhode Island. "On account of the bravery displayed and the importance of the service in this expedition, Congress, having a ' just sense of the gallant behavior of Lieutenant-Colonel Barton and the brave officers and men of his party, who distinguished their valor and address in making prisoner of Major-General Prescott, of the British army, and Major William Barrington, his aid-de-camp,' voted Barton an elegant sword ; and on the 24th of December following he was promoted to the rank and pay of colonel in the Continental army. " The officers on the expedition were : Andrew Stanton, Samuel Potter, John Wilcox. Non-commissioned officers, Joshua Bab- cock and Samuel Philips. Privates, Benjamin Pren, James Pot- ter, Henry Fisher, James Parker, Joseph Guild, Nathan Smith, Isaac Brown, Billington Crumb, James Haines, Samuel Apis, Alderman Crank, Oliver Simmons, Jack Sherman, Joel Briggs, Clark Packard, Samuel Corey, James Weaver, Clark Crandall, Sampson George, Jedediah Grenale, Joseph Ralph, Richard Hare, Darius Wale, Jeremiah Thomas, Joseph Denis, William BrufE, Charles Hasset, Thomas Wilcox, Pardon Cory, John Hunt, Daniel Page (a Narragansett Indian), Thomas Austin, Jack Sis- son (black), and Howe, or Whiting, a boat steerer. " Prescott, while in command at Newport, rendered the citi- zens uncomfortable in every way possible. He imprisoned some of them for months without any assigned reason ; among others was William Tripp, who had a large family, but the tyrant would not allow him to hold any communication with them, either writ- ten or verbal. The first intelligence he received from them was by a letter, baked in a loaf of bread, which was sent to him by his wife. In this way a correspondence was kept up during his confinement of many months. " AVhen Prescott took possession of his town quarters he had a fine sidewalk made for his accommodation some distance along Pelham and up Spring street, for which purpose he took the door- steps belonging to other dwellings. The morning after the evacu- ation the owners of the steps hastened to Prescott's quarters, each to claim his door-stone. It was a very exciting scene, for some- times two or three persons, not positive in their identification, claimed the same stone. Prescott's fine promenade soon disap- peared, and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 137 " ' The good citizens, some younger some older, Each carrying a door-stone home on his shoulder,' bore off their long- abused door-steps." Colonel Christopher Greene.— In May, 1781, a sad event occurred which deprived the country of the valuable services of Colonel Christopher Greene, and of whose career some notes in this connection will be made. Colonel Henry Lee, in speaking of him, says : " Exhibiting in early life his capacity and amiability, he was elected by his native town to a seat in the colonial legislature in October, 1770, and he continued to fill the same by successive elections until October, 1772. In 1774 the legislature wisely es- tablished a military corps, styled the ' Kentish Guards,' for the purpose of fitting the most select of her youth for military offi- cers. In this corps young Greene was chosen a lieutenant, and in May, 1775, he was appointed by the legislature a major in what was called ' An army of Observation,' a brigade of 1,600 effectives, under the orders of his near relative. Brigadier Greene, afterward so celebrated. " From this situation he was promoted to the command of a company of infantry in one of the regiments raised by the state, for continental service. The regiment to which he belonged was attached to the army of Canada, conducted by General Mont- gomery. In the attack upon Quebec, which terminated the cam- paign, as well as the life of the renowned Montgomery, Captain Greene belonged to the column which entered the town, and was taken prisoner." As soon as Captain Greene was exchanged he was promoted to major of Varnum's regiment. In 1777 he succeeded to the com- mand of the regiment, and was selected by Washington to take command of Fort Mercer (commonly called Red Bank), and for the gallant defense of this fort Congress made a suitable ac- knowledgment by passing a resolution November 4th, 1777, " That an elegant sword be provided by the Board of War and presented to Col. Greene." Colonel Greene did not live to receive the sword, but several years after his death it was presented to his son, Job Greene, of Centreville. Continuing, Colonel Lee says: "In the spring of 1781, when General Washington began to expect the promised aid from our best friend, the ill-fated Louis XVI., he occasionally approached the enemy's lines on the side of York Island. In one of these 138 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. movements Colonel Greene, with a suitable force, was posted on- the Croton river in advance of the army. On the other side of this river lay a corps of refugees (American citizens who had joined the British army), under the command of Colonel De- lancy. These half citizens, half soldiers, were notorious for rapine and murder ; and to their vindictive conduct may be as- cribed most of the cruelties which stained the progress of our war, and which compelled Washington to order Captain Asgill, of the British army, to be brought to headquarters for the pur- pose of retaliating, by his execution, for the murder of Captain Huddy, of New Jersey, perpetrated by a Captain Lippincourt, of the refugees. The commandant of these refugees (Delancy was not present) having ascertained the position of Greene's corps, which the colonel had cantoned in adjacent farm houses, — prob- ably with a view to the procurement of subsistence, — took the resolution to strike it. This was accordingly done by a nocturnal movement on the 13th of May. The enemy crossed the Croton before daylight, and hastening his advance reached our station with the dawn of day, unperceived. As he approached the farm house in which the lieutenant-colonel was quartered, the noise of troops marching was heard, which was the first intimation of the fatal design. Greene and Major Flagg immediately pre- pared themselves for defense, but they were too late, so expedi- tious was the progress of the enemy. Flagg discharged his pis- tols, and instantly afterwards fell mortally wounded, when the ruffians (unworthy of the appellation of soldiers) burst open the door of Greene's apartment. Here the gallant veteran singly re- ceived them with his drawn sword. Several fell beneath the arm accustomed to conquer, till at length, overpowered by numbers and faint from the loss of blood streaming from his wounds, barbarity triumphed over valor. His right arm was almost cut off in two places, the left in one, a severe cut on the left shoulder, a sword thrust through the abdomen, a bayonet in the right side, several sword cuts on the head and many in different parts of the body. " Thus cruelly mangled, fell the generous conqueror of Count Dunop, whose wounds, as well as those of his unfortunate asso- ciates, had been tenderly dressed as soon as the battle terminated, and whose pains and sorrows had been as tenderly assuaged. The commander-in-chief heard with anguish and indignation the tragical fate of his loved — his faithful friend and soldier — HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 139" in whose feelings the army sincerely participated. On the sub- sequent day the corpse was brought to headquarters, and his funeral was solemnized with military honors and universal grief." Lieutenant-colonel Greene was but forty-four years old when he was murdered. He married in 1758 Anna, daughter of J. Lippitt, Esq., of Warwick. His home was in C'entreville. His house stood where now stands the Levally House. He was a son of Philip Greene, an associate judge of the supreme court in 1758, and great-grandson of Deputy John Greene. General Nathaniel Greene was born June 6th, 1742, in that part of the town of Warwick still known by its original name of Powtowomut. He was the fifth in descent from John Greene, St., who with a few companions took up their solitary abode in the then wilderness of Shawomet, a century before. Nathaniel Greene, his father, was a Quaker and an eloquent preacher. He owned a forge, grist mill and saw mill, which he had set up on the little river that wended its way through his lands. Under his care his eight sons grew to manhood. He was a rigid dis- ciplinarian and trained his children according to the old maxim, with the rod. General Greene early manifested an ardent desire for knowl- edge, which was gratified as far as opportunities allowed. As he approached his majority the natural inclination for society strongly developed itself, but the frequent merry makings in the surrounding families during the long winter evenings were es- pecially coveted and could be enjoyed only by stealth. Upon the return from one of these occasions he discovered the person of his father patiently waiting, whip in hand, beneath the very window through which he alone could find entrance. In this emergency, knowing there was no remedy against the applica- tion of the rod, he conceived an idea which suggested a ready capacity for military resource. A pile of shingles lay at hand and before he supposed his father beheld his approach he insin- uated beneath his jacket a sufficient number of thin layers of shingles to shield his back and shoulders from the thong. With this secret corset he approached and received his punishment with the most exemplary fortitude. The old man laid on with the utmost unction, but the hardy resignation with which the lad received his punishment was exemplary. The danger that threatened the colonies awakened his patri- 140 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. otic sentiments, and turned the current of his boyhood teachings of non-resistance into war-like channels, and led him by diligent study of such books as he could procure, to prepare himself for the active and important position to which he was subsequently called. Previous to the breaking out of the revolutionary war, in con- nection with several of his brothers, he removed to Coventry, where he carried on an extensive business in forging anchors. Their forge stood near where the Quidneck Railroad bridge now stands. He married Catharine, daughter of John Littlefield, of New Shoreham, July 20th, 1774. General Greene's subsequent military career may be said to have commenced the same year as his mar- riage. As a successful military commander in the revolutionary struggle it is generally allowed that he stood next to Washing- ton. In the latter part of 1785 he removed with his family to Georgia, where he died on the 19th of June, 1786. The Dorr Rebellion. — In the year 1663 the colony of Rhode Island received from Charles II., king of Great Britain, a " charter " which up to the year 1842 was the written fundamental law of the state. After the American revolution the royal authority over the colony was repudiated, and Rhode Island became a free and independent state. Most other states adopted new forms of government at that time, but Rhode Island continued under the royal charter. The charter government does not appear to have been strongly objected to until 1814, when a bill was introduced into the senate for an extension of suffrage, which was defeated. In the year 1824, by the direction of the general assembly, a writ- ten constitution was submitted to the people, who rejected it by a majority of 1,538 votes. Thomas W. Dorr was elected to the assembly as a whig in the year 1833, and about that time became conspicuous as a leader of the free suffrage party. The most odious features in the old charter were considered to be the inequality of representation, but more particularly the fact that every voter must possess $134 of real estate and his eldest son admitted to the privilege of the father. The people evidently desired a change. The first movement, which resulted in the Dorr rebellion, commenced early in 1841. The suffrage convention was held in Providence on the 7th day of April, and was an important and respectable gathering, both as to numbers HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 141 and character. A second convention was held at Newport in May following, at which a state convention was appointed, which issued an address and called a convention to form a constitution. Delegates were to be elected on the last Saturday in August, and the convention to assemble on the first Monday in October in Providence. The general assembly had already called a con- stitutional convention to meet in November. This was called the " Freeholders' Convention," the other the " Suffrage Con- vention." Subsequent meetings followed, in which general organizations and thorough discussions were made preparatory for a political campaign. The suffrage convention submitted a constitution to the people December 27th, 28th and 29th, 1841. When they counted the votes, January 12th, 1842, they declared the number to be 13,944 — freemen's or landed qualification vote, 4,960 ; non- freeholders' vote, 8,984 — which was claimed to be a decided ma- jority of the adult male citizens of the state. The judges of the supreme court of the state gave an opinion on the 2d of March, 1842, that the doings of the suffrage party were illegal and void. The meeting for the freeholders' convention was held on the 21st, 22d and 23d of March. At this time the freeholders' con- stitution was rejected; the vote standing for the constitution 8,013, and against it 8,689. This was a majority of 676 against the new constitution. The constitution having been rejected, the old form of govern- ment remained the same. The campaign meetings that followed were very exciting, and the time soon arrived when the " Law and Order " party had to take effective measures against the Dorrites, to prevent confusion and discord. Early in April both parties sent representatives to Washington to secure the support or the non-interference of the general gov- ernment. President Tyler favored the freeholders' party, but in spite of this the suffrage party decided to go ahead. The first election under the suffrage constitution was held April 18th, 1842. Thomas Dorr, the candidate for governor, received 6,600 votes. The election under the old charter was held two days .later, and Samuel Ward King was elected by a large majority over Thomas F. Carpenter, who headed the democratic ticket. On May 3d, those elected under the suffrage constitution or- ganized in Providence, at which time Dorr delivered a long mes- sage. Welcome B. Sayles was chosen speaker of the house of what was termed the " Foundry Legislature." 142 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The charter, or legal general assembly, met in Newport on the 4th of May, and called on the president of the United States for ...assistance. A number of persons— Burlington Anthony, Hezekiah Willard and others— were arrested for accepting office under the . suffrage constitution, President Tyler announcing by letter in the meantime that he would sustain by force, if need be, the ■ charter government. On May 16th, Dorr arrived in Providence and immediately issued a proclamation forbidding any more arrests of his ad- herents, and on the 17th he ordered out the suffrage militia to . assemble in Providence and await orders. Three or four hun- *dred men assembled at Dorr's headquarters that night and made . a movement against the arsenal, but the project proved a com- plete failure. On the 18th, about eight hundred law and order troops ap- - peared on the streets of Providence, and an effort was made to ..arrest Dorr, but he fled from the state. Most of the suffrage officers now resigned, and on the 8th of June Governor King offered $1,000 for the arrest and return of Dorr. On June 23d Dorr and his friends from various parts of the . state established his headquarters at Chepachet. A fort was built . and Dorr took command of the forces, numbering some five or , six hundred men. Their barricade was thrown up on " Acote's Hill." On the 26th Governor King issued a proclamation, and ■commanded Dorr and his followers to disperse. Three thousand troops were gathered together in the city, and the general assem- bly declared the state under martial law. Insurgents' houses were searched, prisoners taken, and many of the suffrage party, not being properly supported, became disgusted and left. The government now ordered out the Kentish Guards, from Greenwich, to cut off supplies to Dorr sent by the way of Massa- ■ chusetts. Some skirmishing ensued, in which Alexander Kilby was shot and killed, and Robert Roy and David Cutting were wounded. Dorr still remained intrenched with his forces on •"Acote's Hill." The state forces now surrounded the fort, and Dorr, perceiving it would be useless to fight against the over- whelming numbers opposing him, escaped from the place, taking his body guard with him, and leaving the rest to be taken pris- .. oners. Dorr himself was arrested, October 31st, 1843, in Providence, - where he had gone and boldly entered his name on the register HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 143 •of the City Hotel. Deputy Sheriff Potter arrested him and com- mitted him to prison. His trial was begun in April, 1844, at Newport. He was sentenced to imprisonment in the state prison during his natural life June 25th, 1844, and was liberated June 27th, 1845. He died December 27th, 1852, and his remains were interred in Swan Point Cemetery. The Kentish Guards held an important position during a por- tion of the " Dorr War," as the exciting times of 1842 were then ■called. On the afternoon of the day when Mr. Dorr and his fol- lowers threatened an attack on the Arsenal on Dexter street, in Providence, Governor King sent orders to all the independent companies in the state to assemble in Providence as soon as pos- sible. The Kentish Guards marched and paraded through the •streets during the afternoon and evening, but as their services were not required they were dismissed, to their very great satis- faction. When the second call for troops was made in June, it was very difficult to get the company together. Some of them thought there might be danger and they had better keep away, and although Colonel Allen made every exertion and performed his duty to the utmost, he was unable to fill up the ranks without volunteers, although most of those who volunteered were already exempt from military duty. When all the arrangements were made the company were told to be ready at a minute's warning, as Colonel Allen was expecting a call at any moment. At length it came, on Sunday afternoon, during the church services. A train of cars arrived from Providence, with an urgent request from the governor to Colonel Allen to come as soon as possible, for the rebels were making a serious demonstration at Pawtucket. When the court house bell rang the company assembled and were soon on their way to the seat of war. The following from the Providence Journal wiW give an idea how well the Kentish Guards performed their duty, and how much real danger they encountered at Pawtucket. Some of the mem- bers were so much injured by the stones and other missiles that they were compelled to leave the company and return ;iiome. " Having heard and seen several accounts of the encounter at Pawtucket, on Monday night, the 27th of June, between the military and the self-styled people, which accounts not only es- sentially differ, but some of which, it is believed, were designed to convey a false impression prejudicial both to the military and 144 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the well disposed citizens of that village, the following account has been carefully drawn up by one who witnessed the whole scene, from the entrance of the troops into the village until its termination : " On Monday afternoon the Kentish Guards, from East Green- wich, under the command of Colonel G. W. T. Allen, consisting of about fifty men, were ordered to repair to Pawtucket and guard the bridge over the Blackstone River at that village. On their arrival, multitudes were assembled in the streets, as they supposed, to witness a military parade ; but it was soon apparent that mere curiosity was not the sole object, as language of the most insolent and irritating character was heard, amid the din of hisses, shouts and yells, as the troops marched down to the hotel on the corner of Main and Mill streets ; all of which failed, how- ever, of the intended effect, as the men had positive orders to observe the strictest military discipline and decorum, let their treatment from the mob be ever so rude. "Arrived at the hotel, they were received by the Pawtucket and Central Falls volunteers, under the command of Captain Potter, and conducted to their quarters in the hall, and im- mediately placed a guard at the main entrance to the hotel, with the intention of partaking of some refreshments before they took command of the pass across the bridge. " The officers had scarcely reached the hall before a shout from without announced an attack upon the guard at the entrance on Mill street ; and on looking out one of the sovereigns was seen brandishing a bayonet, which he had wrested from the musket of one of the guard, but which was soon recovered, the guard at the door strengthened, and a file of men placed across Main street, from the old market to the corner of Main and Mill streets. To this point as far as could be seen on the Massa- chusetts side, the streets and bridge presented one dense jnass of human beings, male and female, old and young, even nursing- infants with their mothers, and the streets around the hotel were fast filling up. " The guard maintained their position in the rain, standing at ' secure arms ' or ' charge bayonet ' for about an hour, while the Pawtucket and Central Falls volunteers (twenty-five only of whom were armed) organized and loaded their guns from the supplies of the Kentish Guards, as they were entirely without ammunition, organization or discipline ; when it was deemed HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 145 necessary to strengthen it, and a file of men formed across Main, opposite the middle of Mill, at its junction with Main street, about ten or twelve paces in the rear of the front line, and an- other under the piazza in front of the hotel, in Main street, in order to keep their guns dry, in case it became necessary to fire on the mob. " These preparations for defence, instead of dispersing the rioters, only tended to increase. the excitement which had risen almost to frenzy, and in a few minutes the guards on every line were as closely surrounded as their arms would allow, by friend and foe undistinguishable, and as some demonstrations were made to disarm them, the front line was now marched into the rear line, under cover of that on the side of the hotel and faced from the bridge two paces from that facing the bridge. " This retrograde movement, however necessary for their own safety, had a bad effect, as it proved ; for the mob, thinking that it was' a signal of a retreat of the whole force, followed up the advantage which the movement gave them, and closed in on all sides, so that it was with great difficulty they could be kept from rushing between the lines at the short distance between them. " At this juncture the mob east of the bridge receded right and left, until they had opened up to the front line, when a horse in a carriage, containing two persons in male and one in female attire, was driven up to the line, and the driver demanded a pass through. The, officer in command asked him to pass round the left of his line, in Mill street, but he persisted in his right to pass through his ranks, and would have done so, had not the horse been seized by the bridle and wheeled off, when he passed up Main street a short distance, wheeled round, and drove down furiously upon the other line ; again he was frustrated, passed around the lines, and disappeared east of the bridge for a few minutes, when he returned to the assault ; and as it was now evident that he was intent on breaking the lines of the guard, the officer in command, ordering his men to stand firm, again exhorted him to desist, and pass around, as he had done before ; but the mob cheered him on with exclamations of ' Break their ranks — run down the cursed Algerines — maintain your rights.' At this crisis, finding argument and expostulation unavailing, the men were now ordered to rush upon the horse, rather than spill the blood of the driver, which so exasperated the horse 10 146 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. that it was necessary to give orders to fire, which were fol- lowed by the discharge of only three or four pieces, owing to the wet state of the priming, sufficient, however, to drive him from the assault. " This fire separated the mob from the guard sufficiently to allow the mob to assail them with stones, bricks and bottles of glass and stone, weapons, the contents of which had tended, probably, to elevate their courage to such a frenzied pitch, and four of the guard were carried in wounded. A female among the mob fell and was carried off for dead ; but finding that neither she nor others were hurt, they concluded that blank cartridges had been fired, and now commenced a scene of which an actual opening of the bottomless pit alone can convey an adequate idea. " Every exclamation that could be expected to irritate the men, such as ' Where's the man that shot the cow ?' — ' Fire away your blank cartridges, you cursed Algerines!' with all the dismal bowlings, yells, groans, that human beings ever uttered, arose in one universal strain, until all distinguishable sounds were drowned in the terrific din ; as soon as Col. Allen could be heard, he advanced in front of his lines and ordered the mob to disperse at their peril, assuring them that his muskets were loaded with ball cartridges, and that however reluctant to shed human blood, unless they dispersed, he should give orders to fire ; again the air was rent with, ' Fire away your blanked cartridges, you cursed Algerines !' and the assault with stones and other missiles was renewed. " A detachment of men reloaded and primed, now advanced to the front, and again they were ordered to disperse with the same effect, and unable longer to withstand the assault the men were ordered to fire, when some five or six pieces were dis- charged, none of which took effect, as, owing to the reluctance of the troops to shed blood, they elevated their pieces above the mob ; it had the effect, however, to disperse them in some meas- ure, as they receded back to about the middle of the bridge, where they again made a stand and renewed the assault, and were fired upon again, and one, the ringleader, fell dead or mor- tally wounded, and the rest receded back upon the Massachusetts side, and sought cover behind the buildings, from which they would occasionally sallj^ and throw their missiles at the guard, who now advanced to the middle of the bridge, which post was HISTORY OF -VVASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 147 maintained until the guard was relieved by the arrival of the R. I. Carbineers, about two o'clock, Tuesday morning. " It is due to the Kentish Guards and Pawtucket and Central Falls volunteers, to say, that the lawless insolence was endured and forbearance exercised, until their own safety demanded a lawful resistance and performance of their military duty ; it was fortunate for the cause of humanity that it was dark and rainy, for ha,d the weather been dry and the night bright, hundreds of lives would in all probability have been sacrificed ; happily, but one was killed, and so far as we know, but six or eight wounded on both sides ; thus terminated an encounter, which, while it quelled the violence of a lawless and desperate mob, failed in reaching and bringing to summary justice the cowardly villains by whom the comparatively innocent and ignorant dupes of their treachery were incited to rebellion. " Some of the worthy sovereigns of Pawtucket having indus- triously but falsely circulated a report that Colonel Allen detailed a body of six men, who passed the Massachusetts line to search for men and arms contrary to orders, and that a requisition will be made by Governor Davis on their commander-in-chief to have them delivered up to the proper authorities of that State for trial, the Kentish Guards wish it to be distinctly understood that should such requisition be made, it is their desire that it might be promptly granted, as they court the strictest scrutiny and in- vestigation of their military conduct while stationed at that vil- lage, and are as ready to be tried by the laws of which they claim protection as they are to support them." The Reverend F. Denison thus graphically describes the Dorr rebellion : "After the war of 1812 no military call passed over the land till the remarkable ferment broke out in the state in 1842. This, from the name of the instigator of the movement, was denomi- nated the Dorr rebellion. Though somewhat serious it was a brief affair, in which, on the part of the insurgents, discretion super- seded the necessity of valor. The vicinity of the Arsenal, Fed- eral Hill, Chepachet and Acote's Hill, where the hero promised to ' lay his bones,' were the only memorable fields, except the line of retreat, halting places of exile, the court house and the state prison. To meet the uprising of the party, Washington county sent forward 1,100 men, under command of General John B. Sted- man of Westerly. 148 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. "Westerly furnished two companies : the regular militia com- pany, called the Westerly Light Infantry Company, of about fifty men, under Captain James H. Perigo ; and a volunteer company of eighty men, under Captain William Potter. These were absent from the town, in the vicinity of Providence, only about a week. But they were under arms and on guard duty in the town till the rebellion collapsed. For a time Westerly was under martial law, and her streets were patrolled day and night by armed men. The little academy was transformed into a guard-house, and often contained prisoners. To suppress the demonstrations of the Dorrites, a court of inquiry, under military authority, was opened at the hotel on East Broad street. Citizens suspected of treason, or known to be abettors of the insurgents, were made to bow to General' Stedman's sword. Mr. Joseph Gavitt attempted to resist the requisition of the court by arming himself in the chamber of his house, but finally yielded to the army of law and order. Dur- ing the excitement there was a great abuse of the English lan- guage, and not a little loss of good grammar as well as of good character. One spunky gun was fired by a woman, but the » charge from the piece, like the hot volleys from her lips, went into the air. The musket of a sentinel on Union street, in the night, somehow took fire, and the ball entered a house, to the great alarm of the inmates. But the political tempest soon sub- sided here and throughout the state. The ambition of Mr. Dorr was cooled behind the bars of the state prison. " Fortunately the whole affair, on the side of the disaffected, was ah effusion of bad bile rather than of valuable blood. They adopted wrong measures to secure a desirable end ; they took the path of anarchy in hope of reaching the goal of liberty and order — a serious mistake, too often made by the ignorant and ambitious. In the end, however, the Dorr rebellion moved the ' Law and Order Party ' to adopt a new constitution for the state ; and the old charter, dating from 1663, was laid aside to be hon- ored in our archives. Thus even discontents are made to con- tribute to the progress of society." The Civil War. — The rebellion against the government of the United States assumed positive form by the bombardment of Fort Sumter, then occupied by a single company under the com- mand of Major Robert Anderson, in April, 1861. On the 15th of the same month the president of the United States made a call upon the states for seventy-five thousand men, to serve three ■HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 149 months in suppressing this outbreak, and on the day following, in response to this call, an order was issued by Governor Sprague for an immediate organization of the First Regiment, and in a few days the order was completed. The regiment proceeded to Washington in two detachments ; the first under command of Colonel Ambrose E. Burnside, leaving Providence April 20th, and the second under Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph S. Pitman, on the 24th. The quarters of this regiment were established at Camp Sprague, Washington. On the 10th of June it marched on an expedition toward Harper's Ferry to join other forces under Gen- eral Patterson, for the purpose of dislodging the rebels under General Joseph E. Johnston, then holding that place. The evacu- ation of Harper's Ferry, however, necessitated a return to Wash- ington city after the regiment had reached Williamsport, Md. The expedition was accompanied by Governor Sprague and his aid-de-camp, Colonel John A. Gardiner. The first battle in which this regiment participated was on the 21st of July at Bull Run. In the perils of this fight Governor Sprague shared, having at- tached himself to Burnside's brigade as a volunteer. He was present in the thickest of the fight, and had a horse shot under him. The term of service having expired, the regiment broke camp July 25th, and reached Providence Sunday morning the 28th, bringing the sick and wounded that did not fall into the hands of the enemy. The First Regiment Rhode Island Detached Militia was commanded by Colonel Ambrose E. Burnside, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Joseph S. Pitman, 1st Major John S. Slocum, 2d Major William Goddard, Surgeon (major) Francis L. Wheaton. Under the first call of the president of the United States for additional troops to serve three years, or during the war, the Second Regiment of Rhode Island volunteers was or- ganized. The work of enlistment was spiritedly prosecuted Tinder an order from Governor Sprague, Camp Burnside at Provi- dence being established, with Major John S. Slocum of the First Regiment in command as colonel, and Colonel William Goddard, ■of the governor's staff, as temporary lieutenant-colonel, who was succeeded by General Charles T. Robbins. On June 22d, the regiment, accompanied by Governor Sprague, proceeded to Washington. The history of this regiment may be found in the history of the battles of First Bull Run, Yorktown, Williamsburg, Malvern Hill, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Marye's 150 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Heights, Salem Heights, Gettysburg, Rappahannock Station, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Fort Stevens and Opequan. The names of these battles, under general orders from the war department, by order of General Meade, March 7th, 1865, were inscribed upon its colors. The regiment was mustered out of the service at Hall's Hill, Va., July 13th, 1865. The Fourth Regiment, Rhode Island volunteers, was organized in September, 1861, and in October placed in command of Colonel Isaac P. Rodman. Included among the troops selected for the North Carolina campaign under General Burnside, it made part of the Third brigade of the coast division. They were engaged at Roanoke island, where they were gallantly led, and later dis- tinguished themselves in the capture of Newbern. When Burn- side was ordered from North Carolina to the support of McClel- lan in the peninsula, the Fourth Rhode Island moved with his command. They were hotly engaged at South Mountain and Antietam. In this last bloody affair their commander. Colonel Steere, was badly wounded, and their old commander. General Rodman, killed. In November they lost their lieutenant-colonel, Joseph B. Curtis, killed while forming line before Fredericksburg. In July the regiment was transferred to the Seventh corps, but rejoined the Ninth before Petersburg in 1864, and took part in the assault on the rebel lines. It was permitted to inscribe on its colors the names : " Roanoke Island, Newbern, Fort Macon, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Suffolk, Weldon Rail- road, Poplar Spring Church, Hatcher's Run." The Seventh Regiment, Rhode Island volunteers, was called to serve during the war. The general order was issued May 22d, 1862. Camp Bliss was established in South Providence for drill. Welcome B. Sayles began the work of enlisting soldiers. The regiment was raised, and on September 10th it broke camp, and under the command of Colonel Zenas R. Bliss, proceeded to Washington. It was mustered out of service June 9th, 1865. By general orders the names of the following battles in which the regiment had borne a meritorious part were directed to be in- scribed on its colors : " Fredericksburg, Siege of Vicksburg, Jackson, Spottsylvania, North Anna, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, Weldon Railroad, Poplar Spring Church, Hatcher's Run." The Ninth Regiment, Rhode Island volunteers, was organized by Colonel Charles T. Robbins, It was a three months' regiment. In 1862 the rebel general, Thomas J. Jackson, familiarly known HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 151 as Stonewall Jackson, with a large body of men, made a sudden raid up the valley of the Shenandoah, and threatened the safety of Washington. In view of actual and possible needs, the sec- retary of war sent on the 25th of ^May a telegram to the governor of Rhode Island for the immediate forwarding to the national capital of all the available troops in the state to serve in the de- fenses for a period of three months. This telegram was received by Governor Sprague at midnight, and before sunrise measures had been taken to comply with the call, and in two days from that time the Lonsdale National Guards, the Natic National Guards, the Westerly National Guards, and the Pawtucket Bat- talion, four full companies, reported for diity, and left Providence May 27th for Washington. The regiment first spent a month in drill, and then crossed the Potomac. It relieved the Ninety- ninth Pennsylvania volunteers, who joined the army of General McClellan, in the peninsula. At the expiration of the time of enlistment the regiment returned to Providence. The Twelfth Regiment, Rhode Island volunteers, was under the command of Honorable George H. Browne, his commission as colonel bearing date September 18th, 1862, the regiment being mustered into service October 13th. The regiment moved to Washington, where it took quarters at Camp Chase. The regi- ment was in the hottest part of the fight at Fredericksburg, where it lost one hundred and nine men, killed and wounded. On January 9th, 1863, it accompanied the Ninth Army Corps to the Peninsula, but soon after became the Twelfth, under General Burnside, and its operations were changed to points in Kentucky and Tennessee and other places, under his command, until July 19th, 1863, it was mustered out of service. During the term of nine months it travelled 3,500 miles, 500 of which were on foot. The soldiers in the late war from Washington and Kent coun- ties mostly enlisted in the regiments named above, but there were besides others represented in every regiment that went from Rhode Island. The history of these two counties in that dreadful conflict would be that of the state, but for the scattering list represented by each of the towns, we refer our readers to the adjutant-general's report of 1865, where they will also find many names in the various artillery and cavalry companies not included in the statement made above. For this war Washington county furnished 2,717 men, and Kent county 2,139. CHAPTER VI. THE BENCH AND BAR OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. History of the Courts.— List of Rhode Island Governors from Washington and Kent Counties. — The Attorneys-General. — Bar Compact. — Daniel Updike. — Lodovvick Updike.— Wilkins Updike.— Samuel Ward.— Harry Babcock.— James Mitchell Varnum. — Stephen Arnold. — Richard Ward Greene.^ Rouse T. Helme. — Archibald Campbell. — Jacob Campbell. — Benjamin Thur- ston.— Joseph L. Tillinghast.— Nathan F. Dixon —John H. Cross.— Elisha E. Potter, Sr.— Elisha R. Potter.— Judge Dutee Arnold.— Sylvester Gardiner Shearman. — George A. Brayton. — Albert Collins Greene. — Nathan Whiting. — William G. Bowen. — Joseph Windsor. — William E. Peck. — John Hall. — David S. Baker, Jr. — William C. Baker. — Elisha C. Clark. — Henry Howard. — E. H. Hazard. — Henry B. Anthony. — Thomas H. Peabody. — Charles Perrin. ^Albert B. Crafts. — Albert B. Burdick. — Henry Whipple. — Eugene F. Warner. — Nathan B. Lewis. — Samuel W. K. Allen. — Benjamin W. Case. — Charles J. Arms. THE people of Rhode Island seem at first to have transacted their judicial as well as their other public business in town meeting. They agreed to be governed by " the major consent " of the freemen of the town " only in civil things." While the commonwealth remained an uncontentious society this system was good enough. In 1640 provisions for compulsory arbitrations were adopted. The Portsmouth settlers, following Judaic example, chose a judge to exercise authority among them, the people agreeing to submit their persons, lives and estates " unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the king of kings and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His, given in His Holy Word of Truth, to be guided and judged thereby." Before the year was out three elders were associated with the judge to assist him in drawing up such rules and laws as should be " according to God," etc. The elders were afterward increased to seven, but the town meet- ing remained the supreme court of the land. At Newport the governor and assistants were made justices of the peace cx-officio. Courts consisting of magistrates and jurors were ordained to be held every quarter at Newport and Ports- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 153 mouth alternately, with power to judge all cases and actions that should be presented. In 1647 the first charter went into effect, and the mainland was united with the island towns at this time. Under the new system the chief officers of the government were a president and four assistants, one from each town. To them was committed the duty of holding twice yearly the general court of trials for the whole colony ; a court which was the predecessor of the present supreme court of the state. This court, when first established, had jurisdiction of the higher class of crimes, of cases between town and town, of cases between parties living in dif- ferent towns, etc., etc. The other tribunals were the town or local courts, with ap- pellate jurisdiction over them. In 1663 the royal charter of Charles II. was received. This charter provided for the election of a governor, a deputy governor, ten assistants and a body of deputies. This body possessed full governmental powers. The function of the deputies were purely legislative. This charter empowered the general assembly to create judicial tribunals. At its first session, accordingly, it was provided that the governor or deputy governor, with at least six assistants, should hold the general court of trials at Newport every year, in May and Oc- tober, but the terms were soon after changed to March and Sep- tember. There was also provided a special court for Providence and Warwick. In 1729 the next change occurred. The colony then was di- vided into three counties : Newport, Providence and Kings. A criminal and a civil court for each county were established. The criminal courts were denominated courts of general sessions of the peace, and' were held twice a year in each county by the jus- tices of the peace of the county, five of them being a quorum. The civil courts, called courts of common pleas, were held by " four judicious and skillful persons " chosen by the general as- sembly from the counties in which they were to act, and com- missioned by the governor to hold their offices Qiiamdiu se bene gesserit. This court held its sessions twice a j-ear in each coun- ty. The higher court, which now received the name of " Super- ior Court of Judicature, Court of Assize and General Gaol De- livery." continued to be held exclusively at Newport. In 1747, in lieu of the governor or deputy-governor and the ten assistants, there were to be five judges and four associates, three being a 154 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. quorum. They were to be chosen annually by the general as- sembly. In 1780, the legislative and judicial powers to be united in the same person was declared incompatible with the constitution, and thereafter no member of either house of the assembly was al- lowed to fill the office of a justice of a supreme court. In 1798 the name of the court was changed to " The Supreme Judicial Court," which it retained down to the adoption of the Constitu- tion in 1843, when, dropping " Judicial," it became the " Supreme Court." In 1875 the number of the judges, which had been four since 1843, was increased to five. May 27th, 1886, the district courts were established, Washing- ton county being divided into two, and Kent county being made one -distri<;t. The town councils of the several towns were from the first courts of probate of wills, not to the town councils, but to the head officers of the town. The Code devolves the duty upon the town council, of property owners dying intestate to make wills, etc. Governors. — Inasmuch as the governors of the state formed such an important element in the judicial history, we here insert the names of those from Washington and Kent counties, it being a record that should be preserved : John Smith, of Warwick, May, 1649, to May, 1650; Samuel Gorton, of Warwick, October, 1651,, to May, 1652 ; John Smith, of Warwick, May, 1652, to May, 1653 ;. William Greene, of Warwick, May, 1743, to May, 1745 ; from May, 1746, to May, 1747 ; from May, 1748, to May, 1755, and from May, 1757, to February, 1758, when he died in office ; Samuel Ward, of Westerly, from May, 1762, to May, 1763, and from May, 1765, to May, 1767; William Greene, of Warwick, May, 1778, to 1786 ; John Brown Francis, of Warwick, from 1833 to- 1838 ; William Sprague, of Warwick, from 1838 to 1839 ; Elisha Harris, of Coventry, 1847 to 1849 ; Henry Howard, of Coventry, 1873 to 1875; John W. Davis, of Pawtucket, 1887; William Sprague, now of South Kingstown, but then of Providence, was. elected governor in 1860, and held the position to March 3d, 1863, when he resigned to accept the office of United States, senator. Deputy-Governors.— John Greene, of Warwick, 1690- to 1700; Thomas Frye, of East Greenwich, 1727 to 1729 ; George Hassard, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 155 of South Kingstown, 1734 to 1738 ; William Greene, of Warwick, 1740 to 1743 ; William Robinson, of South Kingstown, 1745 to 1746, and from 1747 to 1748 ; Robert Hazard, of South Kings- town, 1750 to 1751 ; Samuel J. Potter, of South Kingstown, 1790 to 1799. Lieutenant-Governors.— Samuel J. Potter, of South Kings- town, February to May, 1799, 1800 to 1803 ; George Brown, of South Kingstown, 1799 to 1800 ; Benjamin Thurston, of Hopkin- ton, 1816 to 1817 ; Edward Wilcox, of Charlestown, 1817 to 1821 ■, Jeffrey Hazard, of Exeter, 1833 to 1835, and from 1836 to 1837 ;, Benjamin B. Thurston, of Hopkinton, 1837 to 1838 ; Elisha Har- ris, of Coventry, 1846 to 1847 ; Thomas Whipple, of Coventry ,^ 1849 to 1851 ; John J. Reynolds, of North Kingstown, 1854 to 1855; Nicholas Brown, of Warwick, 1856 to 1857; William Greene, of Warwick, 1866 to 1868. The first charter for the colony of Rhode Island was obtained by Roger Williams in 1643-4. The people were obstructed, however, in erecting a government under it until 1647. In 1650 the legislature first created the ofl&ce of attorney-general and of solicitor-general of the colony, and the people by general ticket elected in May of that year, William Dyre to the first office and Hugh Burt to the second. This same year William Coddington embarked for England and in 1651 obtained a charter for Rhode Island proper, and the islands in the Narragansett bay. New- port and Portsmouth submitted to this government ; Providence and Warwick continued under the old charter. The repeal of Coddington's charter was obtained through John Clarke and Roger Williams in that same year, but in consequence no attor- ney and solicitor-general were elected in 1651-2. The offices of attorney and solicitor continued till 1741, when the act appointing one attorney-general for the colony was re- pealed and an act passed appointing attorneys for counties, Dan- iel Updike being appointed attorney for the county of Kings. The act of 1741 was repealed, however, and the act appointing one attorney-general for the colony revived in 1743. The fol- lowing is a list of the attorneys-general who have been elected from the counties of Washington and Kent: John Greene, Jr., of Warwick, May 19th, 1657, to May 22d, 1660 ; Edmund Calver- ly, of Warwick, 1681 to 1682 ; John Smith, of Warwick, 1696 to 1698 ; John Rhodes, of Warwick, 1700 to 1701 ; Simon Smith, of ]56 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Warwick, 1706 to 1712 ; Daniel Updike, of North Kingstown, 1722 to 1732. In December, 1740, the act providing for the election of an at- torney-general was repealed, and a king's attorney directed to be chosen for each county. Daniel Updike, of North Kingstown was appointed for King's county and served from 1741 to 1743. In September, 1742, the act was repealed, and provision made for the election of one attorney-general only. Daniel Updike served from 1743 to 1748 ; Daniel Updike served from 1790 to 1791, and Albert C. Greene, of East Greenwich, from 1825 to 1843. Under the constitution adopted in 1842, there were no attor- neys elected from either county. Ira O. Seamans, of Warwick, became assistant attorney-general March 19th, 1874, and held the office to March 19th, 1877. In 1745 the profession held their first bar meeting in this col- ony. At that meeting the lawyers agreed to some rules " to be strictly kept up by us upon honor." " I. No cause at any inferior court where an answer is filed shall be undertaken under forty shillings for a fee or more. " II. No answer shall be filed under a forty shilling fee, besides the payment of the charge of copies. " III. No case to be pleaded at any superior court under a three pound fee. " IV. No writ or review to be brought under a four pound fee, and the same if for the defendant. "V. In the foregoing cases no man to be trusted without his note, saving a standing client for whom considerable business is done. " VI. No attorney to sign blank writs and disperse them about the colony, which practice it is conceived would make the law cheap and hurt the business without profiting any one whatever. "VII. No attorney shall take up any suit against a practitioner except three or more brethren shall determine the demand reasonable, and then if he will not do justice the whole fraternity shall rise up against him. "VIII. If any dispute should arise among the brethren about endorsement of writs, for securing costs, it shall not be deemed a breach of unity if one attorney takes out a writ against another for his costs. And in case any attorney shall become bail he is to expect no favor. " IX. No attorney to advance money to pay entry and jury in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 157 cases disputed except for a standing, responsible client that hap- pens to be out of the way. " At September Term, 1745. " Daniel Updike, "James HoNEYMAN, Jr., " John Alpin, " John Walton, " Mathew Robinson, " David Richards, Jr., "Thomas Ward, " John Andrews." Daniel Updike was a son of Gilbert Updike, who married a daughter of Richard Smith, Sen., the first settler of North Kings- town. Gilbert Updike was a German physician of considerable celebrity. In 1664, he and his three brothers, Richard, Daniel and James, emigrated to the colony of Rhode Island. Richard Updike was killed in the great swamp fight of 1675, and Daniel and James dangerously wounded. James afterward died of apoplexy. Daniel, on a voyage to Europe, was captured by the Algerines and ransomed by Major Richard Smith, Jr., with fif- teen hundred gun locks. The sons of Gilbert were Lodowick, Daniel and James. Lodowick married Catharine, the daughter of Thomas Newton, and died in 1737, leaving Daniel and five daughters. Daniel, son of Lodowick, was educated in his father's house by an able French instructor in the Greek, Latin and French languages, and his sisters in the Latin and French. After Daniel was educated he visited Barbadoes in company with a friend of his father's, and was admitted to the first circles of so- ciety on the island. Upon his return he applied himself to the study of the law, and after his admission opened an office in New- port. In 1722, Henry Bull, Esq., having been elected attorney- general, and declining the office, Mr. Updike was elected to fill the vacancy. He was annually re-elected until May, 1732, when he declined, having been nominated for governor of the colony in opposition to Governor William Wanton. In 1723 he was ap- pointed by the general assembly as the state's counsel to attend the trial of the thirty-six pirates captured by Captain Solgar, com- mander of his majesty's " Greyhound." Twenty-six of the pirates were executed at Newport in Jitly of that year. Mr. Updike was much engaged in the angry controversy between the colonies respecting the boundary lines of Connecticut and Rhode Island, 158 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and was actively interested in matters pertaining to legislation, having been appointed by the general assembly on various occa- sions on important work. In 1742 he was re-elected for King's county, and was also elected one of the committee to revise the laws. In May, 1743, he was elected attorney-general, and was sustained by annual re-elections by the people until the year 1758. Mr. Updike in person was about five feet ten inches in height, with prominent features. As an advocate he sustained a high reputation. He had a clear, full musical voice. Dr. Brad- ford iised to speak of him as being a " fine speaker with great pathos and piercing irony." Lodowick Updike, son of Daniel, was born July 12th, 1725. He was educated under private tutors in conformity with the practice of that age. His last instructor was the Reverend John Checkley, rector of the church at Providence, an Oxford scholar and a learned divine. Mr. Updike studied law for the bar, but never practiced. He inherited a large estate and resided there until his death, June 6th, 1804. His wife was Abigail Gardiner, daughter of William Gardiner of Boston Neck, and niece of Doc- tor McSparran. His children were Daniel, James, Austin, Mary, Abigail, Sarah, Lydia, Lodowick, Alfred, Gilbert and Wilkins. Wilkins Updike, the noted lawyer of Rhode Island, was the youngest son of Lodowick Updike, and was born at North Kings- town, January 8th, 1784. The homestead where Wilkins Updike was born belonged to the family from the first settlement. Be- sides advantages mentioned before in the houses of the Updikes, Wilkins was sent at the proper age to the academy in Plainfield, Connecticut. The late Elisha R. Potter received his education at that place. After leaving the academy he studied law in the office of Honorable James Lanman, subsequently senator in con- gress from Connecticut, and afterward in Newport in the office of Honorable Asher Robbins and in the office of Elisha Potter in Little Rest. He was admitted to the practice of the law in 1808. The amount of litigation in Washington and Kent counties was very great at that time. Of this Mr. Updike soon began to obtain a portion, and in the end enjoyed a harvest of the legal profes- sion. Mr. Updike married, September 23d, 1809, Abby, daughter of Walter Watson, Esq., of South Kingstown. She died many years before him, leaving several children : Thomas B. Updike, of Manchester, Pa.; Honorable Caesar A. Updike, speaker of the house of representatives of Rhode Island at one time ; Walter HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 159 Updike, attorney-at-law, deceased ; Mrs. R. K. Randolph, Mrs. Samuel Rodman, Mrs. H. A. Hidden, Mrs. John F. Greene, Mrs. John Eddy and Miss Artis T. Updike. After marriage Mr. Up- dike resided^ for a while at Tower Hill, South Kingstown, and then came to Kingston, then called Little Rest. He was occupied by his profession and politics for many years, and was for many successive terms a member of the legislature. While in the legislature his efforts to aid Mr. Barnard in establishing a good system of common schools will be remembered by many ; and he also took an active part in supporting the measures for abolish- ing the old restrictions upon the rights of married women. His wit and peculiar style of eloquence always gave him a great in- fluence in the general assembly. Mr. Updike left some memorials behind him which will long be remembered. In 1842 he pub- lished in an octavo volume his " Memoirs of the Rhode Island Bar." Many of these sketches are exceedingly interesting. He next began the collection of material for the history of the Episcopal •church. This work led eventually to the publication of his "History of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, R. I.," in 1847. It is an octavo volume of 533 pages of most valuable matter. It is now out of print. Mr. Updike died at Kingston January 14th, 1867. The funeral was performed on Thursday following by Reverend Mr. Crane of East Greenwich. Samuel Ward, of Westerly, was born in Newport May 27th, 1725. He was reared as a farmer, but removed to Westerly, where he retained his abode until his death. He was a member of the house of representatives from 1756 to 1759 ; was chief justice of Rhode Island in 1761 ; was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1762, in 1765, and again in 1767. He was one of the founders of Rhode Island College, now Brown University. He was a zealous patriot, and was elected to the first continental congress in 1774_75. He died of small-pox in Philadelphia, March 27th, 1776. Colonel Harry Babcock, son of Doctor Joshua Babcock, of Westerly, was born in 1736. He entered college at twelve years ■of age, and took his degree at sixteen at the head of his class. At the age of eighteen he obtained from the legislature of this state a charter for an independent company of infantry and was -appointed captain. At the age of nineteen he was appointed captain of a company in the regiment raised by this colony and marched to Albany, from thence to Lake George, and joined the 160 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. army in the campaign of 1756, to dislodge the French from Can- ada. Sir William Johnson, commander-in-chief, detached four hundred men under Colonel Williams to reconnoitre. Captain Babcock, with sixty men, constituted a part of the corps. They were attacked by the enemy commanded by Baron Dieskau, and defeated. Colonel Williams and Captain Babcock had nineteen men killed and wounded. Baron Dieskau was taken prisoner. The next year Captain Babcock was promoted major ; at twenty- one years of age he was promoted lieutenant-colonel ; at twenty- two he commanded the Rhode Island regiment, consisting of one thousand men ; and in July, 1758, he marched five hundred of his men with the British army against Ticonderoga. He had one hundred and ten men killed and wounded and was wounded himself by a musket ball in the knee. He also assisted in other campaigns, and in all served five years in the Old French wars with great reputation. About the age of twenty-five Colonel Babcock spent a year in England, chiefly in London, where he was treated with as great respect by the nobility and gentry as any other American of his time. Soon after his return he mar- ried and settled in Stonington, in Connecticut, and commenced the practice of the law. When the revolution commenced he was a staunch whig, and 1^776 he was appointed by the legis- lature commander of the forces at Newport. While commander at this time he had one opportunity to display his courage. On the open beach, with an eighteen pounder, he drove off the British man-of-war " Rose " by his own firing. He had practiced as an engineer at Woolwich, when in England. He was so severely affected by a spell of sickness in the winter following that he never entirely recovered. He was a man of fine person, accomplished manners, commanding voice and an eloquent speaker. The family mansion stood on the old country road one mile east of Pawcatuck village in Westerly. James Mitchell Varnum was born in Dracut, Mass., in 1749. He graduated in 1769, at the age of twenty, from Rhode Island College, then located in Warren. He was in the first class that graduated from that institution. Soon after his college course he entered the office of Oliver Arnold, in Providence, then attorney general of the colony. He settled in East Greenwich, where his talents acquired for him an extensive practice and from his travels through the circuits of the state he reaped many honors of his profession. Mr. Varnum had a great taste for military HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 161 life, and early joined the Kentish Guards, and in 1774 was ap- pointed commander of that company, which from superior ac- quirements in military tactics became the nursery of many dis- tinguished officers during the revolutionary war. General Greene, General Varnum, Colonel Greene, Colonel Crary, Colonel Whitmarsh, Major Dexter, Captain Arnold and others, making thirty-two in all, entered the patriot army as commissioned offi- cers from this company. The state raised two regiments for the war of the revolution for the year 1776. Colonel Varnum com- manded the first and Hitchcock the second. Varnum was short- ly afterward raised to the command of a brigade, and the legis- lature of the state in May, 1779, in consideration of his national services, elected him. major-general of the militia, to which office he was unanimously re-elected during the remainder of his life. In 1780 he was elected to congress. In 1787 he was appointed with Samuel Parsons judge of the Northwestern territory. In the spring of 1788, he left his native state and took up his abode in Marietta, Ohio, the seat of government, but in 1789 ill- health compelled him to cease labors, and in the month of March, 1789, he passed away, his death taking place at Campus Martius, a stockade built by the first settlers under Putnam. The career of General Varnum was active and brief. He graduated at twenty, was admitted to the bar at twenty-two, resigned his com- mission at thirty-two, was a member of congress the same year, resumed his practice at thirty-three, continued his practice four years, was elected to congress again at thirty-seven, emigrated to the west at thirty-nine, and died at the early age of forty. From the memoirs of Elkanah Watson we give the following, as descriptive of Mr. Varnum's eloquence as a speaker : " James Mitchell Varnum was appointed a brigadier-general in the Rhode Island line at an early period of the revolution. He resided in East Greenwich, and was one of the most eminent lawyers, and distinguished orators in the colonies. I first saw this learned and amiable man in 1774, when I heard him deliver a Masonic oration. Until that moment I had formed no conception of the power and charms of oratory. I was so deeply impressed, that the effect of his splendid exhibition has remained for forty-eight years indelibly fixed on my mind. I then compared his mind to a beautiful paterre, from which he was enabled to pluck the most gorgeous and fanciful flowers in his progress, to enrich and em- bellish his subject. 11 162 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " He marched into Providence, with his company on the even- ing of the 20th of April, on his way to Lexington. General Na- thaniel Greene marched into Providence with General Varnum on that occasion, although it was as a private, and while he still held his connection with the Quaker Society, Greene and Var- num were soon after appointed brigadiers and attached to the army besieging Boston. Varnum continued some years in the army, and saw some service ; he was a good disciplinarian, and invaluable in council. He held an excellent pen, commanding a rich flow of language and eloquence, embellished by all the or- naments and graces of rhetoric. " While in command at Taunton, he addressed an admirable letter to the commanding officer of the Hessians, on Rhode Is- land, and sent it in by a flag of truce. The letter was a tran- script of his views of the great controversy with England, and was considered an able argument on the subject. It was subse- quently published in England, and reflected very much credit on the author. At the close of his military career, he resumed his professional attitude, and often came into conflict with Henry Goodwin, his great rival in eloquence, but of a totally distinct school. While Varnum's oratory was mild and conciliatory, and flowing in majestic and persuasive eloquence, Goodwin's was wrapt in fire and energy, mingled with the most burning sarcasm. " In the year 1785, General Varnum formed the project of es- tablishing a colony on the north branch of the Ohio river, and erecting a city at the mouth of the Muskingum. He urged me to unite with him in the adventure. He carried out his design and founded Marietta, which he named in honor of the queen of France." Judge Stephen Arnold, of Warwick, was a descendant of the Pawtuxet Arnolds and born September 3d, 1732. He was the son of Philip, the son of Stephen, grandson of Stephen, and great-grandson of William, the first of the family in this state. Judge Arnold was married several times. One of his daughters, Elizabeth, married Christopher A. Whitman, of Coventry, who was for some years president of the Coventry Bank. He fell dead in the road in Centreville, May 19th, 1816, in the 84th year of his age. His son Benedict dropped dead from his horse while riding to Apponaug, and his eldest son dropped from his chair and expired just after he had eaten a hearty dinner. Judge HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 163 Stephen Arnold was the person who was charged by the people of East Greenwich with propagating principles unfriendly to American liberty, though it hardly appears he was guilty. He was at that time judge of the common pleas court, and denounced some of the leaders with much asperity. An account of this con- troversy is given in Chapter V. Judge Arnold was a tall, slim man, active in his habits, social and somewhat eccentric. Richard Ward Greene, of Warwick, chief justice, was one of the honored names of the state. He was the son of Christopher and Deborah (Ward) Greene, and was born early in 1792, and died in the eighty-fourth year of his age. His mother was a daughter of Governor Samuel Ward. He was educated at Brown University, and at the time of his death was one of its trustees. He studied law at Litchfield Law School, an institution which graduated many eminent lawyers of the American bar. Judge Greene was stately and dignified, straight as an arrow, and was over six feet in height. Rouse J. Helme. — The family of Helme were among the first settlers of Narragansett. Mr. James Helme of South Kingstown and Esther Powell of North Kingstown were married October 19th, 1738. They took up their residence at Tower Hill, and for many years Mr. Helme kept a large retail store there. In 1767 he was elected by the legislature chief justice of the supreme court of the state, and was re-elected as chief or associate justice until 1775. He died in 1777, and was interred in the burial ground on Tower Hill. His wife was the granddaughter of Gabriel Bernon, the Protestant Huguenot, and daiighter of Adam Powell and Hester Powell, who before marriage was Hester Ber- non. Rouse J. Helme, his son, was born at Tower Hill in 1744. He received a competent education, and became proficient in the learned languages. He early displayed a predilection for the study of the law, and became a distinguished citizen of the state. He took a course of study under Mathew Robinson, a learned lawyer, and subsequently opened an office at the village of Kings- ton, in his native town, where he soon obtained a large share of practice. He early embarked in politics, and was elected to many ofiices of honor and responsibility. He was a member of the council of war during the revolution, deputy secretary and a mem- ber of the general assembly for many years. In the legislature Mr. Helme boldly opposed the paper money system of 1786, and on the ascendency of that party, in the succeeding year, he was 164 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. superseded as a representative, but he manifested great ability as a lawyer and as a statesman, and was subsequently re-elected. In 1788 he was returned a member of the legislature from New Shoreham under a law passed during the revolution authorizing that town, being an island, to choose its representatives among other towns, and he continued to represent that town for many years. He died in the meridian of his life, October 13th, 1789, aged 46. Archibald Campbell commenced the practice of law in Kent county, settling in East Greenwich about the year 1750. But little is known of Mr. Campbell prior to this time. He continued his profession in East Greenwich until his death, in 1769. On his monument in the Baptist cemetery of his village is the following inscription : " In Memory of ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL, ESQUIRE, Son of Archibald, and Grandson of the Rev. Daniel Campbell, and nephew of the Rev. John Campbell, Late President of the College of Glasgow, who departed this life October 16th, 1769, in the 41st year of His Age. Viator ecce patria oolumen Juris pressium benignum genitorum Et indulgentissimus maritum." [Englished thus : Traveler, behold the patriot, the lawyer. The kind father, and the most indulgent husband.] Mr. Campbell had a large practice and he was a popular lawyer, greatly esteemed by the public. He was elected to the general assembly from East Greenwich in 1768, and was a valuable mem- ber of the legislature on various important committees, and was re-elected just prior to his death. He left one son, Jacob Camp- bell, and three daughters. Jacob Campbell, son of Archibald Campbell,Esq.,wasborn in East Greenwich in 1760, and graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) in September, 1783. After graduation h6 be- came a preceptor in a classical school in East Greenwich for a short period, and then entered the office of General Varnum as a stu- dent of law. ]\Ir. Campbell devoted many of his leisure hours to classic literature and poetry. His temperament was nervous, and he was very unfortunate, for he became often dejected, and with a mind so sensitive he was borne down with fancied injuries and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 165 neglect. He did not enjoy a rich field for practice in the legal profession and frequently indulged in his innate taste for the muses. He published a small volume entitled " Poetical Essays," and some of these selections found their wa-j into the well-known school book "The Speaker." He was also the author of a num- ber of essays in prose. Doctor Greene, speaking of Mr. Campbell in his valuable history of East Greenwich, says : " When relieved from the influence of his accustomed melan- choly, Campbell enraptured every circle with the sprightliness of his fancy and the fascination of his genius. His conversation was rich, his language vivid, his style lofty, accompanied by a captivating sweetness that went directly to the heart ; but when mentally depressed, he was silent and retiring, or disposed to pour into the bosom of some intimate friend the murmurings of his fancied griefs. " During his residence he became attached to Miss Eliza Rus- sell, daughter of Joseph Russell. Their love, growing out of a long friendship, was mutual. He was of a feeble constitution, and was inclined to consumption. During his lingering illness she was constantly with him, and with her own hand ministered to the object of her plighted love, and her delicate attentions and watchfulness were unceasing. His sickness was dubious and flattering for a long period, and she continued her affection- ate efforts for his restoration with unremitted devotion, some- times hoping for the joys of a speedy recovery, at others despair- ing of a hopeful termination. If she could not arrest disease, she could relieve its pains, and with a holy affection smooth the pillow of death, pluck out its thorns, and deal out the consola- tions of the gospel. After his death and funeral she retired to her room, and darkening it to her feelings, admitted only a few select friends, and particularly those who could discourse of kirn, and like /ler of o/d, refusing to be comforted, she remained there until her death. A lady of East Greenwich, who had been inti- mate with them both, called to see her, and was admitted to her chamber with scarcely light enough to distinguish an object. Her whole conversation was of the sickness, suffering and death of Jacob Campbell. She was waiting, with patient resignation, the arrival of the wished for hour, when she should join him in heaven. She caused a very handsome tombstone, as the last tribute of affection, to be erected at his grave in the old Baptist 166 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. cemetery in East Greenwich, next to his father's, with this in- scription : In Memory of JACOB CAMPBELL, Son of Archibald Campbell, Attorney-of-Law, Who departed this life March 5th, 1788, in the 38th year of his age. " ' Oh faithful memory may thy lamp illume, The sacred sepuohre with radiance clear. Soft plighted love shall rest upon his tomb. And friendship o'er it shed the fragrant tear.' " The suicidical course adopted by this devoted woman upon this eventful occasion should not be allowed to pass without re- proof. The dispensations of Heaven, however severe, are to be met and borne with Christian resignation. The infliction of self- injury or immolation, proceeds upon a principle of retaliation or revenge utterly at variance with every feature of the Christian character, and must impress the conviction that its doctrines have been defectively inculcated or grossly misunderstood. That she should have bitterly wept to be bereaved of the object of her tenderest affections ; that her wounded heart should have heaved with the deepest emotions upon their earthly separation, is what all would expect, and in which all would sympathize. But to in- carcerate her person, and prematurely terminate her existence, because the Deity, in his visitations, had disappointed her hopes, all must equally condemn." Joseph L. Tillinghast, of East Greenwich, was at one time principal of Kent Academy. He was born in Taunton, Mass., in 1791, and early in life moved to Rhode Island. He was gradu- ated at Brown University in 1809, and after his career as teacher and principal, he studied law and devoted himself to its practice in Providence with marked success for thirty years. In 1833 he was elected a member of the board of trustees of Brown Univer- sity, and from 1837 to 1843 he was a member of congress. He was for many years a member of the state legislature, and was elected speaker on several occasions. To him was awarded the authorship of the free schools, and the improved judiciary sys- tem of the state. He died in Providence December 30th, 1844. Nathan F. Dixon was a gradjiate of Brown University in 1799, became a lawyer, established himself in practice in Westerly in 1802, was elected a senator in congress in 1839, and died in Washington in 1842. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 167 Nathan F. Dixon^ son of the above, was born in Westerly in 1812, graduated from Brown University in 1833, studied law in his father's office in Westerly, and after an extended course of study was admitted to the bar in New London in 1837, and from that time until his death practiced law in Rhode Island. He died in April, 1881. From 1840 to 1877 Mr. Dixon served his native town in the general assembly of Rhode Island or his con- gressional district in the United States House of Representatives, of which he was a member ten years, from 1849 to 1851 and from 1863 to 1871. He was a presidential elector in 1844 and also in 1876. He was attorney for the New York, Providence and Ston- ington Railroad Company, and president of the Washington Na- tional Bank of Westerly for many years. Nathan F. Dixon', of Westerly, son of Nathan F. Dixon", was born August 28th, 1847. He was graduated from Brown University in the class of 1869, and was educated for his profes- sional work by a course of preparatory study under his father and afterward in the Albany Law School, where he was gradu- ated in the class of 1871. He has since practiced law. He was United States district attorney from 1877 to 1885, and represen- tative from the second district in the Forty-eighth congress from February 5th to March, 1885. Edward H. Dixon, a brother of Nathan F. Dixon', was ad- mitted to the bar in Westerly in 1877, but after about a year of practice in that profession moved to New York, where he is now engaged. John Hancock Cross was the son of Judge Amos Cross and his wife Elizabeth Barns Cross, who had also a daughter, Eliza E., wife of Doctor John E. Weeden, all residents of Westerly, R. I. His grandparents were John Cross and Susan Sheffield, of South Kingstown in the same state. John Hancock Cross was born January 17th, 1811, in Westerly, and after attending the schools of his native town concluded his course of study at the Plainfield academy. Much of his early life was spent as a man of leisure in the gratification of refined and cultivated tastes. About 1832 he purchased the Rockville mills in the town of Hopkinton, Washington county, and under the firm name of Burlingame & Cross began the manufacture of cotton goods. Deciding some years later to abandon commercial life for a professional career, he began the study of law with Nathan F. Dixon, Sr., and was admitted to both the Rhode Island and New York bars. His 168 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. early success as a lawyer in Westerly speedily opened a field in New York city, where he began practice in 1857, but returned again to his native town in 1867, and there continued his profes- sional labors until his death, on the 10th of November, 1874. Mr. Cross soon succeeded in obtaining a remunerative practice, and ere many years had elapsed attained marked distinction at the bar. His power of concentration of mind was exceptional. This, united with a certain legal acumen and ready conception of charac- ter and motive, made him a formidable antagonist, and brought him many brilliant successes. He was employed on various oc- casions in important railroad suits, and was especially active and skillful in the prosecution of the bank robbers on the occasion of the robbery of the Westerly Bank in 1849. Mr. Cross participated actively in the political events of his day, was first a democrat and later assumed a neutral attitude with reference to party measures. He was elected to the state legislature in 1834 and was subsequently nominated for the office of lieutenant-governor. He was energetic in the advance- ment of local affairs, and did much to promote the growth and prosperity of his native town. Mr. Cross was married November 21st, 1829, to Mary Ann, daughter of Elisha Watson, of South Kingstown. Their children are three sons : Amos (deceased), Amos and Elisha W. The death of Mrs. Cross occurred August 3d, 1883, in her seventy-fourth year. Elisha W. served with distinction during the war of the rebellion. He entered the service in April, 1861, as a member of Company I, Rhode Island Detached Militia, assigned to the defense of Washington, and participated on the 21st of July in the first battle of Bull Run. When but sixteen years of age, he was detailed as' a sharpshooter. He re- enlisted in Battery C, Rhode Island Light Artillery, under Cap- tain Weeden, and served through the McClellan campaign on the Peninsula, participating in all the engagements, the last being that of Malvern Hill. He was, on account of illness at Harrison's Landing, sent to the Philadelphia Hospital, where his discharge was received from President Lincoln. During this period of ser- vice he was promoted to corporal and afterward to the position of sergeant of the company. Mr. Cross was on the 4th of August, 1863, made second lieutenant of the Fifth regiment Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, receiving his commission from Governor James Y. Smith. He was on the 17th of October of the same year com- missioned first lieutenant of the Third Rhode Island Cavalry, iFiTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 169 and assigned to duty on the staff of Colonel Gooding, command- ing the Fifth Brigade of Cavalry, Department of the Gulf. He continued in the service until August, 1865, the date of his resig- nation. Honorable Elisha Reynolds Potter,* son of Thomas Potter, Jr., and Elizabeth (Reynolds) Potter, was born in South Kingstown, November 5th, 1764. He was by trade a blacksmith, his early advantages for an education having been extremely limited. In 1790 he married Mrs. Mary Perkins, a woman of noble presence, fine character and of great amiability and suavity of manner. The influence of her character possibly had much to do with the development of Mr. Potter's. She had considerable wealth, in- herited from her first husband, Jonas Perkins, a clock and watch maker in Kingston. From him Mr. Potter inherited the land on which he built, in 1813, the homestead now standing in Kingston, and where all but the eldest of his children were born. After his marriage, I think, but certainly after his acquaintance with Mrs. Perkins, he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Al- though not considered a great lawyer, he was a man of great power and force of character. The Reverend William E. Chan- ning of Boston, son of William Channing, one of the early attor- neys-general of Rhode Island, once said, in speaking of Elisha Potter : " My father was amongst the first to discern the abilities of that remarkable man, and I remember the kindness with which he used to receive him." William Channing died at New- port in 1793. The first office Mr. Potter held in the town was possibly that of justice of the peace in 1790, and for this reason he was some- times called by his townspeople *" Judge," but the offense was rarely repeated, he being not at all proud of this cognomen. From 1821 until his death, in 1835, he was president of the Landholders' Bank on Kingston Hill. He was frequently sent to represent his town in the general assembly. " His name there as well as in the southern county was a synonym of power for a third of a century." He was speaker of the house from 1797 to 1809. " In 1770, and for several years preceding, complaints had existed against the gross inequality and injustice of the general estimate of taxation, and its disproportionate operation upon the respective towns. South Kingstown vainly protested against its oppression. In a state tax of twelve thousand pounds, vSouth Kingstown was * By Mrs. B. F. Robinson. 170 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. assessed one thousand, Providence seven hundred and sixty-six, and others in similar ratio. This injustice was so apparent, and the complaints so loud, that the legislature appointed a committee to inquire into their grievances, but no relief was granted or remedy proposed. The representatives from the towns which had increased in corporate wealth since the previous estimate, governed by their interest of their constituents, uniting with those who did not anticipate any benefit from the change, continued to refuse redress. This inequality and manifest oppression con- tinued to exist until the appearance in the legislature of the Honorable Elisha R. Potter in the year 1793. Through his talents and influence the estimate of 1795 was effected. This herculean triumph, against the efforts of the Providence delegation, secured to Mr. Potter the zealous support of the minority towns, and South Kingstown in particular, through life.""''^ Thereafter he held the elections in these towns in his own hand and pocket, he being possibly the first man in the town who expended money in elections. As a lawmaker and leader, Mr. Potter was a great man. Daniel Webster once speaking of vSouth Kingstown, being asked what he knew about this town, answered : " I know that Elisha Potter lives there ; everybody knows him." Air. Potter received the nomina- tion for senator to congress in 1833 and again in 1835, but his election was defeated by a small majority. In 1833 his seat was contested and Asher Robbins declared entitled thereto. In 1796 he was elected as representative to Congress but resigned in 1797 ; he was again elected in 1809, and held the position until 1815. His politics were what was then called federal. Mr. Potter was prepossessing in personal appearance, of fine presence, being over six feet in height, and carrying his two hun- dred and fifty pounds with dignity if not grace. Even in ad- vanced years young ladies would gladly leave the company of young men if they could secure his notice. He was steadfast in his friendships, but dominant and overbearing. The sun that shone upon his friends to-day would hide its rays on the morrow to shine again when the clouds had dispersed. He liked for all to feel his power, and know that they lived upon his sufferance only. His second wife, Mary Mawney, was niece to his first wife. She was the mother of all his children, who were : Elisha Reynolds, * Colonel Wilkins Updike's Memoirs of Rhode Island Bar. IWSTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 171 born June 20th, 1811, a prominent lawyer and associate judge of the supreme court of Rhode Island from 1868 until 1882, when he died; Thomas, born May 4th, 1813, died young; Thomas Mawney, born August 12th, 1814, surgeon in the navy, now retired ; Wil- liam Henry, born November 2d, 1816, a prominent lawyer who practiced many years in Providence, R. I., married late in life, and has no children ; James B. Mason, born October 1st, 1818, paymaster in the army, now retired, married Eliza, daughter of Asa Potter (Her mother was daughter of Governor Benjamin Thurston of Hopkinton. They have two children, a son James and a daughter Mary) ; Mary Elizabeth, born August 11th, 1821, spinster. Elisha Reynolds Potter, a distinguished member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, was born in South Kings- town, R. I., June 20th, 1811, and died there April 10th, 1882. He prepared for college in his native village, and was gradu- ated at Harvard University in 1830. He was admitted to the bar of this state October 9th, 1832. The taste for historical re- search was developed in his early life, and in him we have the remarkable instance of a young man, hardly twenty-four years old, gathering the scattering and perishing memorials of the settlement of the ancient King's Province, which in 1835, under the title of the " Early History of Narragansett," he gave to this society for its third volume of collections. The period covered by this book is from the earliest notices of these lands by the first settlers in New England to about the year 1730, just a cen- tury. This was the pioneer work oh this subject and continues to be the chief authority, and is conceded by all to be a marvel- lously excellent production. This was Mr. Potter's second work. The first work was a report of the committee on religious cor- porations of the general assembly made to that body in January, 1834. Mr. Potter was not a member of the legislature at that time, but was employed by the committee to write the report. He was then less than twenty-three years of age. In 1837 Mr. Potter issued his third work, a brief account of the emissions of paper money made by the colony of Rhode Island — a pamphlet of fifty pages. Like its predecessor it was a work of original research, covering a period from 1710 to 1786. It was printed by Mr. Henry Phillips, Jr., in his " Historical Sketches of the Paper Currency of the American Colonies," without note or comment, about the year 1863, and it has since been rewritten 172 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and republished in the " Rhode Island' Historical Tracts," with an index and many fac similes. The price of this " Tract " nearly doubled in less than two years after its publication. His fourth book, the " Considerations on the Questions of the Adoption of a Constitution and Extension of Suffrage in Rhode Island," was printed in Boston in 1842. The edition was soon exhausted, and the continuous demand upon its author for copies from all parts of the country induced him, in 1879, to reprint it without change. The greater part of Judge Potter's life was devoted to public ser- vice, at different times in the general assembly of the state, dur- ing one session in congress, for five years as commissioner of public schools, and for the last fourteen of his life on the bench of the supreme court. July 19th, 1832, he was admitted a resident member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, and from 1850 to 1855 held the office of vice-president. While commissioner of public schools Mr. Potter became deep- ly interested in the subject of popular education, and for the succeeding ten years gave his time to the gathering and dissem- ination of ideas relating to the subject. He prepared for popu- lar use " Remarks on the Provisions of the School Laws, and on the duties of the different officers and bodies under them." The following are some of the subjects : " The Objects of Education," " The Studies," " The Means of Improving the Public Schools," " Lyceum Lectures," " Grades and Qualification of Teachers," " The Arrangement of Districts," " The Education of Children in Factories," " Moral Education," " The Relation of Education to the Prevention of Crime," " The Establishment of a Normal School for the Education of Teachers," "The Proper Place of Colleges in the Educational System," " Objections to Education Considered," " The Fundamental Principles of a Public Educa- tional System," " Of Prayer and Religious Exercise in Public Schools and the Connection of these Schools with Religion," " The Use of the Bible in the Public Schools," and many kindred subjects. In January, 1852, Mr. Potter began the publication of a month- ly educational magazine, which he continued until 1855, when it expired. The leaves of this little magazine were enriched with some of the choicest bits of English literature which the language affords. Mr. Sidney S. Rider, when speaking of Judge Potter before the Rhode Island Historical Society, says in his concluding re- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 173 marks : "Great as was the labor and research required in these various works they are as nothing when compared to the work done by Mr. Potter in the books in his library at Little Rest. * * * * Possessed of the knowledge of surveying, scarcely a farm in the Narragansett country is there which he had not measured and its metes and bounds examined. He knew the history of every land title from the advent of Richard Smith to the day when he died ; possessed of a knowledge of botany, not a flower was born, and grew, and died, that he had not learned its pedigree. Possessed of a knowledge of forestry, not a tree nor a shrub grew in the south counties of which he knew not its story. Virgil was his favorite Latin author, but his library is filled with the classics in many editions both ancient and modern. He could read Dante and Tasso in their mother tongue, and with French he was as familiar as with English. " He was a friend of the poor. He was among the earliest and strongest friends of education free to all people. He was the careful and laborious student of the state for the good of the state. He was the staunch supporter of the state and of the gen- eral government in their times of extremest peril. He was the first among us to establish at his private cost free public librar- ies, a project which the state now fosters and men emulate. If these things are virtues then indeed was my friend virtuous." Judge Dutee Arnold, of Warwick, was well known throughout the state of Rhode Island in the earlier years of the present cen- tury. He was brother to Philip, the father of Gorton Arnold, who kept the famous Arnold Tavern or Gorton Arnold Stand. In 1810 he and Henry Arnold erected a saw and grist mill at Pontiac, where he was identified with manufacturing interests for years. In 1817 he was elected an associate judge of the su- preme court. He took his seat on the bench in May, 1818, and continued in office until 1822. He had three children : Horatio, Walter and Marcy. His granddaughter married George T. Spicer, of Providence. Sylvester Gardiner Shearman was born in Exeter October 26th, 1802. A few months after his birth, his parents moved to Wickford in the town of North Kingstown. At twenty years of age he entered the ofiice of Wilkins Updike, at South Kings- town. After admission to the bar he commenced practice in Wickford. In 1843 he was elected representative to the legisla- ture. The Providence Journal oi that period, in publishing notes 174 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of his election, said : " We think our friends in North Kings- town must have almost heard the shout when the news of the victory in that town reached us." Mr. Shearman continued to represent his town in succeeding legislatures and in 1848 was chosen speaker of the house of representatives. In 1848 he was the whig nominee to congress. It was a triangular contest, and he failed to get a majority ; he, however, obtained a handsome plurality. At a second trial, a plurality elected, when Nathan F. Dixon succeeded, Mr. Shearman having voluntarily withdrawn. In 1855 Mr. Shearman was elected by the legislature an associate justice of the supreme court of the state, which position he held until his death. He died in Providence, R. I., January 3d, 1868. It was the unanimous testimony of those who knew him that as a man he was faithful, conscientious, and capable of making a strong effort. His career as judge was a credit to himself and to the state. At the time of his death, the members of the bar of Rhode Island testified in the most emphatic manner to his abili- ty, his industry and his faithfulness, and that he left behind him only the most pleasant recollections. Judge Shearman left two sons — Sumner Updike Shearman and William D. Shearman, both ministers of the Protestant Episcopal church. George A. Brayton, of Apponaug, was judge of the supreme court and for a number of years chief justice. He belonged to a prominent family of very early settlers in the town of Warwick. Daniel Brayton, of Old Warwick, was a blacksmith. He removed - his shop to Apponaug, where he continued his trade many years. George A. Brayton, his son, was elected associate justice of the supreme court in 1843, and remained in that position until 1868, when he was elected chief judge, which position he held until 1874, when he retired on full salary, having served thirty years on the bench. Charles Brayton, his brother, was many years town clerk of Warwick, was associate justice of the supreme court from 1814 to 1818, and subsequently became chief. Wil- liam D. Brayton, son of Charles, was a member of congress from 1856 to 1860, and his son Charles R. Brayton, now of Providence, was colonel of a regiment in the late war and subsequently postmaster of Providence. " Albert Collins Greene was born in East Greenwich in 1792. He was a son of Perry Greene, a brother of General Nathaniel Greene. He read law in New York, returned to his native town and state and here commenced the practice of his profession. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 175 He was not a graduate of any college, but was considered the most eminent lawyer in Rhode Island. In 1815 he was elected to the general assembly of this state. In 1816 he was elected a brigadier-general of the militia, then of more importance than now, and subsequently became a major-general. From 1822 to 1825 he served again in the legislature of the state, and was chosen speaker. From 1825 to 1843 he was attorney-general of Rhode Island. From 1845 to 1851 he was a senator from Rhode Island in congress ; and having again served a term in each of the two houses of the state legislature, he retired from public life in 1857, and died at Providence January 8th, 1863." " Nathan Whiting, characterized in his obituary as a ' lawyer of deep judgment and erudition,' was long a prominent resident of this town. Born in Franklin, Mass., in 1774, he entered Brown University in 1793, and graduated in due course. He was admitted to the bar in 1800, and came directly to East Green- wich. Immediately after his arrival he delivered an oration on the death of Washington, by the invitation of a joint committee of East Greenwich and Warwick. It still remains in the posses- sion of his descendants to testify to his unusual powers. He con- tinued to reside in East Greenwich during his lifetime, and was devoted to the practice of the law and to teaching. He died Sep- tember 24th, 1842." " William Gorton Bowen, a good and reliable lawyer and a man of unblemished reputation, was born in Coventry, R. I., May 14th, 1799. He studied law with General Albert C. Greene, in East Greenwich, and was admitted to the bar about 1824. From that time until his death, which occurred March 4th, 1854, he continued to practice law with good success at East Greenwich. During this time he was elected to the general assembly, and re- ceived other tokens of public confidence. He married a Miss Susan Packard, of South Kingstown, and left one son, William S. Bowen, M. D., who is now a successful oculist and aurist at Hartford, Conn. Joseph Windsor was a graduate at Brown University in 1840. He was born in Glocester, R. I., January 15th, 1821, but after graduation taught school two years in Prince George's county, Md. He returned to Rhode Island in 1842, and studied law with Samuel Y. Atwell in Providence. After he was admitted to the bar he removed to East Greenwich and began the practice of the law. Soon after he lost his library and other valuables by fire. 176 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. He possessed great business capacity and was better fitted for a financier than for a lawyer, and became a very successful busi- ness man in the community, taking great interest in various pro- jects. He became the founder and first secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of East Greenwich. He died of con- sumption December 20th, 1853, and was buried in St. Luke's cemetery by the side of his wife, who was a Miss Louisa McClel- lan, an aunt of General George B. McClellan. William E. Peck was born October 30tli, 1815. He studied law with Francis E. Hoppin and Richard Ward Greene, was ad- mitted to the bar in 1850, and commenced practice in Providenct. In 1852 he became a member of the legislature, and was ap- pointed judge of the court of magistrates. In 1855 he removed to East Greenwich, but continued to practice in Providence. In 1857 he was elected a senator from East Greenwich. In 1864 he joined the Rhode Island Cavalry, and accompanied his regi- ment as second lieutenant to Louisiana, where he died from an attack of congestive chills August 13th, 1865. John Hall*, the subject of this sketch, was the grandson of Wil- liam and Mary (Slocum) Hall, and the son of Slocum and Almy (Fry) Hall. He was born January 18th, 1780, in North Kings- town at the old Hall house (now standing) on the westerly side of the Post road, formerly called the Pequot path, well known from an attractive height on the estate called " Hall's Rocks." He married, August 28th, 1807, Patience Peckham, daughter of Benedict and Mary Eldred Peckham. He received a common school education, studied law, was admitted to the bar, and prac- ticed his profession in his native town until his decease on the 18th of February, 1846. At that time, while in attendance at a convention in Providence, after dining at his hotel, being seated in his chair smoking his cigar, and enjoying social converse with his friends, without any premonition he was stricken down, and " They saw in death his eyelids close Calmly, as to a night's repose." Mr. Hall was a regular attendant at the Quaker meeting, and took much interest therein. He was interred in the Hall bury- ing ground on their homestead estate, Thomas Anthony, a noted Quaker speaker, delivering the funeral discourse. Mr. Hall was a self-made man, and an ardent and active democrat. He * By John J. Reynolds. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 177 was honest in his dealings, genial and^ sympathetic in his nature. David S. Baker, Jr., of North Kingstown, is the present attor- ney for the United States District of Rhode Island. He was educated in the public schools, and was graduated from Brown University in 1875. He then studied law under Honorable Samuel Currey, and was admitted to practice in 1877, his office then being in Wickford. Mr. Baker was superintendent of the town schools for six years, was a member of the lower house of the legislature two years and of the senate three years, at the end of which time, in 1885, he resigned his seat in that body to ac- cept the district attorneyship, which position he still holds. In 1876 Mr. Baker wrote the history of the town of North Kings- town, by order of the town council, and from that valuable work we are indebted for much matter published in our own. William C. Baker, of Providence, is a brother of David S. Baker. He is a graduate of Brown University of the class of 1881, and for two years thereafter was a professor of ancient languages in Devaux College, New York. He was superintendent of the town schools of North Kingstown four years, after which he studied law under his brother, and was admitted to the bar in 1884. In 1888 he was honored by his party with a nomination for congress for the second district of Rhode Island, but was de- feated. Elisha C. Clarke, of South Kingstown, was a student of law under Elisha R. Potter, and was one of the most brilliant mem- bers of the profession. He was a native of the town of South Kingstown, was admitted to the bar about 1860, and died in De- cember, 1887, aged about forty-nine years. His wife, Mrs. Brown Clarke, died prior to his death. Mr. Clarke is spoken of by the profession as possessing a strong, analytical mind, and as being a clear reasoner and a strong, forceful speaker. Henry Howard, of Coventry, is a native of the town of Crans- ton, R. I., but about the year 1854, moved to Coventry, where he still resides. He was educated at Brown University and in 1848 began the study of law under Governor W. W. Hoppin. After ad- mission to the bar he was at first associated with Governor Hop- pin and subsequently with Thomas A. Jencks. He continued the practice of his profession until 1858, when he opened an agency in New York for the Harris Manufacturing Company, but upon the death of Governor Harris in 1861, removed the of- 13 178 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. fice to Providence, where it is now under his superintendency. In ISftS he married Catherine G., daughter of Governor Elisha Har- ris. In 1873 he was elected governor of Rhode Island and held the office until 187ri. Henry B. Anthony, of Coventry, has been prominently identi- fied with the history of the state in the various political positions he has held. He was born in the town of Coventry April 1st, 1816, received a classical education from Brown University, assumed editorial charge of the Providence Journal, was elected governor of Rhode Island in 1849, re-elected in 1850 and declined another re-election. He was elected United States senator from Rhode Island and took his seat in 1859, and was successively re- elected in 1864, 1870, 1876 and 1882. He died while in office in 1884 and was succeeded in the senate by Jonathan Chace, who was elected senator January 21st, 1885, to fill his place. Thomas H. Peabody was born in North Stonington, Conn., September 23d, 1839. He studied law in the office of Thurston & Ripley, at Providence, R. I., and in 1864 was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island and subsequently to the bars of Connecti- cut and the United States courts. In 1865 he opened an office in Westerly, where he continued to practice until 1886, since which time he has been engaged in other pursilits. A more extended sketch of Mr. Peabody's life may be found in Chapter IV, of this volume. Charles Perrin, of Westerly, is a member of the firm of Dixon & Perrin. He is a native of Stonington, Conn., and was educated in the high school of that place and in other institutions. He studied law under Judge Alfred Coit, and was admitted to the bar in his native state in 1875. He was a member of the general assembly in 1875, clerk of the house of representatives in 1880 and 1881, and clerk of the senate in 1882. In 1882 he began the practice of law with Thomas H. Peabody, of Westerly, under whom he had previously finished his course at law, after the death of Judge Coit. In 1886 he formed a partnership with Na- than F. Dixon, with whom he is now associated. Albert B. Crafts, of Westerly, is a native of Brockton, Mass. He is a classical graduate of Middletown, Conn., of the class of 1871. During this same year he began the study of law under Thomas H. Peabody and was admitted to the bar in 1875. In 1877 he be- gan practicing with his former teacher and was a member of this ^MUt^ ^^. / c^.-^^'Oid^^z,-.,^^^ ^/cy^ -.=-c HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 179 firm until 1881. From 1881 to 1887 he was the senior member of the law firm of Crafts & Tillinghast, since which time he has been alone. Frank W. Tillinghast, now a manufacturer and a member of the Pocassett Warp Company, is a native of the town of Exeter. He is a graduate of Harvard University, and subsequently took his law course under Judge Tillinghast, of Pawtuxet. He was a member of the firm of Crafts & Tillinghast from March 1st, 1884, to April 26th, 1887. Albert B. Burdick was formerly a minister, and at one time pastor of Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist church of Westerly. In 1877, very late in life, he began the study of law under Nathan F. Dixon, of that village, and soon after was admitted to the bar. About this time he was made trial justice, which position he held until the judicial district system came into use in 1886. He then continued his chosen profession until his death July 3d, 1887, when about seventy years of age. He was an able man and a gifted speaker. Henry Whipple, of Westerly, judge of the Third Rhode Island district, which embraces the towns of Westerly, Richmond, Charlestown and Hopkinton, was born September 7th, 1825, at Anthony, R. I. In 1842 he went to the town of Hopkinton and followed his trade, that of a harness maker. In 1858 he was elected town clerk of Hopkinton and held that position till 1867. He was assessor of the internal revenue tax from 1862 to 1872. In 1868 he left Hopkinton and came to Westerly, where he has since resided. He was elected sheriff of Washington county in 1872, and re-elected each year thereafter until 1886, when he was chosen judge of the Third Judicial district by the general assem- bly. The legal fraternity compliment Judge Whipple as an able and efficient executive. Eugene F. Warner, of Anthony, R. I., is judge of the Fourth Judicial district, which comprises the county of Kent. He was educated at Newton, Mass., and at Brown University, where he graduated in 1875. He studied law under James H. Parsons and Joseph E. Spink, and upon the completion of his studies in 1877, opened an office in Providence. He was admitted to the United States court in 1882. He became a member of the general assembly in 1877, clerk -of the Rhode Island senate in 1877, which position he still holds ; secretary of the republican state central 180 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. committee from 1882 to 1887, and was elected judge of Kent county district in 1886. Nathan B. Lewis, judge of the Second Judicial district of Rhode Island, was born in the town of Exeter, February 26th, 1842. He received his education in the common and select schools of his town, and at East Greenwich academy,after which he taught school for a few years. In 1862 he enlisted in Company F, Seventh Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry, and was with that regiment everyday until discharged June 9th, 1865, participating in every battle. He was never absent a day for any cause while in the service. After the war he taught school again, and for a few years represented a publication in some of the Western states with marked success. In 1869 he was elected to the general assembly from the town of Exeter, and was re-elected in 1870 and 1871. He moved to Pine Hill in 1871, and purchased the farm owned by Thomas Phillips. In 1872 he succeeded Mr. Phillips as town clerk, and held that position until June, 1888. In the spring of 1886 he was elected to the house of representatives again. He was elected trial justice in 1873 for the town of Exeter, and in 1886, upon the adoption of the district system, was elected justice of the Second Judicial district, which position he still holds. He was a member of the school committee from 1865 to 1886, and about one third of that time superintendent of the town schools. He was tax assessor from 1873 to 1888, was coroner of the town of Exeter from 1884 until 1886, was justice of the peace continuously from 1873, and has held other positions of responsibility. Samuel W. K. Allen.— Thomas Allen was the great-great- grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch. His son Samuel was the father of Thomas, who resided on the home- stead in North Kingstown, and spent his life in the employments pertaining to agriculture. By his marriage to Eliza Ann Til- linghast, of East Greenwich, were born children : Eliza, Maria, Samuel G., Susan T., George W. T., Nicholas T., Elsie Ann, Julia A. and Clarissa. George W. T. Allen was born on the homestead farm at Quidnessett, in North Kingstown, where his life, with a brief exception, was spent, and where his death occurred. He was attracted to the gold fields of California during the early period of emigration to that territory, and among the Argonauts of '49, whose pioneer experiences were fraught with interest if not with danger. Mr. Allen subsequently followed the tailor's «2^^ ARTOTYPE, E. BlERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 181 trade for many years in East Greenwich. He married Ann, daughter of Clark Tillinghast, of Exeter. Their children were three in number, the only survivor being Samuel W. K, Allen, who was born January 2d, 1842, in North Kingstown. He re- ceived his elementary education at the East Greenwich academy, subsequently entered the New York Conference Seminary, and pursued a more thorough course at the Boston University. In 1861, the first year of the rebellion, he enlisted as a member of the 11th United States Infantry, and served until 1863, being specially detailed for detached and recruiting service. He chose the bar as a profession, began its study with M. S. Wilcox, of Jefferson, New York, and entering the law department of the Boston University in 1873, was in 1875 graduated from that institution. Mr. Allen was admitted to practice at both the Massachusetts and Rhode Island bar, and in 1877 located in East Greenwich, where his knowledge of the law, united with ability and application, soon brought him to notice and caused him to be identified with a large proportion of the important cases in the county. He entered public life in 1884—6 as the successful candidate of the republican party for the state legislature. He is also judge advocate of the Grand Army of the Republic for the Department of Rhode Island. Mr. Allen is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal church of East Greenwich, and has from time to time filled the more important offices connected with that organization. He was in 1860 married to Harriet, daughter of Chauncey and Lucy B. Minor, of Jefferson, N. Y. Their children are : Thomas, Howard, Lucy A. and Samuel W. K., Jr. Benjamin W. Case, of Wakefield, is a successful lawyer, though one of the younger members of the bar. He is a native of Rhode Island, born thirty-three years ago. He was educated in the public schools of South Kingstown, and has had some advantages of collegiate instruction. He studied his profession under Elisha C. Clarke, an able barrister of Kingston, and was admitted to practice in 1877, when twenty-one years old. Mr. Case was clerk of the courts both before and after he was admitted to the bar — of the common pleas court in 1875, and of the common pleas and supreme courts in 1887. Charles J. Arms, of East Greenwich, a recent member of the bar, is a native of the town of Norwich, Conn. He received a good literary education, and after a thorough preparation in law 182 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. under Harrison & Okey and Abram R. Lawrence, was admitted to practice in the courts of New York state, April 20th, 1866, and to the supreme court of Pennsylvania, May 17th, 1870, and the courts of Rhode Island February 19th, 1887. Mr. Arms came to East Greenwich in 1885 as a correspondent of the Providence Journal, but again drifted into the ranks of the legal fraternity, where his education and ability will be fully appreciated. CHAPTER VII. THE MEDICAL PROFESSION. Physicians of Washington County.* James Noyes.— George Stillman.— Thomas Rodman.— "William Vincent.— Joshua Babcock.— Sylvester Gardiner. — Joseph Comstook.— John 'Aldrich. — Daniel Lee. — James Noyes. — George Hazard Perry. — Nathan Knight. — Israel An- thony. — Peleg Johnson.— William G. Shaw. — Amos Collins.— Isaac Collins. — John Collins.— John M. Collins.— Stephen F. Griffin.— Dan King.— Wilham Robinson. — Horatio Robinson. — John G. Pierce. — Joseph H. Griffin. ^Henry Aldrich. — George Hazard Church. — William T. Thurston. — John B. Rose.— John E. Weeden.— Thomas A. Hazard. — William H. Wilbur.— Edwin R. Lewis. — Edwin Anthony. — Joseph D. Kenyon. — John D. Kenyon. — Amos R. Collins. — Albert A. Saunders. — Samuel B. Church. — Elisha P. Clarke. — John A. Wilcox. — Curtiss E. Maryott. — J. Howard Morgan. — John Wilbur. — John H. Merrill. — Henry N. Crandall. — George C. Bailey. — Alexander B. Briggs. — Charles Hitchcock. — Etta Payne. — Lucy A. Babcock. — John E. Perry. — S. Oscar Myers. — James N. Lewis. — H. W. Rose. — George H. Beebe. — Alvin H. Eccleston. — George V. Foster. ^George F. Bliven. — Edward E. Kenyon. — Herbert J. Pomroy. — F. T. Rogers. — Henry K. Gardner. — Philip K. Taylor. — William J. Ryan. — Lorin F.Wood. — William James. — John Champlin. — Edwin R. Lewis. — Other Physicians. — County Medical Society. IT has been truly said that to write the history of any epoch the historian must study the lives of the men who have lived in it, and doubly true is it of the history of the medical pro- fession of Washington county, for it is made up entirely of the records of the lives of those who have practiced medicine within its boundaries. The late Doctor Edwin Ransome Lewis, of Westerly, to whom the author is much indebted for data concerning the earlier phy- sicians of this county, in an address before the Washington County Medical Society, of which he was the first president, * The sketches of Physicians of Washington County in this chapter were con- tributed by Frederick T. Rogers, M. D., of Westerly, with the exception of the following, viz.: William G. Shaw, George Hazard Church, Edwin R. Lewis, Stephen F. Griffin, J. H. Griffin, Joseph D. Kenyon, John D. Kenyon, Samuel B. Church, John A. Wilcox, H. W. Rose, F. T. Rogers and Robert K, Sun- derland . 184 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. quoted these words of Horace Greely : " Name is a vapor, nativity an accident, oblivion a certainty ;" and remarked that " when a man has been dead for fifty years his name is strange to a large portion of the community in which he lived ; in one hundred years all recollection of him is gone, and it is indeed an accident if his name has not passed into oblivion." So it is not strange that in the early history of this county the lines are faint and in many cases almost indistinct, yet at the outset we find well re- corded the principal facts relative to the life of the first physician who practiced medicine within our boundaries. In 1662, James Noyes, an educated physician and divine, set- tled near Anguilla brook, south of the road now leading from Westerly to Mystic, and for fifty years was pastor of the First Congregational church, now known as the Road Meeting House. There being few white people at this time in the county he be- came extensively known, and his practice extended from New London to Newport. He was called to administer to the physi- cal sufferings as well as to attend to the spiritual wants of his patients. In 1675, when Captain Mason was about to proceed against the Narragansetts in the great swamp at Kingstown, Doc- tor Noyes was assigned by the authorities to go with him as sur- geon, but sickness in his family prevented ; however, after the battle had been fought and won, the wounded of both friends and foes were brought to his house, and it was there that sen- tence of death was pronotmced upon Canonchet. Doctor Noyes was a son of Reverend James Noyes, a native of Wiltshire, Eng., who was born there in 1608, educated at Oxford as a divine, and came to America in 1634, and first settled in Newbury, Mass., where Doctor James Noyes was born in 1640. Doctor Noyes married Dorothy Stanton, and by her had five sons, from the eldest of whom, Thomas, was descended Joseph, the father of the Doctor James Noyes of later date. The next physician in Westerly of whom we have record was Doctor George Stillman, an Englishman by birth, who came to Westerly in 1700 from Wethersfield, Conn., purchased land and practiced medicine for several years, at the same time eking out a somewhat scanty income by working at his trade, that of a tailor. Cotemporaneous with these practitioners in the eastern part of the county, we know that Doctor Thomas Rodman, from whose marriage with Patience, daughter of Peter and Ann Easton, is HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 185 descended the branch of the Rodman family in South Kings- town, was practicing in the other end of the county. Little is known of his personal history, save that he was one of the earliest settlers in Kingstown, and that the birth of his son is recorded there as occurring in 1707. There is also recorded in the records of that town the grant of a portion of land to Doctor Thomas Rodman in consideration for his services, which land descended to his son, Thomas Rodman, Jr., and this fact renders it probable that his practice was at first located in Kingstown ; although his later years, after the age of forty, were spent in Newport, where he became an important factor in the Society of Friends, of which he was a member. Doctor Rodman's pro- geny were very numerous, and included in one generation five physicians. His son Thomas, by his first marriage, died in Kings- town in 1773. Succeeding Doctor George Stillman in Westerly came Doctor William Vincent, who was born in 1729, and after commencing to practice his profession in Westerly lived there until his death, which occurred in 1807. During his life he occupied at different times many positions of trust in town and state, and was during the revolutionary war a surgeon of Colonel Noyes' regiment of militia, which saw much active service. Doctor Joshua Babcock was the first native of the town of Westerly who practiced medicine within its boundaries. He was born in 1707, was a graduate of Yale College and studied medi- cine in Boston, afterward perfecting his education in England. Upon the completion of his studies he settled in his native town and soon became very extensively known,'as a surgeon, through- otit southern New England, and was often called in consultation to neighboring towns. He established the largest retail store between New York and Boston, and by reason of his position and wealth was at once called upon to take an active part in pub- lic life and was for years justice of the supreme court of Rhode Island. For over forty years he represented the town in the general assembly, and was a member of the state council of war at the time of the revolution. Generous he was always, and it is recorded that he donated one hundred dollars to the poor of Boston, a sum then of great relative magnitude. Doctor Bab- cock was the first postmaster of Westerly, the office being located at his house and the receipts of the office during the first year were less than seven dollars. He was a true patriot and during 186 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the darkest days of the revolution, when the state was in great need of money, he volunteered to loan the required amount and to take the risk of ultimate payment upon himself, confident in the final success of the cause he loved so well. His home was the resort of the educated men of the state and country; Washing- ton, Franklin and many other noted men of that period were frequently his guests. Doctor Babcock was one of the corporate members of Brown University and one of its fellows, and was, like his friend and associate. Governor vSamuel Ward, a Seventh Day Baptist. He was a man of medium size, spare habit, light and active. At seventy-five years of age it is said that he could easily mount a sixteen-hand horse with the agility of a man of twenty. In his address and manners he was a gentleman of the old school, scrupulously polite, and laid great stress upon the con- ventionalities of life. As a citizen, physician, legislator, judge, teacher and scholar he had no superior. Doctor Sylvester Gardiner was a son of William Gardiner, Esq., of South Kingstown, and was born there in 1707. He gained his medical education in Boston and completed his course in Europe, studying Ophthalmology four years in Paris. He re- turned to this county, but soon went to Boston where he became famous and had a most extensive practice in medicine and oper- ative surgery, later practicing in Newport, where he lived until his death which occurred in 1786. Doctor Joseph Comstock, another South Kingstown physician, came from Lyme, Conn., as an assistant to Doctor Joshua Perry about 1750, remaining there in practice until the return of Doc- tor Perry to his native state, when Doctor Comstock removed to Lebanon, Conn., where he lived until he was over ninety years of age. Doctor Comstock was an exceedingh^ well educated man and wrote several books, among which was the " Tongue of Time or Star of the vStates." He also edited an edition of " Self-love," a sermon delivered by Robert Cushman in 1621 and said to be the first sermon preached in New England and oldest extant of any delivered in America. This was published in New York in 1847 by J. E. D. Comstock. Doctor John Aldrich, of Hopkinton, was a native of the town of Tolland, Conn., where he was born April 10th, 1750. He was the son of Timothy and Mary Aldrich, and received the rudi- ments of a literary education in the schools of that village. His medical knowledge was gained under the teaching of Doctor HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 187 Perkins, of Tolland, and when the revolutionary war began he received a commission as surgeon of a regiment, which position he held until captured by the British at the battle of White Plains. For some reason he did not receive the usual fate of captives but was taken to Jamaica, one of the West India islands, where he remained a captive until the close of the war ; yet on account of his skill as a surgeon and ability he was treated with every courtesy by his captors, and allowed great liberties, and at one time was in charge of the hospital on the island. Doctor Aldrich was married to Elizabeth Thurston, a cousin of the Hon. Benjamin Thurston, of Hopkinton, and soon after his marriage removed to New York state. While there he suffered from an attack of yellow fever, and upon his recovery he returned to Rhode Island and practiced medicine until his death, which oc- curred in Hopkinton, March 23d, 1843. Doctor Aldrich was the father of Doctor Henry Aldrich, of Wyoming, of Luke Aldrich, of South Kingstown, grandfather of J. M. Aldrich, of Westerly, and great-grandfather of Doctor John Aldrich, a recent graduate of the College of Physicians and Surgeons. Doctor Daniel Lee, soon after the death of Doctor Joshua Bab- cock, came to Westerly and began practice. His office was loca- ted in what was known as the old Dixon House, which he at that time owned, and he was the first physician in Westerly who de- voted his entire time to the practice of his profession. The fame of Doctor Lee was wide extended and brought many medical students to study under his direction, but he died in the very prime of his career at forty-two years of age. Doctor James Noyes was the son of Joseph Noyes and Barbara Wells, and was born in 1768 in Westerly, near Noyes' Neck, on the site of the farm now occupied (1889) by Gideon Collins. Here Doctor Noyes was reared under the surveillance of his father, who was one of the strictest of all strict Presbyterians, and his early training can be surmised by the following anecdote of his father. It is related that on his departure for church on Sunday he would call his children together and tie them up, lest in their playfulness they should forget their training and desecrate the holy day. His wife did not agree with him and as soon as he was out of sight would release the captives upon their promise that they would return and be again tied before their father should appear in sight. It is not strange therefore that Doctor Noyes should, in his active life present the characteristics of his 188 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. father. He practiced for some time in Hopkinton and later in Westerly, living in the house now owned by Orlando Smith. He died in 1856. Doctor George Hazard Perry was a son of George H. and Abi- gail (Chesebrough) Perry. His father was a brother of Chris- topher Raymond Perry, the father of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, and a direct descendant of Edward Perry, who came from Devonshire, Eng., in 1644, and who married a daughter of Gov- ernor James Freeman of Plymouth, Mass., in 1653. Doctor Perry was born in Whitestown, N. Y., in June, 1789, and was the first male white child born in that place. It is related that when Commodore Oliver H. Perry was born in 1785 the doctor's mother, who was present, spread a silk handkerchief over the child and remarked that the child though now covered by a handkerchief would some day become a great man. How true the prophesy was, history records. After his marriage to Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas and Mary Wells, Doctor Perry lived for some time in Salem, N. Y., but afterward removed to Hopkinton. Doctor Perry died suddenly August 30th, 1854, while on a visit to Pomfret, Conn. Doctor Nathan Knight, of Killingly, Conn., was for thirty years or more in practice in Usquepaug, having studied under the direction of Doctor Jonathan Anthony, and in early life mar- ried his daughter. Doctor Knight's descendants still live in Usquepaug. Doctor Israel Anthony, son of Doctor Jonathan Anthony and Patience (Gardner) Anthony, was born in Foster, R. I., January 15th, 1790. Here his early life was spent, until under his father's supervision he began the study of medicine in Providence, where he graduated in 1819. He immediately began practice at Usque- paug, and continued in business there until his death, which oc- curred March 1st, 1867. Doctor Anthonj^vas twice married; first to Desire Aldrich, of Scituate, by whom he had one daughter, and next to Ann H. Ennis of South Kingstown, in 1820,by whom he had one child, the late Doctor Edwin Anthon5^ Doctor Israel Anthony was highly esteemed by the community in which he lived, and twice represented his town in the legislature. Cotemporaneous with Doctor Lee in Westerly was Doctor Peleg Johnson, of South Kingstown, who was born in Charles- town, R. I., July 27th, 1791 , and who was the oldest son of Kenyon and Elizabeth Johnson. His early life was spent upon his father's HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 189 farm, but even there he evinced when yet a lad an eagerness and determination to gain an education, which was a sore disappoint- ment to his father, who desired only to retain his services on the family estate. When twenty the bonds became too galling, and he left the farm with five dollars in his pocket and a well worn suit of clothes in lieu of his father's blessing, and tramping to Mansfield, Conn., began his studies under Doctor Soule of that place. He was able, after hard years of study and economy, to graduate from Yale College in 1816. In May, 1821, he was mar- ried to Mrs. Sarah Hines, of Washington, R. I., and soon re- moved to Kingston, where he lived until his death, which oc- curred June 8th, 1859. During the last few months of his life he was crippled by a fracture of the thigh and a compound fracture of the leg resulting from an accident, and his death occurred from apoplexy, which seized him while on his way to visit a patient. Doctor Johnson was a member of the State Medical Society. In spite of the low tariff for professional services and his being a notoriously lenient creditor. Doctor Johnson died possessed of considerable wealth, a fact which, when compared with the business which he did, excites comment. His diary and ledger is still extant, and from it we learn each day the tempera- ture, the weather, direction of wind and probabilities of the mor- row, as well as a record of his daily doings. The following items, copied from its pages are of interest, showing the daily life of a physician of that day : " January 1st, 1849. — Weather cold, wind N. W. snow and ice covers the ground and makes it good sleighing. Weeden Allen's wife was this morning delivered of three daughters. "January 2d, 1849. — Wind N.W. and extremely cold. Last even- ing the good people of Westerly held a fair at the new Congre- gational meeting house. There was about four hundred present when without warning the iioor gave way and precipitated the people in the cellar below. Many received fractured limbs. " January 11th, 1849. — Last evening two prisoners escaped from jail. Wind N. W. probably warmer to-morrow. Great excitement all over the country over the reported discovery of gold in Cali- fornia. "June 13th, 1849. — Wind S. E. Bought a pound of tea of P. Helm, price .37^ cts." From his ledger we learn of his daily routine : " Nov. 4, 1851, Stephen Grinnell, Dr., to visit & medicine .42. 190 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Wilkins Updike, Dr., to visit & medicine, .42, to extra pills for servant, .12. Nov. 10, 1851, John Cassel, Cr., by 1 cord wood, 3.00. January 12, ]8.')2, Geo. Johnson, Dr., to medicine for boy, .17. Robert Rathborn, Dr., to parturition, 3.00. Town of King- ston, Dr., to physick for two prisoners, .17." For some reason, perhaps competition, the tariff for profes- sional services became higher as we learn by the following charges : " Robert B. Rose, Dr., to visit & medicine, .67 ; to par- turition, 5.00." In spite of the low prices for his services hay is quoted at $20 per ton. During one week, according to his ledger, that beginning January 22d, 1855, Doctor Johnson had charged upon his book $6.25, which necessitated at a moderate calculation a ride of over seventy-five miles. Doctor William G. Shaw, deceased, was born in 1770. He was educated in the office of Doctor Isaac Center for seven years, af- ter having been in the drug store of Nicholas Tillinghast & Co., several years. In 1793 he located in the Mohawk Valley and practiced a year. In 1794 he began in Wickford a practice which was ended by his death in 1865. He aided the Wickford Acad- emy (chartered in 1800) in many ways. He was married in 1796 to Mrs. Elizabeth McLaughlin, a daughter of Samuel Brenton, Esq. Of his nine children, his daughter Rebecca A. is the only sur- vivor. His son Samuel B. Shaw was a D. D. and William A. was an M. D. No name has been more prominent in the medical history of the county than that of Collins, for at no time since 1792 has there failed to be in active practice somewhere within its limits a Doctor Collins. The oldest physician of that name was Doctor Amos Collins, the son of Amos and Thankful (Clark) Collins, who was born in North Stonington, Conn., December 12th, 1774, and studied medicine with Doctor Daniel Lee, of Westerly, and was married to Mary Peckham. During the early years of his life he practiced in New London, Conn., where he was specially noted as active in an epidemic of yellow fever (most of the in- habitants who were able having fled from the city and among whom were some of the physicians) ; later at Cranston, R. I., and finally at Hopkinton. Besides the practice of medicine he was, while in Cranston, engaged in the cloth dressing business in partnership -with Mr. Smith Thayer. In Hopkinton he repre- sented the town in the legislature. He died at the age of sev- enty-five years. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 191 An elder brother of Amos Collins, but younger in the profes- sion, was Isaac, the 'grandfather of the present Doctor Amos R. Collins, of Westerly. He was born in North Stonington in 1772. He studied medicine with his brother, and after his marriage to Mary Collins in 1792, he began the practice of medicine in Rich- mond, but afterward removed to Hopkinton. Doctor Isaac Col- lins, like his brother, was prominent in town affairs, and was the representative of Hopkinton and Richmond in the legislature. He died in 1842. Doctor John Collins was another brother who also practiced medicine in this county. He, too, was born in North Stoning- ton, studied with his brother and began to practice in that ap- parently medically fertile town, Hopkinton. Afterward he re- moved to New York state. Doctor John Collins was, during the war of 1812, captured by the British, carried to Spain and re- mained a captive for some time. Doctor John M. Collins was the son of Isaac and Mary Collins, and was born in Richmond, R. I. He studied under the direc- tion of his father and Doctor Wattles, and likewise practiced dur- ing the most of his life in the Collins reservation, Hopkinton. He was married to Louise Thompson and died about fifteen years ago. Doctor Stephen F. Griffin was a resident in his childhood of Stephentown, N. Y., where he was educated as a phy.sician. He commenced the practice of medicine in Charlestown, R. I., in 1806, and was married to Hannah, daughter of Colonel Joseph Hazard of South Kingstown, November 16th, 1807. He was a gentleman of marked ability and culture, and a member of the Rhode Island Medical Society until his death, which occurred at the early age of forty-four years, leaving a widow and five chil- dren. Closely following Doctor Stephen F. Griffin in Charlestown was Doctor Dan King, who lived many years in that town. He was an earnest advocate of advanced education and his sons were all prepared for various professions. He published several books, among them one on the " Use of Tobacco," which gained him considerable notoriety. In 1828 he was appointed by the town to build the first school house erected by white people in that town. Doctor William Robinson practiced medicine in Westerly about 1800. He was a graduate of Yale College and was born in 192 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Plainfield, Conn. He succeeded Doctor Daniel Lee and was counted a successful practitioner. In later life he catered to the then popular craze of homoeopathy and began practicing that school. Of him it is related that at one time he had prescribed a minute trituration of some drug, cautionmg the patient against leaving such a potent remedy where others could get at it. Doc- tor John E. Weeden, who earlier had been in partnership with him, happened to be visiting a patient in the same family, and noticing the extreme caution with which they cared for this par- ticular medicine, called for it and with suicidal intent calmly swallowed the entire contents of the bottle. The family, alarmed and momentarily expecting to see the doctor expire for his rash act, hastened for assistance and Doctor Robinson upon his arrival quieted their fears by explaining that the drug was only potent in the case of an ill man, but Doctor Weeden being in good health would probably suffer no ill effects until later. Doctor Weeden is still living in anticipation of the effects. Associated with Doctor William Robinson was Doctor Horatio Robinson, who married his daughter Mary Ann Robinson in Oc- tober, 1826. Doctor Robinson was the son of Philip and Mary Robinson, and was born in Lebanon, Conn., February 4th, 1804. He was a graduate of Berkshire Medical College (now extinct) and has practiced in Stonington, Conn., Westerly and in Auburn, N. Y., where he now lives. Doctor John G. Pierce was born in Lebanon, Conn., November 4th, 1802, and was the son of John Leverett and Apania (Thomas) Pierce. He attended medical lectures at Yale College and began practice in Plainfield, Conn., later removing to Westerly, where he was married June 1st, 1840, to Sarah A. Babcock, a sister of Edwin and Horace Babcock, of Westerly. He remained in prac- tice some years, having his office in the Krebs House on Main street, and died there February 11th, 1861. Doctor Joseph H. Griffin, the eldest son of Doctor Stephen F. Griffin, having the misfortune to lose both parents in his boy- hood, was apprenticed by his guardian to learn the hatter's trade under Jerard Babcock of Stephentown, N. Y. He remained sev- eral months, serving his employer faithfully, yet longing all the time for an opportunity for greater educational advantages. After due deliberation on the subject he decided to give up the business and return to his home. At the age of eighteen years he entered the office of Doctor Daniel King as a student of (§^^yi^ 'i/t Q^^^ C^tLi) ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, H. y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 193 medicine. After five years of close application to study, he en- tered Bowdoin Medical College, from which he returned to his native town and entered into partnership with Doctor King. At the close of the second year Doctor King retired from the prac- tice of medicine, leaving the business in the hands of Doctor Griffin. Doctor Joseph H. Griffin was married, November 3d, 1834, to Miss Abby C. Hoxsie of Norwich, Conn., daughter of Cap- tain Hazard Hoxsie, formerly of Charlestown, R. I. Three chil- dren were born to them, one daughter and two sons. The study of medicine did not wholly engross his mind ; scientific subjects, enjoyed only by those who are earnest seekers after knowledge, had charms for him. He was a life long student, and was often heard to lament not having had the opportunities the present generation enjoy for acquiring an education. When in the presence of men of high literary attainments he treasured in the storehouse of memory every word falling from their lips, as precious pearls. During a period of twenty-seven years he kept a diary, noting all cases of importance coming to him for treat- ment, symptoms and prescriptions for each day, name of patient, etc., which he considered of importance, thereby keeping his memory refreshed and ready to treat other cases of like character. Having the full confidence and esteem of the people, he was ap- pointed to fill many positions of responsibility in the town. He held the office of justice of the peace twenty-five years in succes- sion, and was also appointed Indian commissioner by the gov- ernor of the state, which office he held for several years. To him belonged the honor of raising the standard of the public schools of the town from a very low condition to one of excellence. After serving four years as a member of the school committee, sixteen pupils were prepared as teachers from one district. Many of the young men of that town who have taken good positions in life said, " I owe to Doctor Griffin the first inspiration I received to strive for an education." A public library was established and maintained in the town almost wholly by his exertions, no labor being' considered too great when the educational interests of the community demanded his services. He was not physically strong, suffering for many years from dyspepsia. Realizing that his infir- mities were increasing upon him he decided to give up his exten- sive business and seek a field of labor which afforded time for rest much needed by him. He moved to Westerly in May, 186'J, still continuing to follow his profession. 13 194 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. In 1876, becoming very much debilitated, he was advised to change the scene by traveling. Accompanied by his wife he visited California and all cities of importance on the route, de- riving great benefit from the. trip, and returning to his home seemingly restored to usual health. Having a retentive memory and fine conversational powers, it gave him great pleasure to describe to his friends different sections of the country visited by him. Every incident that occurred, every place visited, was so distinctly described that the listener could clearly understand the situation, having it brought, as if by magic, distinctly before him. In 1878, health again failing him, he thought once more to change the scene. With wife and daughter he visited Stephen- town, the early home of his father, then traveled on to Montreal, Quebec, Portland and Boston, remaining in each city long enough to visit all places of interest. The trip was of seeming benefit to him for a few weeks, but the energies of life gradually leaving him, it became painfully evident to friends and family that the end was approaching, and he fully realized himself that life for him was near its close. He lingered until June 27th, 1879, retaining full possession of his mental powers until death released him from all suffering. Doctor Henry Aldrich, of Wyoming, son of Doctor John Al- drich, was a physician of the older school and was widely known throughout Rhode Island. He was born in the town of Kings- town in 1802 and died May 8th, 1886. He received his early ed- ucation in Rome, N. Y., and after receiving his degr'ee of M. D. began the practice of medicine at Escoheag Hill in the town of Exeter, where he speedily gained a lucrative practice. After about ten years in this locality he removed to what is known as the Ten Rod road, and there had his home and office in the so- called Rathbone place, where he remained in practice until he re- moved to Brands Iron Works, where he died in 1886. Doctor Aldrich was a physician of excellent judgment and liberal learn- ing, and his practice extended far beyond the bounds of his country home. Personally he was affable and fond of pleasant company. George Hazard Church, M. D., a physician of some celebrity in Washington county, was born in the town of South Kingstown, R. I., in 1798, and was named by Doctor Hazard, who gave him a crown for his name. Doctor Church began his medical studies in Hampton, Conn., and took the degree of M. D. from Yale Col- ^7"/ X HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 195 lege, New Haven, in. the spring of 1824. After his graduation he settled in Wickford and began the practice of medicine, which he continued very successfully until his death, which occurred January 3d, 1871, a period of nearly fifty years. His practice was very large and embraced a territory many miles in extent. Besides discharging his professional duties as a practitioner of medicine. Doctor Church took a very active part in all public spirited movements. He took a great interest in the success of public schools, and for several years was one of the town exam- ining committee, and was also one of the trustees. He was iden- tified with the Baptist church and was associated with it as one of the leading members until his death. He was town treasurer of North Kingstown for a number of years, and also a member of the state legislature for a term of years. He took an active part in the cause of temperance, and his house was always a welcome home for nearly every minister and school teacher, as well as political and temperance lecturer who came to Wickford. The popularity of Doctor Church was in part owing to the fact that he was always ready and willing to aid and do what he could for everybody. In politics he was a Jackson democrat until the re- publican party was formed, when he pronounced himself a mem- ber of that organization. He was a radical anti-slave man. At the breaking out of the rebellion Doctor Church gave much of his time and took an active part in raising troops for the army, ren- dering great service to the government. He was the father of the Elm Grove Cemetery, and had it not been for his almost superhuman efforts this beautiful place of burial might not have been secured. The question of locating a town cemetery in North Kingstown had been agitated for sev- eral years prior to 1851. During this period Doctor Church was indefatigable in his efforts to attract public attention to this sub- ject, a subject which was emphasized by the neglected condition of most of the private burial places throughout the town. Robert Rodman and a few others finally added their influence to the doctor's efforts, and it resulted in the organization and charter of the Elm Grove Cemetery Association, and the purchase of the beautiful rural site now the resting place of the dead at AUenton. Doctor Church was married in 1824 to Miss Maria Burnham of Hampton, Conn. By this union Doctor Church became the father of six children, namely : Alphonso, born 1825 ; George H., Jr., 196 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. born 1830, killed at Newbern, N. C, March 14tli, 1862, in the war of the rebellion ; Charles H., born in 1833; Samuel B., in 183;"); Maria B., 1837, and Phebe, the youngest child, born in 1839. Alphonso Church was educated as a druggist in Boston, and for twenty years he carried on the drug business in the village of Wickford until he was succeeded by his brother Charles H. Church in 1874. Charles H. Church, the proprietor of the drug store at the present time, was town collector of taxes, and subse- quently town treasurer of North Kingstown, and filled both offices for a term • of years. He was married to Miss Hannah Stanton Sweet in 1861. She died in 1873, and left one son, George H. Church, second, who died in 1882; also a daughter, Julia S. Church, now residing with her grandmother, J»Irs. Doctor George H. Church, of Wickford. The present Mrs. Charles H. Church is Anna E., daughter of the late AVilliam Page, of Glocester, Rhode Island. Among the physicians of this county who saw active service during the war of the rebellion was Doctor William Torrey Thurston, a son of John Thurston, of Newport, R. I., and Mary Ann Bruce, who was born in the West India Island of St. Kitts July 14th, 1805. He was married March 15th, 1832, to Caroline Thurston, daughter of Governor Jeremiah Thurston, of Hopkin- ton, R. I., and received his medical education at the University of New York where, under Doctor Mott's preceptorship he grad- uated in 1829. Doctor Thurston's first practice was at St. Kitts, later in Portland, Me., and then he removed to AVesterly. Oc- tober 4th, 1861, he enlisted as surgeon of the First Light Artil- lery, joined the Army of the Potomac and served under General McClellan. He was in active service throughout the Peninsu- lar campaign and was present at the battles of Seven Pines, Five Oaks, Peach Orchard, Malvern Hill and at Savage Station, where he was severely wounded, receiving a fracture of the skull. Af- ter a furlough he rejoined the army at the second battle of Bull Run and thence went with McClellan to South Mountain, where owing to his wounds and the excessive fatigue to which he had been subjected, he was unable to continue and was placed in charge of the Federal Hospital of Frederick City. Subsequently he was detailed to Portsmouth Grove where he remained till the close of the war. In 187(» he was appointed superintendent of the Rhode Island Hospital, which position he held until 1882, when infirmities of age compelled him to retij-e from active bus- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 197 iness. During- the later years of his life Doctor Thurston was almost wholly deaf from the effects of the wound received in service. Doctor John B. Rose, a son of Thomas Rose, and a direct de- scendant on his mother's side from Doctor Joshua Perry, an uncle of Commodore Perr}^, was born at what is known as Moorsfield, where he lived until the death of his father, when he found a home with his grandfather, John Rose. He attended school at Kingston, obtained a good education, and at twenty began the study of medicine under Doctor Peleg Johnson, completing his medical course by attending lectures in Boston under Doctors Biglow and Warren, and later took a course of lectures in Provi- dence. He first began practice on Block Island, being the only physician there, but at the end of a year he removed to Westerly, where he was in successful practice for three years, and then re- moved to Lebanon, N. Y., where he married, in 1837, Julia A. Carter, a daughter of Judge Carter, of that state. In 1848 he re- turned to South Kingstown and settled in Wakefield, where he practiced for over thirty years. In addition to his skill as a physician Doctor Rose had the reputation of being an excellent surgeon, and his practice extended over the greater part of Washington county. He was a man of wonderful physical en- durance, and was never deterred from attending a summons even in the most inclement weather. His manner in the sick room was cheery and comfort giving. Doctor John E. Weeden, of Westerly, was born in South Kings- town, R. I., October 7th, 1807, and was the son of Wager Weeden and Sarah (Hull) Weeden. Doctor Weeden was married, No- vember 26th, 1833, to Eliza Cross. Under the direction of Wil- liam Turner, M. D., of Newport, Doctor Weeden gained a medical education which was completed by a course of lectures at Bowdoin College and two courses at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated in 1833. Doctor Weeden commenced practice in Bristol, and later, in 1835, moved to Westerly, R. I., and remained in active practice until 1859. Of the physicians who have practiced in Kingston, no one has left a larger circle of friends and a better reputation as physician and man than Doctor Thomas Arnold Hazard, who was born at Jamestown, R. I., September 30th, 1813, the son of Arnold Hazard and Hannah Watson. Doctor Hazard studied at the Kingston Academy before beginning the study of medicine, and at that 198 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. time, and during the whole of his professional career, he lived in the family of the late Philip Taylor and his son, John M. Tay- lor, and during the whole of his professional life his office was in the same building. He attended one session of lectures at Bowdoin College and three at the University of Pennsylvania, where he was graduated in 1835, and settled in Kingston in May of the same year. His death occurred after a very short illness, December 8th, 1886. Doctor Hazard was very prominent in town affairs and was town physician for twenty years, being elected at various times from 1838 to 1863. He was town treasurer dur- ing the difficult period of the rebellion, when his financial ability saved the town many hundreds of dollars. He was many years member of the school board of trustees for the district of Kingston, and a longtime trustee of the Sewal School Fund, established in 1695, and was director of the Kingston National Land-Holders' Bank and of the Kingston Savings Bank. During the fifty-one years and seven months in which he was in active practice he never took a vacation from work of more than one week, and that only at rare intervals. His mother died at the age of ninety-four years when the doctor was over seventy-two, and her death was a severe blow to him, and from it until his death he failed in a marked degree. He was the last of his family, and with him the name, so far as that branch is concerned, expires. Of large and commanding presence and slow and confident speech, his mere presence in the sick room was a benefit and a comfort to the invalid. His materia mcdica was not extensive but those remedies which he did use he used skilfully. Upon his death it was said of him, " To each one of a large circle of friends this loss seems personal. He was a man of few words, cheerful appearance and ready wit. His familiar presence is gone, but his memory will long be cherished in the public mind." Doctor William H.Wilbur was born in Hopkinton March 10th, 1816, and was the son of John and Lydia (Collins) Wilbur. He received his early education in the public schools of his native town and completed his academic course at the Friends' school in Providence. He began the study of medicine with his brother. Doctor Thomas Wilbur, of Fall River, Mass., and graduated from the University of New York in 1847. Doctor Wilbur immediately went abroad to perfect his knowledge of the particular form of treatment known as the water cure, and after studying some time in Germany he returned to this country EDWIN R. LEWIS, M. D. ARTOTVPE, E. BIHRSTADT, N. ¥. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 199 and established a water cure in Pawtucket, which he maintained for two years. Atignst 20th, 1849, he was married to Eliza S. Mann, daughter of Major T. S. and Eliza S. Mann, by whom he had three children. Leaving Pawtucket he came to Westerly, where he remained in practice until 1862, when he entered the war as surgeon of the First Rhode Island Cavalry. He was with his regiment at Chancellorsville and Middleburg, serving with honor and distinction, and after the war returned to Westerly, where he resided until his death, which occurred October 12th, 1879. Of Doctor Wilbur's character and life work nothing more fitting can be said than the following tribute paid by a personal friend after his death : " At the close of the war Doctor Wilbur resumed his practice in Westerly, and here after all must be said his life work was done. Deeply absorbed in his profession and having a just estimate of its high mission, he gave to it the full wealth of his knowledge, his experience and his life. He was exact in his habits of thought, methodical in his investigations, studious in keeping pace with the progress made in the science of medicine, holding his opinion tenaciously when matured, and being thus critical and thorough in his own culture, he was in- tolerant of pretense and sham in others. He was too human to be faultless, yet where sickness and sorrow dwelt there could his ministering hand be felt. Such was the sympathy and tender- ness of his nature that he allowed no pecuniary considerations to swerve him from what he deemed his professional duty. Holding high rank as a surgeon as well as a physician, he has spent his life in the community responding to the call for help without regard to the source from which it came, and by skill restoring health and happiness to many homes." Edwin Ransome Lewis, M. D.,born in the town of Hopkinton on the 31st of January, 1827, was the son of Christopher and Wealthy (Kenyon) Lewis. He pursued the elementary branches of study at the district school, and then assisted his father in the work of the farm. Desiring to fit himself for one of the pro- fessions, he chose that of medicine, and after a period of study, he became a student at the medical college in Castleton, Vermont. Meanwhile he returned and sought employment as a teacher that he might defray the expenses attending a complete course of lectures. From this institution he was graduated in 1850. Doctor Lewis at once began his professional career at Niantic, Rhode Island, remained one year at this point, and in 1852 removed to 200 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Westerly, where the subsequent years of his life were passed. Here he at once established a successful and growing practice, and soon numbered among his patients many of the leading families of the town, who welcomed to their homes not less the genial and kindly gentleman than the skillful practitioner. Doctor Lewis's preparation for the duties of his profession was thorough. His mind was alert and quick to discern the condition of a pa- tient, hence his diagnosis was rapid and equally correct. To his native gifts was added a mature knowledge, broadened by careful reading and large experience. His sympathies were warm, his daily life full of the gentlest humanities, singularly free from envy, and with an expansive charity that embraced all mankind. Thus his manhood was passed in the practice of those virtues which are conducive to vigor of mind and body, and which, united, form the basis of a harmonious and beautiful character. He was largely instrumental in the formation of the Washington County Medical Society, and was chosen its first president. Doctor Lewis, the year of his graduation (1850), married Louisa A., daughter of Deacon Cyrus W. Brown, of North Stonington, Conn. Their children are : Henrietta L., wife of Henry M. Max- son, of North Attleboro, Mass.; Edwin R., a practicing physician in Westerly, and Hannah B., deceased. The death of Doctor Lewis occurred June 13th, 1887. Doctor Edwin Anthony, son of Doctor Israel Anthony, was born at Usquepaug, June 9th, 1821, and was married July 30th, 1843, to Mary E. Perkins, of South Kingstown, by whom he had three children. His early life was spent in his native place, and beginning the study of medicine under his father he graduated from Harvard Medical School in 1842, and immediately began a practice in Usquepaug, which soon grew extensively, and by reason of the large territory over which he was obliged to travel became very trying. In spite of the hard work incident to the pursuit of his profession, Doctor Anthony was a close student, and he kept himself well posted on current medical topics. His death occurred February 20th, 1869. Doctor Joseph D. Kenyon was the son of John Stanton Kenyon, who resided in Sterling, Conn. By his marriage to Hannah Wescot were seven sons and two daughter, as follows: Joseph D., Peleg, Oliver S., Stanton W., Stutley, Alfred, Sheffield, Eliza and Penelope, the last named daughter having died in early life. Joseph D., the eldest of these sons, was born September 16th, 'o-'^C a^sd^^r^ -^ ^ ,\KlUr'BnpBjS ■B sx 'gS'BxxT^ ^TXIJ JO xiBxoxsXqd J9q:;ou'B 'jg^ixgdj'BQ 'jj ux^of jojooq ■Z<881 XIX gpoq'B :^^9S9Jd sxq o:; 9xub9 9H ■sx'eaA ^^Jq:^ suios s^u'eqxv IS V^ uoxss9jojd sxq jo aopoBjd 9q:j p9xxsjnd puB 'guioipaxu jo sjgxioxjpo'Bjd jo xooqos pp 9q; o:j sSuopq 9 jj 'f-ggX XIX 'x-eaj^uo]^ 'pA'eq jo X:^xsJ;^AIXIfx 8X[; ^^ S9an:^^9X JO 9SJnoo siq 5[oo; puB 'oaqanQ jo goxtiAOJj gx^:; ui ujoq sbav 9JJ "BpxjuBQ JO gAi^Bu T3 SI 'oi^ojy JO ':^^•BU9Idng qdgsof jopoQ '9881 JO ssB^o aqj jo 'puB^si spoxX'a JO 'A:^xsj9Axufx pai3Ai.ojj jo g^Bxip^aS v 'nnioiSi^qd oiii^Bd -oaxuoq v os^b sx 'aS^xxiA 9xii-bs aq:^ jo spjBqoi^ •'j -^ jo^ooq •9XIIX; ^•Bq:^ 90XIIS qOIAVU99J-Q ^SBg HI uoissgjojd sxq p9Dx:^0Bjd SBq 9q puB ! flQl ui uoi;n:ix;snx ^vvii luojj 99jS9p sxq Sux5[-B:p 'i^v 'xiojSnixjng :^b 'Xq:^Bdo9XIIOJJ jo Xooqog IB0ip9X\[ 9qj jo g^BxvpBjS b sx 9H -XuBnua^ oj ;isia p^p^9:^ -X9 UB uo Mou sx 'qoxAvn99j;Q JSBg jo '.i9;n9dj;B3 -f) -g jojooq ■soB^d siq; oj axuBO ugq; 'uoAu33[ qof JopoQ q;xAV sjb9X asaq; p9uxBxit9j; 9q 9J9qA^ 'jtiioj jgAi-g o% P9A0UI9J; j9;bx sq:^uoui xis jxxq 'qoiAvuagjQ ^sBg iix p9XJj9S ;sj;xj 9H "0881 Jo ssbxo '9S9xxoq x'B^xpg]^ ^xjoj^ jwgjvj }o X;xsj9Axun 9q; JO gjBixpBaS b sx '9Sbxxxa Auoq^uy jo 'poo^ -q -q jor^ooQ ■9opoBj;d sxq jo jinsjnd 9q:^ UI 90UIS p9uiBXU9j; SBq gq 9J9qA '^881 xxx jaxnjjWBj oj 9Xubd 9q 9J9q:> xiiojj puB 'ami; 9uibs 9q:^ ;b uoijbS9jSuoo b oj pgqoBaad puB QSZ> •saixNinoo XNa>i qnv noxonihsvav ao ahoxsih 236 HISTORY OK WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Doctor Albert C. Dedrick, of Centreville, was born in Natick in 1831. In 1854, after the usual training of the common schools, he entered the New York State University Medical College at Albany, N. Y., where he was graduated December 28d, 1856. The following spring he began at Crompton, R. I., a practice which he gave up five years later to take a commission as assistant sur- geon in the Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers. After the regiment was mustered out he resumed practice at Cranston, R. I., and in the following year he located at Centreville, where he has since resided and practiced. He has represented Warwick three terms in the general assembly. He is a member of Saint John's Com- mandery — the oldest in the United States — and has been master of Manchester Lodge, F. & A. M., of Anthony, R. I. He has two sons and a daughter. His son Albert C. Dedrick, Jr., M. D., graduated at Bellevue Hospital Medical College March 12th, 1888, after preparatory training at home, and at Mowry and Goff's private school at Providence. He is now located at Fall River, Mass. Doctor Albert G. Sprague was born in Providence in 1836. He was educated at Pierce Academy, at Middleboro, Mass. In 1857 he entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he took his degree in 1859. During the civil war he was assistant surgeon in the Tenth and Seventh Rhode Island Regiments, and in 1866 located at Centreville, where he practiced with Doctor Hall. In 1883 he erected his elegant residence at River Point, where is now the center of his practice. Doctor Sprague has been some ten years a member of the state board of health and is health officer of this town. He represented Warwick one term in the general assembly. Doctor George T. Perry, of Natick, is a son of William G. and grandson of George C. Perry, who lived and died at Perryville in South Kingstown, having resided many years at the Commo- dore Perry place. William G. Perry was mill manager for the Amoskeag corporation thirty years prior to 1884, when he retired to Hampton, N. H., where he died in 1887. Doctor George T. Perry was educated at New London Academy and with Doctor William Burk, of Manchester, N. H. In 1864 he graduated from Bellevue Hospital Medical College. He went out one year as assistant surgeon of the Seventh New Hampshire regiment, and then practiced two years at Lynn. In 1867 he came to Natick as HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 237 successor to Doctor J. S. Andros, then lately deceased, -where he is still practicing. Doctor Perry was ten years physician and surgeon for the state institutions at Cranston prior to March 1st, 1883. He was brigade surgeon of the state militia while Thomas W. Chace was general. He has been a member of the State Medical Society since about 1870. He represented Warwick in the state senate from 1872 to 1874. CHAPTER VIII. TOWN OF WESTERLY. Principal Features of the Township.— The First Settlers of Westerly.— The Pur- chase of Misquamicut.— Hardships Encountered by the Early Settlers.— Doctor Joshua Babcock.— Roll of Early Freemen.— Town Records.— Roll of Representatives.— List of Town Clerks.— Present Officers.— Notes from Timothy Dwight.— Granite Quarries. — Watch Hill.— Ocean View.— Potter Hill.— Lottery Village.— White Rook.— Nian tic— Indian Church.— Presby- terian Church.— The Union Meeting House. — The Gardner Church.— The Wilcox Church. — Friends' Society.— River Bend Cemetery. — Graveyards. THE town of Westerly is situated in the southwestern corner of the state, to which fact the town owes its name. The Indian name was Misquamicut, which signifies " a place for taking salmon." The township is considerably rough and broken. The soil, which is generally gravelly loam, affords most of the varieties from a fertile mould to a soil lean and sterile. The town is bounded on the north by the Pawcatuck river and the town of Hopkinton, on the east by Charlestown, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, and on the west by the Pawcatuck river, which separates it from Connecticut. Its southern border being washed by the Atlantic Ocean and its western by a navigable river, the town was a trading post of some maritime interest formerly. Westerly was the first town incorporated in the King's Province (May 14th, 1669), and the fifth town in the colony. It contained an area of 153.4 square miles, which territory now be- longs to the four towns of Westerly, Hopkinton, Charlestown and Richmond. It was the largest town in the colony except Providence from 1669 to 1674, when it was outranked by Kings- town. On the 23d of June, 1686, the name was changed from Westerly to Haversham, but the former name was restored in 1689. From this town was taken the territory of Charlestown, August 22d, 1738, and Hopkinton, March 19th, 1757. The town of Westerly now comprises about thirty-six square miles. The following, taken from Perry's valuable Census Report of 1885, gives the places of noted interest : HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 239 Villages and Hamlets. — Westerly, Potter Hill, Stillmanville, Niantic or Dorrville, formerly called Shad-dock Weir ; Lottery, so called from the lottery grant of Joseph Pendleton, to whom the land belonged ; White Rock, Varietyville, AVatch Hill, Quarry Hill, Burden's Pond. Hills. — Carr's, Potter, Bumpin, Bear, Cormorant,Village, Quarrj^ formerly called Rhodes, on which are the famous granite quar- ries. A duel was fought on this hill by two American midship- naen in the war of 1812 ; Frazier's, Chin. Rivers. — Pawcatuck ; Indian battle about 1639 at Pawcatuck Forge, now Pawcatuck Bridge. Brooks. — Mastuxet, Red, Potter Hill, Noyes, Lanphear, Bliven, Weecapaug. Ponds. — Watch Hill, Ward's, sometimes called Babcock's, In- dian name, Winnapaug, meaning "fine pond"; Quonocontaug (Westerly side) ; Burden's, No Bottom, Dixon's. Sunnner Resorts. — Watch Hill, Noyes Neck, Ocean View, Brightman's. Indian Names. — Misquamicut, Mastuxet, Aquantaug, Muschaug, Musquataug, Ashagomiconset, Minnacommuck, Nyantic, Pawca- tuck, Pascomattas, Quimamoge, Teapanock, Tiscatuck, Minna- baug, Muyquataug, Neshudganset, Paspatonage, Pawtuxent, Tishcottie, Tomaquaug, Weecapaug. Points. — Napatree, Sandy, Watch Hill, Wheat, Quahaug, Wee- capaug Neck, Noyes Neck. Islands. — Minnacommuc (in Cedar Swamp) ; Noyes' (in Quono- contaug Pond) ; Larkin's (in Ward's Pond). Historic. — Noyes Neck extends about one mile from the main land into the sea, separating Quonocontaug and Ward's ponds. This was a prominent sporting place seventy years ago. Ward's pond is connected with the sea by Noyes' Breach. This pond was named after Governor Samuel Ward, who resided here during his distinguished official career. Cedar Swamp. Historic house on Quarry hill. Chickamug was a fishing place on Pawcatuck river, a little above the bridge leading to Stonington, and had a weir, which the name signifies. While Westerly has diversified industries and interests, it is best known by the granite that is taken from its quarries, and used not only for building purposes in neighboring towns and cities, but for monuments in various parts of the country. The town has done its part to illustrate the truth of the saying elsewhere referred to, that " Rhode Island 240 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. granite may serve as good a purpose here as Pentelic or Parian marble did in the Athenian republic." This granite has the virtue of retaining its polish and beauty despite the severe ordeal of our climate. The first whites that visited the shores of Westerly were Dutch traders in quest of furs, for which they exchanged cloth and in- struments of metal. At this point, however, they built no trading houses; their clumsy pinnaces entered the mouth of the river, and their marts were on the open shores. The bold and famous Captain Adrian Block first explored the coast in 1614. In 1616 De Laet sketched a map of the coast from the journal of Captain Block, in which the Pawcatuck is denomi- nated East river, the mouth of which Block mentions as " a crooked point in the shape of a side, behind which is a small stream or inlet." The Dutch evidently ascended the Pawcatuck in their explorations as far as Pawcatuck Rock. Ninigret, the Indian sachem, favored the Dutch traffic and for gain and pro- tection he formed a temporary compact with the Dutch of New Netherlands, now New York. This alliance was in existence in 1650. At that time a harbor existed on the shore east of Watch Hill, now known as Quonocontaug pond. It is also evident that the Pawcatuck once debouched into the ocean near Watch Hill point, instead of wi-nding away to the westward, as at present, toward Stonington borough. Dutch keels anciently entered Quonocontaug pond; and as late as 1794 it was proposed to open it by diverting the Pawcatuck by a canal into it, the colony offering to pay two-thirds of the expense. The change in the river's mouth occurred before the coast was possessed by the whites, yet a breach through the sand ridge remained till the beginning of the present century. John and Mary Lawton Babcock were probably the first white settlers in Westerly. Rhode Island was then known by its In- dian name, Misquamicut. The first really historic band of Euro- peans that trod the ancient wilderness here was the military force of Captain John Mason on their hazardous march to the attack upon the Pequot fort at Mystic. On the 24th of May, 1637, the second night before the battle, the hero band having marched from Narragansett bay, halted and spent the night by Ninigret's fort, now Fort Neck. "At first," says Denison in "Westerly and Its Witnesses," "Ninigret hesitated to approve the perilous expedition, but in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 241 the morning he gave to Captain Mason a detachment of his bow- men. A Christian minister, Reverend Samuel Stone, accom- panied the expedition and served with remarkable efficiency. Hence from the bivouac of the soldier arose to heaven probably the first incense of intelligent prayer ever publicly offered on this soil to the living and true God. When the armed force left the encampment among the Niantics on the morning of May 25th, it consisted of seventy-seven whites, sixty Mohegan and Con- necticut River Indians, about two hundred Narragansetts and nearly an equal number of Niantics, a body of a little more than five hundred men. The day being warm, they made a halt at the ford of the Pawcatuck to refresh themselves. This ford was the old Indian trail that crossed the river just below the present bridge, at the head of tide-water. The trusty guide of the ex- pedition was Wequash, a revolted Pequot captain. Stealthily they moved through the wilderness, and on the evening of the 25th halted between the famous Portal Rocks, near the tide- water head of Mystic river. With the break of day, on the 26th, occurred the terrible onset, with muskets, sword and flame, that .swept down six hundred Pequots, demolished the fort, and broke the life of the nation. Mason's victory made his name imper- ishable." The earliest efforts of Rhode Island men to purchase lands of the Indians in Misquamicut, with the exception of John Babcock and one or two others, seem to have been made near 1658 ; noth- ing, however, of importance was accomplished. Denison says : " The settlers of this colony did not believe in occupying Indian lands by right of conquest ; in all cases they purchased their titles of the aboriginies. In 1660 a private company was organ- ized in Newport for the purchase and settlement of Misquamicut. In the same year another company of sixteen persons purchased Block Island of the natives, the Manisses Indians. " We have seen that a few of the first settlers in Misquamicut were of Massachusetts origin and education. They joined the settlers of Nameaug, now New London, in maintaining public worship under the ministry of Reverend Richard Blinman. By bridle paths through the unsubdued wilderness, fording the streams and rivers, the scattered settlers traveled to join their friends in public devotions, meeting alternately at New London and Pawcatuck. In the summer, however, they met midway between these places, on the western border of the town cf 16 242 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Stonington, upon the lands of Colonel George Denison, under the shade of a giant pine tree, where now stands the old Denison mansion, full two hundred years old, and containing some of the wood of the sacred Bethel tree. These Pedobaptists were a kind of Presbyterians, who at last became Congregationalists. In ref- erence to their early meetings, we may quote the following record of the Connecticut Assembly in 1656 : ' It is ordered by this court, that while the ministry is maintained at Pawcatuck, the charge thereof, and the ministry at Pequett, New London, shall be borne as the major part of the inhabitants shall agree and order.' Reverend William Thompson ' ministered to the Pequots at Mystic and Pawcatuck,' from 1657 to 1663, aided pecuniarily by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. The Pawcatuck families of Massachusetts origin finally attended upon the ministry of Reverend James Noyes, the first settled minister of Stonington. Yet meetings were occasionally held in Westerly, in the private houses of the settlers. The first Con- gregational church in Stonington was not organized till June, 1674. " Would that we could look back and see the first white fami- lies, that came by boat along the coast, or by Indian trails through the deep forests, and made the first clearings in the dense wil- derness. To look into their log houses, sometimes half beneath the earth, and half above, thatched often with slabs and bark, rarely furnished with windows, having furniture manufactured with ax, saw and auger, to follow them in their labor in subduing the wild, would induce us to thankfully cherish their names and their deeds. What strangers are we to their toils and perils and sacrifices. Alas ! that even the graves of these pioneers have been suffered to be neglected, and many of them wholly for- gotten. Nor did any among them aspire to the office of an annalist. Could some record, even a rude journal kept among them, now be found, how eagerly and thankfully would it be perused." " On the 21st of March, 1661, eighty members of a company drew up and subscribed ' Articles of Agreement ' which were some- what enlarged with ' Acts and Orders ' in July and September following. ' The deed and all other writings ' were ' kept in Wil- liam Vaughan's house.' The land was first held in six shares, by William Vaughan, Robert Stanton, Hugh Mosher, John Fairfield, James Longbottom^and Shubael Painter. These sold to the other HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 243 members of the company. The six original shares were valued at seven pounds each. The first occupants under the purchase appear to have entered upon the lands about the 1st of Septem- ber, 1661. But of those who first meditated settlement in this month, ' all failed except Toby Saunders, Robert Burdick and Joseph Clarke, Jun.' Others, however, soon joined them. " Immediately upon the removal of the first proprietors to this region, difficulties arose with Connecticut and Massachusetts in respect to jurisdiction. The purchasers were sustained by the royal charter given the colony in 1643, and by the deed obtained of Sosoa." But the adjacent colonies, envious and hostile to Rhode Island, in order to enforce their claims, seized Robert Burdick and Tobias Saunders, and confined them in prison at Boston till they should pay a fine of forty pounds and give security in one hun- dred pounds for their future good conduct ; and other acts of hostility were performed by Massachusetts and Connecticut detrimental to the new company, but few of whom, however, because of the difficulties, were deterred from becoming actual settlers. " It will be proper here to give some account of the purchase of the original township, and the measures adopted in the first settlement. Petition to Assembly. " ' To the Honorable Gentlemen of the Cotirt of Commissioners assem- bled together in his Majesty s name, for the colony of Providence Plantations at Portsmouth, the 27 th of August, 1661. " ' Please ye honored gentlemen : There being an opportunity or presentment of a certain piece or tract of land, lately discov- ered or made known, which tract of land lyeth in a situation in the furdest or remotest corner of this colony's jurisdiction, called by the name of Ascomicutt ; which tract of land is fairly promised to a certain number of Adventurers upon the design of pur- chasing it ; which adventurers are members of this colony, and -well wishers thereto, who desire to do nothing that shall prove prejudicial to the interest and honor of the colony's privileges or advancement; but are now confronted by adversaries which, by a species of intrusion, are seeking to make inroads upon our privileges of colonies' jurisdiction ; these premises considered, your petitioners are bold, under correction, to pray, in case we 244 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. can make the adversary, which is both to the colony and to us, to retreat, which we question not in point of right and title from the natives ; therefore, we being willing to proceed in all points of loyalty that may suit with the advance and honor of the colony, we humbly crave your favorable approbation, countenance and assistance to us in the settling of a plantation or township in or upon the above said tract of land, called by the name of As- comicutt ; which number of persons may probably extend to 30, 40, or 50, or thereabouts; which thence are to inhabit; thereof many are persons constrained to make inquisition and seek out land for a comfortable livelihood. So, honored gentlemen, if it be your pleasure to grant your petitioners' request, as we are, so we sub- scribe and remain, your humble petitioners and servants, to our power, for ourselves, and in the behalf of the rest of our company. William Vahan (his X mark). Caleb Carr. John Coggeshall. James Rogers (his I. R. mark). John Crandall. Joseph Torry. Hugh Mosher. John Cranston.' James Barker. " In this petition are discovered the foreshadowings of litiga- tions relative to the boundaries. The purchase rested on the fol- lowing deed : — " ' A Copy of the Purchase of Sosoa, the true Owner of Misquamicut. " ' This deed or writing, bearing date this present twenty-ninth day of June, one thousand six hundred and sixty, witnesseth, that I, Sosoa, an Indian captain of Narragansett, being the true and lawful owner of a tract of land called Misquamicut, for a valuable consideration in hand paid to my content, having bar- gained and sold unto William Vaughan, Robert Stanton, John Fairfield, Hugh Mosher, James Longbottom, all of Newport, in Rhode Island, and others their associates, which said tract of land being bounded as foUoweth : Easterly by a place called Weeca- paug or Passpatanage, joining to Niantic land ; on the south by the main sea ; on the west by Pawcatuck River, and so up the chief river or stream northerly and northeasterly to a place called Quequatuck or Quequachonocke ; and from thence on a straight line to the first named bounds called Weecapaug or Pachatanage; joining upon the Niantic land, as above said ; which said tract HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 245 of land, so butted and bounded as aforesaid, I, the said Sosoa, do for myself, my heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, sur- render up all right, title, claim or interest whatsoever to the land, &c. &c. The mark of [ \ ] Sosoa. Sealed, signed in presence of Jeremy Clarke. Latham Clarke. Henry Clarke. AwASHWASH his mark. The mark Wo df NucuM, Interpreter. George Webb. George Gardiner. The title was confirmed by Cachaquant. Sammecat. Pessicus. Wawaloam (wife of Miantonomi). Awashous. POATOCK. Unicaguent. Ne-O-Wam.' " 'A copy of Wawaloam, the wife of Miantonomv, her affirmation and confirmation of Socho, alias SossoA, his deed and grant. " ' ASPANAUSUCK or Hakewamepixke, the 25th June, 1661. " ' Know all men by these presents, or whom it may concern, that I, Wawaloam, which was the wife of the deceased Sachem, Miantonomy, do thus testify and affirm of my perfect knowledge : I did hear my husband Miantonomy, as also my uncle Canonicus, both of them joyntly dispose, give and pass over a tract of land named Misquamicuk to a valorous Captain named Socho ; this tract of land it is bounded as foUoweth : on the east corner by a place called Weecapaug or Pespataug, joyning to the Nahanticut land, by the salt sea, which is about 10 miles from Pawcatuck River, this bound is the southeast corner ; and on the south side bounded with the main ocean, from the first bounds westerly to the mouth of Pawcatuck River ; and from the mouth of Pawca- tuck River bounded by Pawcatttck River, which is the west 246 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. bounds of this tract of land, and so up the chief river or stream of Pawcatuck River, northerly and northeasterly about 15 miles from the mouth of Pawcatuck River, up to a place called Quequa- tuck ; and from this northeast corner bounds it is bounded upon a line southeast to the southeast corner, which is by the main ocean joining to the Nianticut land, as it is above named, Wee- capaug, or Passpatanage ; this land thus bounded, be it 20,000 acres more or less, I, Wawaloam, do affirm it to be Socho's or his assigns ; and further, whereas my uncle Ninigrad sayeth that it is his land, I, Wawaloam, do utterly deny it before all men, for it was conquered by my husband, Miantonomy, and my uncle Canonicus, long before the English had any wars with the Pequots, therefore, I, Wawaloam, do really confirm it, and affirm it to be Socho's land, his heirs, executors, administrators or as- signs forever, from all others whatsoever. " ' Witness my hand and seal the year and day above written. The mark of [bow and arrow] Wawaloam [l. s.] ' " In the year 1669 the whole region then embraced by Westerly contained only about thirty families. These during this year, in May, 1669, by an act of the colony were incorporated and the township of Westerly received its name. Copying from the town records we find : " A List of the Free Inhabetants of the Towne of Westerle, May 18th, 1669 : John Crandall, Edward Larkin, Stephen Wilcox, John Lewis, James Cross, Jonathan Armstrong, John Maxson, Jeffree Champion, Sen., John Fairfield, Danniel Cromb, Nickolas Cottrell, Shubael Painter, Tobias Saunders, Robert Burdick, John Randall, John Matkoon, John Sharp, Danniel Stanton, James Babcock, Sen., Thomas Painter, James Babcock, Jun., John Bab- cock, Job Babcock, Josiah Clark." The colony immediately appointed John Crandall and Tobias Saunders "conservators of his Majesty's peace," with power to summon juries and hold courts. To these twenty-four men was committed the guardianship of a territory, mostly a dense forest traversed only by trails, twenty miles in length and ten in breadth. No sooner had these few scattered settlers been incorporated than the dark, dread storm known as King Philip's war began to gather, and the cruelties and treacheries of that sanguinary struggle dispersed the pioneer occupants of the soil and obliged them to take shelter again in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 247 Newport. No deputies appeared from the town in tlie general as- sembly for five years. In 1667 Queen Anne's road was begun. It was not, however, at first known by that name, and extended only from New Lon- don to the Pawcatuck river. At a later date it was extended through the Narragansett country to Newport, and opened prior to 1705, probably about 1703, as Queen Anne came to the throne in 1702 and died in 1714. In 1686 the name of Westerly was changed to Haversham by the king's court of commissioners, but in 1689 the proper name of the town, owing to the unsupported administration of Sir Edmund Andros, returned to the records. In 1690 the defenseless settlers being seized with fear because of the attack of a French fleet of pirates upon the inhabitants of Block Island, a force of fifty-six men under Captain DavoU was stationed here for de- fense. These few freemen stood over their homes ready to defend themselves and do all in their power to aid their exposed brethren in other colonies. In the expedition fitted out in New England for the capture of Port Royal in July, 1710, Westerly furnished twenty men, four of them being Indians. " For many years," says Denison, " serious difficulties were experienced by the planters in obtaining cattle and horses, as most of these were necessarily imported. Besides the heavy first cost, other expenses were incurred in securing their lives, and particularly the lives of the young, from the depredations of the wild beasts. A colt or a calf was scented far and pleasantly by the bears. Every domestic animal had to be folded at night. The keeping of sheep was impracticable for many years. In 1696 the colony paid a bounty of ten shillings per head on wolves. In 1697, the authorities of Westerly voted 'twenty shillings in money to an Englishman, and ten shillings to an Indian, for every grone wolfe that is ceht or killed.' So numerous were bears, foxes, wolves and wild cats, that the people sometimes, for their own safety as well as that of their stock, would set apart days in which all the able-bodied men, armed with musket, pouch and horn, and accompanied with their deep-mouthed dogs, would unite and ' drive ' the forests, hills and swamps to diminish the insatiate carnivora. The baying of hounds, the sounding of horns, the reports of muskets, the rallying calls from hill to val- ley, and the shouts of pursuit, onset and success — all would pre- 248 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. sent a scene and an excitement rivaling not simply the old hunts, but the old tournaments and tales of border life in the days of chivalry and romance. These hunting days not only relieved the settlers' homes of many of their enemies, but they also sup- plied important needs of clothing. And the deer of the country furnished deliciou.s meat as well as serviceable apparel. "The hitherto imperfectly drawn boundary line between Kingstown and Westerly was satisfactorily adjusted in 1695. " To this trying and perilous period of French and Indian wars in the country belongs the romantic, traditional reports of the self-reliant and heroic Mrs. Sims (known to fame as ' Nanny Sims'). Her husband was away in the armies of the Crown for the defense of the colonies ; the good wife was alone in her dwelling ; the house was attacked by three savages ; the door bars withstood them. At length two of the assailants scaled the house, and began to descend the great chimney, while the third endeavored to break his way through a window. It was difficult to parry such attacks at two points. But the cool, courageous Nanny was equal to the hour. She seized her straw bed and threw it into the broad fire-place upon the brands. The smoke and flames instantly sent the savages, singed and suffocating, from the chimney-top. She then grasped her ax and addressed her- self to the barbarian who had just broken through the window. With a well-aimed blow she stunned him, and then calmly fin- ished her work by chopping off his head. The house in which this tragedy occurred stood near what is now styled ' Irish Plain,' about three-fourths of a mile southeast of Red brook. The cel- lar of the house is still pointed out." After the downfall of Philip, intercourse was opened again be- tween Westerly, Newport and Providence. Persons and families began to return again to their homes. But roads being uncut, and the rivers being unbridged, the pioneers labored under great difficulties and privations. At first they could have neither school houses nor meeting houses, and but few and small public assemblies. Their log and block houses were their castles, their school rooms their sanctuaries till nearly the close of the century. Doctor Joshua Babcock was a distinguished citizen of Westerly, and was the friend and correspondent of Doctor Franklin. Doc- tor Babcock was born in Westerly in the year 1707. He was graduated from Yale College, and soon after commenced the study of physic and surgery in Boston, and afterward went to HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 249 England to complete his education. He settled in his native town, where he soon obtained an extensive practice. He soon after opened as extensive a retail country store as any between New York and Boston. He was likewise much in public busi- ness. As chief justice of the supreme court of the state he pro- nounced the sentence of death on the notorious Thomas Carter for the murder of Jackson. One of the most striking features of Doctor Babcock's character was his observance of method in everything pertaining to his business, his style of living, amusements and devotions. He was an early riser, and gave a morning hour to his farm. His break- fast was bread and milk, with some apple pie or fruit of the sea- son. At dinner he ate heartily, but always of one dish, be it roast or boiled fish or flesh ; and as he began so he ended. He took cider as a common beverage, and a temperate glass of good wine. At tea, of which he was very fond, he drank exactly three cups. At a regular supper table he confined himself in- variably to his porringer of bread and milk. At the close of the week his family were called into the sitting room to hear a chapter from the Bible and a prayer. Doctor Babcock was a Greek scholar, and the book used at these devotional exercises was printed in that language. He was the father of Colonel Harry Babcock, whose sketch will be found in another place. ROLL OF EARLY FREEMEN. The following copied from the town records gives " A list of all ye Freemen of Westerly Town from the first settlement thereof to 1727: John Crandall. Joseph Dwell. Tobias Saunders. Joseph Crandall. Edward Larkin. James Lewis. Robert Burdick. Capt. James Pendleton. Stephen Willcocks. Joshua Holens. John Randal. Hoop Chapman. John Lewis. John Maxon, Jr. John Mackoon. Benjamin Burdick. James Cass. Joseph Maxon. John Thorp. James Babcock, Jr. Jonathan Armstrong. Henry Halls, Jr. Daniel Stanton. Edward Larkin, Jr. John Maxon. Thomas Rennalls. 250 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. James Babcock. Jafrey Champlin. Thomas Painter. John Fairfield. James Babcock, Jr. Daniel Crumb. John Babcock. Nicholas Cottrell. Job Babcock. Shuball Painter. Joseph Clarke. George Lanfear. Richard Swait. Jafrey Champlin, Jr. Henry Halls, Sen. John Lewis, Jr. Garshum Cottrell. William Champlin. Peter Crandall. Christopher Champlin. James Crandall. David Lewis. James Bliven. George Babcock. Samuel Clarke. Nicholas Utter. Edward Blavin. John Wells. Theodaty Rhodes. Roger Larkin. John Johnson. John Clarke. Joseph Pendleton. James Noyes. William Ross. John HoUoway. Samuel HoUoway. Benjamin HoUoway. Solomon Hakes. Ebor Crandall. William Clarke. John Davis. John Babcock. Joseph Pemberton. Thoinas Stephens. Joseph Clarke, Jr. James Halls. Caleb Pendleton. George Brown. David Lewis. Israel Lewis. Richard Lanphear. Nicholas Satterly. Thomas Wells, Sen. Thomas Wells, Jr. Samuel Lewis. Thomas Burdick. Edward Willcocks. John Eanoss. Shadrack Lanfeare. John Maccoon. John Larkin. John Cottrill. John Loveliss. Peter Crandall, Jr. Daniel Babcock. Jonathan Brown. William Davis. Joseph Crandall. Thomas Morhouse. John Lewis, Jr. Samuel Allen. Joseph Stanton. Joseph Johnson. Tobias Brand. William Champlin. Edward Blaven. William James. Benjamin Saunders. Daniel Babcock. - John Lewis, Jr. (John Lewis' son). HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 251 JoTin Witter. Phillip Palmiter. Jonathan Maxon. Hubbard Burdick. Francis Colgrove. Edward Halls. Isaac Thompson. George Stillman. John Hill. Nathaniel Wells. Peter Worden. Job Babcock, Jr. James Covey. Thomas Utter. Thomas Clarke. Thomas Hiscox. Nicholas Satterly. James Bemiss. Samuel Babcock. Stephen Willcox. Edward Willcox. John Maccoon, Jr. Joseph Maxon, Jr. Thomas Burdick, Jr. Edward Saunders. Stephen Saunders. Thomas Brand. Thomas Wells. Josiah Hill. Joseph Renals. William Davell, Jr. Thomas Stanton. Daniel Stanton. Samuel Burdick. Robert Burdick. John Maxon, Jr., 2d. Christopher Champlin, ye 3d. Stephen Willcox, son to Ste- phen. David Kinyon. Thomas Lillebridge. James Rogers. Thomas Rogers. John Moor. Peter Button, Jr. Richard Dake. William Knowls. Joseph Hadrall. Joseph Cross. John Webster. Jeremiah Boss. Jonathan Kinyon. Caleb Pendleton. Old Mr. John Kinyon. William Bentley. John Bentley. Isaac Sheffield. John Baker. Samuel Wilboure. Benjamin Rennalls. Robert Astin. John Larkin. James Halls. Francis Colgrove. Joseph James. Stephen Richmond. Gideon Hoxie. Robert Babcock. Israel Lewis. Nathaniel Lewis. Daniel Greenell. Mathias Button. John Hoxsie, Jr. Stephen Babcock. George Havens. Benjamin Brown. Samuel Cottrill. John Pooley. Joseph Kinyon. Samuel Barber." 252 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. From the town records we extract the following : " On a training day June ye 25th, 1702, held in Westerle att a public place at the house of John Davis the proclamation of her Royall Majtye Ann Queen of England etc. Was Read according to the Gov'r warrant With the Greatest Decency and Demon. stration of joye, as the afore s'd Towne was capable In Obeying ye above s'd Warrant. " Joseph Pendleton Towne Clerk." " Mar. 9, 1708.— Voted That every householder shall kill or cause to be killed, twelve black birds or pay twelve pence instead thereof ; viz : old black birds that can fly, &c. to begin ye first of April and to continue till the last of May &c." " Mrch 1718. We doe hereby Inact &c. that any person or per- sons that will or shall kill any wild cat or fox or wild catts or foxis shall be payed for thare Killing of them three shillings pr head, out of the town's treasury, etc." " Mar. 24 1701-2 Six Indians were drowned at Pawcatuck." " July 4 1702 A great storm of thunder and hail was not melted in three days and killed much corn and other grain, and some cattel and fouls." " July 19, 1702 The privatears went from Roadisland." " Sep 25, 1702 The privateers canie home from their prizes." " June 2, 1706. French took a sloop. 3 The Town in arms. 4 Capt. Wanton took the sloops both again." " Jan 23 1707 Wolf hunting day." " June 18, 1708 The French at Block Island." " May 16, 1709 Soldiers pressed for Canadee." Under date of September 26th, 1748, in the case of a person styled " a transient," who had disregarded the public warnings to leave the town it was voted " That the officer shall take the shly. — Sumner Chapman was a prosperous farmer in the town of Westerly. To his wife, whose family name was Herrick, was born five sons: Timothy, Joseph, Sumner, Israel and Case, and one daughter, Betsey. Israel Chapman was born at Burden's Pond, now known as Chapman's Pond, in Westerly, on the 28th of June, 1770, and remained with his parents until his twenty-first year, when, having reached his majority, he started alone to seek employment in Newport, R. I. Here he remained four years, and though not adding materially to his worldly possessions, was regularly employed by the month at fair wages. For several years he leased farms in Connecticut and at Watch Hill, until 1812, when the property now the resi- dence of his son, Sumner, was purchased. Here he settled and remained until 1840, the date of his removal to the farm owned by his son, Harris P. Chapman, where his death occurred in Oc- tober, 1852. Mr. Chapman was a man of affairs, diligent in business, which enabled him to become the largest landholder in his town, and Jo^i^iZ^ C'A^^ a^t\ e^C"^^ ARTOTfPE, E. BIERSTAD- ^_^,-f,i.y>ony>^-c^ '^■rlac^'^^ ARTOTVPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 331 influential and public spirited as a citizen, keeping fully abreast with all leading questions of the day. He was honored by his fellow citizens with many important trusts, being town sergeant, tax collector for twenty years, deputy sheriff, sheriff, and judge of the court of common pleas. As an evidence of his clear- . headedness and vigor of mind, it maybe mentioned that he filled the ofi&ce of tax collector after he had attained his eightieth year. In politics a Jeffersonian democrat of the most unswerv- ing type, his convictions were shaken neither by prejudice nor the hope of reward. His judgment, which was sound and almost unerring, rendered his opinion invaluable as arbitrator and referee in disputed land questions, as well as many controversies involving a knowledge of law. Mr. Chapman was twice married. His first wife, to whom he was united October 20th, 1796, was Mary Kenyon, born February 5th, 1781, died November 4th, 1810. Their children were: Joshua, born January 8th, 1798 ; John, September 30th, 1801 ; Amos, February 9th, 1804; Sumner, April 28th, 1806 ; Martha, May 25th, 1808; and Mary, October 14th, 1810. Mr. Chapman married, March 17th, 1811, Nancy Kenyon, sister of his first wife. She was born February 25th, 1787. The children of this union were : George Nelson, born April 26th, 1812; Israel, February 12th, 1814 ; Israel, 2d, February 10th, 1816 ; Harris P., August 16th, 1817 ; Otis P., December 5th, 1820, and a daughter, Ann Eliza- beth, whose birth occurred March 17th, 1824. Sumner Chapman, was born in Westerly, his life-long residence being also the scene of his birth. He began in early youth to assist in the cultivation of the farm, not, however, neglecting to avail himself of the advantages offered for obtaining a thorough common English education. This enabled him to transact business with success, and aided greatly in the skillful management of the homestead farm, of which he assumed con- trol in 1886. He continued a lessee of the property until 1852, when, by the death of his father, it became his by inheritance. Mr. Chapman was, on the 19th of November, 1837, married to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Brightman, of Westerly. Their children are : Sumner F., Thomas B., Amos P., Martha A. (Mrs. Courtland Chapman), Otis P., Harrii P., James P., Everett J., Edgar W. and Edward E. Sumner F. married Sarah Sisson, of Westerly. Thomas B. married Bella Brewer, of Hartford. Amos P. was first married to Achsah Mayne, of North Stonington, 332 HISTORY OF WASHIXGTOX AXD KENT COUNTIES. Conn., and a second time to Sarah Johnson Brewster, of West- erly. The wife of Harris P. was Susan Carpenter, of Westerly. James P. married Mary A. Gavitt, of Westerly, and Edgar W. is married to Blanche Brockway, of Hadlyme, Conn. Mr. Sumner Chapman has been since the casting of his first vote a democrat, but not a candidate for office, the excitement and responsibility attending public life being little to his taste. He was, however, in the days of the militia somewhat prominent as an officer. His support is given to the Protestant Episcopal Church. The death of Mrs. Chapman occi^rred November 23d, 1886. John Chapman, the second son of Israel and Mary Chapman, was born in Westerly, where his life was spent in the varied labors pertaining to a farmer's career. He in youth devoted three months of the year to the elementary branches of study, and thus gained a knowledge of mathematics, which enabled him to transact business with success. His services were given to his father until 1833, when the farm, now the home of Courtland Chapman, was bestowed jointly upon Mr. Chapman and his brother Palmer by their father. On this farm the remainder of his life was spent, cultivating and improving the land, and add- ing steadily by industry and judicious care of his accumulations, to his possessions. In this he was aided greath' by his brother and partner, who resided with him, and with whom the most cordial business and social relations existed during his life time. Mr. Chapman was in politics a strong democrat, but aside from the exercise of his privilege as a voter, never gave time or atten- tion to matters of political import. His interests centered in his home, and the domain of his farm was to him the center of busi- ness life and activity. He was connected by membership with the First Baptist church of Westerly. Mr. Chapman was married in 1833 to Sarah Fenton, of Hart- ford, born in 1801. He was married a second time to Rhoda Ann, daughter of Thomas Sisson, of Westerly, whose children were Israel and Courtland P. The former, born January 2d, 1839, devoted his life to the work of the farm. He in 1864 married Harriet E. Stillman, and left one child, a son, AVayland. After a brief life of much promise and usefulness he died November 19th, 1873. John Chapman was a third time married to Louisa Chap- man. His death occurred in January, 1877. Courtland Pendleton Chapman was born November 15th, 1841, on the farm which he inherited from his father and uncle in ■-■ty^:?fyr.*(WB^ypy^: W^syvji^VW^f-'^^-^'*''' ^ 4 1 \ 1^/^ / f £ c A -^ J '''^'^'* ~ ARTOTYPe c BIEHSTADT MOTO- BY SCHOFIELD O-^^^r^^ y ^^"T^/fc^^ HISTORY OF ^YASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 333 the town of Westerly. The district school afforded him a rudimen- tary education, which was supplemented by later advantages in Westerly. For several years he remained at home, became famil- iar with the work of the farm, and acquired habits of industry, which have since made his life one of ceaseless activity. Desiring to enjoy a wider experience than the boundaries of the farm af- forded, and also to familiarize himself with the resources of the great West he started for Nevada, and entered the service of a company interested in mining enterprises. Here he remained three years with varying success, and on his return was married November 19th, 1868, to Martha, daughter of ,Sumner Chapman, of the town of Westerly. Their children are: Carrie L., born April 27th, 1871 ; John Hobart, April 8th, 1875, and Courtland Palmer, October 28th, 1877. Since his return from the West Mr. Chapman's time has been given almost exclusively to the management of bis estate. A re- publican in politics, though not an active man in the party ranks, he was actuated by public spirit to enter the town council in 1888. Realizing the importance of concerted action with reference to the farming interests of his town, he has been a leading spirit in the organization of the Westerly Grange, of which he is the pres- ent master. His adherence and support are given to the Protes- ant Episcopal church, of which Mrs. Chapman is a member. Harris P. Chapman was born on the homestead farm in West- erly, and when a lad attended private schools held at the various homes in the vicinity and in Westerly. He subsequently enjoyed additional advantages in Stonington, Conn., where he remained two years. The two succeeding winters were spent in teaching, after which the farm for a succession of years engaged his atten- tion. On the death of his father, and a division of the estate, Mr. Chapman came into possession of that portion of the prop- erty embracing his present home, where he has since resided and cultivated the land which constitutes the farm. To this his life has been devoted, to the exclusion of other business projects, per- haps more alluring in character but wanting in the stability that attaches to the life of an agriculturist. He was married July 3d, 1856, to Bridget A., daughter of Jacob Kenyon of Westerly. Their children are : Otis H., married to Isabella Nash ; Ann Elizabeth, wife of Frederick P. Babcock, who has one child, Grace Elizabeth ; Mary F., Martha B., Harris P., Jr., Arthur and Israel H. Mr. Chapman adheres to the tradi- 334 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. tions of his family and supports the principles of the democracy, though neither town nor county has had offices within its gift sufficiently attractive to tempt him from the seclusion of his home into the perplexing arena of politics. He is a supporter of the Baptist church with which the family worship. Three of his sons are at present assisting in the work of the farm. Otis H., the eldest, is a mechanic and a resident of Westerly. Frederick P. Babcock is also a mechanic. Peleg Clarke. — John Clarke, the earliest representative of the Clarke family in America, came with Roger Williams from the county of Suffolk, England. His son, John Clarke, married Catherine Cook. Their son, Thomas Clarke, married Rose Perigo, whose son, Joseph, was the father of Joseph Clarke. Reverend Thomas Clarke, a son of the latter, was the father of Reverend Joseph Clarke, Reverend Joseph Clarke, the great-grandfather of the subject of this sketch, was the father of Thomas Clarke, whose son, Peleg Clarke, was born in 1794 in Newport, R. I., and at the age of twenty-four removed to Hopkinton, and Stonington, Conn., later became his home. He married Fanny, daughter of Captain Joseph Spicer, a popular landlord of Hopkinton City on the line of the New London and Providence turnpike. Their children were : Alfred, Peleg, Joseph, Fanny (Mrs. David Lang- worthy), Mary (Mrs. Jason P. W. Brown) and George, of whom one brother and two sisters survive. Peleg Clarke, of Westerly, was born December 25th, 1819, in Hopkinton, and in infancy removed to Stonington, his home for the succeeding thirteen years. He, until the age of sixteen, de- voted the winter months to school and the remainder of the year to labor, his father being one of the most extensive farmers in the town. In 1835 the young man came to Westerly determined to master a trade. He was apprenticed to a carpenter and joiner, and such was his aptness at the work in hand that the end of the second year found him in charge of a gang of workmen. On com- pleting his apprenticeship he began the business of contracting, his earliest order being the erection of the first church built by white residents in Charlestown. From this date his success as a skillful and reliable artisan was established and brought many large and important contracts. A great proportion of the build- ings, both public and private, in the town are among his achieve- ments, including the Stone mill at Potter Hill, built in 1847, the White Rock mill and village in 1849, the Dixon House in 1866, PHOTO- BY SCHOFIELO BROS- WEBTERLY, R. !• ARTOTYPE, E BIERSTADT, PHOTO- BY SCHOFIELD BHO! WESTERLY. H ARTOTYPE, E. B1ER3TADT, N. Y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 335 man}' hotels at Watch Hill, and churches, banks, public schools and private residences in the town and vicinity. In 1843 he em- barked in the lumber business, erecting for that purpose a plan- ing mill and sash and blind factory. Mr. Clarke continued thus engaged until 1854, when he removed to Virginia as representa- tive of the ^lelville Gold ^Mining Company of New York, and continued this relation^five years, meanwhile establishing a lucra- tive trade in lumber in Fredericksburg, A'irginia. The years 1862 and 1863 were spent in Philadelphia, after which he re- turned to Westerly, resumed his vocation as a builder, and em- barked in profitable speculations. He became identified with the interests of Messrs. Babcock & Moss, and also engaged in engi- neering and surveying. In 1869 Mr. Clarke was made a director of the Pawcatuck Na,tional Bank and a year later its president. He was one of the original stockholders, and is a director of the Westerly Gas Light Company, and one of the incorporators of the River Cemetery. In politics he affiliates with the republican party, but has never been an aspirant for office. His business ability, accurate methods and integrity have rendered his ser- vices much in demand as receiver, administrator and trustee, and made his advice invaluable with reference to investments. ]\Ir. Clarke was in 1839 married to ^lary T., daughter of Rus- sell and Elizabeth Clarke of Newport. She died May 9th, 1888. Their children are : Mary Estelle (deceased, wife of Henry S. Mowry), Maria Arabella (^Mrs. Perry R. Bellinger of Omaha), Frances Virginia (Mrs. William S. Briggs of Groton, Conn.) and Martha B. (Mrs. William S. Eaton of Westerly). Benjamin F. Clark is the grandson of Luke Clark, who culti- vated a farm and operated a saw mill in the town of Richmond, in Washington county. By his marriage to Sarah Tefft, were born ten children : Sally, Luke, John T., Mary, Ruth, Lucinda, Eliza- beth, Joshua, Reynolds and Harriet. The birth of John T. Clark occurred in Richmond in 1810, and his death in July, 1846, in Westerly, where he resided during the latter part of his life. He married Susan D., daughter of Benjamin P. Bentley, of Westerly. Their only child, a son, Benjamin F., was born September 16th, 1838, in the above town and having been left fatherless when but little more than six yeaj"s of age, with his mother sought a home under the roof of his maternal grandfather on the farm which is now his property. Such advantages as the neighboring school afforded the lad eagerly sought, but finding the demands of the 336 HISTORY OF WASHINGTOX AND KENT COUNTIES. farm more imperative than any personal consideration, he soon fell into the routine of labor. He displayed so much aptness and judgment in his daily duties that at the age of fourteen its man- agement was largely relegated to him. In his nineteenth year on the 15th of December, 1856, he was married to Emily F., daughter of Stephen S. Kenyon, of Hopkin- ton. Their children are: Albert F-, Joshua P., Susan E. (Mrs. Gurdon Hiscock) John S. and Edwin H. Three of the sons are married as follows : Albert F. to Annie L. Langworthy, of Hopkinton ; Joshua P. to Mabel V. Lanphear, of Westerly, and John S. to Hattie M. Langworthy. Benjamin F. Clark on his marriage, together with his mother, leased the farm for a period of three years, and at the end of that time, assumed the sole man- agement of the property which in 1869 became his by inheri- tance from his grandfather. Since that date new buildings have been erected, the land enriched, and the estate, which bears in its improved condition evidence of the thrift and energy of the master spirit at its head, mtich enhanced in value. Mr. Clark has been content as a republican to cast his ballot without desiring public position. He has served his town with fidelity in the ca- pacity of assessor but held no other office, his time being chiefly absorbed in the successful management of his own business. In religion he adheres to the faith of the Seventh Day Baptists. Charles B. Coon is of Scotch extraction. His grandfather Caleb Coon, who was a farmer in Hopkinton, married Dorcas Barber. Their children were : Elias, Moses B., William, Mary (Mrs. Coon), Martha (Mrs. Sanders) and Phebe (Mrs. Larkin). Moses B., of this number, was born in the town of Hopkinton February 9th, 1801, and died January 20th, 1840. He pursued during his brief life the trade of a blacksmith in his native town, and married Martha, daughter of Joshua Boss, of Exeter, who was born in Richmond May 8th, 1803, and died September 25th, 1829. Their children were : Ann D. (Mrs. Horace Brightman), born September 27th, 1823 ; James Monroe, May 21st, 1826, de- ceased ; Charles Barber, April 16th, 1827, and Elias, July 16th, 1829, deceased. Charles Barber Coon is a native of Griswold, Conn., from whence he removed in childhood to Hopkinton. On the death of his father he found a home with Abiel S. Kenyon, of Richmond, having entered into an agreement with his patron by which he was to learn the trade of a woolen manufacturer in his mills, and ^'''''l:Pr■e!A,-■^/■C;l'''^ ^^^^^^'^.^^^ X/ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 337 receive until twenty-one years of age three months instruction in the schools of the neighborhood. He was also for a brief time a pupil of the Smithville Seminary. The firm which existed at this time as A. S. & E. Kenyon, was changed in 1857, by the re- tirement of the senior partner, when the mills became the prop- erty of Elijah Kenyon. Mr. Coon made his presence necessary to the success of the business, and passed through the various stages of advancement, first being made superintendent, then manager, and in 1863 admitted to a partnership under the firm name of Kenyon & Coon. He resided at Kenyon's Mills in Rich- mond until 1879, when Westerly became his home. In 1881 hav- ing devoted his life to the successful management of the mills he entered when a lad, he retired from business. Mr. Coon is a di- rector in the National Niantic Bank, and in the Westerly and Watch Hill Ferry Company. He has been somewhat active as a republican in the political movements of his county, was elected to the state legislature for the years 1877 and 1878, and served on the committees on accounts and education. He was also in early life prominent in the Odd Fellows fraternity. He is a sup- porter of the First Baptist church of Westerly. Mr. Coon was on the 20th of August, 1857, married to Miss Hattie N. Gardiner, daughter of Henry Gardiner and Mahala Briggs, of South Kingstown, and granddaughter of Oliver Gardiner. Calvert B. Cottrell, son of Lebbeus Cottrell and Lydia Max- son, was bom in Westerly, R. I., August 20th, 1821. In 1840, at the age of nineteen, he went to learn the machine business of Messrs. Lavalley, Lanphear & Co., of Phenix, R. I., manufacturers of cotton machinery, and was employed by them for fifteen years, most of the time as a contractor. During this period he made many improvements in labor saving tools and machinery, and by the careful management of his contracts he was able to save a sufficient sum of money to enable him to start in the machine business at his. old home in Westerly, R. I., in July, 1855, asso- ciating with him Mr. Nathan Babcock, under the firm name of Cottrell & Babcock. The new firm commenced the manufacture of cotton and wood working machinery, also printing presses, and in 1861 began also to manufacture woolen machinery, building all the machinery necessary for the production of fancy cassi- meres and woolen goods. During the war they made gun ap- pendages, supplying largely those used by the Springfield Armory 33 338 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and private armories. In the year 1868, when they began to make a speciality of printing presses, Mr. Cottrell commenced the series of patented improvements which brought the Cottrell press immediately to the front. Among the first of these was the improvement on the air spring, for reversing the bed, with its patent yielding plunger, vacuum valve, and governor attach- ment. This invention increasing, as it did, the capacity of the printing press for fine as well as fast work, was so far-reaching in its effects that it immediately brought Mr. Cottrell to the no- tice of the printing and mechanical world as one of the leading inventors of the day. At first this revolution was denounced as impracticable, but, as it soon received the indorsement of imita- tion by those who had opposed it the most, it was finally accepted on its merits, and the claims made for it then are no longer dis- puted by any one. Mr. Cottrell was the first to apply the tapeless delivery to the drum cylinder press, also the first to introduce a positive slider motion, hinged roller frames, and numerous other improvements, which are covered by more than seventy Ameri- can and foreign patents, one of the latest of which is the new front sheet delivery for two revolution, stop cylinder and litho- graph presses. This invention is deserving of more than passing notice, as it marks an era in the progress of the " art preserva- tive " more pronounced, even than the introduction of the fly, which for generations has been accepted as the only reliable method of carrying the printed sheets to the pile table. By means of this improvement the printed sheets are delivered at the front end of the press, and laid printed side up without the use of a fly, strings, or tapes, a result never before accomplished on a print- ing press. The Cottrell Rotary Chromatic Press, for printing in several colors, is also an invention which stands without a rival, being the only press that takes the paper to be printed from a roll through a series of type impression cylinders in perfect register, cutting and delivering them for removal. This press consists of two or more type and impression cylinders, according to the number of colors used, operated in pairs, with a separate inking apparatus for each pair, and is capable of printing 300,000 labels in ten hours. Mr. Cottrell has led an exceedingly busy life, having always had the general management of the business. He disposed of the productions of the factory, in addition to which he also attended to the minutest details of the development of his me- / t ^yty ASR-.tcKC Z o J h h o o o o >^ a o h o < <1 w Ih o z s HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 339 chanical ideas, improving the tools for the manufacture of the machinery, and carefully scrutinizing the -work in its different stages of development. In July, 1880, twenty-five years from the beginning of the co-partnership, Mr. Cottrell purchased Mr. Babcock's entire interest in the concern, and associated with him his three sons, under the firm name of C. B. Cottrell & Sons, since which time they have more than doubled the capacity of their works, adding the latest and most improved labor saving ma- chinery to be found in the market, and building many tools of their own design specially adapted to the requirements of their own business, until it is safe to say they now have the largest and most complete establishment devoted exclusively to the manu- facture of stop cylinder, two revolution, drum cylinder and lith- ograph presses in the country. The reputation of these presses extends not only throughout the United States, but to Canada, Mexico, South America and Europe as w^ell. Their works, represented in this volume, cover some three acres of ground, with a floor space of about 150,000 square feet, and a dock frontage of 900 feet. They are admirably located on the Pawcatuck river, about five miles from Long Island Sound, whence coal, iron and heavy freight can be brought at small cost. They are also on the Shore Line railroad, between Boston and New York, which makes it a convenient point for shipping in any direction. Mr. Cottrell was -married May 4th, 1849, to Lydia W. Perkins, daughter of Elisha Perkins and Nancy Russell. They have six children— Edgar H., Hattie E., Charles P., C. B., Jr., L. Annge- nette and Arthur M. In politics Mr. Cottrell was a whig until the republican party was organized, in 1856, when he joined that party, and has since been one of its staunch supporters. At an early age he identified himself with the temperance movement, and has been all his life a total abstainer from intoxicating bever- ages. He is a man of great force of character, quick perception and of a genial disposition, prudent but very liberal toward all charitable institutions, a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church, and a leading citizen of the community. Amos Cross, a merchant in Westerly and judge of the county court, was prominent in the business of that town and in that of the whole county in the early years of this century. He was born at South Kingstown August 12th, 1769, and was educated in the local schools there. His father, John Cross, was a tanner and 340 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ctirrier. The subject of this sketch very early showed talent for as well as inclination toward trade. He began to buy and sell produce among the farmers, creating his capital from his own industry and thrift. Soon after his majority he removed to Westerly, whence he could send agricultural products to New York and other ports. At the age of thirty he had accumulated $1,800 through this trade. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Nathaniel Barns of Westerly, in 1799. John Hancock Cross and Eliza Cross, wife of Doctor John E. Weeden, were their children. As his capital in- creased his field of operations extended, and he became a true merchant. Riding over eastern Connecticut and southern Rhode Island, he contracted for the grains, especially barley, the cheese and other products of the farms. This merchandise he shipped to New York, Baltimore, Charleston and other ports. He spent one winter in Charleston in pursuit of his business. He brought back West India goods and other supplies for the country about Westerly. But this return trade made but a small part of his mercantile operations. About the time of the war with England he contracted with the United States to furnish gun boats. These vessels were built under the superintendence of Captain Oliver H. Perry, afterward the hero of Lake Erie. Mr. Cross' credit was such that he bor- rowed money from his neighbors at four per cent, and loaned it to the United States at six per cent. He was one of the founders of the Phenix Bank, being president from its organization in 1818 until his death. The judges of the county court were ap- pointed then, not from the bar, but from among leading citizens. Accordingly he was appointed to the first position on the bench. In this place he created the same trust and confidence that fol- lowed him in all the relations of his life. When his chaise ap- peared at the corner of the Kingston street the by-word ran in the village " the court has come." In the business of pensions at Washington, in the management of town affairs at home, he was often employed and always trusted. He died December 15th, 1823, in his fifty-fifth year, having ac- cumulated a handsome fortune. His opportunities for business and for usefulness to his fellow men had only begun. Judge Cross was a good example of that type of New England men which has contributed so much toward the building of this re- public. AVithout capital or the ordinary connections of business, 1^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 341 he created a business out of his own enterprise. With scanty- knowledge of books, he made himself master of the affairs of men. Without professional standing, he commanded the- confi- dence of bench, bar and the freemen who reared such plain but solid judges. Native sagacity that was almost unerring, joined to energy and integrity, filled out the measure of his successful and honorable career. Daniel F. Larkin.— Abel Larkin, a native ni Westerly, mar- ried Sarah Foster of the same town. Their children were : Abel, Jonathan, Daniel, John, Sarah (Mrs. Gavjtc), and Nancy, who died in early womanhood. Daniel Larkin, also born in Westerly, set- tled as a farmer in his native town, and married Rhoda, daughter of Samuel Sheffield of the same county and town. Their chil- dren are : Daniel F., Samuel S., Charles A., Jonathan, George F., Elthan P., Stanton, Susan E. (wife of Joseph T. Ross), Sophia (married to Joseph C. Crandall), and Jane (wife of William H. Cottrell). The eldest of these children, Daniel F. Larkin, was born on the 10th of June, 1817, and passed his early years in the town of Wes- terly, with which the family have for generations been identi- fied. Receiving a common school education, he was, on attaining a suitable age, apprenticed to the trade of a ship carpenter, which, with intervals devoted to other pursuits, he followed until 1860. The year 1838 found him in Middlesex county, Va., engaged in tie construction of a brig, which was on completion brought north. The following year again proved a favorable one for the pur-suit of his trade at this point. The winters from 1840 to 1854 iaclusive were spent in marketing and fish dealing in Savannah, Gi., a.-fter which he settled at Watch Hill, resumed his trade, and rcDei.ved the appointment as keeper of the Watch Hill light house. Mr. Larkin determined, in 1868, to fill the role of a popular landlord, and began the erection of what is now the most im- portant summer hotel at Watch Hill, the Larkin House, which has since that time been enlarged, greatly improved, and is now double the capacity of the original structure. With this house and its success his name has been chiefly identified. Mr. Larkin in 1376 again transferred his business relations to the South, and erected a winter hotel at Palatka, Florida, which he managed successfully until its destruction by fire, in 1884, since which time his interest has centered at Watch Hill. A republican in his 342 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. political convictions, he has for several years served in the town council, and was in 1857 elected to the state legislature, to which office he was re-elected for successive terms, and again for the year 1873. In 1884 he received the important appointment as one of the commissioners to effect a settlement of the questions involved in the boundary line between Rhode Island and Con- necticut. Daniel F. Lai kin was on the 19th of October, 1840, married to Martha, daughter of Clark Hiscox, of Westerly. Their children are : Frank, married to Jessie Cheesbro ; Daniel W., whose wife was Josephine Cary ; Martha J., wife of Amos D. Allen ; and Sarah E., wife of F. S. Aldrich. Both Mr. and Mrs. Larkin are members of the Seventh Day Baptist church of Westerly. AzRO N. Lewis. — John Lewis, the progenitor of the Lewis family in Rhode Island, settled in Westerly in 1660. His son, Israel, was the father of Israel, born in 1695. Enoch, a son of the latter, born in 1720, was the father of Enoch, whose birth occurred in 1754. His son, Nathaniel Lewis, the father of the subject of this biographical sketch, was born in 1786, and early in life removed to western New York, and became a successful farmer. He married Hepsibath Chamberlain, daughter of Elias Chamberlain, of Vermont. Their children were : William E., deceased; Jane E. (Mrs. Closser) ; George B. (a resident of Wood- lawn, Cal.) ; Susan A. (Mrs. Norton) ; Percy A., and Azro N. The last named and youngest of these children, was born January 31st, 1842, in Granger, Allegany county, N. Y. His education was such as the common schools afforded. At the age of thirteen he removed with his parents to Scio, in the same county, and at sixteen entered the office of Doctor Sheerar, of Wellsville, a neighboring town, with a view of mastering the science of dentistry. A year later he continued his studies with Doctor H. P. Burdick, of Alfred, N, Y., remained three years under his pre- ceptorship, and in 1861 located in Westerly. He immediately began the practice of dentistry, in 1864 associating with-him a former student. Doctor A. H. Spicer, and has since enjoyed a large and lucrative practice. While evincing skill and thorough- ness in all departments of the science, they have been especially successful in "crowning" and "bridge work," which process may be described as the inserting of a single tooth or a full set of teeth on the teeth or roots remaining in the mouth, a difficult piece of work, requiring both skill and knowledge. He has been PHOTO- BY 8CH0FIELD BROS WESTEBLY, R. I ; <:J^^U4/td'. AHTOryPE, E, BItK&TAOT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 343 one of the trustees of the Mechanics' Savings Bank since its or- ganization, and for several years a director in the Phenix Na- tional Bank of Westerly. The doctor is strongly republican in his political associations, and content to promote the interests of his party without enjoy- ing official place as the reward of his fidelity. He is a member of the school board of Westerly, and has been for ten years one of the engineers of the fire department. He is an active mason, member and past master of Pawcatuck Lodge, No. 90, of that order, of Palmer Chapter, No. 28, of Westerly, and of Narragan- sett Commandery, No. 27, of which he was eminent commander from January 13th, 1873, to January 11th, 1875, For a number of years he held a commission in the Westerly Rifles, and upon the re-organization of the militia was commissioned quarter- master of the Third Battalion, and held that position until it was consolidated with the First regiment. He fills the office of ves- tryman in Christ Episcopal church of Westerly. Doctor Lewis was, in 1870, married to Marie Antoinette, daughter of Welcome Stillman, of Westerly, who died in 1877. Their children are George Welcome and Ralph Stanley, now living, and Marie and Mabel, deceased. The doctor in 1882 mar- ried Miranda W., daughter of Nicholas Sheldon, of San Fran- cisco. They have two sons, Azro N., Jr., and Charles Lux. Although a member of one of the oldest firms in Westerly, he is still in the prime of life ; and while devoted to the interests of his business, he takes an active part in all measures which, in his judgment, will promote the welfare of the community in which he dwells, while never indifferent to those broader ques- tions which affect the welfare of the native state of his ancestors. Jonathan Maxson. — The origin of the Maxson family of America has never been definitely ascertained, although it is be- lieved upon good authority that the family came from England to this country sometime previous to 1688, landing somewhere in the Massachusetts colony. The name in England and Scot- land was probably originally Maxton or Maxtone, many families of that name being now found there, as well as some others who spell the name Maxson. It was not an uncommon thing for the letter " t " in a name to become changed to " s " or even dropped entirely. Richard Maxson is the first one of whom there is any record. 344 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. mention first being made of him in the Rhode Island Colonial Records of the settlement of the town of Portsmouth, upon the island of Rhode Island, then called " Aquidneck," where he is shown to have been during the first year of the settlement of that town in 1638. His name appears again the succeeding year signed with others to the following compact : " Aprill the 30th, 1639. " We whose names are under written doe acknowledge our- selves the legall subjects of his Majestic King Charles and in his name doe hereby binde ourselves into a civill body politicke, un- der his lawes according to matters of j'ustice." The same month, the colony of Newport was established at the lower end of the island, the name of Richard Maxson appearing among the list of freemen at the settlement of the town. He shared in the original division of land, having thirty-six acres al- lotted him, the deed of same being recorded on page 54 of Vol. I, Land Evidence. By occupation he was a blacksmith. Very lit- tle is known concerning him or his wife, who is alluded to as " Good wife Maxson, widow of Richard Maxson," in a deed which she gave, of a part of the above-mentioned land, two or three years later. Family tradition has it that he met his death at the hands of the Indians, but the author of this sketch has found no authentic information concerning his decease. He had one child, a son John, born at Newport in the year 1639. He is said to have been the first white child born on the island of Rhode Island. John Maxson" was born as stated above in 1639, and died at Westerly, R. I., December 17th, 1720. He married Mary, daughter of Hugh ]\Ioshier. She M-as born in 1641 at Newport and died at Westerly February 2d, 1718. The graves may be found in the First Hopkinton cemetery, where they were removed a few years since, from their original resting place in the old " Clark Burying Ground," situated on the bank of the Pawcatuck, about one half mile southward. In 1661 John Maxson with others removed from Newport to Westerly. Record of the deed of the original allotment of land to him is fou.nd upon the Westerly town records. He represented the town in the general assembly several terms and also filled many local offices. Mr. Maxson was a faithful member of the Seventh Day Bap- tist church of Newport (the first church of that sect in this coun- try), and retained his membership until the division of the church in 1708 and the formation of a separate church by the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 345 members residing in or near Westerly. He was called to the pastorate of this church and served in that capacity until his death. In 1716 he proposed to resign his office but his resigna- tion was not accepted, the church preferring to appoint assistant pastors, to relieve the venerable elder of a part of his work. He was called at times previous to this to serve the church at New- port in a similar capacity. He was familiarly known as " Elder John." Two of his sons, John and Joseph, succeeded him in the pastorate of the church. His grandson, John (son of Jonathan) was also an elder. From him descended every American family bearing the name of Maxson. Four families only of this name, not of American origin, have been found at this writing, viz. : two of German, one of Bavarian and one of English descent. He had the following children : I. John', born 1666 at Westerly, died July, 1747, in Westerly, married January 19th, 1687, Judith Clarke, daughter of Joseph and Bethiah (Hubbard) Clarke. She was born October 12th, 1667. He was an active and useful citizen and like his father was a zealous worker in the church. His property consisted mainly of real estate, he purchasing in one lot 2,684 acres. He united with the Sabbatarian church of Newport July BOth, 1692, was ordained deacon of the Westerly church September 7th, 1712, and called to the pastorate of the same church as associate of his father. His family consisted of ten children : Judith, Mary, Bethiah, Elizabeth, Hannah, John, Dorithy, Susan, Joseph and Avis. II. Dorithy', born in Westerly, married Elder Joseph Clarke January -Sth, 1692. HI. Joseph', born 1672, died September 1750. He married Tacy Burdick, daughter of Robert and Ruth (Hubbard) Burdick in 1691. She was born in 1666. He, like his father and brother, felt that he was called to religious work. He was baptized Jan- uary 24th, 1694, united with the church at Newport, was chosen to the office of deacon in 1716, ordained as an evangelist October 8th, 1732, and as a regular minister of the gospel April 24th, 1739. His children were : Elizabeth, Joseph, John (Captain John), Ruth. IV. Mary', married Daniel Lewis. V. Jonathan', born in 1680, at Westerly, died November 20th, 1732, in Westerly. He married May 1st, 1707, Content Rogers, of New London, daughter of Jonathan and Naomi (Burdick) 346 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Rogers. She was born in 1678, and died in 1777. She afterward married (1739) Richard Dake, and again, June 24th, 1766, married Timothy Peckham, all of Westerly. He held many public offices, called almost each year, from his admission as a freeman, in 1702, to his death, in 1732, to fill some position of trust or honor. Jonathan' had the following children : I. Jonathan* (commonly called the colonel), born January 16th, 1708, in Westerly. He married Jemima Mumford, January 1st, 1736. H. Content', born January 28th, 1709, in Westerly, married Captain James Babcock, and afterward (1742) married William Hiscox. III. Joseph', born January 14th, 1712, died in 1739. IV. John' (also called " Elder John, of Newport "), born March 2d, 1714, in Westerly, died March 2d, 1778, at Newport, R. I., on the anniversary of his birth. He married, October 27th, 1736, Tacy Rogers, of New London, daughter of Jonathan. His second wife was Mrs. Ann McCarty, to whom he was married October 31st, 1756, and by whom he had no issue. By his first wife he had eight children. V. Naomi', born May 6th, 1716, died unmarried at Westerly, the place of her birth. VI. Samuel', called " Saddler Sam," born in Westerly, July 20th, 1718, died in 1797. He married Ruth Rogers, of New Lon- don, daughter of Jonathan, October 13th, 1742. She was the sis- ter of his brother John's wife. VII. Caleb', born November 21st, 1721, at Westerly, died when quite young. VIII. Mary', born November 20th, 1723, in Westerly, and died in her youth. Elder John Maxson', whose birth, marriage and death are re- corded above, was a man of much prominence and usefulness in the Sabbatarian church at Newport, of which he was the pastor. He had eight children, as follows : I. Jonathan", born August 24th, 1737, in Westerly ; died July 31st, 1823, at Newport. He married Lydia Clarke, November 14th, 1759, by whom he had six children. He married again July 9th, 1775, Mary Millard, of Freetown, Mass., by whom he had five children. II. Esther', born June 13th, 1739. III. Anne', born January 24th, 1741, died May 23d, 1812, mar- ried Dr. Joshua Babcock. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 347 IV. Nathan', born in 1736, died unmarried at Newport. V. John', born in 174-, died April 16th, 1822; married July 19th, 1783, Sally Schreeve, daughter of Daniel. VI. Judith', born September 13th, 1749 ; she became the third wife of Samuel Marriott, May 21st, 1791. VII. Caleb', born November 2d, 1752, in Newport, died April 6th, 1841, at De Ruyter, N. Y.; married October 20th, 1782, Mary, daughter of Elder John Bliss. He afterward married her first cousin, Mary, daughter of Henry Bliss, November 1st, 1807. He had a family of nine children : Elizabeth Ward, William Bliss, Joshua Babcock, John, Content, Mary Bliss, Lukus, Tacy Wells and Charles Henry. VIII. Content', born in 1754 in Newport, died July 28th, 1818, unmarried. Jonathan Maxson', whose birth is recorded above, had the fol- lowing children by his wife, Lydia Clarke : I. Tacy, born October 30th, 1764, died November 8th, 1764. II. Lydia, born October 30th, 1764, died November 10th, 1764. III. Anna, became the second wife of Archibald Taber. IV. Mary, married Archibald Taber, a Quaker. V. and VI. Twin girls, died young. By his second wife, Mary Millard, he had : VII. Tacy, married Samuel P. Young. VIII. Abby, born November 10th, 1780, at Newport, died April 26th, 1874, at Westerly, unmarried. IX. Jonathan, born July 4th, 1781, at Newport, died January 22d, 1852, at Westerly, married Nancy, daughter of Captain George Potter, March 27th, 1806. X. and XI. Twin boys, died young. Aside from Abby and Jonathan, very little is known of these children. They married and moved to a distant part of the country. Jonathan Maxson" was born in Newport, and removed to the town of Westerly with his family, locating at Potter Hill. He afterward removed to the village of Westerly, where he resided until his death, of small pox, January 22d, 1852. His early life was spent in fishing, carpenter work, etc. He entered the firm of C. Maxson & Co., in 1845, two years after its formation, and continued therein until his decease. In disposition he was kind and genial, being loved by all who knew him. His family con- sisted of the following children : 348 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. I. George Potter', born July ISth, 1807, at Newport, now living at Philadelphia, Penn. He married June 1st, 1828, Hannah Bentley, daughter of Benjamin P. Bentley. October 26th, 1843, he married Mercia M. Carpenter, and October 25th, 1852, he mar- ried Lydia Ann Maxson, daughter of Luke Maxson. By his wife Mercia he had two children : Sarah Lavantia, born Novem- ber 9th, 1845, died August 14th, 1850, and George Henry, born July 15th, 1847, died August 11th, 1850. By his wife Lydia he had three children : John, born January, 1857, died June 3d, 1870 ; Caroline Elizabeth, born October 80th, 1859, and Frederick, born June 13th, 1862. II. Mary Potter', born February 28th, 1809, at Newport, mar- ried Benjamin Wilbur Bentley, son of Benjamin P. Bentley, Jan- uary 1st, 1838. Their children were : George Maxson, born April 10th, 1839, died June 24th, 1868 ; Benjamin Cortland, born May 2d, 1841 ; Hannah Maria, born February 9th, 1845 ; Mary Elizabeth, born March 31st, 1850 ; and Emily Fenner, born De- cember 31st, 1852. III. Deacon William', born May 11th, 1811, at Newport, mar- ried September 25th, 1834, Sarah Rogers, daughter of Deacon David and Mary (Potter) Rogers. Their children are : Charles Alburtus, born March 19th, 1838 ; William Edgar, born October 12th, 1840 ; Sarah Matilda, born September 27th, 1846, died No- vember 11th, 1856 ; Charlotte E., born December 3d, 1843, died August 12th, 1877. IV. Charles', born September 3d, 1813, at Westerly, of whom a sketch is given elsewhere. V. Jonathan', born January 26th, 1816, at Westerly, is the sub- ject of this sketch. He married Matilda Mandana, daughter of Deacon Martin and Matilda Mandana (Stillman) Wilcox, January 25th, 1844. They had four children, whose names will be found below. VI. Nancy', born September 27th, 1818, at AVesterly, died Oc- tober 3d, 1858, at Westerly, unmarried. VII. Elizabeth Hannah', born September 19th, 1822, at West- erly, died August 25th, 1847, at Westerly, unmarried. VIII. Edwin', born May 6th, 1827, at Westerly ; resides at Westerly, unmarried. Jonathan Maxson', the subject of this sketch, had the following children : I. Albertus Wilcox', born June 25th, 1846, at Westerly, married PHOU/. oT SCHOFIELD BROS. WESTERLYi R. ^> AUTOTYPE, E. 6IERSTADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 349 Isabel Augusta, daughter of Deacon Thomas F. and Caroline Matilda (Yarnall) Randolph, of Plainfield, N. J., September 17th, 1873. Their children are : Clara Louise, born December 31st, 1874, at Westerly ; Albertus Randolph, born May 30th, 1876, at Westerly ; Frank Elwin, born September 8th, 1879, at Westerly. II. Henry Martin*, born March 28th, 1852, at Westerly, mar- ried December 30th, 1879, Henrietta Louise, daughter of Doctor Edwin R. and Louise (Brown) Lewis, of Westerly. They have one child, Ruth Potter, born February 10th, 1881. III. Jonathan Irving*, born September 22d, 1856, at Westerly, married Sarah Yarnall, daughter of Deacon Thomas F. and Caroline Matilda (Yarnall) Randolph, of Plainfield, N. J., No- vember 1st, 1881. They have two children : Ethel May, born January 4th, 1883, at Westerly, and Jonathan Irving, Jr., born March 5th, 1888, at Westerly. IV. Frank Howard', born June 18th, 1859, at Westerly, died October 14th, 1863, at Westerly. Jonathan Maxson' was born at Potter Hill in the town of Wes- terly, and at the age of two years removed with his parents to the village of Westerly. His boyhood was spent at school, and later in such pursuits as enabled him to maintain himself — fishing, carpenter and farm work in turn keeping him fully occupied. From the age of sixteen to twenty, his chosen trade, that of a carpenter, was followed, with serious interruptions, however, oc- casioned by feeble health, which finally compelled him to choose some other vocation requiring less hard manual labor, from which he was precluded by an imperfect use of his right arm. Having decided upon a more thorough course of education with reference to a professional career, he, at the age of twenty obtained from his father, for a consideration, the last year of his minority, in which he accumulated funds to defray his educational expenses. At the age of twenty-one he entered De Ruyter Institute, located at De Ruyter, N. Y. His studies were, however, after a few months interrupted by ill health, when teaching and other avo- cations filled the interval until his return to the academy. Here disappointment again awaited him and compelled a return to his home, where he was confined for a period of three consecutive years. At the end of this period, which was largely occupied in home studies, circumstances finally influenced him to abandon his course of study, and to enter in August, 1843, into a co-partner- 350 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ship witli his brother under 'the firm name of C. Maxson & Co., for the transaction of a general building and lumber business. They established the first mill in the village equipped with wood working machinery (located on the Connecticut side of the river), which mill is still occupied by the firm of Maxson & Co., of which Mr. Maxson is the senior partner. Here he has up to the present time continued in business, though much of the labor and detail is transferred to his son, the junior partner. Mr. Maxson has ever given his influence and means to the pro- motion of all projects having for their end the advancement of the public interests. The cause of education, the promotion of justice, whether in private or civil station, and the furtherance of morality in the community, have each found in him an earnest advocate. For many years a resident of the Connecticut side of the village of Westerly, he represented the town of Stonington in the state legislature in 1865, and at the expiration of that term of service, by removal to the Rhode Island side, severed his citi- zenship in that state. At an early age he became an uncompro- mising advocate of the anti-slavery cause, and is to the present time no less outspoken on the question of temperance. With others he, in 1849, assisted in organizing the Pawcatuck National Bank, of which he was for twenty -five years a director. At the age of eighteen Mr. Maxson made a profession of religion, be- came a member of the First Hopkinton Seventh Day Baptist church and maintained this relation until the formation of the Pawcatuck Seventh Day Baptist church in 1840, to which he transferred his membership. Of this church he was the first clerk, and continued in office for fifteen consecutive years, as also for a much longer period a member of its board of trustees. In his own denomination he has for more than thirty years held the position of a member of the board of managers of the Seventh Day Baptist Home and Foreign Missionary Society. Charles Maxson' was born at Potter Hill September 3d, 1813, and died February 16th, 1881, from the day of his birth until his death knowing no other home than his native county. He early learned with his father the trade of a carpenter and boat builder. In 1843, when still a young man, the firm of C. Maxson & Co. was organized, and maintained until his death. Their contracts for building extended beyond Westerly to Narragansett Pier, South Kingstown and other points, and included the erection of some of the most important structures in the country, such as the C^^^^t-ttAJ^^^ /^^^t3L4>^r^^^ ARTOTVPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 351 Ocean House, Larkin House and Atlantic House at Watch Hill, the Mt. Hope House, Tower Hill Hotel, Hazard House and the Maxson House at Narragansett Pier. They also erected many churches and public buildings in Rhode Island and Connecticut, and were largely engaged in the lumber business. As the prin- cipal partner in the firm, and its acknowledged head, Mr. Maxson naturally had much to do with the employment of the men who labored for the companj^ as well as with parties with whom they contracted for work. The varied duties thus imposed upon him were performed with such fidelity as to make for him among all classes many friends and never an enemy. He occupied various stations of public importance, was a mem- ber of the general assembly of Rhode Island in 1852, 1853 and 1854, for some years an officer of the River Bend Cemetery As- sociation, chief engineer of the Westerly Fire Department from its organization in 1871 until 1874, when he declined re-election, and for a considerable period president of the board of trustees of the Seventh-Day Baptist church, of which he remained an ex- emplary member until his death. He was for many years a director in the Washington National Bank of Westerly. Mr. J^Iaxson was a strong abolitionist in the days when few had the courage to avow their sentiments on that question, and in many substantial ways indicated his sympathy with the weak and oppressed, whose cause he espoused. He was a man of many-sided characteristics, chief among which was his great kindness of heart. This trait of character made him keenly sympathetic toward those in dis- tress or financial difficulty, and this sympathy frequently found expression in timely aid. He possessed great strength of char- acter. His mind was clear and his judgment well formed. Ac- customed to weigh considerations, when he arrived at a convic- tion based upon careful reflection, it was his habit to hold it with a firm grip. This strength of mind, joined with kindness of heart and gentleness of manner, was transfused by a simple faith in God, which illumined and guided his whole life. Charles Maxson was married in February, 1841, to Anna Maria, daughter of Amos and Lucinda Barber. Their children are : Abby M., wife of Fred L. Hickox, and Charles Clarence, who married Emma A., daughter of Doctor Albert Utter of Plainfield, New Jersey. Charles Perry was born in Westerly September 27th, 1809. He came of a family distinguished for energy and moral cour- 352 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. age, and which for a number of generations were large land owners in the Narragansett country. He is the eldest of three brothers and two sisters, the sixth generation from Edward Perry, of Sandwich, Mass., who emigrated from Devonshire, England, in 1044, and was married, in 1663, to Mary, daughter of Governor Freeman of Plymouth colony. This Edward was also the an- cestor of Commodores Oliver H. and Matthew C. Perry. Thomas Perry, the father of Charles, was born in Charlestown, Rhode Island, in 1776. He was greatly interested in matters of education, and of his own means built, nea,r his home, a school house, in which he taught the youth of his neighborhood. In 1806, while engaged in this school, he was summoned to Westerly to take the position of cashier of the Washington Bank, made va- cant by the death of the first incumbent, Arnold Clark. Thomas Perry was a man of liberal mind and genial nature, and was re- spected and beloved by his neighbors. He held his place as cashier until his death in 1826, when his eldest son, Charles, the subject of this sketch, who had already been his assistant for more than a year, was chosen to the office. This was a position of great responsibility for a youth of six- teen, as Charles then was, but his mind was maturerthan his age and his education better than might be expected from the limited instruction which the village school then afforded. This was no doubt largely the result of the home influence, both his father and mother encouraging the taste for study which was a marked characteristic of their son. He early gave evidence of his liter- ary taste as well as of other excellent qualities of mind and of character by editing the Bung Town Patriot in 1825. This paper he printed with a quill pen, and it was probably the first published in the south county. The type for the title, together with the cuts for the advertisements, he himself carved from wood. The perseverance, the industry and enthusiasm which attended this work and made it possible for a mere boy of fifteen years, have continued to be marked characteristics of the man. A facsimile of the pages of the Btuig Toivn Patriot, as it was printed in 1825, is presented in connection with this sketch. The board of directors of the bank paid the highest possible compliment to Mr. Perry's judgment and discretion by carrying out his advice in an important question of policy immediately after he assumed the office of cashier. The confidence thus early bestowed has always been deservedly retained. 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This petition was dated July 29th, 1679. Gabriel Bernon became a resident of North Kingstown. He was a Huguenot, a Protestant merchant of an ancient family of Rochelle, France. He was the son of Andre Bernon and Susanne Guillomard. His zeal in the Protestant cause had rendered him obnoxious to the authorities for some time previous to the re- vocation of the edict of Nantes, and he was two years im- prisoned. There exists in the family a small edition of the Psalms, which tradition states was printed in a minute form to enable the persecuted owners the more readily to secrete them in their bosoms when surprised at their simple devotions. Gabriel Bernon left his native city and took refuge in England to avoid the persecutions of St. Bartholomew. In those days bigotry reigned and mercy had veiled her face ; and as the Catholics propagated the maxims that faith need not be kept with heretics, and to massacre them was just, pious and useful to salvation, the choice of three great evils thus fell to the poor heretics — expatria- tion, death or recantation, worse than a thousand deaths. In leaving France Gabriel Bernon left brothers and everything that could render life desirable. But all these sacrifices he counted naught in comparison to liberty of conscience. He re- mained some time in England. He was there in 1687. He came to America soon after and to Providence in 1698, and thence re- moved into the Narragansett country, where the ruins of his house still exist. He purchased several tracts of land in North Kingstown, was elected one of the vestrymen of St. Paul's in 1718, and in the succeeding year returned to Providence. Mr. Bernon died at Providence February 1st, 1736, in the ninety- second year of his age. He was a gentleman by birth and estate, and for the cause of true religion fled into New England, where he continued a zealous Protestant. He was courteous, honest and kind, and died in great faith and hope in his Re- deemer, and assurance of salvation. The above will serve to show to the descendants of the Hugue- nots in this western world the perplexities and embarrassments of those who willingly abandoned' the luxuries and refinements of the old world to flee to the shores of an inhospitable wilder- ness for the purpose of worshipping God according to the dic- tates of their consciences. The Phillips family first settled around ^Yickford. Samuel HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ' 383 Phillips, it is said, emigrated from Exeter, England, and was among the first who settled in the Narragansett country. He died in 1736, aged eighty-one years. His widow Elizabeth after- ward married Colonel Thomas, and died in 1748. The children of Samuel Phillips were : Thomas, Charles, Samuel and Mary. Thomas, the eldest, died in 1722, in Exeter. His son Samuel died in 1748, leaving two children, Thomas and Mary. Mary married first her cousin Charles Phillips, and second Henry Wall, sheriff, etc. Among the children of Charles Phillips was Charles, who in 1749 married his cousin ^Vlary, died in 1757, leaving : Ma- jor Samuel, Charles, William, Peter and daughters. Samuel, the third child of Samuel Phillips, married Abigail Brown and was the father of several children. Hon. Peter Phil- lips, of North Kingstown, who was a member of the convention to form the state constitution, was a son of his. He was born in 1781 and died in 1807. The daughter, Mary Phillips, married John Dickinson in 1818. Major Samuel, son of Charles Phillips, was born near Wickford December 20th, 1749, and died August 10th, 1808. He was four times married. In early life he became an active whig in the revolutionary controvers3^ In August, 1776, he was commis- sioned by John Hancock, president of the United Colonies, as captain of the sixth company of the First regiment of the brigade raised by this state, which was taken into continental pay and constituted part of the American army. On the 22d of January, 1777, he was again commissioned by Governor Cooke (the origi- nal commissions signed by Hancock and Cooke now remain in the family) captain of a coinpany of state infantry in Colonel Stanton's regiment. In 1777 Captain Phillips was a volunteer and commanded one of the five boats in the expedition led by Colonel Barton for the capture of General Prescott. He was cap- tain of a company in Sullivan's expedition in Rhode Island in 1778. The next year he entered the naval service as lieuten- ant, and as an individual strove hard and suffered much to gain the independence of our country. At the close of the war he re- turned to his home in North Kingstown, where he remained in charge of his farm until the breaking out of the rupture with France, when he was again commissioned as lieutenant by Pres- ident Adams, and entered the service. After the treaty with France he settled on his farm near AVickford, where he died Au- gust 10th, 1808. 384 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Peter Phillips was the son of Christopher and grandson of Sam- uel Phillips. He was born in North Kingstown in 1731. In the revolution he was an inflexible whig, and rendered important service to his country during the war. He represented his native town in the general assembly, and subsequently in 1775, was pro- moted to the senate, and in May he was elected commissary of the Army of Observation, a body of fifteen hundred men raised by the state, of which Nathaniel Greene was elected brigadier- general. Mr. Phillips was re-elected state senator for the years 1776, 1777, 1778 and 1779. In 1780 the legislature appointed him one of the judges of the supreme court of the state, a position which he held for five consecutive years. In 1785 Mr. Phillips was elected by the people a delegate to represent Rhode Island in the Confederated Congress, but did not take his seat in that body. In 1786 he declined re-appointment on the bench of the supreme court. The legislature, desirous of retaining Mr. Phil- lips in the public service, elected him to the office of chief jus- tice of the court of common pleas for his native county in the year 1795. He soon resigned all public honors and retired to private life. All the various civil and military appointments that were conferred upon him he discharged with ability and fidelity. Mr. Phillips was a man of considerable property, owning a handsome estate in Wickford. He was a very polished gentle- man, quite spare in person, wore a wig and always dressed with great neatness. Gilbert Stuart, the father of the celebrated portrait painter, was an early settler of North Kingstown. He emigrated from Scotland and settled here, where he erected the first snuff mill in the United States. His son, Gilbert Charles Stuart, whose name was destined to be enrolled among the world's illustrious geniuses, early displayed a fondness for pencil sketching, and soon acquired a marked degree of proficiency in pencil like- nesses. He was put under the tuition of one Alexander when about thirteen years old, and accompanied his tutor on a journey through the south, and afterward went to Scotland. Mr. Alex- ander soon afterward died, and his pupil was left in charge of Sir George Chambers. The death of Mr. Chambers occurred soon afterward, when Mr. Stuart returned to his own country and resumed his pencil, residing at Newport. In 1775 he returned to England, and re- mained until 1793. Here his genius attracted the nobility, and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 385 his portraits were regarded as possessing the highest order of artistic skill. The inhabitants of the town in which he was born may justly feel a pride in his history, as few painters have re- ceived more honors than Gilbert Stuart. Mr. Stuart married Charlotte Coates, of Reading, Eng., by whom he had a large family. He died at Boston, July 28th, 1828, in the seventy-second year of his age. Theophilus Whalley was at one time a resident of this town. He was a peculiar and eccentric man, and it is supposed he was one of the regicide judges of King Charles I. The latter part his life was spent on a farm in AVest Greenwich. He lived to the advanced age of one hundred and three years. Alexander Phcenix, one of the earliest settlers of Quidnessett, died before 1698, and left a widow, Abigail Phoenix. In 1709 Widow Phoenix and John Hvmans purchased 163 acres of land of the colony. Widow Phoenix built a house there. Her daughter, Abigail, married Beriah Brown. Their sons were Alexander and Charles Brown. This place is near to and just south of Wickford Junction, and west of the railroad, lately owned by Paul G. Henrick, who mar- ried Lydia Brown, a lineal descendant of the first owner, and daughter of John Brown, who was the last of the name to own the place. The Hymans land to the east of this has long since passed into other hands. On the northerly part of this tract now stands most of the village and the railroad station of Wickford Junction, while on its eastern border stands the thriving village of Lafayette. The original tract mentioned was bounded north by the " ten rod road," south by Annaquatucket river, and east by Rocky Swamp, which is partly covered by the Bellville reservoir pond. Pardon Tillinghast and his brother Philip (sons of Elder Par- don Tillinghast, who died in Providence, January 29th, 1718), were two of thirteen persons who purchased from the committee of the general assembly of Rhode Island the vacant lands in the Narragansett district, being some 35,000 acres, by deed executed June 30th, 1709, for which they paid eleven hundred pounds ster- ling, or fifteen and three-quarter cents per acre. After selling part to forty-two settlers, ^the original thirteen had about one thousand acres each. Pardon settled on his share and made it his homestead, called it the Mansion Estate, and established his family cemetery. The first burial was that of his first wife, Mary, 2j 386 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. on February 6th, 1726, and the headstones show records of family- burials down to that of Joseph J. Tillinghast, February 26th, 1862. Pardon Tillinghast settled at East Greenwich, in that part called Frenchtown, and from him descended the Tilling-hasts of East and West Greenwich. William Chadsey, the founder of the Chadsey family in Rhode Island, came to this country in 1715. He landed first in the Southern states. The next year he came to Newport, and soon after crossed the Narragansett bay and fixed his residence at Sand Hill, in Kingstown, four miles south of East Greenwich. The farm still remains in the family and belongs to his descendants^ In the year 1719 he married Susannah Greene, daughter of Jabez, and sister to the father of General Nathaniel Greene. They lived together sixty-eight years, and both died in 1787, on the farm where they first settled. They had four sons and six daughters, viz.: Jabez, Mary, Richard, Susannah, Jane, William, Naomi, Phebe, John and Elizabeth. Jabez, the eldest, was born in 1720. At the age of about thirty he married Honor Huling, daughter of Alexander, by whom he had eight children. She died in the year 1772, and the next year he marriediMary Corey, widow of John, whose first husband was Jeremiah' Greene. He married for his third wife Martha Grieves, and died in 1820. His children were : Jabez, Tabitha, Joseph, Elizabeth, Honor and Rowland. The numerous descendants of William Chadsey can now easily trace their origin from the pioneer member of this family. Mr. Jeremiah G. Chadsey, in speaking on this subject, says: "I can trace the lineal descent of Susannah Greene, the wife of William Chadsey, back to her great-grandfather, who emigrated from England in the year 1636 with his family, and settled in Massa- chusetts, but was obliged to flee from that colony on account of Friendly or Quaker principles. In the year 1642 he came to Rhode Island and took up his abode in Warwick. His name was John Greene. He had four sons: John, Peter, James and Thomas, all born in England. James Greene was born in Eng- land in 1628, and died in 1698. He had eleven children, Jabez, one of whom, was born in Warwick, in 1673 ; he was the father of Susannah, wife of William Chadsey, and also the grandfather of General Nathaniel Greene." Samuel Waite Wightman was born in the town of North Kingstown October 5th, 1789, in the house now owned and occu- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 387 pied by Crawford Allen, Esq., for his summer residence. His parents were George and AVaity Wightman. His father was an industrious and respectable farmer, the son of Colonel George Wightman, and his mother, the daughter of Deacon Sylvester Sweet of East Greenwich. When eighteen years of age he went to Pawtuxet and began the trade of cabinet making, commencing in this business in 1814 and following it for thirty years. Subse- quently he invested considerably in real estate. He was post- master of Pawtuxet for twenty years. He was a member of the Pawtuxet Baptist church for a period of fifty years. In 1812 he married Hannah, daughter of AVilliam and Phebe Thornton, which tie was dissolved by his death, June 16th, 1869. He was blessed with eleven children, only four of whom are now living. From an old record, considerably marred, we have been able to transcribe in part the list of the freemen belonging to the town of Kingstown in the year of 1696, viz.: " Joseph Fones, John Fones, Jeremiah Fones, Samuel Fones, Andrew Willett, Jeffrey Champling, James Renolds, Sen., James Renolds, Jr., Henry Tibets, George Whitman, John Cotterell, William Gibson, James Green, Henry Tibets, Jr., John Hinman, Samuel Albrough, Sen., John Briggs, Jr., Edward Green, John Eldred, John Spink, Joseph Place, Daniel Eldred, Arthur Aly- worth, John Briggs, Sen., Moses Barber, Samuel Eldred, Na- thaniel Niles, George Gardner, Samuel Hopkin, Thomas Hazard, Stephen Hazard, John Crandall, Thomas Eldred, Benjamin Green, John Sweet, Benjamin Gardner, Bennony (Benoni) Sweet, Wil- liam Condell, Joseph Hull, Sen., Nicholas Gardner, William Cole, Joseph Hull, Jr., William Gardner (cord winder), Samuel Werden, Jr., Samuel Helme, John Watson, Jun., Robert Hannah, Edward Greenman, Samuel Perry, Jobe Jenny, George Cook, Jeffrey Champing, Jr., Robert Hazard, Jr., George Babcock, Jeremiah Hazard, Stephen Wilcox, James Huling, Phillip Aylworth, Charles Brown, Alexander Brown, Robert Gardner, James Kin- yon, Robert Eldred, Joseph Northrup, Nathan Gardner, Thomas Willett, Henry Gardner, Stephen Shearman, Thomas Phillips, Thomas Eldred, Jr., Thomas Bently, Benjamin Sheffield, Ed- mond Sheffield, Daniel Smith, Christopher Phillips, Nicholas Northrup, Anthony Eldred, John Wells, Jr., James Sweet, Isaac Gardner, Robert Case, Benjamin Sweet, Edward Dyre, Jr., John Jenkins, James Huling, Alexander Huling, George Hasard, Jeffrey Hasard, Benjamin Mumford, Thomas Potter, Ichabod 388 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Potter, Henry Northrup, Peleg Mumford, William Sheffield, son of Ichabod Sheffield, George Whightman, John Crowder, William Havens, Jr., Joseph Congdon and Daniel Nichols. In 1674 the general assembly passed an act establishing a town- ship in Narragansett and called it King's Town. It was so named as an expression of gratitude to the British sovereign for de- feating the machinations of neighboring colonies to get posses- sion of the territory. Its name was, in 1686, changed to Rochester. This change was made under Edmund Andros' ad- ministration, but in 1689 the original name was restored. The population of Kingstown had increased to such an extent that it was early deemed necessary that there should be a division of the town, and in June, 1722, when Samuel Cranston was gov- ernor, the general assembly convened at Newport, enacted that the town of Kingstown be divided and made into two towns by the names of North and South Kingstown. North Kingstown held the records and was declared to be the older town. The town has once since (in 1742) suffered the loss of a large part of its territory when the western portion was set aside and incor- porated as the town of Exeter. The territory now embraced in the town of North Kingstown is comprised in a narrow strip of land on the Narragansett shore not over seven miles in width in any place, and embraced be- tween latitudes 41°, 30', and 41°, 40'. The first town meeting under the new organization in 1722 was ordered to be held February 21st, 1723, to choose jurymen who should serve in the next general court of trials, and at the second town meeting held on the third Wednesday of the fol- lowing month Robert Hull and Francis Willett were elected the first delegates to the general assembly. At this time the popu- lation was a little less than two thousand. From the date of its incorporation the town gained stability, and by the harmony of its government, grew in political strength. The discord inci- dent to the breaking out of the revolutionary war, however, shat- tered society throughout the colonies, and that peace which was once blessed and maintained by a frugal, prosperous and indus^ trious people was marred by an eight years contest with the mother country. After the hardships and miseries of the early colonial periods, the beginning of the eighteenth century seemed like the dawn- ing of a golden age. Learning received attention, tokens of HISTORY OF -WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 389 courtesy and hospitality were met with on every side, stately mansions and here and there a church were seen towering among the trees or dotting the green fields, and the country through which Richard Smith and Roger Williams a few years before had with difficulty pressed their way, by the magic touch of civ- ilization became transformed into the garden of America. As early as 1710 three churches had been organized. In the latter part of the seventeenth century a minister by the name of Baker came from Newport and founded a Baptist church in North Kingstown. This was undoubtedly the origin of the Bap- tist churches in this town, three of which now exist in a flourish- ing condition. The church at "Wickford, whose edifice was built in 1816 and rebuilt in 1836, was an offshoot from the church at AUenton. The house at AUenton was erected in 1848, and the one in Quidnessett in 1842. Elder John Gardner's Six Principle Baptist church, as it was styled, was founded about the year 1710. Three years prior to this the Episcopal Society erected a church in the south part of the town. It was here that for more than thirty years Doctor James ]McSparran, the friend and companion of the illustrious Berkeley, proclaimed the truth and inspired the people with his eloquence. In the year 1800 the church, which is now the oldest Episcopal edifice in New England, was removed to its present site in AVickford. The societ}' at this period was marked by much refinement. The landed aristocracy cherished the liberal arts and literature, and secured for their children a generous intellectual training in the families of the learned clergymen. Extensive plantations, some of which have been divided into as many as ten large farms (Daniel Updike's lands alone embracing three thousand acres), were worked by slave labor and produced abundant crops which, in the AVest Indies, found a ready market. A degree of sociability existed among the people, which in some respects their descendants might imitate with profit. Every family had its large circle of friends, who were always welcome to its hospi- tality. The remotest connection by blood was regarded with pro- found respect, and much visiting and interchange of thought and sentiment established a permanent bond of good feeling. True, some of the entertainments seemingly evinced a prodigality of wealth, but the display was generally in proportion to the abund- ance of the host and excess was rather the exception than the rule. Every season had its peculiar pastimes. There was the 390 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. annual excursion to Connecticut in May, the glorious old husk- ings of autumn, the festivities of the holidays in winter, and at every season of the year an occasional wedding. What joy, what mirth, pervaded the country on these gala days of the olden time ! Even now, enlightened by tradition, we in imagination stand in the spacious halls, and surrounded by a merry throng, listen to the orchestra of slaves and see gentlemen with swords at their sides in crimson coats and knee breeches, with powdered wigs and queues, and ladies dressed in brocade gracefully walk- ing the intricate mazes of the minuet. The slaves, who formed a large part of the population — one family sometimes owning as many as forty — were not slow in imitating the manners and amusements of their masters. But in all their festivities none compared with that of the annual elec- tion, when, after the manner of the whites, they chose their gov- ernor for the year. On these occasions the parlors of the man- sion house were thrown open, horses were provided, and money distributed among the negroes according to the means of their respective owners. Party spirit ran high. At the appointed time, arrayed in their master's clothes, and mounted on their best pacers, with their ladies at their sides in high glee, they rode to 'lection. Here, after games and sports of various kinds, the friends of the two candidates were arranged in two rows, and the chief marshal with his assistants marched between them and made the count. In a loud voice he then proclaimed the governor for the ensuing year. Then followed the grand elec- tion dinner, which was held under the trees, the governor-elect sitting at the head of the table, and on either side his wife and the unsuccessful candidate, whose prerogative it was to propose the first toast, and then and there drown the sorrows of his de- feat. For both master and slaves these were sunny days. Town Clerks. — Owing to the destruction of the town by fire no definite list can be given prior to the year 1700. It is known, however, that Samuel Fones and John Fones were clerks under the proprietors, and probably remained so as long as the proprie- tary lasted. The clerks since 1700 have been : Andrew Willett, 1700 ; Ephraim Bull, 1701 ; Andrew Willett, 1703 ; Samuel Fones, March 17th, 1703-4, to April 11th, 1715 ; Francis Willett, July 11th, 1715, to 1739 : Immanuel Hall, 1739, to 1743, when he be- came the first town clerk of Exeter ; Samuel Thomas, 1743 to 1761 ; George Northrup, 1761 to 1771 ; George Thomas, Decern- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 391 ber 21st, 1771, to June, 1813 ; Jonathan Reynolds to June, 1836 ; Nicholas N. Spink, to the autumn of 1843 ; Samuel Pierce, to June, 1860; Nicholas Spink, to June, 1863; John B. Pierce, to June, 1885 ; Charles T. Crombe, present incumbent. Town Officers for 1888. — Moderator, George A. Spink ; town clerk, Charles T. Crombe ; deputy town clerk, Thomas J. Peirce ; town council — Edward C.Gardner, John Allen, Timothy Carroll, William L. Hall, Robert R. Rathbun ; town auditors — William N. Rose, John Allen ; town treasurer. Doctor S. B. Church, col- lector of taxes, John J. Spink ; assessors of taxes — William N. Rose, James R. Healey, Joseph Tisdale, Perry W. Greene, Caleb T. Cottrell ; commissioner of town asylum, Francis C. Dixon ; sealer of weights and measures, Chester L. Farnham ; town ser- geant, James R. S, Wightman ; overseer of the poor, James R. S. Wightman ; truant officer, John J. Spink ; school committee —Thomas W. D. Rathbun, Talbot P. Greene, Doctor S. O. Myers, Thomas J. Peirce, Doctor S. B. Church ; superintendent of public schools. Doctor S. O. Myers. Land Titles. — The following account of the succession of titles to that part of Boston Neck lying in North Kingstown, R. I., was prepared by Mr. Peleg F. Pierce, of Wickford. July 4th, 1659, Major Humphrey Atherton and six associates. Governor John Winthrop of Connecticut, Richard Smith, Sr., and Richard Smith, Jr., Captain AVilliam Hudson, Amos Rich- ardson and John Tinker obtained a deed of gift of the "South- ern " tract or Namcook Neck or Boston Neck purchased from Coquimaquand (Indian sachem). At a proprietors' meeting in the latter part of 1659, Edward Hutchinson of Boston was admitted to share equally in said land. In the early part of 1660 the lower portion only of the " South- ern tract," called Boston Neck, was surveyed and divided among the partners, whose shares ran up the " Neck " in the following order: 1. Major Humphrey Atherton, 700 acres; 2. Richard Smith, Sr., 661^ acres ; 3. Richard Smith, Jr., 661^ acres ; 4. Governor John Winthrop, 661-J- acres ; 5. John Tinker, 661i acres ; 6. Amos Richardson, 661^ acres ; 7. William Hud,son, 661-J acres ; 8. Ed- ward Hutchinson, 661|- acres. March 21st, 1660-1, at a proprietors' meeting at the house of Edward Hutchinson, it was agreed that John Brown, Sr., of Se- conk, should have one-half of Amos Richardson's share in Bos- ton Neck. 392 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. April 10th, 1662, John Brown of Seconk, died, and his son, James Brown, succeeded to tlie farm. In August, 107."), a second survey of Boston Neck was made by Mr. William Withington, and the Amos Richardson tract was put down in the survey as belonging to James Brown and John Payne, so that Amos Richardson must have disposed of his northern half prior to the above date, probably in 1666, at which time he removed to Stonington, Conn. November 22d, 1677, the land in Boston Neck formerly be- longing to John Payne, containing about three hundred and fifty acres, was conveyed to William Clark. Said land was be- tween land of Captain Thomas Willet, deceased, on the south, and John Brown on the north. September 3d, 1696, John Brown of Swansey, grandson of John and son of James, sold for ;^100 to Captain Timothy Clarke, merchant, of Boston. October 13th, 1696, Captain Timothy Clarke sold to George Havens of Jamestown, a tract containing three hundred and thirty-one and one-half acres of land now in the occupation of George Wightman, half of the late Amos Richardson division. Said division bounded south by Captain Andrew AVillet's land now in his own improvement ; north by the other half share of the late Amos Richardson, now in the tenure and occupation of Stephen and Joseph Northrup ; west by pond, east by the bay or salt water. November 4th, 1699, George Havens and EUenor, his wife, sold the farm to John Dexter of Sandwich, for i;"650 current money of New England. March 30th. 1702, John Dexter sold the farm to Joseph :\Iory of Jamestown. August 14th, 1724, Mary (]\lory) Coggeshall of Newport, sold to her son, Daniel Coggeshall, of Newport. February 16th, 1786, Daniel Coggeshall and wife, Elizabeth, sold to Silas Casey of "Warwick what has since been known as the " Casey Farm." About 1702 Benjamin Congdon married Frances Stafford and went to live in Boston Neck. February 28th, 1738, he sold to his son, John Congdon, land he purchased of Timothy Clarke, and in his will he gives the said John the farm in Boston Neck, "Where I now dwell." October 1st, 1803, Thomas R. Congdon sold one hundred and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 393 fifty acres of the farm to Samuel Packard, since known as the " Packard Farm," bounded south by the " Congdon Farm," and both now (1888) owned by the devisees of the late Samuel C. Cottrell. The Casey, Congdon and Packard farms cover the Amos Richardson tract of 661^ acres. Amos Richardson was a wealth}' merchant tailor of Boston. His daughter Sarah married Timothy Clarke. His daughter Katharine married David Ander- son of Boston. North of 'Sir. Richardson's tract was William Hudson's division. June 30th, 1687, it was conveyed to Richard AVharton, Esq., of Boston, by patents from James II., and called the "Middlefield farm." (See Col. Record, vol. 8, pages 22o-226.) August 28th, 1727, John Kenyon of AA'esterly, calling himself aged seventy years, or thereabouts, testified that in the year 1683, or thereabouts, he went to live on the farm that Stephen Xorthrup of North Kingstown now lives on and paid rental to Major Smith in behalf of Air. Killum of Boston, and lived there for eight years, and Stephen Northrup went in when he left it. June 13th, 1712, John Nelson, attorney for the heirs, chilc^en and legatees of Richard Wharton, sold to Stephen Northrup for ^1,700, money now current in New England, 661^ acres of l^nd bounded southerly on land of Captain Timothy Clarke, westerly on Mill river that runs into the head of Pettaquamscutt pond, northerl}^ upon lands of Matthew Allen and David Greene, east- erly on Narragansett bay. ("Kingstown " Rec.) In March, 1716, Stephen Northrup and j\Iary, his wife, sold to Benjamin Northrup one hundred and fifty acres of land (the northeast portion of this purchase) bounded north by land of David Greene, east by the bay. Plum beach pond and beach be- longing to said Stephen Northrup, south and west by land of grantor. This farm, with what is now known as the " Kenyon " meadows and swamp on the west, contains about two hundred acres of land and is called the " Stephen Tefft farm." November 17th, 1747, Benjamin Northrup gives to Robert Hazard and Patience, his wife (whom he calls his "loving cousins") one-half of one hundred acres of land bounded west in part by the Mill river and in part by the fish pond. The other half of one hundred acres he gives to Caleb Allen and Mary, his wife, whom he also calls his " loving cousins." March 29th, 1826, John Hazard (a grandson of Robert above) came into possession of the portion of this parcel of land devised 394 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to his grandfather Robert Hazard. He built fislieries and estab- lished smelt weir privileges in the southwestern corner of this farm, and it has since been known as the " smelt weir John Hazard land " (the southwest corner of Stephen Northrup's pur- chase). The land in the northwest part of this purchase was in the possession of Henry Northrup in 1733. It was a farm of about one hundred and sixty-six acres. The southeastern portion of the purchase was the homestead farm containing about two hundred acres of land. At the northeast corner of this farm, on the bay was established in the earliest time of the colony a " landing place or ferry," known in 1707 as "Daniel's Landing Place," later as " Northrup's Ferry," a thoroughfare between Newport and the Narragansett country. Stephen Northrup was a freeman of Providence in 1658 ; Sep- tember 6th, 1687, taxed 5s. id. In 1671 he took the oath of alle- giance at " Kingstowne." He died in 1687. His son Stephen was born in 1660 ; married in 1684 Mary Thomas ; at " Kingstowne " September 6th, 1687 ; died June 12th, 1733. He gave to his three sons, Thomas, Henry and Nicholas, certain estate, one third to each (see Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, page 140). When this tract was conveyed to Mr. Wharton in 1687 the west boundary was by the " Mill river," showing that a mill was in operation prior to this transfer. John Kenyon had lived four years on this tract. His brother James Kenyon was a miller (see Genealogical Dictionary of Rhode Island, page 116). There are ruins of a mill dam about three hundred feet north of the pres- ent dam. In February, 1702-3, the proprietors of Pettaquamscutt, viz.: Thomas Mumford, Samuel Wilson, Henry Gardner, Samuel Sewell, Jahreel Brenton and Benedict Arnold, granted to James Kenyon, "millwright," the mill at the head of Pettaquamscutt pond. James Kenyon was a brother-in-law of Thomas Mumford above. August 25th, 1718, William Gardiner and his wife Abigail sold to Elisha Cole a tract of land containing 290 acres, with " a mill and other improvements." William Gardiner was assignee of James Kenyon. The 290 acres of land extended from the mill up the south side of the mill pond, subsequently called the " Plane farm." In 1726, by a decree of the general court of assembly against Elisha Cole in favor of Stephen Northrup " to turn the stream or HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 395 brook between them to his ancient course," the grist mill dam across the said river was pulled down. At the meeting of the next assembly, upon the petition and rem.onstrance of the inhab- itants, it was ordered to be rebuilt in three months (see Colonial Record of Rhode Island at this date, also Genealogical Diction- ary of Rhode Island). Elisha Cole died in 1729. November 10th, 1746, Elizabeth Cole, widow of Elisha, sold to her son Edward Cole the mill and one half acre of land, together with the 290 acres (the great Plane farm land). In turning the stream from its ancient course the half acre was taken from Mr. Northrup. In 1751 Edward Cole of Newport, son of Elisha, deceased, Thomas Mofifitt, M. D., of Newport, and Gilbert Stuart, of North Kingstown, enter into articles of co-partnership to manufacture snuff and to erect a mill at Pettaquamscutt. September 15th, 1753, Edward Cole, of Newport, son of Elisha, deceased, of North Kingstown, sold to Thomas Mofifitt, of New- port, for 12,500 pounds old tenor, the " Plane farm " and lot of half acre of land with a mill. About 1775 this property was con- veyed to Burlingame. About 1812 the mill and part of the farm were sold to Benjamin Hammond and it has since been known as " Hammond's TVIills," also "The Birth place of Gilbert Stuart." North of Captain William Hudson's division was the division of Edward Hutchinson of Boston. In 1671 Edward Hutchinson sold to his son Elisha Hutchinson 1,000 acres of land adjoining William Hudson's tract. August 14th, 1702, Elisha Hutchinson sold 965 acres of land to Elisha Cole. This land was north of the north line of the Wil- liam Hudson tract, bounded north in part by land of the late Edward Hutchinson, and in part by the harbor called " Cole's harbor," east by the sea or bay, west by " Pansacaco pond." The southeast part of this purchase (235 acres) was sold to David Greene, prior to May 7th, 1712. The possession of the south part of this farm has been held by the heirs of David Greene to the present time (1888). The southwest part of this purchase (230 acres) was sold to Stephen Northrup. May 7th, 1712, Stephen Northrup sold 230 acres of land to Matthew Allen, of Bristol, Mass., bounded north by land of Elisha Cole, east by land of David Greene, south by land in the tenure and occupation of Stephen Northrup, west by Mill pond. 396 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. July 9th, 1728, Matthew Allen sold to his son Caleb Allen, six- ty acres of land (the east part of his farm), purchased of Stephen Northrup and Mary his wife. November 2Bd, 1733, he sold to his son Benjamin Allen forty acres of land bounded west by a small brook, north by land of Elisha Cole, deceased, west by land of grantor, south by land of Henry Northrup. He died in 1760. By his will he gave the homestead farm to his grandson Matthew Allen, " son of my son Benjamin," who having become involved in law suits with his kindred had to abandon the home- stead in Boston Neck. In 1775 he purchased an e.state in North Kingstown containing about sixty acres, a part of the Captain John Eldred estate purchased of the colony agents in 1707, and commenced the business of innkeeper. This place is now (1888) known as AUenton, R. I. In 1782 Giles Pierce, of New Shoreham, bought the farm of two hundred and thirty acres, in parcels, of the heirs of Matthew Allen. November 10th, 1746, Elizabeth Cole, widow of Elisha, sold to her son John Cole, of Newport, five hundred acres of land (the north part of the nine hundred and sixty-five acre purchase). February ffth, 1748, Elizabeth Cole, widow of Elisha, sold to her son, John Cole, of Newport, one hundred acres bounded northwest by John Cole's land, son of William. In 1748, John Cole, of Newport, son of Elisha, deceased, sold to Henry Collins, of Newport, six hundred acres of land. In 1766, George Rome advertises to settle the affairs of Henry Collins, deceased. About this time Mr. Rome succeeds to the possession of the farm which has since been known as the " Rome's farm." In 1776, George Rome being a " tory " in the war of the revo- lution, the farm was confiscated and sold to Judge Ezekiel Gard- iner, of North Kingstown. Edward Hutchinson, of Boston (the associate of Atherton in his purchases), born in 1613, came over from Alford, Lincolnshire, England, in 1633. Admitted to church August 10th, 1634 ; mem- ber of artillery company, 1638 ; captain, 1657, and served in King Phillip's war in 1675 ; wounded by the Indians August 2d, 1675, and died August 19th, 1675. He went to Newport March 7th, 1638, with his father and mother (William and Ann), but in a few years returned to. Boston. After deeding one half of his Boston Neck lands to his son Elisha he left the remainder of his Narra- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 397 gansett purchases to his son Elisha and his daughter, whorn he made his residuary legatees. John Cole, a brother-in-law of Edward Hutchinson, was a resi- dent in Boston Neck as early as 1663. He came from Boston to look after the lands of Edward Hutchinson in the King's Prov- ince in Narragansett. The jurisdiction of Connecticut appoint- ed him magistrate. He married, December 30th, 1651, Susannah (a daughter of William and Ann Hutchinson), and had sons Wil- liam, Elisha, Samuel and John. December 11th, 1738, Elizabeth Cole, widow of Elisha, sold to her son John Cole two hundred acres of land, the southeast part of her homestead farm, bounded south by what is now (1888) the " Rome's farm," west by the river now (1888) known as Cole's brook, that empties into the "Harbor" south of Hamilton village. In 1734, the will of William Cole (a brother of Elisha, de- ceased) was approved. He gave to his son John Cole, his " homestead farm " ; to Samuel, Joseph, Benjamin and Wignall his lands on the point northeast from his house. In 1760, Benjamin Cole sold to Jeremiah Hazard the land now (1888) known as " Black Acre." In 1738 this land was sold to Matthew Robinson by John Cole. The tract of land (six hundred and sixty-one and one-half acres) northof Cole's brook was the homestead farm of John Cole, who died intestate in 1707. William Cole (his oldest son) came into full possession of the farm, December 14th, 1713. His will, approved in 1784, gave to John Cole (his oldest son), " his home- stead farm." The will of John Cole was approved in December, 1792. He gives to his son, William Cole, his " homestead farm, incliiding his new house." In 1711 Henry Northrup and Thomas Place bought of John Nelson (attorney of Richard Wharton's heirs), all the land (two hundred acres) south of the Annaqua- tucket fiver to the bounds of Pettaquamscutt purchase on the northwest, bounded easterly by Cole's harbor, south by what is now the road running west to AUenton. In 1719 Northrup & Place divided this land, Northrup taking the western and Place the eastern portion. June 28th, 1686, Richard Smith sold to- Richard Wharton of Boston, twenty-seven acres of land on the north side of the An- naquatucket river " for a mill or mills," said land then in the occupation of Jacob Pindar. February 28th, 1711, Richard 398 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Wharton's heirs, by their attorney, John Nelson, sold the twenty-seven acres of land to Thomas Place and Henry North- rup. March 18th, 1711, Place & Northrup sold the same to Jo- seph Smith, also fourteen acres on the south side of the river, and two hundred acres on the north side, the line commencing at a rock in the river and extending to Duck Cove. June 4th, 1719, Joseph Smith sold the twenty-seven acres of land to James and Daniel Updike. April 12th, 1721, Joseph vSmith sold to Samuel Slocum fourteen acres of land on the south side of the river, with mills and all the privileges of building the dam, etc. April 3d, 1729, Samuel Slocum sold to Samuel Hazard and Thomas Hazard, to be equally divided between them, the fourteen acres, mills, and all privi- leges. January 25th, 1737, Samuel Hazard sold to Samuel Bissell his half of the fourteen acres, mills, etc. August 25th, 1741, Thomas Hazard sold his half of the fourteen acres, mills, etc., to Daniel Fountaine. Bissell and Fountaine divided the property. Samuel Bissell sold his half to his son, Thomas Bissell, in 1755. Daniel Fountaine sold to Robert Hazard one-half of mill, iron works and fulling mill. April 14th, 1761, Thomas Bissell sold to John Pindar "a little wheat mill." In December, 1762, John Pindar, by his will, gave the mill to Susanna Bissell (supposed wife of Thomas). April 23d, 1792, Thomas Bissell sold to his son, Samuel, one- half of the snuff mill and one-quarter of the wheat mill, and to his son, George, one-half of snuff mill and one-quarter of wheat mill. July 19th, 1796, Susanna Bissell sold to Samuel Bissell, son of Thomas, one-quarter of snuff mill and one-half of the wheat mill. June 4th, 1799, Samuel Bissell, son of Thomas, sold to Samuel Bissell of Exeter. September 8th, 1800, Samuel Bissell sold to Joseph Pierce, Giles Pierce, John Pierce and Thomas Pierce eleven-twenty- fourths of the corn mill, three-quarters of the wheat mill, also ' the snuff mill. A sloop of fifteen tons burden, named " The Four Brothers," was owned and sailed by them to and from Newport in the transportation of passengers and freight. The channel was then of sufficient depth for vessels of this size to land at their wharf, about one hundred feet below, the mill. November 4th, 1800, George Bissell sold to William Cole one- quarter part of the " east-most " mill house, also one-quarter part of the "west-most" corn mill, also one-one hundred and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 399 twentieth part of same mill, also one-quarter and one-one hun- dred and twentieth part of a lot north of the trench and. the north mill standing thereon. February 6th, 1819, the " Pierces " sold to AVilliam Gardiner all their rights purchased of sundry persons, including eleven- twenty-fourths of the corn mill, three-quarters of wheat mill and the snuff mill. March 5th, 1823, William Cole sold to Scranton E. Sweet. January 27th, 1820, William Gardiner sold to Jesse Gardiner all he purchased of " Pierces." January 8th, 1828, Jesse Gardi- ner sold to William Gardiner. March 18th, 1823, William Gardi- ner sold to Scranton E. Sweet. February 28th, 1 828, Scranton E. Sweet sold to Rowland Hazard. November 23d, 1836, Row- land G. Hazard sold to Christopher Allen. The property was leased to Bowles. An iron works or rolling mill was built and put in operation for a short time. November 3d, 1838, Christopher Allen sold to Rowland G. Hazard. A cotton mill was built and leased to John Slocum and Ezra N. Gardiner. " Slocum & Gardiner " improved the place in the manufacture of cotton yarns to the fall of 1846. May 31st, 1847, Rowland G. Hazard sold to Joseph C. Sanford and Albert Sanford. September 17th, 1847, Joseph C. Sanford sold to Albert Sanford. September 29th, 1849, Albert Sanford sold to Perez Peck, Asa Sisson and Isaac Peck, who were styled the " Hamilton Company." The estate at this time consisted of twenty-two acres of land, with a cotton manufactory, machine shop and four dwelling houses, known as " Bissell Mills Estate." It was sold for $11,000. The improvements made by the Hamil- ton Company were the enlargement of the mills, repairing the dam, building two new houses, etc., and amounted to $18,000. April 29th, 1850, the Hamilton Company sold to Syria H. Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn associated with him his two brothers (Owen and Thomas B. Vaughn). This company was known as "Vaughn Bros." Their improvements were an addition to the mill, new machinery, new store, hall, three acres of land, four new dwelling houses, etc., at a cost of $51,000. September 1st, 1866, Vaughn Brothers sold to James A. Greene one-half of the estate for $44,000. This company was known as Vaughn & Greene (Syria H. Vaughn, James A. Greene). Their improvements were an addition to the mill, new machinery for the manufacture of webbing, four new dwelling houses, etc., at a cost of $60,000. 400 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. April 26th, 1873, Vaughn & Greene sold to Joseph W. Greene of New York. April 1st, 1885, was incorporated the " Hamilton Web Company." The estate has been enlarged and extensively improved by this company by building a new brick mill, 145 by 224 feet (operating eighty looms in the manufacture of webbing), new dwelling houses, the purchase of the Annaquatucket estate (mill and farm), amounting to $51,400. The little mill, 30 by 46, purchased of Albert Sanford in 1849, now with its four additions, m'easures 50 by 230 feet. In the second survey made in August, 1675, the Thomas Willet tract is put down to John Saffin. Honorable John Saffin mar- ried a dau.gher of Thomas Willet. Thomas Willet died in 1674. He gave his Boston Neck farm to his grandchildren, children of Martha, wife of John Saffin, children of Mary, wife of Samuel Hooker, and to his daughter Esther. Andrew Willet had suc- ceeded to the possession of this farm prior to 1696. In 1700 An- drew Willet sold two hundred and seventy acres of land (the south part of this tract) to Rowland Robinson. In 1705 Ninegret, the Indian sachem, sold to said Robinson the same land. This farm was the home of Mr. Robinson's grandson, Rowland Robin- son, who was the father of " The unfortunate Hannah." It is situated in South Kingstown. The remainder of the Thomas Willet tract is in North Kingstown, the line passing between the two farms. Andrew Willet by his will gave his Boston Neck farm to Francis and Thomas Willet. In 172.") Thomas Willet died. He gave his interest in the farm to his brother Francis and his direct heirs, otherwise to Willet Carpenter and William Pease. Willet Carpenter died aged eighteen. Francis Willet did child- less at the age of eighty-three j-ears. He had survived all the re- versionary heirs and he gave by will the farm in Boston Neck to Francis Carpenter, and it has sihce been held uninterruptedly by his heirs (the Carpenter family) except the northeast portion of this farm, which has been sold in small lots, houses built upon them and known as the village of " Saunderstown." It was .set- tled September 10th, IS-'id, by John A. Saunders, William Caswell, Elias Saunders, Thomas J. Gould, John G. Saunders and Daniel Saunders, who bought lots (all amounting to six and one-half acres) and built dwelling houses upon them. Said lots were pur- chased of the heirs of AVillet Carpenter. June 10th, 1857, they commenced, and finis-hed in the summer of the same year, a wharf, railways, etc., for James H. and Powell H. Carpenter, for HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 401 the purpose of building and repairing vessels. In 1861 the sloop " Isett," twenty-five tons, in 1859 the sloop " Argus," of fifteen tons, in 1874 the sloop " Ida B.," of twenty tons, were built here. There have been repaired on these " ways " vessels as large as one hundred and seventy tons burden. The village now (1888) consists of twenty -one dwelling houses. Stillman Saunders (son of John) is in possession of the wharf, ways, shops, spile driver and steamer, and is a builder of wharfs. Small steam and sail vessels are built in the shops. The Annaquatucket place, previously referred to, was settled by Esbon Sanford, Jr., who bought, February 18th, 1832, of the heirs of Nicholas Northrup a few acres of land and commenced the building of a dam. The following year he had erected a little one set woolen mill and manufactured '• Kentucky Jeans." Mr. Sanford married in 1833, and made his home at this place, where he had, by his industry, judicious management and thrift, accu- mulated a large fortune at his death in 1864. The old North ferry (Northrup's ferry), referred to in the " Richard Wharton ^liddlefield Farm " tract, had its wharf de- molished by the " September Gale " of 1815, and its use was aban- doned. The South ferry, now (1888) called Eaton's ferry, is about four miles below, and was built about 1815. Hamilton is a thriving little village about one and a half miles south of Wickford. The Hamilton Web Company own nearly the entire village. It is tastefully laid out and has a neat and pleasing appearance, and an interesting history (See sketch by Mr. Peleg F. Pierce). The land at this point was conveyed by Richard Smith to Richard Wharton as early as 1686, for the pur- pose of erecting a mill. Wharton's mill was the first in this part of Rhode Island, but he did not operate it himself. It was leased to Peter Pindar for a term of years. February 11th, 1711 (O. S.), the mill was sold to Place & Northrup. Following came Joseph Smith, James and Daniel Updike, June 4th, 1749. Another priv- ilege was owned at the time by Samuel Slocum. Slocum sold out to Thomas and Samuel Hazard April 3d, 1729. These gen- tlemen built a wharf, a wheat mill and fulling mill, and carded wool, and were the most extensive traders in the town at that time. Samuel Hazard sold to Samuel Bissell June 25th, 1737, and Thomas Hazard sold to Daniel Fountaine August 25th, 1741. 36 402 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Fountaine & Bissell divided the property April 10th, 1744, and it remained in the hands of these families for several generations. They had here at one time a saw mill and two grist mills. After ]\Ioffatt fled to Newport they operated a snuff mill also. During the early part of the present century these families mortgaged their property several times. About 1836 Mr. Bow- ler commenced the business of rolling iron, which he continued for tliree years. In 1839 extensive alterations were made in the buildings and new ones built. Slocum & Gardiner commenced the manufacture of cotton yarn and continued business some eleven years. In 1850 Albert Sanford manufactured similar goods for about one year. From 1851 Vaughn & Peck continued the business some six years, when Peck sold out to Vaughn, who admitted new partners and organized the Hamilton Web Com- pany. The firm then consisted of S. H. Vaughn and James A. Greene. This was in 1866. In 1885 a new company was formed and incorporated with Joseph W. Greene, of Brooklyn, president ; Joseph Warren, secretary, and James A. Greene, of Wickford, treasurer. The company manufacture webs, yarns, ties and lac- ings. Under the present management the company is doing a large business. A post office was established at Hamilton in 1877. At that time Sweet & Owen had a fine store, well stocked with a general assortment of merchandise. Wilbur & Frissell are now in charge of a good store in the place. Snuff Mills. — In or before the year 1750 attention was paid to the raising of tobacco in Narragansett. About this time the venerable Doctor Thomas Moffatt, a Scotch gentleman, a learned physician of the Boerhaavean school, settled in Rhode Island, but however learned, his dress and manners were so ill-suited to the plainness of the inhabitants that he could not make his way among them as a practitioner. He accordingly looked around for some other mode of genteel subsistence and hit upon that of cultivating tobacco and making snuff. In due time he wrote to Scotland and obtained a competent millwright by the name of Gil- bert Stuart. Heretofore snuff had been yearly imported from Glasgow. Mr. Gilbert erected his snuff mill on a stream in Nar- ragansett, and here he manufactured that strange article of luxury. Mr. Stuart was the father of the great painter, and his snuff mill was the first of the kind erected in New England. It was HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 403 iDuilt in North Kingstown. The house was afterward owned by Wilbur Hammond. He soon afterward built a house and mar- ried a very handsome woman, daughter of Mr. Anthony, a sub- stantial farmer. To this couple was born Gilbert Charles Stuart, the portrait painter. The church records state : " April 11th, 1756, being Palm Sunday, Doctor McSparran read prayers, preached and baptized a child named Gilbert Stuart, son of Gilbert Stuart, the snuff grinder." The middle name Charles, betokening the the Jacobite principles of his father, was never used in the days of his notoriety. The house used by Mr. Stuart was two stories high on the south side and one on the north side, the north sill resting on the mill dam. The lower story was used as a snuff mill. It had a gambrel roof. It was situated at the head of Pettaquamscutt river. Hamilton Mill. — The mill at Potomomut Forge was owned prior to 1848 by Christopher Allen and S. H. Vaughn. Perez Peck & Co., of Coventry, built the machinery and took a mort- gage. Mr. Allen died about 1850, and Mr. Vaughn, with Perez Peck, Asa Sisson and Isaac Peck, reorganized the business as the Hamilton Company. The name was suggested by Mr. Sisson as complimentary to Mrs. Vaughn, who was a Hamilton. The power at Valley Forge was found insufficient and in 1848 the plant was removed to North Kingstown, and located at a point then called Bissell's Cove. The Hamilton Company was succeeded by the Hamilton Web Company. This company now employs about one hundred and fifty people. The plant contains ninety looms, and three thousand, five hundred spindles. The mill consumes eight hundred and fifty bales of cotton per year, and produces $120,- 000 worth of marketable goods annually. The Narragansett Mills are situated on the Annaquatucket river, on the old Post road. They consisted originally of a saw mill and a grist mill, and were in operation at an early day. Mr. H. T. Chadsey remembers taking grist to this mill seventy years ago. About the year 1820, this property passed into the hands of Joseph C. Sanford. He was a native of the town and was the oldest son of Judge Sanford, a man of marked abilities and a judge of the state court. Mr. Joseph C. Sanford built a part of the structure now standing when he came into possession, and in 1829 built the residence, property now owned and occupied by William E. Pierce. From this time until recently this was called the Sanford property. Mr. Sanford manufactured cotton warps and operated about five hundred spindles. 404 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. In 1852 Wilcox & Pierce bought the property and continued the manufacture of coarse woolen goods and in 1863, William E. Pierce, the junior member of the firm, purchased the property and has operated the mills since 1870. Prior to this time he leased it to Robert Rodman, and until he purchased the mill at Shady Lea at the time above named, Wilcox & Pierce operated the mill at Silver Spring, which mills are also owned by Mr. Rodman. The Spaulding store above this point was built by James Sweet. It afterward passed into the following hands : Lyman Upham, William Slocum, Benjamin Carpenter, James R. Healy, Cran- dall & Ryan, William A. Spaulding, Spaulding & Co., A. W. Spaulding, the present owner. The Old Anchor Forge of Quidnessett belonged to the Greene family. Here they manufactured anchors weighing eighteen hundred or two thousand pounds. This was done by bellows and a famous trip hammer, made to strike the heated iron by the revolution of an immense wheel turned by water power ; then five large stalwart men would strike the battered iron till it was wrought into an anchor. The old corn and wheat mills at this place had wheels sixteen or eighteen feet in diameter, running two sets of stones. Christo- pher and Elisha Greene owned the property. They were broth- ers. One had the mills, and the other the anchor works. Allenton is situated on the post road about three miles from Wickford, and is the seat of the Baptist church of North Kings- town. Captain John Eldred purchased of the colony agents a par- cel of land containing one hundred acres on the site now known as Allenton, May 27th, 1709. The property descended to William Eldred, his grandson, and on March '3d, 1761, sixty acres were deeded to Samuel Albro. Albro April 30th, 1762, mortgaged the property to Philip Tillinghast, who foreclosed in 177.'5, and then sold it to Matthew Allen, ancestor of the family now residing here, and from whom the place derives its name. Joseph C. Sanford traded here as early as ISL^. His successors were : S. D. Allen, Charles Allen, W. H. Allen, who bought in 1857; Ben- jamin F. Arnold and John R. Nichols, who now owns the build- ing. Silas L. Parkus came to the place in 1883. He succeeded Benjamin C. Sweet, the first postmaster in Allenton, who came to the place, and began trading there in 1870. Wilbur & Fris- sell (A. A. Wilbur and F. R. Frissell) are general merchants at HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 405 AUentoti, the firm succeeding John R. Nichols in January, 1885. Mr. Frissell has been postmaster since October, 1885. The firm does a large business, and supplies Bellville, Narragansett, Shady . Lea and Silver Spring. Annaquatucket is an interesting little village situated on the river, about half a mile from its mouth. The mill history of this place has been given in the sketch by Peleg F. Pierce. The mill property now belongs to Joseph W. Greene of the Hamilton Web Company. Oak Hill, formerly Park Hill, is situated about one mile west of Bellville. Its manufacturing history is identical with Bell ville. The Woolen Mills at Sand Hill were formerly owned by D. Tillinghast. The power had been used before this for sash and blind manufacturing by John and James McKinzie. Tilling hast sold the property to G. W. and A. S. Reynolds in 1860. In July, 1883, the property came into the possession of C. A. Rey- nolds and his brothers Eugene R. and AValter. It has one set of cards and furnishes employment to sixteen hands. The store belongs to the mill. Bellville, an important manufacturing village, situated upon the Annaquatucket river, nearly in the center of the town, is largely owned by J. P. Campbell & Co., the proprietors of the mill. The lands in and about this place formerly belonged to Timothy Greene. Manufacturing here dates back to the begin- ning of the century. At that time there was a saw mill and a grist mill here. The Greenes and Tillinghasts operated then what was known as the Wickford Manufacturing Company, at Bellville. Lafayette was then called the North Kingstown Cot- ton Factory. Timothy Greene carried on the manufacture of yarn, which he continued until 1829. In 1830 Christopher and William Rhodes, Charles Eldred and Mr. Smith purchased the property. Smith and Eldred shortly afterward sold out their in- terests, and Silas Richmond, the agent, came in. In 1856 the property was destroyed by fire. In 1861 William E. Pierce then erected the present edifice. It is built of brick, four stories high, 100 by 50 feet, with one L 27 by 24 feet, and a dye house two and a half stories high. In 1864 J. P. Campbell & Co. first leased the machinery, and afterward purchased the property. They manufacture fancy cassimeres. The monthly production is about 26,000 yards. 406 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The pond here is in two parts, and taken together furnishes by far the largest water power in the town, but in addition to water power the machinery is run in part by steam. Mr. James R. Wilson was born in Pennsylvania, and came here in 1865 to work in the woolen mills. After having charge of the carding and spinning department for a few years he became the superintend- ent for J. P. Campbell & Co., and still fills that position. The capacity of the mill is six sets and twenty-six looms. They em- ploy about ninety operatives. Mr. R. Heely, now of Providence, carried on trading in Bell- ville at one time. Mr. B. S. Carpenter built the present store and his residence there in 1873. Davisville. — The village of Davisville is located on the Ston- ington Railroad, also on the old Post road, in the northern part of the town of North Kingstown. It has a post ofi&ce, a store and is the seat of one of the earliest woolen mills in the state. The place derived its name from Joshua Davis, an enterprising pioneer, who came here as early as 1694. Mr. Davis bought up large tracts of land on Hunt's river, and soon after (probably before 1720) erected a grist mill. He died January 21st, 1733, and the property passed into the hands of his son, Jeffrey Davis, who controlled it till his death in 1782, when it passed into the hands of his son Joshua, who in turn at his death, in 1829, turned it over to his son Ezra, the father of James M. Davis. From the year 1811 to 1824 the firm was E. & J. Davis, who began first to operate woolen looms by water power. Before this time they had wool carding and cloth dressing in connection with hand weaving. In 1849 James M. Davis engaged in the manu- facture of Kentucky Jeans in company with his brother-in-law, Henry Sweet, and his cousin, Albert S. Reynolds, the firm name being Davis, Reynolds & Co. In 1863 Mr. Reynolds went out. Mr. Davis continued in the business until 1873, when he rented his factory and retired. G. W. Reynolds & Co. took the property in 1875, and now Albert S. and Allen Reynolds are the owners of the business. The store connected with the mill at Davisville has been oper- ated for many years. In 1852 Mr. James M. Davis was successful in establishing a post office at this place, and for a period of four- teen years thereafter was the postmaster. G. W. Reynolds & Co. now own the store, M. M. Reynolds being postmaster. In 1875 the flag station on the railroad was burned and the present depot VIEWS AT DAVISVILLE. RTOTYPE, E. BIERSTAOT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 407 built. In 1873 business at this point increasing, Mr. Davis sold the land about the depot and plotted it into streets and dwelling house plots, since which several dwellings have gone up. Edwin R. Rogers is station agent. His predecessor, Mr. C. Chase, was there about thirty years. Honorable Henry Sweet (1806-1888).— When, in 1818, at the tender age of twelve years, Henry Sweet went forth to fight life's battle single handed, he could hardly have anticipated half the measure of success which he subsequently achieved by his per- sistent industry coupled with good judgment. Deprived of the educational advantages so common in this day, and possessed of a peculiarly sensitive and shrinking nature, life's outlook must have been unpromising and even forbidding to this young ad- venturer. But amidst discouraging environments a kind Provi- dence led him to one of his own townsmen in East Greenwich who proved a considerate and faithful friend. This was Ezra Davis, Esq., who resided on his farm near the southern border of the town and about a mile north of the present Davisville railroad station. Mr. Davis was also part owner of the manu- factory and water privilege on Hunt's river, at the site known as "Davis' Woolen Mill." At the personal and timid solicitation of this unknown boy, Mr. Davis received him into his employment, and was rewarded for his kindness to the stranger by subsequent years of faithful service. As opportunity offered, the youthful Henry Sweet made himself familiar with all the details of preparing and carding wool, spinning and weaving yarn, and at the same time mastered the secret of coloring fabrics. With tireless energy he devoted himself to these and subsequent pursuits of his business career. And few friends who had known him only in the well-earned and quiet enjoyment of his latter years could adequately con- ceive the nervous vigor which characterized his more active life. On September 23d, 1827, Mr. Sweet was united in marriage with Eliza, daughter of Ezra Davis, Esq. She confidingly trusted her future with the energetic young man whose character she had seen revealed in his daily life, and whose principal capital at the time consisted in an honest heart and willing hands. Until her death, July 22d, 1871, she remained an affectionate and help- ful companion, delighting in the advancement of their mutual interests and personifying the ideal wife in a happy home. Of 408 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. their four children, two sons died in infancy, and two daughters, Mrs. G. B. Reynolds, of Providence, and Mrs. Rev. N. J. Wheeler, of Philadelphia, are still living. Subsequent to his marriage an opportunity being offered him to superintend the mill's production, he eagerly embraced it, and displayed in this business his native tact and enterprise. His prosperity in this contract paved the way to his becoming a member of the new firm, which was organized in 1849 for carry- ing on woolen manufactures. He retained his interest in this business until 1873, when, at the age of sixty-seven, he with- drew, devoting himself henceforth to the care of his estate and to the pleasures of travel. In business life Mr. Sweet was indefatigable in the discharge of duties which devolved upon him. He considered not himself so long as any righteous demand remained unsatisfied. Indebt- edness he instinctively abhorred. When the first sixteen hun- dred dollars he had saved proved irremediably lost, he cheer- fully turned to the work of replacing the loss. Far better that he should suffer alone than that others should suffer through him, — this was his reflection. If he saw others sacrificing pro- fessed integrity under the pressure of financial stress, he re- mained incorruptible. Indeed, he seemed to shrink instinctively from all moral evil. Unassuming and retiring in disposition, Mr. Sweet did not as- pire to public honors ; yet at the choice of his fellow-citizens, he represented North Kingstown in the state senate of 1857, and was repeatedly chosen for similar service, covering in all a legisla- tive experience of twelve years. And in all his political life he was so just and manly in his relations with his opponents, that friendly feelings were sought and sustained ; while he was prompt to disavow all previous knowledge and connection with any un- just aspersions which his political supporters had heaped upon his rivals in the heat of a canvass, and to express his sorrow per- sonally to those who had been thus wronged. By such ingenu- ousness he commanded the respect alike of political supporters and opponents. In October, 1856, at the organization of the State Bank, now represented by the Greenwich National Bank, Henry Sweet was chosen president and Samuel M. Knowles, cashier. This post of responsibility came to him in the nature of a surprise. And to- ward the close of his life he is known to have remarked that no V~'WPrestrrLl C'V'^' HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 409 event in his experience had touched him so deeply as when, in the trying autumn of 1856, a committee of proposed stockholders waited upon him and solicited his acceptance of this office, say- . ing : " We wish you to be president to give character to the bank." No one could have been more solicitous for the bank's prosperity than was he. His position often required him to choose between fidelity to the interests of the stockholders and the solicitations of friends for financial help. Painful as it might be to disappoint the expectation of friends, he knew only one law in such matters, and this was expressed in as gentle terms as possible. Nor was the bank less happy in the selection of a cashier ; for both worked in harmony for its truest interests through a period of thirty-two years, a record rarely matched in banking institutions. At a meeting of the directors of the Greenwich National Bank, held October 15th, 1888, the following preamble and resolution were passed : " Whereas, It has pleased God in his Avise providence to re- move by death the Honorable Henry Sweet, for thirty-two years the honored President of this Bank, therefore, " Resolved, That we place upon record our grateful apprecia- tion of his long and faithful service, and our sense of the great loss that we, his associates, have sustained by his death. " That we recognize in the long and useful career of Mr. Sweet a rare example of spotless integrity, generous purposes, and all the virtues of a noble. Christian manhood ; that he went down to the grave full of honors as full of years, and his works do follow him. " That we extend to his bereaved family our sincere sympathy, remembering that their and our loss is his gain. " S. M. Kxqwles, Secretary.'" Scrupulously faithful in all things, this trait was conspicuous in his church relations. Early in life he became a Christian and ever after tried to adorn the doctrines of his Saviour by the hum- ble exemplifying of his precepts and imitation of his example. His name headed the roll of membership in the Quidnessett Bap- tist church, and he had, in fact, survived all who were connected with this body at the time he joined it. A constant worshipper in the house of God, he was among the most liberal supporters of the church, and generously remembered it in his will. His social and fraternal nature induced him to join the ancient order of Masonry, and his membership in King Solomon's Lodge, of 410 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. East Greenwich, may have contributed in rounding out his sym- metrical character. But it was in his loved home that his rare qualities shone forth with brightest radiance. Sunny and mirth- ful in disposition, his presence in the household inspired like qualities in those around him, while his absence from the fam- ily circle was painfully missed. His own happiness was meas- ured by the degree of happiness he was able to contribute to the members of his family. Their comfort and enjoyment was his constant study, and so generous and repeated were the gifts he showered upon them, that they were constrained to protest against their continuance. As the noble and spotless husband, the considerate and affectionate father, he has left behind him memories which his loved ones will cherish with increasing fond- ness. Nor was his home maintained for the exclusive enjoy- ment of its own members. He took special delight in hospital- ity, and few weeks passed without the entertainment of invited guests, who were not only made to feel quite at ease, but were also charmed by the cordial treatment they daily received. To have experienced the charms of his home was an enrichment of memory, and must have been helpful, by its suggestions, in per- fecting the homes of his guests. The fact has been noticed above that Mr. Sweet devoted time to travel in his later years. His travels embraced a large part of this country and of Canada. In his seventy-ninth year he made a tour to California in company with his wife and others, the physical demands of which were met without fatigue. In- deed, his physical vigor, the result of a strictly temperate life, was remarkable until his last and only sickness. Through the wide information acquired by extended travel, with its contact with people of different climes and opinions, he gained a broad intelligence and cosmopolitan traits. In September, 1872, Mr. Sweet married iliss Helen Gay, of Scotland, Conn., a cultivated and most estimable woman, who contributed largely to the happiness of his last years. This second wife survives him, and in her bereavement has received many touching testimonials to the excellencies of her departed husband. An extract may appropriately be given from a letter received by a neighbor of Mr. Sweet soon after his death. It was written by William H. Potter, Esq., the distinguished lawyer of Kingston, R. I., who was an intimate friend of him whose loss he mourned : % A HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 411 "Mr. Sweet was one of ttie old-fashioned kind of men, too scarce now — industrious, frugal and honest in the best sense of the term — a man of genuine integrity in all things, and this not from the contemptible thing called policy, but from principle. * * * I wish our State had more men of his stamp.'" Born July 9th, 1806, died October 3d, 1888, will be among the lines on the tombstone that will perpetuate the memory of Henry Sweet ; but for those who knew him and shared his love, neither granite nor marble will be needed to keep fresh the blessed memory of one whose noble character and Christian virtues will abide with them as a precious benediction. James Monroe Davis, president of the First National Bank, East Greenwich, R. I., is a native of Davisville, and was born in the town of North Kingstown, February 2d, 1821. He is the son of Ezra Davis and Mehitable, daughter of Benjamin Reynolds, a descendant of William Reynolds, a pioneer in North Kings- town. Ezra Davis was one of the early woolen manufacturers of the state, and a descendant of Aaron Davis, who was a proprietor in Dartmouth, Mass., in 1694, and pastor of the Baptist church in that place in 1698. The names of the descendants of Aaron Davis in the parental line are as follows : Aaron', Joshua^ Jeffrey", Joshua', Ezra^ and James M. Davis", the subject of this sketch. James jSL Davis received but a common school education. He attended school at the Washington Academy, Wickford, two years, and the academy at Kingston for the same length of time. At the early age of sixteen he began the mercantile busi- ness, which he continued for a term of years. In 1849 he engaged in the manufacture of Kentucky jeans with his brother-in-law, Henry Sweet, and his cousin, Albert S. Reynolds ; and from that time until he retired from the more active pursuits of life in 1873 carried on a very extensive business. Mr. Davis has done much for the village of Davisville. In 1852 he was instrumental in securing the establishment of the post office. In 1866 and 1867 he served his town acceptably as a member of the Rhode Island assembly. He has been a consistent member of the Quidnessett Baptist church since the year 1839 ; has been treasurer of the society for many years, and a munificent contributor in all times of need for charitable and other purposes. Upon the rebuilding of the church edifice in 1882 he furnished one-third of the funds necessary for the completion of the building out of his own purse, and subsequently he purchased the pipe organ, which he 412 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. presented to the church as a gift. Fie has been a director in the National Bank of East Greenwich for many years, and upon the death of Mr. Henry Sweet was elected its president, October 15th, 1888. October 22d, 1840, he married Miss Mary Ann Allen, daughter of James and Fteelove (Pearce) Allen, of North Kingstown, R. I. Mrs. Davis is of Welsh descent, and her ancestors date back to William Allen, who came to America in 1660, and settled on Prudence island. The line of descent is as follows : William', John', Thomas', Christopher*, Silas' and James Allen", who was her father. On her grandmother's side Judge John Allen was a nephew to Christopher Allen, her great-great-grandfather on her father's side, the peculiar feature of her genealogical history being the fact that the gran df athers of the two above-named an- cestors were also cousins. Judge John Allen was a soldier in the revolution ; he was taken prisoner by the British and his house burned. The children born to James M. Davis and his wife are : Hettie ; Hannah J., who married Fayette B. Bennett, of Hope Valley, R. I.; Mary D.; Ida G., who married William H. Congdon, of Warwick, who was killed by horses, February 7th, 1872 (She died in 1883, leaving two sons — Frederick D. and Arthur R. Congdon); and Emma A., who married Christopher Allen, of Stafford, Conn. Mr. and Mrs. Bennett have three children : Allen B., James D. and Mary E. These five grand-children of Mr. and Mrs. Davis are living now as the representatives of the eighth generation from the New England progenitor of 1694. Albert S. and Allen Reynolds.— William Reynolds, the pro- genitor of the branch of the family resident in Rhode Island, emigrated from England in 1636 and settled in Providence. Here he doubtless followed his trade as a weaver and acquired proper- ty which was subsequently sold to Robert Williams. Probably the same year he became a resident of North Kingstown, where the family has since been largely represented. His son James had among his children a son James, who was born at Sandy Hill October 28th, 1650. His son Peter was the father of John Reynolds, whose son Benjamin, born April 19th, 1766, in North Kingstown, was the grandfather of the subjects of this biography. He married Elizabeth Reynolds, whose ancestry was identical with his own. Their children were five sons : John B., Isaac, William, George W. and James ; and four daughters : Nancy, Elizabeth, Hannah and Waity. James, the youngest of these ^J^::^^/ 72^^4^ AHTOTYPe, E, BIERSTAOT, N. ■^^-t^^r^^^ ARTOTVPE, e. BIEHSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 413 sons, was born August 11th, 1798, in North Kingstown, and dur- ing his business life filled the double role of manufacturer and farmer at Sandy Hill. He married Penelope Essex on the 27th of September, 1819. Their children were : Maria G., born in 1820 ; Albert S., February 26th, 1822 ; Susan R., in 1825 ; and Emily G, in 1834; of whom all but Albert S. are deceased. Albert S. Reynolds was born at Sandy Hill, where he attended the district schools and later pursued a more thorough course at the Greenwich Academy. His taste led to manufacturing, and influenced him at the conclusion of his studies to enter the mills at Davisville with a view to acquiring a knowledge of its various departments. He began manufacturing in 1846 and three years later became a member of the firm of Davis, Reynolds & Co., which relation continued until 1863, when he acquired a half in- terest in the mill at Sandy Hill. In 1875, being desirous of further extending his business, he became one of the owners of the Davisville mill, and still continues that partnership. The Sandy Hill property having been sold, his time is now chiefly de- voted to the management of the mill at Davisville, though not to the exclusion of other matters of public import which engage his attention. He was for many years a loyal supporter of the prin- ciples of the whig party and transferred his allegiance to the re- publican party on its organization. He is popular with his con- stituents, was elected to the state legislature in 1856-7, and at a later date served a term each in the state senate and the house of representatives. His sound judgment in flnancial matters has been made available in the conduct of the Greenwich National Bank, of which he has been for many years a director. Mr. Reynolds was on the 7th of December, 1846, married to Harriet N., daughter of Mumford D. Tillinghast, of East Green- wich. Their children are : Ella M., wife of Stephen E. Rey- nolds ; Milton M., Walter J. and Calis A, Mr. Reynolds' church afiiliations have been in connection with the Baptist denomina- tion of which he is a supporter. Allen Reynolds traces his descent from William Reynolds, the progenitor of the family in Rhode Island, his grandparents being Benjamin and Elizabeth Reynolds, whose children have been previously mentioned. Their son John B. was born in 1780, in North Kingstown, where the varied duties pertaining to a farmer's vocation engaged his attention during the greater part of his active life. He married Mary, daughter of Arthur Ayles- worth, of the same town. Their children were : Hannah, who died 414 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in infancy ; Benjamin, Mary, John, Hazard, Abby, Elizabeth, William W. A., Ann G., Emma, Almira, Allen, and Sarah L., of whom five survive. Allen, the youngest son, was born Decem- ber 17th, 1826, in North Kingstown, and like other lads of the period, received his earliest instruction at the common schools. Additional advantages were, however, enjoyed by him under private teachers. His tastes led to mechanical pursuits, and especially to the intricacies of the machinist's trade, but the mill at Davisville affording the most convenient opening, he en- tered the carding department at the age of seventeen, and be- came thoroughly proficient in that branch of manufacturing. He was, in the spring of 1847, employed by A. & W. Sprague at Na- tick, in Rhode Island, continued one and a half years thus en- gaged, and spent the following winter in study. In 1849 his ser- vices were in demand with Davis, Reynolds & Co., in a new mill started by them, and in 1866, three years after the organization of the firm of Davis, Sweet & Co., he became one of its partners. This business association continued until 1873, the date of its dis- solution, and in 1875 Mr. Reynolds was made a member of the firm of G. W. Reynolds & Co., who operated mills both at Davis- ville and Sandy Hill. The senior partner having retired in 1883, the Sandy Hill property was sold, and the attention of the re- maining partners given exclusively to the Davisville mill, which is now in active operation and devoted to the production of Washington jeans. Mr. Reynolds was in April, 1853, married to Elizabeth S., daugh- ter of Sylvester Johnson, of North Kingstown. Their children are : Curtis C, a resident of California ; Marion G., Lula A. (Mrs. Geo. H. Fowler, of Pawtucket), Emma (Mrs. Walter B. Knight, of Bozrahville, Conn.), William A., who is employed in the mill, and Annie M. Mr. Reynolds has as a republican represented his party in the state councils, filling the office of assemblyman dur- ing the years 1878 and 1881, and that of state senator in 1885, 1886 and 1887. He has also been prominent in the administration of local affairs. He is a member of the Quidnessett Baptist church, of which he is the present clerk. Collation Corners is situated at the head of the celebrated Ten Rod road at its junction with the post road. This place was thus named in 1832, when a Jackson supper was given to those c/l Q CC J O 6 z, o >- ^ U o z .s 3 I ? w 2 O 2, Z c U y Q -^ W " o: 5 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 415 favoring the election of " Old Hickory." The gathering resulted in a good spree and a good dinner, and in honor of the occasion the place received the appellation of " Collation Corners." George T. Cranston is located here in the mercantile business. He has an excellent store, and enjoys the respect and confidence of the people generally. Lafayette, or Wickford Junction, which adjoins, is the seat of quite a manufacturing industry. The Providence and Ston- ington Railroad Company have a fine station here. The Wick- ford Branch road terminates at this point. The point is an im- portant one and considerable business is carried on. The post office was established in 1856 and was kept by Charles Rodman, a former merchant in the place. It has been kept for the past sixteen years by A. C. Taylor, who has also been a mer- chant in the place for about eighteen years. In 1887 Mr. Taylor took his clerk into partnership and the store has since been con- ducted under the firm name of Taylor & Davis. Lafayette has quite an interesting manufacturing history. About the year 1800 a snuff mill was erected here and also a tan- nery, but both have long since disappeared. The Lafayette property was early owned by William Greene and one Hawkins, who began the business of spinning yarn, being among the old- est cotton manufacturers in the state and the first in the town. The size of the building was 28 by 33 feet, three stories high and built of wood. These gentlemen were succeeded after a number of years in 1824 by George W. Tillinghast and Charles Eldred, who put in a new wheel and flume. About 1825 Charles Eldred sold to his partner and subsequently Tillinghast sold to Gardner & Hoxsie. July 1st, 1844, Gardner & Hoxsie assigned to John Hall. In August, 1844, John Hall, assignee, sold to Jeremiah G. and Henry T. Chadsey. August 8th, 1844, they sold to Albert Sanford and on December 25th, 1847, Mr.Sanford sold to Robert Rodman. Mr. Sanford manufactured cotton goods. In 1848 Mr. Rodman changed the machinery and commenced the manufac- ture of woolen goods. He commenced with one set of machin- ery and twelve looms. In addition to the manufacture of woolen goods he also makes the warps used in his jeans manufactured by him at his factory known as the Shady Lea mills. During the year 1877 he erected a fine brick mill 316 by 55 feet, three stories high, with two towers, twenty-one and seventy feet high respec- tivety. The chimney is ninety-two feet in height. An iron lad- 416 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. der runs tip this flue. Mr. Rodman also built a fine store hotise of brick, a great number of houses and tenements, virtually own- ing most of the interest in the village. The name of the place was given in honor of the distinguished revolutionary general, Lafayette. The Rodman Manufacturing Company consists of Mr. Robert Rodman and his sons. Silver Spring is a place, the name of which was derived from a spring near by that throws out mica and sulphur, it being the only one of the kind in the town. The Taylors, finishers of woolen goods and custom carders, commenced busi- ness here about a century ago and continued the business for a long time. J. D. Williams & Co. purchased the property about 1823 and manufactured coarse woolen goods. In 1824 the mill was carried away by a flood. In 1832-3 the mill was purchased by Thomas R. Hazard, who manufactured what was known as negro cloth. In 1835 Hazard sold to Christopher Allen. He sold to Robert Rodman in 1841. Rodman sold to Hiscox & Pierce in 1845, and in 1863 they sold to Gideon Reynolds. In 1868 it was burned. Mr. Rodman, the present owner, then pur- chased the property, changed the machinery, and since that time has used it for the manufacture of doeskins and jeans. Shady Lea, a pleasant little burgh, is situated on the Matta- tuxet river about one mile east of Silver Spring. Esbon Sanford here began the manufacture of jeans, probably the first in the town. In 1832 Mr. Sanford sold out to Edward Tillinghast. In 1836 Christopher Allen purchased the property, and in 1840 he sold out to his brother Charles, who manufactured flannels and linsey-woolseys, also finally cassimeres until 1855, from which time until 1870 numerous parties operated here. During the war army blankets were made here by General Walter B. Chapin. In 1870 Robert Rodman purchased the mill and manufactured warps. Robert Rodman.— The Rodman family in Rhode Island, now represented by the seventh, eighth and ninth generations of de- scent from John Rodman, has doubtless attained to its greatest prominence thus far through the business career of Robert Rod- man as a successful manufacturer in North and South Kingstown. He was born October 9th, 1818, at Tower Hill, in South Kings- stown, where his parents, Clarke and Mary (Gardner) Rodman, were born in 1781. Clarke Rodman (1781^1859) was the son of Robert, and grandson of Samuel Rodman, whose father, Thomas, "'^>^-,s?5i^i2-^2-i:^-< HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 417 was son of Thomas, and grandson of John Rodman, the progeni- tor of all in New England who bear this family name. The early days of the subject of this sketch were passed at his birthplace, which was the Robert Brown house, standing then at the west of the post road at its junction with the highway lead- ing westerly from Tower Hill. That community then had few helps and some hindrances to the formation of noble characters in the boys who were raised and educated in it. Horse racing and other less unobjectionable sports gave Tower Hill a wide reputation, and a tavern, with its open bar, was one of the fixed institutions of the place. Whatever was or might have been the influence of this atmosphere upon others, it, with other forces, developed a resultant in the moral qualities of the young man Rodman, which has been until to-day the leading characteristic of his career. By many who know him Robert Rodman is called a shrewd man of business ; and that may be safely said of any one who in this day and age of sharp competition can acquire a million in the regular channels of business. His relations to and his methods with the families whose homes depend upon his pay rolls, are somewhat peculiar to himself, and Avhen his liberal helpful policy toward his employees has given many of them homes of their own, and secured him a class of help far above the average in reliability, he is said by others to be a man of great insight into human nature. When he is found at the head of the manufacturing enterprises, as already noticed in this chapter, all being directed with mechanical method and mathematical precision, somewhat of executive ability must fairly be inferred. Not, however, by the qualities of head so much as the qualities of heart is Robert Rod- man probably destined to be longest remembered. He has al- ways held radical views on questions of business ethics, main- taining in theory and in practice that the civil law imposes often less obligations than the higher moral law, and that a man may not always gain and hold all that the civil courts allow. Who- ever, by the bright light of prosperity, sees the obligations of disastrous days when they are passed, and meets them, not as obligations of law, but obligations of right, lends thereby a needed impulse to the better tendency of human nature, and puts the sluggish race upon its honor by the example set. The bu.siness days of Air. Rodman began before he wastwent}-, and at Silver Spring and at the Lawton Mill, in Exeter, he had 27 418 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. valuable experience before purchasing Lafayette, in December of 1847. In his domestic relations Mr. Rodman has been signally favored. His wife, to whom he was married April 3d, 1841, is Almira, daughter of Colonel William and Mary (Sanford) Taylor, of North Kingstown. This union has been blessed in the birth of nine children, six of whom are living : Franklin, born Janu- ary 29th, 1842, married Sarah R. Allen ; Hortense, born August 29th, 1843, married George O. Allen ; Albert, born May 23d, 1846, married Mary Allen ; Charles, born March 16th, 1848, maried first Mary E. Money, in 1868, and on the 2d of November, 1878, he married Isadora Kingsley ; Walter Rodman, the fifth of the family, was born March 11th, 1850, and died in infancy ; Emily was born January 15th, 1852, and was married in 1884 to William H. Rodman, a son of Clarke and Fannie Rodman ; Walter Rod- man, the seventh of the family, was born February 3d, 1853, and married Carrie E. Taber ; Thomas F., born February 24th, 1857, died in infancy ; Almira T., born January 8th, 1861, died at four years of age. While Mr. Rodman has long been a recognized leader in al- most every department of ptiblic enterprise, he has steadily de- clined all proffered political honors, save one term in the gen- eral assembly. His political views are in general accord with those of the republican party, and fully so upon the subject of import taxes. His principal mill is at Lafayette, where also is his residence and principal business office. ScRABBLETOWN is situated in the western part of the town, about two miles northwest of Wickford Junction. Moses Maw- ney has the honor of giving the place its name. In those earlier times rum was used on all occasions, and during the raising of the " Long House " an idea was suggested that the place should have a name. The honor was by consent granted to Mr. Mawney, who swung his bottle and christened the place Scrabbletown, and the name stands to-day as the only monument that preserves the memory of the jolly old tar. A grist mill was erected in 1824 by Jonathan Nichols and his son Gordon. Jonathan N. Ar- nold, a recent owner, put in a new set of stones and remodelled the mill generally. The people about the place are generally en- gaged in agricultural pursuits. ^Mi I I ! I o u. u c If) u D 'f! D X C -uBg ,, — jva/A s,u9nj joj spooS pa^sjoAv jo X^iBpads ■b Suunp^jn -UBUi SI puB ;x mSnoq '(uq2n-B^\ uj\[ |o js^nSn^p ai^i pguj'Bui pnB Bm'BA];Asuu9j ux tijoq sbav oqAv) XjoSaaf) ra'BixiTM "-^H 1881 ^I •JoaipuuS j;oj laAvod s^ pssn oijas. 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Mr. Gregory employs about seventy-five hands, and in 1887 produced $175,000 worth of goods. The building is of brick, two stories in height, 100 by 50 feet, with an ell 50 by 30 feet. Town Farm. — " The first provision made by the town for the maintenance of its poor was in 1769, when the freeholders of North Kingstown representing that they were greatly burdened with poor people, and that a workhouse in which to employ them would be of great advantage, prayed the general assembly to grant them a lottery to raise the sum of one hundred and twenty pounds, lawful money, to be applied toward the building of said workhouse, agreeable to the scheme presented in the petition. The petition was granted. It is impossible to say how long this system was in vogue, but from time immemorial the poor have been farmed out to the lowest bidder and the keeper annually elected in town meeting. " In 1868, the town purchased a farm and erected suitable build- ings where the unfortunate may now be well provided for and enjoy the comforts and conveniences of a home. It may seem strange to us that philanthropy should call to its aid such an aux- iliary as the lottery, but in those days this manner of raising money was resorted to in every emergency. By it public works were constructed, churches were built, and the losses of individ- als reimbursed. We read that in 1762 ' a lottery to raise $4,500 was granted by the General Assembly to William Wall and Henry- Wall, of North Kingstown, whose merchandise was destroyed by fire in Newport.' In the five years ending in 1775, no less than thirteen religious societies in Rhode Island, of every denomina- tion, were granted lotteries to assist them in building or repair- ing their houses of worship." Murders. — The first murder of which we have record in the town of North Kingstown was the killing of Walter House by Thomas Flounders. A jury of twelve persons on July 12th, 1670, found that the said House came to his death by an act of Thomas Flounders. At this time there was much wrangling between the Rhode Island and Connecticut authorities, and the parties in some way were engaged in this contest. Flounders admitted " having struck a blow with a small stick and that House holding up his arm fell over backward, hit his head against a rafter, said House being on the threshold of Flounders in the shop." Flounders was executed and on October 26th, 1670, the assem- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 421 bly confiscated the estate. Jotn Greene, however, circulated a petition in behalf of the widow of Flounders, and because she was the mother of an infant, there was left to her for her support and relief, all the bedding, household stuff, a cow and a hog, together with the corn. William E. Pierce, an eye witness in part to the scenes and events incident to what follows, thus describes a horrible murder which occurred in the town of North Kingstown during the earlier years of the present century. He says : " The murder of Rovelto by Turner brings to the writer's mind one that was com- mitted some fifty years ago in the town of North Kingstown by a colored man by the name of James Browning, a well-to-do, re- spectable citizen farmer, owner of a small farm about one and one-half miles southeast of AUenton post office and about one- half mile southeast of Shady Lea "Mills, so called. James Brown- ing, a very stout, robust man, weighing some two hundred and fifty, murdered an old feeble man of color by the name of Cato Room, a highly respected citizen of this town living at AUenton village. The feebleness of Mr. Room was partly caused by having had a wen taken from between his shoulder blades, weighing twenty-seven pounds, by Doctor Shaws of Wickford. " The circumstances of the murder are as follows, as near as the writer can recollect, being quite young at the time. Mr. Browning had been to Providence with a horse team carrying a load of poultry and farm produce, and to bring back winter stores. On his return he stopped at the house of Mr. Room, late at night, complaining of feeling very bad, and invited the old man Cato to go home with him and stay all night, but he de- clined and gave as an excuse that he was not feeling well him- self. Some two or three hours afterward the old man Cato and his wife were awakened by the wife of Mr. Browning, asking him to come with her to her house as her husband was acting very strangely, and had driven her out of doors, threatening to kill her. Cato went reluctantly, and on arriving at the house was met in the entry by Browning, who pounded him to death against the sides of the room and on the threshold of the door, and not being satisfied with this, pounded his head to a jelly with a piece of stone that was used to hold the door open. The wife immediately alarmed the neighbors, who flocked to the scene of the tragedy, the writer being one of the number, and by sunrise there were fifty people or more on the ground, but Mr. Browning, 422 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. with his dog and gun had taken to the woods. In the course of an hour or two he made his appearance with his dog and gun, threatening to shoot, which made the people scatter in all direc- tions. They soon rallied and sought shelter in and around the house and other buildings. His dog got to fighting with another dog, and he laid down his gun and tried to part them. The people then rushed and secured him, carried him into the house and lashed him to the bedstead, and it took as many men as could stand around the bedstead to hold him on while being tied. " When lashed to the bedstead his only weapon was to spit, which he did to every one that came into the room. He was carried to Kingston jail, where he died in a short time, a raving maniac, leaving a widow and three sons, Samuel, Jonathan and Daniel. The first two are dead. Daniel is at the state farm for life for the murder of his mother some thirty years ago on the same farm and near the same place, but in another house. The writer called on Daniel at the state farm a few years ago and found him tending boilers. He seemed very rational at first, was very glad to see me, and inquired very particularly after his neighbors and acquaintances, but soon began to be uneasy, and said that it would not do for him to talk more as he was fearful he might lose his place, as it was the best he ever had." Elm Grove Cemetery. — In 1850 a few enterprising citizens of the town of North Kingstown conceived the idea of purchas- ing a suitable tract of land and dividing it into lots for a burying ground. Prior to this time there was no public cemetery in the town, and every family buried as it could, which was gener- ally on its own lands. The plan above mentioned was soon car- ried into execution. A tract of land consisting of five acres was obtained of Joseph Stanton, which is in a pleasant locality some two miles south of Wickford. This tract was graded and ave- nues laid out at proper distances, and everything made ready for interment of the dead. Twice since that time this enclosure has been enlarged, and at present contains some twenty acres of graded lands, and many of the avenues are now shaded with stately elms, pines and evergreens. The number of graves has increased to over twelve hundred. The plot of the Holland family, inclosed with evergreens and having a marble monument in memory of father, mother, sisters and a brother, who were killed by pirates near the island of Cuba, is just within the gates. Next is that of Doctor George H. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 423 Church, who took great interest in the establishing of these grounds, and did more for the cause than any other one man ; and near by his shaft is a beautiful monument erected to the memory of William N. Sherman, also one of the founders of the cemetery. In this same plot is the marble slab that marks the grave of the Reverend William Northup, who was pastor of the First Baptist church in North Kingstown fifty-seven years. There are also many other monuments and shafts of later date, of which may be mentioned those of the late James Eldredge, Joseph W. Gardiner, Jeremiah G. Chadsey, Alfred Reynolds, Nicholas B. Spink, Captain Hefiferman, C. A. Chadsey, and J. J. Reynolds. Schools. — In the year 1800 there was not a school house in the town of North Kingstown, and but one literary institution besides Brown University in the state. At this time, however, a new era was dawning, and the subject of building school houses began to receive attention. A large per cent, of the common people could neither read nor write, and with these facts in view, the citizens of Newport, Providence and North Kingstown united in the estab- lishment of an academy, and Wickford was the location selected. After the establishment of the academy school houses were built. The first in the town was built by Thomas Allen, John Wight- man and Thomas G. Allen, about the year 1806. This house was afterward bought by Thomas G. Allen, and it was used for meet- ing and school purposes till 1887, when it was moved and became a part of the dwelling house on the Gould Mount farm. This school house stood in the northern part of Quidnessett, now Dis- trict No. 1, a little^in front of the present building. It was about 24 feet by 26, with an entry across the east end, nine feet posts and arched overhead. There was an elevated pulpit and desks, with balusters on three sides, and old-fashioned writing desks and benches without backs, fastened to the walls of the house on two sides. The second house was built by William Reynolds in 1808. It stood on the hill one-fourth of a mile south of Potowomut mill, near the residence of the owner. It was used first for a school and meeting house and afterward converted into a dwelling house. About this time a school house was built near Davisville depot by Ezra and Jeffrey Davis. This house was subsequently supplanted by another of much larger dimensions in a more cen- tral locality. Following the erection of these buildings others 424 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. were soon built, each furnished with some improvement in school appliances. Patent desks, seats, chairs, etc., however, did not make their appearance until about the year 1855. The long writing desks on either side of the house, and the seats without backs and made of slabs, gave way in the rapid strides of civili- zation to chairs and settees and other appliances of ease and com- fort for the school room. In the early days grammar and geography were not taught in the common schools. In the year 1828 money began to be ap- propriated by the state, and the district system commenced. At the June town meeting of this year a school committee of fifteen persons was elected, comprising the most substantial citizens of the town. They were Reverend Lemuel Burge, Francis Chappell, Joseph W. Allen, William P. Maxwell, Willet Carpenter, Esbon Sanford, Silas Richmond, Beriah Brown, Samuel Browning, Jeffrey Davis, William Reynolds, Philip N. Tillinghast, Perry Greene, James Allen and Daniel Congdon. At the first meeting of this committee, held June 21st, 1828, Lemuel Burge was chosen chairman, and Silas Richmond, secretary. The town was divided into ten districts, and soon after another was added. The following enactments were passed by the board: " Voted, That schools be opened in each district on the first Monday in December, and be continued twelve weeks. Voted, That each school teacher keep an exact account of the actual at- tendance of each scholar, and lay the same before this Committee at the end of the quarter. Voted, That the money received from the state be divided among the districts in proportion to the num- ber of children that shall have actually attended school. Voted, That Lemuel Burge be a committee to examine such teachers as shall be directed to him. Voted, That the Committee of each District shall hire the teachers, pay their portion of the money and the balance they must receive from the parents of the scholars, and each Committee is to locate the school." In March and April, 1830, the sum of $378.84 was divided among the schools of the town. On November 9th, 1836, a cen- sus of school children was ordered, but we find no report until October, 1838, when the committee reported fourteen districts and 1,044 children under sixteen years of age. In 1846 the districts were organized as incorporated bodies, and trustees, clerks, collectors and treasurers were elected. In 1848 the school committee voted that districts having no school houses HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 425 should build or fhe public money should be withheld, and during this year and the next the school houses became the property of the districts. In 1860 Hamilton district was made from the three contiguous districts. The money divided this year was $2,033.29. In 1870 the state appropriated $2,083.16, and the town $1,500. In 1853 George H. Church was allowed $22 for visiting schools of the town. In 1868 Alfred B. Chadsey received $50 for the same pur- pose, and $20 for publishing his report. Mr. Chadsey again visited the schools in 1875. In 1887 the town apportionment for public schools was $3,500, and to William C. Baker, superintend- ent of public schools, $200. First Baptist Church. — On a gentle slope of the western shore of Narragansett bay, about midway between the South Ferry and Plum beach, a few rods above the water, may be seen a little excavation, where once stood the pleasant and happy home of William Northup. His father, Gideon Northup, was the proprietor of this beautiful and romantic abode. The house was one of the olden time, but it answered well for the ferr}'man and his frequent transient guests, as well as his little family group. The background was composed of a long, high hill dotted with grassy undulations and ledges of granite, with here and there a tree that had defied the storm of ages. The bay in beauty and loveliness extended in full view for miles to the north, and to the south until it emerged into the broad At- lantic. The variety of scenery along the bay formed a grand panorama, including pebbly beaches and rugged rocks, against which the blue waves were ever in motion, sometimes giving dulcimer notes, and ever and anon dashing in stormy thunder tones. Such was the early dwelling place and the surroundings of the founder of the First Baptist church in North Kingstown. William Northup was born on the 23d of July, 1760. At the age of fifteen, when the war of the revolution broke out, he enlisted as a soldier, and became a drummer. He soon afterward be- came drum major, and subsequently received a military com- mission. He was in the service of his country about three years, engaged in several battles by sea and land, and closed his military career as a prize master. Just previous to leaving the service, while on the yard arm of the ship reefing a top sail during a gale, William Northup became a new creature. This conversion changed the whole purpose of his life, and he at once 426 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. gave up his commission and returned home to preach the gospel, and began immediately. The First Baptist church in North Kingstown was constituted November 12th, 1782. A little band of professing Christians scattered over a territory of several miles, which had been under the instruction of Elder Rogers, met in conference at the house of Rowse Northup and voted themselves a church of Christ. At this meeting a conference was appointed to be held at the house of Joshua Allen in Boston Neck, the next day. In this confer- ence the flock was met by Elder Philip Jenkins (who was settled near Devil's Foot as pastor of a little company of the faithful that worshipped there), Elder Isaiah Wilcox and Elder Silas Bur- roughs, of Groton, Conn. The conference approved of constitu- ting a new church. Elder Jenkins was chosen moderator. At this meeting, on the request of twelve brethren and twenty sis- ters, William Northup was unanimously called to the work of a watchman upon the wall. In accordance with this decision it was concluded that the doub- le services of ratifying the formation of the church and ordina- tion should take place the next day. A conference that evening and preliminary arrangements kept the people together until three o'clock the next morning. The rising sun on that morn- ing shone brightly on the little church, which was that day to be acknowledged, and William Northup to be ordained its pas- tor. The meeting was held at the house of Joshua Allen, and commenced at nine o'clock in the morning. The ordaining sermon was preached by Elder Burroughs. Text : Second Timothy, IV, 2. Elder Wilcox gave the charge. Elder Jenkins the right hand of fellowship, and Deacon Parker offered the concluding prayer. Immediately after these services seven persons stepped forward and laid their demands to go through the ordinance of baptism on the next Sabbath. The next Sabbath arrived and a great multitude assembled at the same place to participate in and witness the exercises and ordin- ances of the day. It was the day for Elder Northup to preach his first sermon after his ordination and his first administration of the rite of baptism. His text was : Acts II, 38. The baptis- mal scene was solemn and affecting. Seven happy converts went down into the water and were baptized. On Christmas day fol- lowing Elder Northup preached at the house of Rowse North- up from- Matthew XI, 8. After the sermon William Cory stood HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 427 Up and made confession of his sins and profession of his faith, was received by the church, baptized the same day, and received the laying on of hands. John Morey was the first deacon ordained, probably November 24th, 1782. In January, 1783, at a meeting of the church it was agreed that no member on conference, covenant, preparatory or church meet- ings should speak anything in regard to business or renewing covenant without standing on his or her feet ; likewise that the members stand on their feet in time of singing. On the 2d of August, William Cory was chosen clerk of the meeting, the records having been previously kept by the pastor. In Novem- ber a brother had been cited to appear at the conference to an- swer to a charge of entire absence from the meetings of the church. The brother appeared and sat in conference with his hat on, and on being questioned answered he had no shoes. The brother's wants were soon supplied. In 1784 a sister of the church being very poor, it was voted in conference that she be boarded during the winter at the expense of the church. A brother present then engaged to board her un- til the following 25th of March at " fourteen pence hapenny " per week. In 1785, on the 12th of November, the church agreed to send messengers to the general conference to be held at Elder Burroughs' meeting house in Groton. In 1786 the church joined the Groton Union Conference and continued in that association until 1818, when it united with the Stonington Association, having been dismissed from the former to join the latter. It remained in the latter association until 1827, when it was dropped, as it did not report itself to the asso- ciation. The church joined the Warren Association in 1839 and continued in that body until 1859, when it was dismissed to help form the Narragansett Association. At a meeting of the church September 30th, it was voted that Elder Northup should draw up a subscription and circulate it to raise money to build a meeting house. Money was raised and a house was built. Previously meetings had been held at dwelling houses in different parts of North Kingstown and adjoining towns. In 1793, on the 30th of August, the church set apart Samuel Northup, a member of the church and a brother of William, to the work of an evangelist. He was subsequently settled as a 428 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pastor over a church in Swansea, Mass., where he continued four years, until his death, during which time he baptized twenty- nine converts, the visible fruits of his labors. In 1799, the church being destitute of a proper hymn book, Elder Northup prepared a variety of original hymns, and pub- lished a book of " Divine Hymns and Spiritual Songs." This work passed through its ninth edition. The manner and style of singing in those days would be amusing to the present genera- tion. In 1816 (July 6th) the church voted that Thurston Northup and another brother of the elder, and Beriah Gardiner, serve the church in the capacity of assistant deacons this year. A second meeting house was built on the foundation of the former one. In 1817 George Tillinghast was elected church clerk. In 1830 new articles of faith and covenant were adopted. In 1822 two branches were set off from this church, one in accordance with a petition of brethren residing in Wickford, and the other by re- quest of about seventy members residing in the north part of the the town, to be called the Quidnessett Union church. In 1834 Elder Northup, feeling the infirmities of old age coming upon him, left his home and removed to Deacon George Allen's, in Quidnessett, but after one year returned home. In 1848 the third house of worship was erected. It is in the village of AUenton, two and a half miles south of Wickford. The pastors of this church have been : Elder Northup, to 1840 ; Thomas Tew, 1842-45 ; Edwin Stillman, 1846-48 ; Joseph A. Til- linghast, James Donovan, C. L. Frost, in 1867. The church at the last mentioned date had one hundred and fifty members. In 1869 it had no pastor again. The present pastor is the Reverend Isaac Chesboro, and the society is now in a flourishing condition again. During the fifty-nine years' stay of Elder Northup, he was even more than pastor, he was the church. During this whole period he preached the gospel at this one place and never received a salary. A church of more than four hundred members was gathered un- der his ministration. He was a man full of the Holy Ghost, and his efforts were crowned with numerous revivals. The last time he addressed the congregation was a few months before he died. He was then so feeble he could not walk, and was carried by a few brethren in an easy chair from his carriage to his pul- pit, with all the solemnity bearing upon the spirit land. When HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 429 his benediction (the last one) was pronounced, all hearts felt the solemnity of the scene, and every eye was a fountain. On the 31st of June, 1839, in the 80th year of his age, Elder Northup closed a long and eventful life, and triumphantly ascended to his heavenly home. Elder Northup was very early in life converted. In his earlier years he not only received the care of kind parents but the almost constant attention spiritually of an old slave of his grand- father's. This old colored man would time and again take his little charge by the hand on Sabbath days to some lonely dwel- ling place in the neighborhood, where the devout gathered to hear Benjamin expound the scriptures. QuiDXESSETT BAPTIST Church.* — In the northeastern part of North Kingstown (stretching out into the Narragansett bay) is a neck of land still known by its Indian name, Quidnessett. Here, early in the present century, were well cultivated farms, and a prosperous and industrious people. A stream or two, also, cours- ing their way here and there through the green fields and be- neath the shadowy forests, had given rise to small but lucrative manufactories. Altogether it was a busy, well-ordered com- munity. One thing, however, the dwellers there stood sadly in need of — they were a religious people, and they were in want of near z.rL?!L permanent religious privileges. It is true that an occa- sional preacher came among them declaring the word of life. It is true, also, that there were churches of the living God around them. In the village of East Greenwich at the north, and the village of Wickford at the south, were religious interests already, though feebly sustained ; farther to the south, near what is now the AUenton post office, stood the meeting house of the First Baptist church of North Kingstown ; and in the extreme western part of the town of East Greenwich was the East Greenwich and Warwick Baptist church . But all of these religious interests, though occasionally enjoyed, presented, nevertheless, one and the same great disadvantage to the dwellers in Quidnessett — they were too far away to be of the best practical value. What this people needed was a church among themselves, and a house of worship sufficiently central in its location to be readily accessible to all. The time was ripening for this great blessing, though they knew it not. And God was to find all the material for its accomplishment on the field itself. * By W. p. Chipman. 430 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Living within the bounds of Quidnessett Neck at tliis time were a few families of Baptists, members of the First Baptist church of North Kingstown. Among them were two men, near relatives, named Allen, each alike distinguished in after years for his unusual devotedness to the work of the Master. One, George Allen, became a deacon of the First Baptist church, an office he held and honored to the day of his death. The other, Joseph W. Allen, was destined for even a more remarkable career. He early manifested a decided talent for preaching, and was soon (about 1815) licensed by the First church " to preach the gospel wherever God should open the way." The proper field of labor for the young brother was soon proved to be around his own home, among his own associates and neighbors, and here he labored for a few years with marked success. The tokens of Eiivine- favor which were constantly attending him in the gospel work led directly on to his ordination. At the call of the First Baptist church of North Kingstown, a council met in the village of Wickford, May 30th, 1822, " for the purpose of re- ceiving and ordaining Brother Joseph W. Allen to the work of the gospel ministry." The council numbered twelve — four min- isters and eight laymen — representing three churches, the First, Exeter ; East Greenwich and Warwick ; and the First, North Kingstown. It was unanimously decided to ordain the brother, but it was also expressly stipulated that " the young brother should be ordained an elder in the First Baptist church of North Kingstown under the waic/i and care of Elder William Northup." The order of services was as follows: Prayer, Elder Daniel Greene, of Pawtucket ; sermon, Elder Gershom Palmer, of Exeter, from the text, 1 Tim. iv., 16 : " Take lieed unto tliyself and unto the doctrine ; continue in them; for in doing this thou slialt save thyself, and tlicm that hear thee " ; ordaining prayer, Elder John Ormsbee ; charge to the candidate. Elder William Northup, of North Kingstown. Brother Allen, as indeed it was expressly intended at his ordination, made every arrangement to continue his work in Quidnessett Neck. From house to house, in barn or open field, wherever the opportunity offered, he preached the gospel of Christ. In every respect he showed himself " a workman that needeth not to be ashamed." The history of the Baptist cause and of the growth of Baptist principles in Quidnessett for the next forty years is virtually the history of this devoted and godly man. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 431 Six years now rolled on. They were j^ears of toil^'to this honored servant of the Lord. No perfect record has been left of the work done. It is known, however, that there were frequent baptisms, but as those baptized at this time became members of the First church, their number cannot be ascertained. That the work was deemed successful is indicated by a record made June 1st, 1828. It was an action on the part of the First Baptist church of North Kingstown, signed by the pastor and deacons, and reads thus : " The church of Christ in North Kingstown under the pastoral care of Elder William Northup, taking into consideration the local situation of a number of brethren and sisters in Quidnessett Neck and vicinity, have thought proper to set them off a branch of the above named church, in full fellowship and communion with us, deposing in them and giving them equal authority and power of a constituted church ; still they remain a Branch with the above said body, and yet, with power to receive and discipline members abstractly and separately from the church ; and that Brother Joseph W. Allen have charge and care of the said Branch. And we agree that when it is their wish to be set off as a sepa- rate church to assist and constitute them as siich." In connection with this record it is further added, " Religious services were performed in Brother James Allen's barn, from the fact that the congregation could not be seated in his house." Elder William Northup preached the sermon. At the close of the services ten were baptized. The minutes of the branch, unfortunately, have not been pre- served. From the memories of some of the older members of the church, however, these facts have been learned. For a time after the branch had been set off, the little band of Christians, following the apostolic custom, met from house to house. But so much did they need a house of worship that the most stren- uous efforts were put forth to obtain one. Deacon George Al- len, of the mother church, gave the land, and a sufficient sum of money was raised among the other friends of the enterprise on Quidnessett Neck, to erect, in 1830, a small, but substantial building, designed to be used for school, as well as religious pur- poses. It was familiarly known from that time on, so long as it was used as a house of worship, as the Union meeting house. At the formation of the branch, it is also worthy of note that a young brother, Thomas Hill, was ordained to the office of 432 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. deacon, and having officiated in this capacity during the time the relation of the branch was sustained, he became the first deacon of the church at its organization, an office that he held also for more than forty years afterward. The relation of the branch with the mother church continued for nearly eleven years. These were years of spiritual prosper- ity and success. Many were baptized. The little one grew apace. But she forgot not the mother who had given her birth. The pleasantest relations ever existed between mother and child. It was a frequent custom for the members of the branch to suspend their own services on the third Sunday of the month, and go in one united band over the seven miles that .separated them from the mother church, and there they observed together the memor- ial supper of their common Master and Lord. On January 12th, 1839, the records show that, as a preparatory step toward a distinct church organization, the branch adopted "Articles of Faith " and "A Church Covenant." On April 4th, 1839, a council met at the Union meeting house in Quidnessett Neck, "to take in consideration the propriety of recognizing the Quidnessett Branch of the First Baptist Church of North Kingstown as a distinct and independent church." El- der Benjamin C. Grafton was moderator of that council. Nine churches were represented by sixteen delegates. The Pine Street, Providence ; the First, East Greenwich ; the First, Paw- tucket : the First, Valley Falls ; the First, Wickford ; the First, Exeter ; the Second, Richmond ; the Warwick and Coventry; the First, Wakefield. The council approved the " Articles of Faith " and the "Church Covenant." It was voted to recognize the Quidnessett branch as an independent church. The sermon was by Reverend John Bowling, of Providence. Brethren Byram, Tew, Grafton, Johnson, Thomas Bowling, E. K. Fuller and J. H. Baker also took part in the services. The constituent members numbered thirty-eight. The little church, once organized, extended a call to Brother Allen to become their pastor, and he, accepting that call, began his pastoral office with the day of the church organization. Scarcely had the relation been assumed when it was evident that God's special favor and blessing were resting upon them. There were additions by baptism every month of the following summer, and the church membership was more than doubled ere the year closed. With the spring of 1840 the good work was revived. In HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 433 fact it may be said it had scarcely ceased, as many during the winter months had made a profession of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. On Sunday, May 8th, eight were baptized. Among the number an old lady of eighty-three, the mother of Elder Allen, who for a number of years had been an helpless invalid. Borne down into the water in a chair, she by the hands of her own son was there baptized, and came forth rejoicing that she had thus been able to follow in the footsteps of her Lord. Again and again were the waters visited that summer, until fourteen happy converts had been buried in baptism. A quiet work of grace, with occasional baptisms, continued throughout the next year. Then came the year 1842, a year remarkable in the history of the Quidnessett church in two respects. It was the year of the Dorr war. But the little church was agitated with other than state troubles or gubernatorial conflicts. The question of slavery, destined a number of years later to ter- minate in a national conflict, had already begun to be agitated. Already an honest indignation was creeping over the North at this, our national shame. A few slaves were still held, even in Rhode Island. The Quidnessett church at once took occasion to express a decided conviction respecting this all-important ques- tion. In April of this year the church unanimously adopted the following resolution : " Whereas, We, the members of the Quidnessett Baptist Church in North Kingstown, R. I., believing it to be wrong to hold any of our fellow-beings in slavery, and that it is contrary to our re- ligious principles, and also contrary to the precepts of the gospel of Jesus Christ, " Therefore, Resolved, That all persons holding a slave or slaves, and not treating them as subjects of their own family, and also who do not intend to emancipate them at the first proper and suitable opportunity, shall be excluded from the communion and fellowship of this church." The animus of the church respecting this question is still fur- ther shown by a resolution presented a few years later by one of its deacons. It was a frequent occurrence for Southern Baptists, often slave-holders, who were visiting in Rhode Island, to sit at the table of the Lord with their Northern brethren of the same faith and order. The resolution of the deacon, taking cognizance of this fact, was, in effect: "That the Quidnessett church should decline to receive an}' slave-holder, however good his standing in 28 434 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the church of which he was a member, to the table of the Lord ; and furthermore, that the church should refuse to fellowship those churches which did invite such slave-holders to the Lord's vSupper." This resolution, while freely discussed and heartily sympathized with by the church, was finally withdrawn. The church taking the occasion, however, to express " the hope that all churches with whom they were in fellowship might be led to adopt a similar position with themselves respecting this vital question." Another matter, more local in its influence, claimed also the attention of the church at this time. Their house of worship had long been too small for their use. It also was not sufficiently central in its location as to be adapted to the best develop- inent of the religious interests of the field. It was decided, therefore, to build anew. Samuel Austin, a member of a neigh- boring vSix Principle Baptist church, gave the building site, situ- ated on the post road from Wickford to East Greenwich, about equally distant from each village, and near the three manufac- turing villages of the Quidnessett field. Possibly no site could have been selected more central, or better adapted to the wants of the Quidnessett people than this. Funds were raised by sub- scription on the field itself to build the new meeting house, which was dedicated Thursday, August 11th, 1842, free from debt. The dedication sermon was preached by Reverend John Dowling, of Providence, from the text, Haggai ii.,7 : "And I zvill fill this house ti'ith glory, saith the Lord of Hosts." This new sacrifice on the part of the church seemed to meet also the approval of the Lord, for the Holy Spirit was manifest with renewed power. Souls were converted, baptisms were fre- quent, and the good work did not cease until the following year, fifty-four in all having been baptized. In 1844 the Quidnessett church, in common with many others at this time, was agitated with what may be termed a musical war. For some time the question had been discussed, " Shall musical instruments be used in the worship of the Lord?" On January 13th, the church put all discussion for the time being at an end by voting that " all instrumental music be excluded from the house of God." It was the same day also, that the question of allowing the sis- ters to have a voice in the church government was emphatically decided as follows : " All the members of this church, male and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 435 female, shall have equal privileges in the government and dis- cipline of the church, believing this to be agreeable to the letter and spirit of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ." This resolu- tion is in force at the present hour. On Ma}' 12th, 1849, ]Mr. Allen, owing to ill health, resigned his pastoral charge. For ten years and two months he had been pas- tor of the church. In that time one hundred and forty had been baptized, and the church membership had more than quadru- pled. But what was better, under the wise and earnest leader- ship of Brother Allen, the foundation for future growth and use- fulness had been successfully laid. On July 22d, of the same year, 1849, the church called Rever- end Charles C. Lewis, of Hopkinton, to the pastorate, at a salary of $300. He accepted the call and began his work among them July 29th. At the beginning of this pastorate the resolution against the use of instrumental music in the house of God, passed five years before, was repealed. On the 8th of September of this year the church joined the Warren Association. In 1850 special religious services were held, resulting in the baptism of fifteen. On August 9th, 1851, Brother Lewis resigned, the resig- nation to take effect the following October. He went to New Shoreham. His pastorate had been a brief one of two years and two months. Twenty had been baptized during this time. But there had also been several cases of severe discipline, and the re- sult was to weaken, for a time at least, the spiritual power of the church. On November 8th, 1851, one month after the departure of Brother Lewis, Brother Joseph W. Allen, who still resided in Quidnessett Neck, and whose health was restored, was invited to assume for the second time the pastoral care of the church. He accepted, and at once entered upon his duties. In 1856 the meet- ing house was repaired and painted. A few months after a most gracious revival began. Through the fall and winter of 1857 it continued, on into the following summer. Fifty-four were bap- tized. In 1860, at the formation of the Narragansett Associa- tion, the Quidnessett church, in common with the other Baptist churches west of the Bay, withdrew from the Warren and joined the new association. Eight years now followed of marked pros- perity and growth on the part of the church. On April 15th, 1868, Brother Allen, old and feeble, resigned the pastorate and retired from active ministerial service. This pastorate had lasted 436 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. over sixteen years. If we add to this the ten years of the first pastorate, the eleven years he had served in the branch, and the six years he had labored in Quidnessett Neck before the forma- tion of the branch, we have the long and exceptional service of over forty-three years in one field, and to one people. During the second pastorate ninet5^-eight had been baptized, making for the two pastorates a total of two hundred and thirty-eight. For five years after his resignation Brother Allen continued to live among the people for whom he had so long labored. He died May 2d, 1873. Resolutions appropriate to his long and devoted labors were adopted by the Quidnessett church. To-day his name is held in honored respect throughout the community where he so long preached the gospel of Christ. More than a year and a half now passed during which the Quidnessett church was without a pastor. The summer of 1868 was spent in enlarging and repairing the house of worship, at an expense of nearly fifteen hundred dollars. This expense was met by two of the members of the church, Brothers Henry Sweet and James M. Davis. The house was re-dedicated November 12th of this year. Reverend Joseph W. Allen, the late pastor, preached the sermon. On November 22d, 1868, the church extended a unanimous call to Reverend Amasa Howard, of Providence, to become their pas- tor, at a salary of $800. This call was declined. For some months the church was served by different supplies. On Sep- tember 19th, 1869, Reverend C. C. Burrows, of Newton Center, was called to the pastorate. He accepted, beginning his labors October 17th. The church at this time experienced great diffi- culty in finding a suitable residence for' their pastor, but through the liberality of Brother James M. Davis, this want was soon met. He caused to be erected at his own expense, in the village of Davisville, near the depot and post-office and but one mile from the church building, a large and commodious parsonage. This, while still the property of Brother Davis, has nevertheless been occupied ever since, free of rent, by the pastors of the Quid- nessett church. Another great want of the church was also met at this time. It was the erection of large and convenient sheds in the rear of the meeting house. This involved an expense of $1,200, also, which was met by the church itself. With the fall of 18()9 a deep sense of its responsibility for the salvation of souls fell upon the church. In January, 1870, twen- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 437 ty-five were baptized. There was no cessation of monthly bap- tisms during the year. Many who witnessed this revival pro- nounce it the most powerful that ever came under their observa- tion. One hundred and five were baptized that year. In March, 1871, Brother Burrows tendered his resignation. It was, how- ever, not accepted. Another prosperous year followed. June 1st, 1872, Mr. Burrows, for the second time, resigned his pastoral charge. The church again refusing to accept the resignation, prevailed upon Brother Burrows to remain with them. On Au- gust 17th, 1873, he again sent in his resignation, to take effect the following October. This time it was accepted, though with much regret on the part of the church. His pastorate was of exactly four years. It had been in many respects highly successful. One hundred and eleven had been baptized, and the church had reached a membership of two hundred and fifty-eight. November 9th, 1873, five weeks after the departure of Brother Burrows, the church extended a call to Reverend Thomas Crud- gington, of Stepney, Conn., to become their pastor. He accepted, and began his duties November 30th. This pastorate was a brief one of two years and one month, as Brother Crudginton sent in his resignation September 5th, 1875, to take effect at the end of the year. During the winter and spring of 1876, the church pulpit was supplied by different preachers. Early in the spring a call was extended to Reverend Frederic Denison, of Providence, to be- come their pastor, but he declined. On August 13th W. P. Chip- man, a student from Rochester Theological Seminary, supplied the pulpit. At the request of the church committee, he contin- ued to supply the pulpit for the remainder of the month. Sep- tember 1st he was invited to become stated supply for three months. December 1st he was called to the pastorate. He, ac- cepting the call, began his labors January 1st, 1877. His ordin- ation took place at the Quidnessett meeting house January 3d. At the beginning of the pastorate the church membership numbered 215. The house of worship was enlarged and renovated in 1882 at an expense of about four thousand dollars ; all of which was raised on the home field. The condition of the church September 1st, 1882, was as fol- lows : The original membership of the church was 38. During the entire history of the church there had been baptized, 403 ; re- 438 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ceived by letter, 69 ; received by experience, 16 ; making the total additions 526. There had been dismisssed, 86 ; died, 93 ; excluded, 32; erased, 118; making a total diminution of 329; the membership (September, 1882) was 197. The deacons of the church have been : Thomas Hill, from the formation of Branch, June 1st, 1828, to his death, September 16th, 1880, a period of over fifty years ; Charles Spencer, from June 29th, 1843, to his death, March, 1870 ; Alfred B. Chadsey, from December 11th, 1859, to October, 1877, when he took a letter to the Wickford Baptist church ; Smith W. Pearce, from December 11th, 1859, to the present time, except one year of absence, 1864-5; Russell C. Baton, from January 11th, 1862, to the present time ; Thomas W. Arnold, from January 7th, 1878, to the pres- ent time. The clerks of the church have been : Henry Sweet, from May, 1839, to November 8th, 1845 ; James M. Davis, from November 8th, 1845, to April 18th, 1846 ; James L. Congdon, from April 18th, 1846, to January 7th, 1856 ; Reuben H. Alexander, from January 7th, 1856, to April 5th, 1868 ; William H. Congdon, from April 5th, 1868, to December 11th, 1869 ; Reuben H. Alexander, from December 11th, 1869, to August 7th, 1870 ; Allen Reynolds, from August 7th, 1870, to the present time. Two have been licensed by the church to preach. Bowen Rey- nolds, in May, 1846. This license was recalled three years after. Joseph R. Verie, in January, 1881. The Ouidnessett church since its organization has only been a trifle over two years without a pastor. It never has had a church debt. It has never received outside aid. On the other hand, it has contributed to a more or less extent to send the gospel of Christ to other parts of the state and world. By unanimous invitation Reverend C. A. Maryott, of Lons- dale, entered upon the pastoral office October 1st, 1883. This re- lation continues at the present writing. May 1st, 1888. North Kingstown Six Principle Baptist Church.— This church dates back to the time of Roger Williams, its first teacher, who, it is supposed, was instrumental in securing the services of Elder Thomas Baker, who was ordained in 1659 and settled here in 1664. Elder Baker collected a devoted flock of worshippers and preached to them until his death. He was suc- ceeded by Elder Richard Sweet, who preached here from 1710 to 1740, when he died. Elder David Sprague was ordained his col- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 439 league in 1733, and after Elder Sweet's death had charge of the church and society. His views, however, were not tolerated, and seventy-four members signed a call for his dismissal. He was succeeded by James Wightman, who continued his labors until his death in 1791. Nathan Hill was ordained assis- tant in 1781, and after Elder Wightman's death he had charge of the society until 1794. He was an able man, and the church appeared to prosper under his pastorate ; but he was dismissed for some misdemeanor. Elder John Gardner succeeded after some supplies, and preached from 1808 to 1850, when he became blind. He died in Connecticut about 1861. Elder John Slocum was ordained in 1834, and from 1850 until succeeded by Elder S. K. Matthewson, had charge of the society and church. Under Elder Matthew- son's pastorate the church is prospering. Lafayette Advent Church.— This church was erected in 1848 as a Free Will Baptist church. In 1854 it organized as an Advent church, and again reorganized November 16th, 1869, Its present membership is encouraging in numbers and it sup- ports a flourishing Sabbath school. The new church was built in 1881. The Reverend Charles Preston is pastor. St. Bernard's Church is located at West Wickford and belongs to the Roman Catholic denomination. It was built in 1874 by Reverend W. Halligan. There is no resident pastor here, it be- ing simply a mission and a branch of the church of East Green- wich. Baptist Church, Slocumville. — The Baptist people of this vicinity, after a series of meetings held in the upper rooms of a tenement house during the fall and winter of 1886 and 1887, or- ganized their society April 2d, 1887, and in the fall of this same year built their chapel, dedicating the same November 30th, 1887. The society belongs to the Narragansett Association. Reverend Francis Purvis, then pastor of the AUenton church, was called as pastor, supplying both desks until the spring of 1888, when he severed his connection with the AUenton society, and since then has preached at Slocumville and Narragansett. The membership of the church, most of which is made up of young men, is twenty-two. The officers are as follows : Pastor, Reverend F. Purvis ; deacon, W. N. Rose ; clerk, W. C. Cham- plin ; Sabbath school superintendent, L. G. Schofield. 440 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Nicholas Boone Spink. — Robert Spink, the ancestral head of the Spink family in Rhode Island, emigrated from London, Eng- land, in 1635, and on his arrival in America settled in Virginia. He removed to Newport in 1648, and in 1673 located at Quidnes- nett, having acquired a section of land in the Atherton purchase. Among his children was a son, Nicholas, whose son John was the great-grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch. His son Nicholas was the father of Nicholas, an influential citi- zen, whose son Nicholas Boone Spink is thus descended through six generations from one of the earliest settlers in Rhode Island, and a representative of one of the oldest and most respected fam- ilies in the county. He was born the 26th of October, 1811, on the homestead at Quidnessett Neck, endeared to the family as the birthplace of its representatives for many generations. The dwelling, situated on a sloping lawn, nearly on the edge of the beautiful Narragansett bay, commands from its piazza an expan- sive view of this picturesque sheet of water and of the landscape beyond. So desirable and attractive is the site, that it is with difficulty that its owner, the eldest daughter of Mr. Spink, can re- sist the advantageous offers made by would-be purchasers of the property. Nicholas Boone Spink spent his life on this ancestral estate, his educational advantages having been such as the common schools afforded. His father was an industrious, hard working farmer, and early impressed upon his son the importance of dil- igence and economy as essential to success. He, therefore, when a lad gave a helping hand to the labor of the farm, and after his marriage assumed entire charge of the property, which finally became his by inheritance. He continued the active life of an agriculturist until his death, and was regarded as among the most successful farmers of the township. In politics a firm whig, as was his father before him, he later endorsed the principles of the republican party. He was much interested in the political issues of the day, cast his vote with great regularity, but always declined to hold office, though fre- quently urged to accept such honors. He was domestic in his tastes, fond of his home, and never happier than when enjoying the pleasures of the family circle. He was a supporter of the Quidnessett Baptist church and a constant attendant upon its services. H"»'P;ot&:i^-^.°-KI' [y^y I ^^■' ^ - "^ ^-i ^- ;. . --; Hi ■ — h> 1^ yf ^^^jf l*-^ If lif ijfi ijMo. QUIDNESSETT. HOME OF THE LATE NICHOLAS BOONE SPINK, North KingstO"wn, R. I. AHTOTYPE, E. BIEHBTADT, n Yt'p^f^-,cK>tC'Jfy HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 441 Mr. Spink was on the 12th of March, 1839, married to Em- eline Fry Spink, daughter of Boone Spink, of Wickford. Their children are Matilda Eldred and Ella J. The former of these is the wife of William Ray Babcock, a native of Quidnessett Neck, and the son of Ra}- Babcock, who for years resided in the vicinity. Their eldest son, William Boone Babcock, a young man, is now a student in the junior year at the Greenwich acad- emy. Mr. Spink's death occurred January 11th, 1882, at his home on Quidnessett Neck. His widow survives and resides with her daughters on the homestead. John Arnold Browning. — It has been well said that " An honest man is the noblest work of God." There is no attribute ascribed to man that is as significant as that of honesty, when broadly and truthfully applied, and when it combines all the characteristic elements of life that wholly and completely enter into full manhood. He who is the rightful possessor of such a title, concurred in by all men, in times, too, when chicanery and subterfuge are. sometimes counted as virtues, has a right to be proud indeed. John A. Browning was just such a man. All men say of him that he was thoroughly honest. He was also sober and industrious, and so thoroughly simple in his habits of life that modesty itself was almost a passion with him. As a man he sought no public office and cared for none ; but domestic in his inclinations he desired the genial elements of his own hearth- stone, and within that inner circle he cherished and cultured all who now revere his name. Mr. Browning was born June 12th, 1795, and died July 11th, 1886. At the advanced age of ninety years he penned the auto- graph now seen below his engraving, and its chirography is sharply indicative of the characteristics above noted. Mr. Brown- ing was a descendant of Samuel Browning, an early settler of the King's Province, who was born in November, 1718, and died October 25th, 1764. His wife, Phebe Browning, was born Octo- ber 26th, 1722, and died January 16th, 1810. To this couple on the 21st of July, 1754, was born a son, William Browning, who married Miss Sarah Cole, who was born December 4th, 1754, and died July 15th, 1838. For her remarkable history, in connection with that of the Cole family, we refer our readers to another part of this work. To William Browning and Sarah (Cole) Browning was born a daughter, Phebe Browning, December 8th, 1788, and 442 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. two sons — William Browning, who was born January 30th, 1791, and John Arnold Browning, the subject of this sketch. John Arnold Browning was born on the farm in North Kings- town, where Oliver W. Greene now resides, but at the age of five years his father moved to the adjacent farm, now occupied by his widow. He there remained until his death. In early life he di- vided his time at home assisting his father on the farm, with a few months during each year to attend school at the Washington Academy, Wickford. In after years Mr. Browning paid consid- erable attention to the subject of agriculture, and he became a skilled farmer, fully recognized as such by the agricultural society of the state, of which he had been a member for many years. December 17th, 1840, he was married to Miss Izitt C. Brown- ing. She was born August 18th, 1804, and survives her husband, with extraordinary vigor for one so far advanced in life. She was the daughter of Gardiner Browning, born March 30th, 1763. But one other of this family is now living — Mrs. Sarah C. Slo- cum, now eighty-eight years of age, a resident of Warwick, R. I. To John Arnold Browning and wife were born two daughters. The elder, Sarah Phebe, died in infancy. Miss Sarah Izitt P. C. Browning, the younger daughter, lives with her widowed mother at the old homestead. By deed of John A. Browning, the farm is to revert, at the death of i\Irs. Browning, to Benjamin F. Gardiner, who now has the management of the place. Mr. Gardiner is a nephew of John Arnold Browning, being the son of Jeremiah, and grandson of Amos Gardiner. His wife is Caroline F. Burlingame, their three children being Sarah P. (now Mrs. Stephen F. Tefft), Izitt (now Mrs. P. W. Tefft), and one son, Frank A. Gardiner. Mr. B. F. Gardiner is a successful farmer and a substantial citizen of North Kingstown. He has at three different times been a member of the town council. Joseph Warren Madison.— Ezekiel Matteson, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, was a resident of West Green- wich. His son Joseph (who changed the orthography of the name and spelled it as at present, Madison) was also a native of West Greenwich, but spent the larger part of his life in North Kingstown as a farmer, having for twenty-five years rented the farm he afterward purchased. He married Celia, daughter of John Fowler, whose children were three sons : Joseph Warren, John Harris and Thomas Edwin, the last two being deceased. ^^:^^i-^y;/^ /i- ^^'^^^^^^ife't^T-^ ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTAOT, N. Y, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 443 and three daughters : Hannah (widow of Christopher Allen), Almy and Mary Ann. Joseph Warren, the eldest of these children, was born on the 10th of September, 1820, in West Greenwich, from whence he re- moved with his parents in infancy to North Kingstown. His ad- vantages of education were limited to the district school which he was able to attend only in the winter months, his time at that early date having been found quite important in the work of the farm. He continued thus employed until the age of twenty-four, meanwhile becoming master of the wheelwright's trade. This he never followed as a pursuit, but found of great service in the improvement of the estate to which his life has been mainly devoted. On the 25th of December, 1844, he married Miss Maria, daughter of Alfred and Anne Smith, of Wickford, and grand- daughter of Benjamin Smith of the same village. The children of this union are a son, George W., married to Fannie L., daughter of Salma Spink, of Quidnessett, and a daughter, Celia Maria, wife of Thomas Matthewson, son of S. W. Matthewson, of Narragansett Pier. George W. Madison has five, and Mrs. Mat- thewson two children. Mr. Madison in 1849 accepted the man- agement of the extensive Ives property on Potowomut Neck and manifested such judgment, thrift and scrupulous integrity in the superintendence of its varied departments that his presence seems almost indispensable. He has recently relinquished to his son, who resides on the farm, much of the responsibility, though still spending several hours daily on the grounds. INIr. Madison has usually adhered to the principles of the republican party in politics, but has not been diverted from his legitimate pursuits to accept office either in town or county. He contrib- utes to the support of the Quidnessett Baptist church, though not a member of that religious organization. John Maglone. — Mr. John Maglone, one of the substantial farmers of North Kingstown, was born at Kennebec, Maine, June ,^th, 1828. His father, James Maglone, was employed in one of the saw mills at that place, but afterward moved to St. Johns, and from there to Boston, where he lived until 1835. In 1836 John Maglone found a home in the family of Jonathan Slocum, of Slocumville, North Kingstown. He remained in the family of Mr. Slocum for ten years, working on the farm, but during this important period of his life he was sent to school but a few weeks or months at most. At the expiration of the 444 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. allotted time lie was given liberty to begin a career for himself. Without a dollar in money Mr. Maglone now wended his way to Newport, R. I., where he found employment with Edward Anthony as a farm hand. Two years later he returned to North Kingstown and worked for Robert Rodman for three years. In 1851 he married and began the business of farming on his own account on the old Congdon farm. By the year 1880 Mr. Maglone found himself financially able to purchase the valuable farm he now owns and to erect the elegant house in which he now re- sides. For over twenty years Mr. Maglone has been commis- sioner of highways for the town of North Kingstown, and in 1880 and again in 1881 he was elected state senator. Such is a bare outline of Mr. Maglone's record. Cast adrift when scarcely eight years of age, we find him thrown wholly among strangers, with- out parental guidance, left to make his own struggle as best he could, until time should enable him to begin that career which demands here something more than a passing notice. Unable to secure an education, Mr. Maglone has done for himself what colleges have failed to do for some, and in the practical tests of life he has acquitted himself fully. Mr. Maglone has succeeded by industry and honesty and by observing the principles of economy rather than by subterfuge or sharp dealing. His pos- sessions now owned are the results of hard labor and no one can envy that once homeless boy the enjoyment of his desirable habitation, the results of his own handiwork. Those who well know John Maglone's past record unite in ascribing to him quali- ties of the highest character, and not only testify that he is thoroughly honest and upright, and one of the leading citizens of this part of the county, but also that the chronicler of the lives of successful men will rarely find a case just its parallel and its equal in importance. Mr. Maglone was married to Miss Sarah Congdon Hazard December 1st, 1851, and to this couple were born four children : Marcus, Charles, John, Jr., and Fannie Maglone. Mrs. Maglone is a descendant of George Congdon, a revolu- tionary soldier, who served seven years in that war. He died in 1842 at about eighty-seven years of age. Mrs. Sarah Maglone, was born August 2d, 1823. She is a daughter of Rodman Hazard, who was a descendant of the seventh generation from the original Thomas Hazard of 1639, the male line of descent being Thomas, Robert, Jeremiah, Robert, Jeremiah, Rowland, j^^.^5^^^ cy/c/^^^^^ nOTYPE, E BIER8TADT, N Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 445 Rodman. Rowland Hazard, her grandfather, married Elizabeth, daughter of William and Cliloe Hammond, who came from New- port to North Kingstown and settled on the Hammond home- stead near Stuart's mill when she was but thirteen years of age. Rodman Hazard, father of Mrs. Maglone, was a settler of Wick- ford, and like many others bearing his name, was remarkable for his size, strength of character and other characteristics of that remarkable family. CHAPTER XII. VILLAGE OF WICKFORD. Situation of the Village. — Early Traders and Their Places of Business. — Notes of 1849.— Banks.— Jonathan Reynolds.— John J. Reynolds. —Pardon T. Hammond. — Hotels. — Thomas C. Peirce. — Fire Engine Company. — The Annaquatucket Temple of Honor. — Jocelyn Council, No. 6. — Uncas Encampment. — Mails. — Washington Academy. — Libraries. — Sea Captains. — St. Paul's Church — Bap- tist Church. — Methodist Church. — Stephen B. Reynolds. — Alfred Blair Chad- sey. THE village of Wickford is situated on an arm of the bay in the town of North Kingstown, about twenty miles from Providence, and ten from Narragansett Pier. It has two hotels, three churches, two banks, two mills, and a number of places where trading and other business is carried on. The pop- ulation is about eight hundred. Wickford is on the popular route to New York and Providence by steamboat to and from Newport, connecting with other boats at that point. The steamer " Eolus " makes three trips a day between Wickford and Newport, con- necting at Wickford Junction with the Shore Line railroad, thus enabling those who desire to go or come from New York by land, to save the sail to Wickford, which takes a little over an hour. Lodowick Updike owned the land in and around Wickford, and from him deeds were made to others, who soon established a center of business at this point. Daniel E. Updike was an early trader in Wickford. His residence was on the site of that now occupied by Doctor Church. He was not a son of Lodowick Up- dike, as has been erroneouslj'- stated. Gilbert Updike probably erected the first building in the place solely for use as a store. He traded from 1805 to 1825. His store was afterward owned and known as the Sherman House. It was kept by Nathaniel Sherman, father of Judge Sherman. He conducted it m.any years. Before and just after the beginning of the present century there were more stores in the village than at the present time. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 447 The old ship yard was then on grounds occupied by C. A. Chad- sey's tenement houses, and trade centered about that point rather than where it does at the present time. Richard Vaughn built a store where Charles Baker's stand is now. It was run as a store by Henry Vaughn. David Barber also kept a store where James Case, a colored man, now lives, and a Mr. Manchester in the gam- brel roofed house next to it; and where William E. Cozzens since lived was kept by Mr. Gideon Freeman many years. Mrs. Esther Freeman, his widow, not long since died at the age of 93 years. She was a very charitable woman, and gave liberally to the Episcopal church. They were there in trade before 1812. Benjamin Fowler, the first president of the Narragansett Bank, in 1804 sold West India goods on the corner of Fowler and Main streets. He died August 5th, 1818, in the eightieth year of his age. Mr. Peleg Weeden, his successor in the bank, kept a jew- elry store. He died in October, 1839. His wife, Mrs. Mary Fow- ler Weeden, died in 1858. He was the father-in-law of Nicholas N. Spink. I George Fowler, the father^of Benjamin Fowler, owned prop- erty now owned and occupied by Christopher Wightman. The old elm that now stands there was planted by George Fowler, and also the willow which stands at the head of his grave. He died April 14th, 1782, in the ninetieth year of his age. His wife, Mary, died in 1774. His son, Benjamin, built the house there now before the revolution. He kept a store there, and later his son-in-law, Peleg Weeden, used it for a silversmith's shop. Thomas Wightman, son-in-law of Peleg Weeden, built the ell part in 1849. Henry T. Chadsey's mother was a sister to Thomas Wightman. Where the widow of Henry Fowler now lives was the former residence of John Fry, a noted sea captain, who died at sea in 1837. Benjamin F. Spink's house was built near the middle of the last century, and was used for a public hall, for singing schools, etc. It was built for a hotel. The property is now owned by John S. Gladden. It was the only public hall in the place for many years. The Narragansett Hotel was, as tradition states, the third house built in the village. Mrs. Cook avers that her father was mustered into the war of the revolution in that house, and that Washington was there. H. M. Reynolds, now the oldest trader in the place, says he learned his business of Isaac Spencer, who 448 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. had a store on Main street. Nathaniel Sherman kept store in the Updike house, and traded for many years. He was the father of Judge Sylvester G. Sherman, who lived in the house now owned and occupied as a residence by H. T. Chadsey. Mr. Chadsey bought this property of him in 1830. The Updikes were not successful merchants. In the double house where Philander Thomas lives, Richard Thomas, his grandfather, carried on business in 1801. A. M. Thomas, his son, succeeded, and traded from 1831 to 1859, when Philander Thomas came in, and they continued the business un- til 1887, when A. M. Thomas died, leaving the son to continue. The Thomas family are descendants of one John Thomas, of Wales, who came here in 1662. He was driven from home by the enactment of that year. He settled first in Swansea, Mass. He came to Portsmouth, R. I., in 1688. Richard Thomas, above mentioned, was justice of the peace from 1802 to 1846. In the old store above mentioned Mr. R. Thomas kept in one end and Mr. J. G. Chadsey, father of H. T. Chadsey, kept a store in the other end. Afterward they moved to where the post office, now stands, and kept there until 1849, when the buildings were burned. The brick block was erected the next year, however, and the Thomases continued in trade right along. From 1825 to 1849 the firm of Chadsey & Son sold dry goods and groceries. Calico then was worth two shillings a yard. Jonathan Reynolds, fatherof Governor John J. Reynolds,opened a store in the house in which he lived in 1809. He continued trading until 1835. In 1851 he was killed by an engine at Davis- ville, R. I. John J. Reynolds continued his father's business un- til 1886. John J. Reynolds, president of the North Kingstown Bank, succeeded his father in that position. The house now owned by Stephen B. Reynolds, the last house on the wharf, was built by Mr. Cottrell, and owned and occupied afterward for many years by Beriah Gardiner. In the September Gale of 1815, the water came up to the second window. The marks left by the scraping of the anchor of a brig on the end of the building can still be seen. William Hammond was born March Bd, 1776. He married Alice Tillinghast November 8th, 1790, and he built the house now owned and occupied by the daughters of Pardon T. Ham- mond in 1792. William Hammond was one of the original founders of the North Kingstown Bank. He was extensively HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 449 engaged in the shipping interests of the village, and at one time had a store in a part of his dwelling house. He was the son of William and Chloe Hammond. He was appointed surveyor of the port of North Kingstown by President James Madison April 23d, 1816. He died September 24th, 1827. Judge Tillinghast's house was built in 1786. Groceries were kept here also in an early day. In short, as it will be seen, dwel- ling houses were used in part for store rooms, there not being a building erected distinctively for such purposes for many years after the Updike store. J. G. Chadsey, above mentioned, came to the place in 1812. He afterward moved to Newport, but returned in 1816. He man- ufactured plaided goods and operated a mill and spun his own yarn. This was put up in webs of about 100 yards each and taken by families to their homes and woven there. In this way Mr. Chadsey gave emploj^ment to many people not only in North Kingstown but also in surrounding towns. He was born Decem- ber 2d, 1780, and died May 26th, 1873. H. T. Chadsey, his son, now eighty-two years of age, has been a very prominent man in the place. He has been notary public since 1870, is justice of the peace, and has been and is still one of the most successful auc- tioneers in the country. Mr. A. B. Chadsey, his brother, was in business with his father from 1837 to 1842. In 1844 he moved to Leicester, Mass., and en- gaged with Stephen Draper and John C. Brown in manufactur- ing scythes, afterward removing to Troy, N. Y. In 1852 he re- turned to North Kingstown, and engaged in farming until 1881. Ishmael Eldred came to Wickford in 1826, and built the house in which he had his harness shop, and lived for many years. His shop is now back of his house. His son, AVilliam A. Eldred, is in business with him. In 1849 Daniel Smith came to AVickford and took up his quar- ters in the little store in which he still trades. The building was erected by George T. Nichols some years before that. When Mr. Smith came to the place, the following persons were doing trad- ing in the village : Captain John Westcott, grocery ; C. Allen Chadsey (at the wharf) ; Stanton W. Congdon, proprietor of the Narragansett House ; Henry R. Reynolds (just opposite the hotel); Richard Thomas next ; Noel Freeman, manufacturer of jewelry; Jonathan Reynolds, father of John J. Reynolds, where the latter now lives ; Eliphalet Young, apothecary, where John H. Weeden 2f» 450 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. now lives ; Jeremiah G. Chadse}^ Rufus Sweet, George Holloway, Samuel Peirce, Isaac C. Champlin, where Joseph Seeley now is ; William Brown, shoe maker ; George P. Thomas, H. N. Rey- nolds, who is still trading at the same place ; Henry Rathburn, stone cutter ; Gideon Hunt, paint shop ; James Eldredge, just opposite, carrying on a large jewelry manufacturing establish- ment, in which he sometimes employed as many as sixty or sev- enty hands ; Stephen D. Reynolds, where the lumber yard is now, and Ishmael Eldred, the harness maker. Among those above mentioned and others still who are now in business should be mentioned ; The Hunts, Thomases and Reynolds, who were prominent. Succeeding Gideon Hunt, came David and Daniel, and now George F. Hunt, who is also regarded as a skilled fresco painter. H. N. Reynolds began business in 1836 ; Joseph F. Seeley came in 1883, succeeding S. H. Farnham, who succeeded Isaac Champlin (this building used to stand across the street where the brick one is now) ; Daniel Spink, successor to his father Daniel Spink, Sr., who started a meat shop in 1854, has been doing business there himself for twenty years ; V. L. En- nis, fancy groceries, began January, 1888. The store building now occupied by Potter & Page was built by William H. Allen in 1870. Isaac Reynolds commenced selling lumber in Wickford in 1812. His son succeeded in September, 1859. He died in January, 1864, aged 82 years. Stephen sold to Charles T, Straight in September, 1866. The Sherman Brothers are now extensive dealers in this line of goods. The firm consists of Al- pheus W. and William W. Sheririan. They are practical build- ers, and they are dealers also in builders' hardware. They suc- ceeded Mr. Straight in 1884. Benjamin Baker was a sea-faring man. He was here as early as 1800, and sailed small vessels between Wickford and New York. His sons, David S., Samuel and Thomas, followed the sea. Thomas began business in Wickford in 1854. He went to Cali- fornia in 1849, and brought away three barrels of gold dust. It was put in the New York Exchange on exhibition by James Bishop & Co., the owners of his vessel. Prior to this time he commanded the brig " J. Peterson," in the Mexican war. He carried troops for the government. Daniel Wall kept a hardware store on the corner of Main and Brown streets. He closed in 1868 and died in 1870. His grand- father, Daniel Wall, built the house where Edward C. Gardner now lives, in 1802. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 451 W. W. Congdon began the livery business in 1851. He suc- ceeded his father. He was conductor on the Wickford railroad for fifteen years. His livery stables are well equipped and he is deserving of the good patronage he receives. M. J. Ryan, grocer, came to the village in October, 1886, from Bellville, where he had been prior to that time two years in trade. Charles H. Church began the drug business in 1874. He was successor to his brother, who was here twenty or twenty-five years before him. The village of Wickford has one good grist mill. It is oper- ated by John B. Peirce & Son. John B. Peirce went into business about 1870. The mill was burned in February, 1885, and im- mediately rebuilt. The woolen mill is owned by William Gregory. It was built in 1865 by Walter Chapin for a bobbin mill. He made satinet cloths until 1871, when he failed and the property passed into the hands of S. H. Vaughn. Mr. Gregory bought the property in 1881. He employs seventy-five hands. The products of the mill in 1887 amounted to $175,000. Its capacity is $200,000. Banks. — The Narragansett Bank was chartered in 1805, with a capital stock of $50,000, with liberty to increase to $300,000. No- vember 11th, 1805, the bank elected its officers. The directors w.ere : Benjamin Fowler, Philip Tillinghast, William Hammond, Jr., Robert Eldred, Samuel Carter, Benjamin Reynolds, Elisha R. Potter, John Hagadorn, William Carpenter, George , George Perry, Rowse Babcock and Samuel D. Allen. Benjamin Fowler was elected president, Samuel E. Gardiner cashier. The president and cashier were annually re-elected to their respective offices until 1818, when Mr. Fowler died, and Willet Carpenter was elected to fill out the unexpired term. In 1819 Peleg Weeden was elected president, and re-elected until 1883, when he resigned, and Euclid Chadsey was elected. He served until 1 836, when h e re- signed and Ezra D. Davis was elected. He held the office until 1860. In April, 1829, Thomas P. Wells was elected cashier in place of Samuel E. Gardiner, and served about one year, when his health failed him, and Samuel Briggs was elected in 1830. In 1837 Nicholas N. Spink was elected cashier in place of Samuel Briggs, and served until the bank was closed, the charter surrendered and the capital united with the North Kingston Bank. In 1860 Ezra D. Davis resigned as president, and Joseph Spink was elected, and served until the close of the bank, in 1865. 452 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Wickford National Bank. — When the United States national bank system was established, the state banks very generally sur- rendered their charters and organized under the national system. The North Kingston and Narragansett banks, with capitals re- spectively of $75,000 and $50,000, were doing business in Wick- ford, and both exerted themselves to obtain separate charters, but the national authority insisted upon their uniting, which was finally done, under the name of the Wickford National Bank, and the president of the North Kingston and the cashier of the Narragansett were unanimously elected to those offices in the new bank, and the directory of the two retiring banks (eighteen in number, including the retiring president and cashier) were elected directors of the Wickford National Bank. Of this num- ber, seven still survive, the youngest member of the board being the first removed by death. The North Kingston Bank was chartered in October, 1818, as the " South Kingston Bank, to be located at Little Rest " (now Kingston), but after holding a few meetings there, and being un- able to get the capital stock readily taken, that location was abandoned, and the charter in 1819 was amended to the North Kingston Bank, to be located at Wickford, and was that year there established. Daniel Champlin of Exeter (well known as Judge Champlin), was elected president, and Pardon T. Hammond cashier. The bank continued in the same building where it was first located during its separate existence (until 1865), with the same cashier. Daniel Champlin was its president from its or- ganization to 1825, George W. Tillinghast from 1825 to 1827, Elisha Watson from 1827 to 1834, Jonathan Reynolds from 1834 to the time of his death in 1851, John J. Reynolds from 1851 to the surrender of its charter in 1865. At that date the North Kingston and Narragansett banks, united under the name of "The Wickford National Bank," located in the building until then occupied by the Narragansett Bank, elected John J. Reynolds pres- ident (who continvies to hold said office to this date), and Nich- olas N. Spink, cashier ; Mr. Spink resigned in 1883 and was suc- ceeded by the present incumbent, Thaddeus W. Hunt. Mr. Hunt is superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school, and is a grand- son of Gideon Hunt, a staunch supporter of early Methodism. In an attempt December 15th, 1870, to blow open the vault of the bank, the building was burned, but the would-be robbers failed to secure any plunder. The present two-story building of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 453 pressed brick, witli freestone trimmings and slate roof, was then erected and furnished with a good substantial vault, with all pro- tection available. The Wickford Savings Bank was incorporated by an act of the general assembly in 1855. The incorporators were : Jere- miah G. Chadsey, Jeremiah Carpenter, Joseph Congdon, Vincent Gardner, Pardon T. Hammond, Gideon Freeborn, Syria H. Vaughn, Horatio N. Reynolds, Henry Fowler, James W. ATorthup, Charles Allen, James Elder, John J. Reynolds and Alfred B. Chadsey. The first president was Horatio N. Reynolds, and he still acts in that capacity. The first treasurer was Pardon T. Hammond. He was succeeded July 1st, 1866, by Stephen B. Reynolds. He had been in the board of directors prior to this time for a period of ten years. His son Joseph G. Reynolds suc- ceeded him as treasurer of the bank July 1st, 1887. The bank declares annual dividends from net earnings in lieu of paying depositors interest. These dividends have been five per cent, for some years. Jonathan Reynolds. — From best information obtained of the ancestry of the Reynolds family of North Kingstown, it is under- stood that three brothers, William, John and Christopher (weav- ers by trade), from Gloucestershire, in England, were at the island of Bermuda ; that from thence AYilliam came to New England, Christopher settled in one of the Carolinas, John remained in Bermuda, and his son John afterward settled in Pennsylvania. We next hear from William in Providence, R. I., in 1636, where his name appears in the Rhode Island colonial records in con- nection with Roger AVilliams. Later on he is there named in various transactions. A few years afterward, probably about 1646, he was one of the purchasers, with Roger Williams and others, of a large tract of land in the vicinity of what is now North Kingstown, settling in the northerly part thereof. From these and other reasons, it is evident that when Roger Williams was banished from Rehoboth in Plymouth colony, Mass., Mr. Reynolds was one of his adherents and followers. The line of descent to the subject of this sketch, Jonathan Reynolds, of North Kingstown, was as follows : William Reynolds, James, James, Peter, John, William, Jonathan. The latter William was born in 1753 and died in 1841, from a fall down a flight of stairs, he being nearly totally blind. His first wife was his second cousin, Esther, daughter of John Reynolds, son of James. She 454 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was born in 1755 and died in 1822. By her he had eight sons: Jonathan, Nicholas, James, Silas, Zebulon U., William Job, Sam- uel W. and Daniel ; and one daughter, Esther. His second wife was Mary Razee, widow, who died in 1847, aged 92 years. Wil- liam Reynolds' brothers Benjamin and Daniel married sisters of his first wife. He was a house carpenter by trade, and built many of the houses now standing in Wickford. Jonathan Reynolds was born in North Kingstown March 31st, 1774. He was killed by an engine at Davisville, on the New York, Providence & Boston Railroad, September 12th, 1851. He married January 20th, 1803, Mary, daughter of Nicholas and Anne Spink (a descendant of Robert Spink, who settled in this town in 1661). She was born March 25th, 1773, and died in 1851. Their children were : Esther C, Helena M. W., Mary M., Han- nah A. U., John Jonathan and Peter. Previous to 1805 Mr. Reynolds worked at house carpentering, filling various minor of- fices. At that time he established a retail variety business, which he prosecuted very successfully until 1835, when he relin- quished it to his son. He was town clerk from 1813 to 1836, was a director of the North Kingston Bank from 1819, and president thereof from 1834 to the time of his death. The following ex- tract from an article contributed to the Providence Journal bv some friend, is but a just tribute to his memory and worth : " In North Kingstown, 12th inst., Hon. Jonathan Reynolds, in the 78th year of his age. Mr. Reynolds was one of our most prominent citizens, and from his close connection with the af- fairs of this town for the past 50 years, might truly be said to have been of it a living record. During that time he has been selected for the highest political and social preferments within its gift, having for several years represented it in both branches of the Legislature of this State ; for upwards of 20 consecutive years been elected its Town Clerk, and for nearly 20 years pre- vious and at the time of his death was President of the North Kingston Bank. Not only in public life did he stand prominent in our community, but in the various relations of private and so- cial life ; as an ever kind and indulgent parent his memory will ever be cherished in grateful remembrance ; as a man of sterling integrity, untiring industry, a sentinel always on duty, an open- handed, public-spirited citizen (in this he leaves with us no com- peer), this community has in his death suffered an irreparable loss." ITOTVPE, e. BIERSTAOT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 455 John Jonathan Reynolds, son of Jonathan, was born in North Kingstown, December 7th, 1812. In October, 1835, he suc- ceeded his father in business, and continued in it till October, 1886, when he retired. During his life he has been an active member of the national republican, whig, law and order, national union and republican parties, as they succeeded each other. He represented his town in both branches of the legislature, and in 1854 was elected lieutenant-governor of the state. He was also a trustee of the State Normal school in 1860, and a delegate to the National Union Presidential Convention in 1864. April 9th, 1840, he married Hannah Congdon, daughter of Benjamin and Phebe (Bailey) Congdon. She was born June 21st, 1814. Five children were born unto them : James, who married Ellen A. Chadsey, daughter of Alfred B. and Susan (Nichols) Chadsey; Joseph C, who died February 26th, 1848 ; Mary, who married Elias J. Foote, then at Trenton, N. J.; Emma, and Joseph W-, who died April 14th, 1880. Governor Reynolds in 1836 was elected a director of the North Kingston Bank (of which board he is the only survivor), and in 1851, on the death of his father, was elected president thereof, which office he held until August, 1865, when, under the national banking act, the bank was with the Narragansett Bank merged in one institution, under the name of the Wickford National Bank. He then became president thereof, and continues to this date (1889). From March, 1824, one year he attended school at Plainfield, Conn., then noted for its educational facilities, which attracted pupils from all sections of our country. Afterward he attended various schools in his native town. He was for several years a trustee of Washington Academy, continuing such until the adoption of our public school system, when the trustees pre- sented the building and grounds to the school district then or- ganized, and dissolved. Later he became treasurer of said dis- trict, and finally after (in connection with others) improving by exchange of lands the form of their grounds and enclosing them substantially (being a liberal contributor to the expense thereof), retired. Although Mr. Reynolds has never considered it his duty to unite with any religious denomination, he has during his mature years been an attendant of the Episcopal church. From 1847 he has been a vestryman of St. Paul's, at Wickford, and by performing 456 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. his duties in that relation, as well as contributing- to its temporal wants, evinces his interest in its welfare. Pardon T. Hammond, the eldest of seven children of William and Alice Tillinghast Hammond, was a great-grandson of Joseph Hammond, who was born in England November 16th, 1690, and in 1738 bought a farm or tract of land in Pettaquamscutt pur- chase, since known as the Hammond farm, in North Kingstown. The older citizens of Washington county will readily recall the memory of the only cashier the old North King^ston Bank ever had from its formation in 1818 until its transfer into the com- bined corporation now known as the Wickford National Bank, in 1865. This long term of forty -six years of responsible activi- ties includes many of financial perplexity and doubt, as 1817-18, 1829, 1837 to 1839, 1857 and 1861. Many who are yet with us well remember the trials and anxieties of those times, which were so closely connected with the then infant industries of our manufacture of textile fabrics, which have now become the suc- cess that enables them to maintain themselves in the fluctuations of markets and the white heat of competition. The boyhood of Mr. Hammond was in those years of long ago, when the strain and doubt of the revolutionary era was but just relieved, and the interest of our people in the wild impulses of our French allies to establish fraternity and equality over the whole nation, was universal and intensely sympathetic. As a mere boy, when Jefferson became the political head of the nation of which his views were to become accepted maxims in public affairs, and finally to condense into the statutes of later years, before the close of the second term, and during the acrimonious warfare of the old republican and federal parties, the boy had reached well nigh on toward manhood, and impressions and ideas of duty as to measures and policies both personal and po- litical, had been settled for the three score years remaining of that long and honored life. During the four score years from his birth, in January, 1792, until his decease in his eighty-first year, he lived among the same people and continuously held the confidence of his elders, and the respect of the junior generation who have already taken the vacated places of those who were his cotemporaries. In Feb- ruary, 1823, he was married to Roby H. Stanton, the daughter of Daniel and Ruth Stanton, of South Kingstown ; and for a period lacking but a few months of a half century their wedded life was t-^y-^-^-^'^p* ^ ABTOTYPE, E. BIERBTADT, N. Y HISTORY OF ^YASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 457 one of mutual respect and affection, as of those whose hopes were one as to earthly and also eternal relations. The tender lessons of maternal sacrifice were enshrined in his thought for all after time by the death of a loving mother when he had but attained his nineteenth year, and her conscientious devotion to the young familj' she had borne, and the ^Slaker she had been taught to honor and obey, reproduced in him those traits which, brightening with the many years he was permitted to remain on earth, drew heart and hope toward a purer realm, and in his turn he did his best to impress the lessons of faith, hope and charity upon the children of his love. As an aim and also an attainment, to leave the world better than he found it, to create aspirations for a purer life, to maintain a purpose, to gain and defend the right amid the clash of parties and the narrow- ness of sects, to encourage that virtue of patience which thinketh no evil but always extends a helping hand to him who needs it most, his life on the inner side was bright with the glow of noble aim, and of a hope that in its results the better part was yet to be. Hotels. — There are two good summer hotels in Wickford that bring renewed life to the village each season, and which are do- ing much toward opening up the place as a seaside resort. Aside from these, two other houses are open as hotels for the traveling public. The Narragansett Hotel, before mentioned, was in all probability in operation before the revolution. William Ham- mond lived there before he built his own house in 1792, and Par- don T. Hammond was born there in 1792. Following ]Slr. Ham- mond (but not immediately) was Bryer Eldred, then Lodowick Thurston, who changed the old bar-room into the present sitting room. In 1839, Stanton W. Congdon bought the property and it is still owned by his children. In 1859 jNIr. Congdon died, and his widow managed the business till the summer of 1888, when she died. The Wickford House, just opposite, is said by some to be the older house. Robert Eldred kept a hotel here at the same time Bryer Eldred kept the Narragansett House. It was used for many years as a residence simply, but George L. Pren- tice opened it in 1886 for a hotel, since which time it has had a large patronage. Besides the above, the well known and popular Cold Spring 458 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. House, at Cold Spring Beach, is deserving of more than a pass- ing notice. Its genial proprietor, Thomas Congdon Peirce, was born in the town of North Kingstown on the 17th of September, 1829. He is a descendant of Giles Peirce, one of the early settlers of the King's Province. His son John Peirce, however, had a son Giles who became a res- ident of Block Island, and was there during the tumultuous times of the revolution. John Peirce, son of the last named Giles Peirce and father of Thomas C. Peirce, was born on Block Island in 1766. In 1785, the father with his family moved to North Kingstown, and settled on the farm now occupied by John Frank Peirce. The old gambrel roofed house formerly occupied by the original Peirce stood near the present structure erected by the father of the present occupant in 1872. John Peirce was twice married. By his first wife he had no issue. He married his second wife. Miss Sarah Brown, daughter of Stoutley Brown, who bore him two children : John B. Peirce, born July 19th, 1827, and Thomas C. Peirce, the subject of this sketch. John B. Peirce was the popular town clerk of North Kingstown for a period of thirteen years, was state senator two or more times, and when a resident of Providence was an alder- man of the Seventh ward of that city. He died in 1884. Thomas C. Peirce followed farming as an avocation until the age of nineteen years, when he and his father went to Provi- dence, the former taking a clerkship under his brother, who was then in the grocery business. This was in the year 1848, and on the 8th of July following his father died. In 1849 the gold fever broke out and the two brothers de- parted for California. They sailed in the ship " Hopewell," com- manded by Captain George Littlefield, in company with one hundred and five others, leaving AVarren, R. I., January 28th, and after a stormy passage of one hundred and ninety-three days around Cape Horn, reached the port of San Francisco. A company of twenty-four persons, including the brothers, had been formed before sailing, the object being a mutual association for the protection of each other's interests in the search of gold. This company soon disagreed among themselves and then dis- banded. A second company was formed, consisting of fifty per- sons, but the result not proving satisfactory, Mr. Peiixe formed an alliance with Mr. Aaron A. Sargent, and the two went into the business of loading and unloading vessels. These two ambitious #^ IrOTVPE, E BIERSTAD" -wWS^?™^*** 'i^.,^_, •"■ ' y\" ■.^'■ jF i,,, . G B I e ia a a e I : — i-j-J^L:j_. : Jt" ajtE.jS ^..U^: *'-^j.a»--.fii*'.i^**^^^:^" »£.«iH^„..-- ^ ■PUB -T .At St. /^.C. COLD SPRING HOUSE. WICKFORD, R. I. T. C. PEIRCE & SON. ARrOTYPE, E. aiERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 459 youths now entered upon their new undertaking with every rea- sonable hope of success, but their little barge was overloaded on its first trip, and with all its precious freight sank to the bottom of the sea ; but the owners of the cargo graciously raised their barge, and permitted them to continue in their employ until all accounts were satisfactorily adjusted. This being done, Mr. Peirce, contrary to the wishes of Mr. Sargent, returned home on the ship " South America," having been gone two years lacking two days. Mr. Sargent since that time has represented Califor- nia in the United States congress two terms, and one term as senator, and subsequently was sent as minister of the United States to Germany. Upon Mr. Peirce's return to Rhode Island he was married to Amy A. Brown, daughter of Elisha W. Brown, October 20th, 1851, at Wickford, R. L, by the Reverend Daniel Henshaw, rec- tor of St. Paul's church. Mrs. Peirce's death occurred May 13th, 1882. Mr. Peirce resumed farming after his return from California, and continued this business until 1879. At that time he removed from the old home place to Wickford for the purpose of educat- ing his children, locating for that purpose in Alfred Reynolds' house, near the village. It was during this time he conceived the idea of running a summer hotel. The friends of Mr. Peirce, however, hardly favored the project, fearful of such an expensive venture, and so, contrary to their judgment, he purchased the present site and erected his house in 1881. The building was begun February 14th, and guests were admitted June 24th of the same year. The house is pleasantly situated on the western shore of Narragansett bay, and being but a few rods from the beach, commands a broad view of one of the most beautiful sheets of water on the coast. The shore affords unequalled opportuni- ties for bathing, fishing and boating, and the same may be en- joyed at any time with perfect safety, and for which every con- venience is afforded. Cold Spring Beach, which extends in front of the house, has long been noted as the finest on the bay, and is entirely free from the dangerous undertow so prevalent in surf bathing. The original structure was 37 by 75 feet, with an ell 22 by 28 ; the front three stories high and the ell two stories high. Since that time other additions have been built, making in all seventy -five rooms. So popular is this seaside resort that probably more persons 460 HISTORY OK WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. have been turned away than the number accommodated, the rooms often being engaged for twelve months hence. Among the number who have enjoyed the hospitality of the Cold Spring House should be mentioned the names of George W. Updike, Judge Medill, J. B. McKellar, Judge Farron, Honorable H. Over- stolz, ex-mayor of St. Louis, and their families. There were others from St. Louis, all representing wealth and social position in that city, who have been regular patrons of Mr. Peirce since the opening of the hotel. The children of Thomas C. Peirce are as follows : John Frank, born August 17th, 1852 ; Christopher Phillips, born September 28th, 1854 ; Thomas Wayland, born November 21st, 1859, and Amy Ann, March 6th, 1869. The oldest son, John Frank Peirce, is a farmer, and resides at the home place. He married Miss Emma Spink of Quidnessett. Christopher P. Peirce married Miss Hattie L., daughter of Horatio L. Waldron of Providence, and is of the firm of Thomas C. Peirce & Son, proprietors of the Cold Spring House. He is also postmaster of Wickford, having been appointed to that position by President Cleveland, February 1st, 1887. Thomas Wayland Peirce married Hattie, daughter of Doctor Robert K. Sunderland, a well known physician of this place. Mr. Peirce is a carpenter, and resides in Wickford. Miss Amy Ann Peirce is at the present time pursuing a course of study at the female seminary at Norton, Mass. Mr. Thomas C. Peirce is a staunch democrat, and has found time during the past years of his busy life to represent his town in the general assembly of the state two terms. He was elected in 1875, and re-elected in 1870, receiving large majorities in both elections. As a man he is honest in his convictions, indefatiga- ble in his purposes, and has not only secured for himself an in- dependent living, but an honored name in the community in which he resides. The Wickford Fire Engine Corporation was chartered in 1805, and showed much enterprise for so small a community in procuring a machine and preparing itself for its work. A few years of activity were followed by intermittent periods of luke- warmness and interest, discouragement and success, to its present efficient condition, having at this date a No. 1 Hunneman En- gine, purchased in 1850 (the third since organization), and a first HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 461 class Button macliine, purchased in 1885, also a good building of ample dimensions to accommodate them and the apparatus of the Fire Hook and Ladder Company. For several years previous to 1816 its meetings were held at the " Inn of George Tennant," for which one dollar per meet- ing was paid. From 1816 to 1828 its meetings were held free of expense at the dwelling house of Jonathan Reynolds, thence to 1843 at the Washington Hotel, kept by Henry J. Congdon (the expense being paid by contribution), after which they were again accommodated gratuitously at the office of Sylvester G. Shear- man (afterward associate judge of the supreme court of Rhode Island), and by the Baptist society in their chapel until 1850, when their engine house furnished a suitable place for meeting. Benjamin L. Peckham was secretary from 1805 to 1808, Jonathan Reynolds from 1808 to 1835, John J. Reynolds from 1835 to 1854, Henry T. Chadsey from 1854 to 1886, from which time frequent changes occurred. Societies. — The Annaquatucket Temple of Honor, No. 16, was chartered September 2d, 1875. The charter members were : Reverend M. M. Williams, Charles S. Geer, Isaac H. Whitney, Peleg Briggs, George H. T. Cole, Warren H. Dyer, James Bed- ford, James Eldred, James A. Thomas, Thomas J. Peirce, Charles Sisson, Edward E. Bownen, Asa Sisson, James H. Hewbrick, Charles Stafford, Walter S. Cole, Samuel C. Sweet, Henry S. Cong- don, H. G. O. Gardner, John D. Cranston, Jeremiah Carpenter, Jonathan T. Nichols, Elyn A. Wood, John H. Cranston, Charles G. Champlin, Caleb T. Bowen, James B. Brayman, A. G. Straight, T. D. Nichols, W. H. Gardner, A. J. Johnson, J. G. Reynolds, H. B. Church, Charles E. Potter, George P. Rose, W. H. Bicknell, Isaac G. Niles and James W. Bedford. The list of past worthy chief templars is as follows : Charles Sisson, Elyn A. Wood, J. B. Brayman, A. J. Johnson, H. E. Tourgee, H. G. O. Gardner, Charles Stafford, J. A. Thomas, G. B. Briggs, J. H. Kingsley, W. C. Lewis, E. C. Gardner, Clarke Potter, H. J. Bownen, S. B. Knight, A. W. Sherman. Jocelyn Council, No. 6, was instituted December 1st, 1886, and named after the Reverend George B. Jocelyn, of Indiana. The past chiefs of this lodge have been : William H. Bicknell, Edward C. Gardner, Charles Potter and Henry J. Brown. Uncas Encampment, No. llf,, L O. O.F., was instituted January 3d, 1873, at Providence, and removed to Wickford after 1876. 462 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Beacon Lodge, No. 38, was chartered December 25th, 1874. William Townsend and thirteen others were the petitioners. Th.Q Royal Arcanum, Narragansett Council, was chartered April 28th, 1884. Andrew J. Johnson and thirteen others were the charter members. Past grands : Albert W. Fisk, Joseph Mel- lor, William Horsfall, Joseph A. Rathbun, Samuel C. Cong- don, Byron Kingsley, Andrew J. Johnson, Absalom M. Gardner, Benjamin A. Wilson, William A. Thomas, George C. Soule, Wil- liam G. Sherman, John J. »Spink, Thomas J. Peirce, William W. Roberts, Albert F. Ellsworth, Marcus Maglone, Thomas Hollo- way, George E. Gardiner. Mails. — In an early day mails were few and far between. As early as 1830 Wickford had three mails a week. At that date Samuel Peirce held the post office, and John Babcock ran a stage coach from Kingston Hill to Providence, through Wickford, three times each week, carrying and delivering the mail and pas- sengers each way. Daniel Champlin subsequently, with four-in- hand, drove the stage, coming and going at the appointed hours. In after years the mail was given to the Stonington railroad to carry, and was left at what was called the Junction. From there it was brought to Wickford by Abial Sherman, and still later by Stan- ton W. Congdon. Then commenced a daily mail from Providence. Then the only conveyance to Newport from Wickford was by the good old sloop " Resolution " (called the " Reso ") Captain David S. Baker, and to Providence by water by the sloop " Lucy Emeline," Captain Vincent Gardner. Sometimes the voyage was accomplished in a few hours, and often the day was spent, and night coming on ere the old " Reso " was seen to double the point of Connecticut, or the " Lucy Emeline " to come in past the shoals of Quansett. Soon commenced the agitation of the Wickford & Newport railroad and Stonington Steamboat Company, and finally, in 1871, through the efforts of S. H. Vaughn, both railroad and steam- boats were put into operation. Now Wickford receives and sends three mails daily. The changes in and around the Wick- ford harbor are also numerous. Upon the South White Rock now stands a permanent beacon, placed there by the govern- ment ; also a can buoy near the James Ledge ; and on old Gay Rock at night a beautiful light from the towers of the new build- ing recently erected there. Christopher Peirce, the present post- master, took the office in 1887. HISTORY OF WASHIXGTOX AND KENT COUNTIES. 463 Washington Academy. — The first meeting under the articles of association was held March 10th, 1800, at the house of Oliver Spink, in Wickford. The meeting was organized by the election of Peter Phillips, chairman ; Benjamin Fowler, treasurer ; and William G. Shaw, clerk. A committee was appointed to draft a charter and draw a petition, to be presented to the general as- sembly to be held in June. At a subsequent meeting the fol- lowing named persons were elected trustees : Lodowick Updike, George Thomas, Thomas Rumereil, Benjamin Reynolds, John Allen, William EUery, Robert N. Auchmuty, Daniel Lyman, Samuel Elam, John Brown, Joseph Reynolds, Peter Phillips, Ben- jamin Fowler, Daniel E. Updike, William G. Shaw, Ray Greene, Walter Channing, Christopher G. Champlin, Asher Robbins, John G. Clark, William Hunter, Philip Tillinghast, Robert El- dred, Thomas P. Ives and Nicholas Brown. The first meeting of the trustees under the charter was held the 27th day of August, 1800. At that meeting Samuel Elam was elected president, Peter Phillips vice-president, Benjamin Fowler treasurer, and Daniel E. Updike secretary. At this meet- ing an offer of four acres of land was made to the trustees as a suitable place for the edifice, by Mr. Nicholas vSpink and Ann, his wife, and Mr. John Franklin and Hannah, his wife, which offer was gratefully accepted. Mr. Samuel Elam of Portsmouth, also gave $100 as a present, and as tradition has it wanted the institu- tion named Elam Academy, but Daniel E. Updike persisted in calling it Washington Academy. On November 4th, 1801, the building committee reported the work nearly completed, but there was a deficiency in the treasury. Alpheus Baker of Newport, was elected the first principal, and Remington Southwick assistant teacher. The school commenced as early as 1802, with but seven scholars, but the number was soon increased to one hundred. Alpheus Baker resigned in No- vember, 1806, and Remington Southwick went up the Ten rod road to survey for a contemplated turnpike, and on his return home was thrown from his horse and instantly killed. They were succeeded by Wilbur Tillinghast, Linden Fuller, Amanuel Northup and his brother Carr Northup, Barton Ballon, Mr. Wood and Francis Chappell, Esq. Mr. Chappell commenced his pro- fession first as a teacher of select schools in the village of Wick- ford, and taught about forty years, beginning in 1815. In November, 1833, his excellency John Brown Francis was 464 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. elected president, Jonathan Reynolds vice-president, Pardon T. Hammond secretary, and Joseph C. Sanford treasurer. The first three named gentlemen above v?ere elected year after year until the institution became the property of school districts 3 and 4. The first Monday in June, 1833, William D. Upham, assisted by Miss Caroline Whiting, commenced teaching. Mr. Upham 's salary was $100 per quarter of twelve weeks, and one-half of the proceeds from tuition that might occur above the regular salar- ies. The principal's pay amounted for the year by this method to $427. Miss Whiting's amounted to a little more than $200. Miss Harriet Hall and Miss Margaret Grafton were assistants part of the time. Mr. Upham resigned November 21st, 1836, and was succeeded in March, 1837, by William H. Taylor. He was hired for six months for $22.'}. Subsequent teachers remained for short periods each, and the interest in the school soon waned. Francis Chappell occupied a room in the building for free schools several years, in connection with his select schools. May 27th, 1848, steps were taken to lease the building, and on the 10th of June following the trustees (Pardon T. Hammond, Esq., secretary) leased the academy to school districts No. 3 and 4 for the term of ninety-nine 5'-ears, at one cent per annum, the district keeping in good condition the building and fences. Thus it continued till September 8th, 1874, when, by incendiarism, it was burned to the ground. The building was conveniently arranged. It was sixty by thirty feet. There were on the first floor one room thirty by twenty-four feet, and two recitation rooms, one on either side. The second floor was just the same, though not so high studded. This building stood on a hill overlooking a small cove or sheet of tide water on the north, and facing the Ten rod road on the south. The present edifice was constructed in 1875. An insurance of $2,000 was realized on the old building, and this, with a tax of $9,500 on the ratable property of the district, footed up the cost of the new one. It was erected on the foundation of the old, eight feet longer and five feet wider. There are two school rooms (one on either side of a ten foot hall), twenty-three by thirty-three feet, with dressing rooms on the outer side of each, and closets for washing hands. The rooms are hard finished, and furnished with patent desks and chairs, one for each scholar. The school is graded. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 465 Libraries. — Soon after the establishment of the academy, the nucleus of a library was commenced by subscription, and nearly three hundred volumes were placed in the institution for the ben- efit of the teachers, scholars and people of the village. This li- brary was selected from the most approved authors then extant, but, strange to relate, the reading public allowed this valuable treasure to become scattered and lost. A library was gotten up in 1821 at a cost of $176.79, by an asso- ciation of the citizens of the village, called " The Library Soci- ciety." It numbered 223 volumes, and was sold at auction Janu- uary 24th, 1829, each shareholder receiving his portion of the proceeds. There is at present a small circulating library in the village, where a fee of a few cents is charged for the use of books. Sea Captains. — Wickford has been noted for its many cap- tains, or masters of vessels, both foreign and coastwise. Of those who were old-time captains, serving as late as 1841-42, may be mentioned : Captain William Baker, Sr., schooner " Dispatch ; " William Baker, Jr., sloop " Elnora ;" Abel T. Baker, sloop " Em- ily ;" also three other brothers, Joshua, Lodowick and Benjamin, all having borne the same title ; Beriah Gardiner, schooner " Con- vert;" Nicholas V. Gardiner, sloop "General Battey;" Ezekiel M. Gardiner, sloop " Hellen ;" James A. Gardiner, sloop " Ad- vance ;" David Gardiner, sloop " Lucy Emeline ;" Vincent Gard- iner, sloop "Hope"; Captain Jeremiah Gardiner, who sailed on foreign voyages ; Captain John McLawlen, schooner " Reaper ; " Christopher Phillips, George T. Nichols, Amos Rogers, Joseph Hamilton, George H. T. Cole, Henry Fowler, William H. Lewis, > Thomas Gardiner, of the barque " Bell," and Jeremiah Gardiner, of the barque " Casco," both of whom engaged in the Spanish trade ; John Westcott, of sloop " Huntress ;" William Holloway, master of Newport packet sloop " Resolution " (some 70 or 75 years ago) ; Captain Joseph Congdon, who doubled Cape Horn eight times, six as master of his vessel ; Thomas Baker, of barque " Undine ;" Samuel Baker, David S. Baker, and Thomas Hollo- way, also of the old " Reso." ; James Reynolds, sloop " America " and steamer " Eolius "; Jesse Steadman, sloop " Blackstone ;" Pe- leg W. Whitman, of steamer " Eolius "; Joseph Congdon, Jr., now in the revenue service, and others still living, all of whom deserve honorable mention. 30 466 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. St. Paul's Church. — At the beginning of the eighteenth cen- tury tliere was not a single edifice in the Narragansett country for the worshippers of the Episcopalian church, although the ter- ritory at that time had been settled for more than sixty years, and the state had a population by the middle of the century of 30,- 000 inhabitants. The first building intended for the worship of the Church of England in Rhode Island was erected in Newport, and was, after various vicissitudes, long since destroyed. In 1707 the second church was raised, in the Narragansett country, about five miles south of the present site now occupied by that building. In 1800 this structure was removed to Wickford, and now stands on a short street or lane a few hundred feet from the main thorough- fare of the place, and is reached by a winding pathway. For years the church has been the subject of a tradition, the legend being that it was moved surreptitiously by some of the residents of AVickford, who, on a quiet night by means of ox teams, drew it from McSparran Hill to Wickford. This, however, is a fabri- - cation. The size and form of the structure would forbid its re- moval in the manner alleged. Unlike the religious edifices of the present day, the entrance is in the center of the side facing the lane. The building is painted a deep brown shade, and the scars caused by the blowing down of the steeple in 1865 have been obliterated by modern clapboards. Over the entrance is a small black tablet with the inscription in letters of gilt : Built A. D. 1707. Removed A. D. 1800. Time has dealt gently with the interior of the building, but some of the old brass trimmings are gone. The pews were for- merly all of the high-backed box pattern, but in the center these have been removed and sixteen slips built in their place. The original chancel was on the east side, and a small round pulpit, quite high and reached by a single flight of stairs, stood where the present one does. The chancel was removed early in the present century. "'■ At a meeting of the society of St. Paul's in April, 1791, Walter C. Gardiner was appointed lay reader. He afterward became rector of the church and continued as such until 1794, when Rev- *Foi- history of St. Paul's prior to 1800, see iaistory of Soutli Kingstown. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 467 erend Joseph Warren was elected rector and officiated until the autumn of 1805. At a meeting of the society on the 3d day of December, 1799, while the Reverend Mr. Warren was rector, it was voted (nine to two) to remove the edifice of St. Paul's from the site where it was originally erected in 1707, five miles further north to the village of Wickford. It was also voted to build a new church on the site given by Doctor McSparran for that purpose on McSparran Hill, so-called, for the accommodation of the part of the parish residing in South Kingstown, and that the rector preach alter- nately in Wickford and South Kingstown. The church edifice was removed to Wickford, but none was ever built on the lot given by Doctor McSparran. The site on which the old church stood and the burial ground attached, where the ashes of so many of its members repose, still belong to the Episcopal church. Mr. Isaac B. Pierce, of Newport, was chosen lay reader of St. Paul's in Wickford and officiated in that capacity from 1809 to 1813. The Reverend James Bowers was elected rector of the same church in 1812 and continued services in the same parish, but mostly in the south one until the year 1814. The church again became vacant until 1817, when Lemuel Burge was chosen lay reader and officiated two years. The parish was then sup- plied by the Reverend Patrick H. Falker for about one year. The Reverend Mr. Burge having obtained orders returned and continued rector from May, 1820, to Easter, 1834. The church at Tower Hill in South Kingstown having been built when Mr. Burge w^as lay reader and consecrated in November, 1818, he performed services in the North and South Kingstown churches alternately. In June, 1834, the Reverend Francis Peck became rector and officiated until Easter, 1844, when, on account of ill health he resigned. In the following autumn Reverend John W. Rouse was elected rector, and succeeding came Reverend Mr. Henshaw, 1849-53. The Reverend Mr. Flanders, who was un- able to be present, was settled over the parish in 1858 and fol- lowing him came the Reverend Mr. Sanderson, and then the Reverend Mr. Goodwin from April 6th, 1869, to July 20th, 1874 ; Reverend George Magill, 1875 to 1876; Reverend William Ayers to October, 1886 ; Reverend Albert J. Thompson 1887. The parish of North Kingstown was divided in 1832, and after the division services were continued in the Wickford and Tower Hill churches by their respective pastors. 468 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. First Baptist Church.* — A meeting house for the use of Bap- tists was built in Wickford before a Baptist church was organ- ized. Fifty men. formed themselves May 3d, 1816, into a society for this purpose. The estimated cost was $3,000. The building was only 40 by 50 feet. The charter required that two of the three directors should be members of a Baptist church, but any person could be a member of the society who owned a pew. No spiritual or doctrinal or even moral qualification was required, but the society has no voice in the election of pastor and only the church is responsible for the pastor's support. A church of twenty-four members was formed in 1822, but it made no progress and in 1833 its name disappeared from the minutes of the Warren Association. Another church was formed in 1834 with three male and ten female members, and that church, through the smiles of a gracious Providence, continues to this day. The history of the church may be conveniently divided into periods comprehending the several pastorates with the intervals. The first pastor was the Reverend B. C. Grafton. During his ministry the church advanced in numbers and spiritual strength. It rose from thirteen to fifty. At two distinct times more than common interest was awakened in those who were without, and twenty were baptized. The meeting house was entirely remod- eled, at an expense of $2,6.^8.89. The church even then, in its period of comparative weakness, when aided by the state con- vention, began to manifest interest in objects of benevolence, especially in foreign missions. When the church was only two years old and had less than fifty members, it entertained the Warren Association with its thirty-two churches. There were present thirty-four ministers, besides other delegates and num- erous visitors. After the session Brother A. B. Chadsey was or- dained as deacon, and the Lord's Supper was administered to a large number of communicants. This first pastorate of five years ended in 1839. Mr. Grafton was an active and faithful ser- vant of Christ, thoroughly evangelical in doctrine, discreet, prayerful, zealous, of comprehensive benevolence, educating the little dependent church to give to objects external to self, and was an earnest preacher of the truth. He died years ago in Cambridge, greatly beloved. The next period embraces the pastorate of Reverend J. R. *By Reverend N. M. Williams, for the Narragansett Association. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 469 Stone. Mr. Stone was ordained June Gtli, 1829, in Wickford, when only twenty-two years of age. The ordination was imme- diately followed by a series of meetings, but the effort did not result in conversions. A ten days' meeting was held in the au- tumn, at which meeting the pastor received the aid of two of his ministering brethren. The conversion of many was the result. In 1841 the church ceased tq receive aid from the convention, but has since been a contributor to the support of new and feeble churches. The latter part of 1841 and the early part of 1842 were made memorable by another special outpouring of the spirit. Members of the church engaged in personal effort by go- ing from house to house, and by upholding the hands of the min- isters who came to the pastor's aid. These labors were greatly blessed. Thirty-nine persons, from the age of thirteen years to seventy, of both sexes, were received to the fellowship of the church. It was many years since some of these had been in a meeting house, and some of the baptized had been notorious on account of their vices and infidelity. It was a period of revival throughout the state, 1,224 being added to our churches by bap- tism. In the year ending in September, 1843, thirt5'-eight more were baptized. Mr. Stone closed his labors November 30th, 1843, having been pastor four years and six months, in which he baptized one hundred. The church increased from fifty to one hundred and fifty-seven. The years 1848 and 1844 were years of severe internal trial. According the minutes of the Warren Association in 1844, Sam- uel S. Baker was a licentiate of the Wickford church. Two years and ten months elapsed before another pastor was obtained. Then the church called Adoniram Judson Chaplin, son of Doctor Jeremiah Chaplin, first president of Colby University. He had just graduated at Madison Theological Seminary, Hamilton, N. Y. He was ordained in Wickford September 21st, 1846. His pas- torate continued two years and seven months, and must be re- garded chiefly in the light, of preparation for the pastorates which were to follow. As a result chiefly of the severe trials of 1844, the number of the church fell from one hundred and fifty-flve to ninety-two. During the fourth period Reverend A. H. Taylor was pastor. His ministry continued three years and three months. The church increased to one hundred and thirty-one. The right arm of the Lord was made bare in the salvation of souls, and the 470 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. church felt constrained to say, " The Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are glad." Mr. Taylor is dead. He was a good minister of Jesus Christ. The fifth period includes the pastorate of Reverend J. E. Cheshire in which, continuing two years and six months, nothing worthy of note occurred. The sixth period is marked by the ministry of the Reverend William F. Nelson. The church again increased in numbers and became larger than ever before. The closing year of Mr. Nelson's pastorate was distinguished by large additions to nearly all the principal churches of Rhode Island, and upon the church in Wickford descended a most refreshing shower. In this period fifty-five were added by baptism, $300.76 were contributed to benevolence, of which $196.51 were given to foreign missions. In the year 1858 the church was the means, through its letter to the Warren Association, of causing the appointment of a com- mittee to investigate a subject which was then agitating the public mind. It was very widely felt that the United States government was showing a strange partiality in the appoint- ment of chaplains for the army and navy. It took its chaplains chiefly from one sect, and that one the smallest in the land — the Episcopal ; and what was still more remarkable a chaplain of the Baptist denomination was made the object of abuse unless, in performing his official duties, he was ready to use the prayer book of the Episcopal church. The allusion to these abuses made in the letter of the Wickford church caused the Warren Associa- tion to refer the subject to a committee consisting of Doctor Wayland, Doctor Barnas, Doctor Henry Jackson, Honorable B. B. Thornton and Honorable Thomas G. Turner. The committee were empowered, if they should deem it expedient, to prepare a memorial to be laid before the next congress. It is well known that the efforts made in Rhode Island and elsewhere were suc- cessful in arresting this evil. Mr. Nelson completed his pastorate April 1st, 1859, the length of which was thus three years and three months. He died in Washington March 4th, 1875, leaving behind him an unblemished record. He was a man of well furnished and well balanced mind. He was a devout student of the Bible and a faithful preacher. The pastorate of Reverend Edward Bell was the seventh period. It was characterized more by preparatory work than by HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 471 conversions. It was a time of planting rather than reaping. The pastor was an excellent Christian man and a discriminating preacher. The church was favored with several conversions in the seventh year of his pastorate, and the entire number baptized in the eight years and two months of his work was eighteen. The smallness of the result is in some respects not surprising. Within ten years and four months one hundred and thirty-eight had been added to the church — one hundred of these by baptism. Some had removed to other towns and some had lost interest in the Christian cause. The churches of the Baptist denomination could do as some other churches do — retain all the unworthy in nominal fellowship, swelling their number beyond all propriety, and could allow absentees to retain a nominal connection instead of taking letters of dismission to other churches. The church in Wickford has be'en watchful with respect to both these classes, and accordingly in Mr. Bell's pastorate it considerably reduced its number by dismission and exclusion. This was undoubtedly a needed preparation for the revival in the next pastorate. It is one form of usefulness but it attracts little notice from the out- side world. It should be added that in the early part of Mr. Bell's ministry the meeting house was enlarged by an addition to the northern end. The number of new pews was fourteen. The expense, including painting and frescoing, was $814. Mr. Bell's son, Jonathan E., was licensed to preach. Mr. Bell was born in England and died in Providence. The eighth period embraces the pastorate of Reverend Justus Aldrich. The period was marked by large additions to the three Baptist churches in the town, the number added being two hun- dred and thirty-eight. Many of the church were greatly quick- ened, and the total number baptized was eighty-four. The church had increased from thirteen to one hundred and ninety-seven. Mr. Aldrich closed his pastorate in October, 1870, after much faithful labor and in impaired health. It is deeply to be re- gretted that during the long period of eight months the numer- ous converts were without the benefit of pastoral oversight. During most of the time, however, the public duties of the Sab- bath were performed and with much fidelity by Reverend S. W. Field of Providence. The ninth period included the pastorate of N. M. Williams. It began in June, 1870, and continued till February, 1877. The additions to the church during that time numbered twenty-seven 472 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. but the losses were unusually large, because besides the ordinary decrease by death and removal a large number of members who had proved unworthy were cut off from membership. The whole loss was seventy-four and the net loss forty -seven. During this time improvements upon the chapel were made at the cost of $1,000, and the meeting house was carpeted and the walls painted and frescoed at an expense of $800. In April, 1877, Mr. Freeman T. Whitman, a student of Brown University, was engaged as stated supply. Besides filling the pulpit on Sundays, he spent his vacations with the people, and the arrangement proved advantageous. He closed his engage- ment in September, 1878, to enter on a course of theological study. During the period seventeen were added to the church, and the losses were fourteen. In May, 1879, Reverend L. W. Frink of Moosu^,Conn., entered upon the pastoral charge of the church. During his ministry a revival was enjoyed, and the additions to the church by baptism and letter numbered forty-one, while the losses were twenty- nine, making a net increase of twelve. Mr. Frink closed his pastorate in October, 1883, to accept a call from a church in Marl- boro, Mass. It was at the beginning of this pastorate that the church first put in operation the weekly envelope system of con- tributions for salary and other expenses, which is still main- tained. The present pastor is Reverend F. D. Blake, formerly of Oak- land, Me., who entered on his pastorate March 23d, 1884. The chapel has been renovated at a cost of $300, and improved means of lighting the church have been adopted at a cost of $100. The additions to the church have been eight, and the losses thirteen. The membership in jSlay, 1888, was 143. Eleven persons have held the office of pastor. Five hundred and sixty-eight persons have been members of the church. The office of deacon was held for many years by Alfred B. Chadsey and Stephen D. Reynolds. The vacancies made by their resig- nation were filled by the election in the year 1856 of Jeremiah Carpenter and Joseph Congdon. Deacon Carpenter still holds the office, but Deacon Congdon, after a life of great faithfulness and usefulness, died suddenly April 25th, 1888, and his successor has not yet been chosen. The clerk of the church is Thaddeus W. Hunt, and the treasurer is John O. Lewis. The superintend- ents of the Sunday school have been : S. D. Reynolds, Reverend HISTORY OF AVASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 473 Mr. Bell, Walter Nichols and J. T. Nichols. The office is now held by T. W. Hunt, who was elected in March, 1871. Methodist Church. — There have been Methodists in the vil- lage of Wickford for a hundred years and more. The first preaching known to have been held in the place was at the house of Peter Phillips. The event was brought about in the following way : Mr. Phillips was over in Bristol, R. I., and heard the Reverend Jesse Lee preach in that county and invited him to come and preach in his house in Wickford. The reverend gentleman accepted the call, and from that time (which must have been in 1791-92 or 93) to the present time there has been more or less preaching by the Methodists in this place. The ec- centric Lorenzo Dow, of Coventry, Conn., (who began his labors in the ministry about the year 1792 or 93 ) preached in Wickford a number of time's. The church for the first three quarters of a century had its various successes and failures, the latter of which were so serious and great at times as to imperil its exist- ence. At one time the worshippers in this church were hardly recognized as a body of orthodox Christians, and but little coun- tenance was given them by the other religious denominations in the place. In this way the society struggled, feeble in numbers, financially weak, sometimes having a pronounced following, but never sufficient strength to have regular worship and a house to meet in until a few years ago. Father Hunt, of precious mem- ory to many yet who recollect him, Lydia Potter, Charles Henry Rose, John Willis and wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Cozens and Aunt Avis, are among the number who upheld the cause of Methodism in years past and gone. In the year 1882, new life became in- fused into the society. John Willis, Reuben C. Secor and wife Mary J. Secor, Lydia Potter, Mary Gardiner, Doctor George C. Soule and his wife Anne C. Soule, and William W. Roberts, or- ganized themselves into a class, and the hopes of Methodism- from this time forward began to brighten. They hired a little room owned by John Hull, and now occupied as a store by Mrs. S. A. Waldron, and held regular services whenever they could obtain a preacher. Their beginnings were small, having to start with but six settees,twelve chairs,a stove and six bracket lamps loaned them by John Willis. The church had twelve members in the begin- ning of this work,but in two months two withdrew from the society and one backslided, leaving a membership of but nine. This little society at first secured the services of Professor William H. Bur- 474 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. dick, of East Greenwich Academy, who preached for them one year on Sabbath mornings, and during the summer time also held ser- vices in the evening. Reverend F. D. Blakeslee, principal of East Greenwich Academy, often preached for them, and some- times because of the feebleness of the society, without compensa- tion. Following him came William L. Newhall, William N. Starr, John A. Hughes and others as supplies from time to time. In the year 1884 Reverend J. E. Fischer supplied the pulpit for a period of seven weeks, during which time there were thirt)^- five additions made to the church. On June 1st, 1885, Reverend Mr. Fischer baptized a number of converts. On this occasion at their love feast, one hundred and twenty-five testimonies were given in one hour's time. The rite of baptism above mentioned was the first the little church had observed, and the occasion was made one of general rejoicing. The church next occupied Vaughn Hall, offered them without rent by Parley M. Matthew- son. They remained here six months. On January 2d, 1886, the church dedicated its new building. The lot was given by Doctor G. C. Soule. The Reverend F. C. Newell is pastor, and the membership at the present time is about one hundred. The membership of the church is divided into four classes, led by the following named leaders : 1st class, Reuben Secor ; 2d class, Mrs. A. C. Soule ; 3d class. Doctor G. C. Soule ; 4th class, Joseph Lord. The society at the present time is imbued with new life and spiritually is in the enjoyment of its privileges as a church. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Stephen B. Reynolds.— Three brothers of the Reynolds family left England and settled in the British American colonies about the year 1630. Christopher of this number finally removed to one of the Carolinas ; John remained in Bermuda, where they at first landed, and William, the progenitor of the subject of this sketch, located, on the 20th of August, 1636, in North Kingstown, Washington county, R. I. From the colonial records it appears that he engaged in the purchase of land, and soon became prom- inently identified with local affairs. In 1638 he received a deed of land from Roger Williams. He had three sons— James, John and Samuel. James', of this number, also appears to have been an influential and public spirited citizen, his name figuring in the transfer of yj ^^^ ARTOTYPe, E. BIEHSTADT, N. Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 475 property, in petitions to the crown for relief from various op- pressive acts, and as the incumbent of many offices. Among the children born to James and his wife Deborah, was a son James, Jr.", the date of his birth being October 3d, 1650. He settled at Sand Hill, married, and had children : Henry, Robert, Joseph, Peter, John and James. The children of Peter' Reynolds were John, Jonathan, Peter and a daughter. The last named John* was twice married, his first wife having two children : Phebe, born June 2d, 1747, and Welthan, born April 2d, 1749. The chil- dren by a second union were : Anna, born August 9th, 1751 ; William, July 19th, 1753 ; Benjamin, April 19th, 1756 ; and Dan- iel, June 3d, 1760. The children of William" Reynolds were : Jonathan, born March 31st, 1774, died September 12th, 1861 ; Nicholas, born December 22d, 1775, died June 19th, 1822 ; James, born April 7th, 1777, died November 18th,1856; Silas, born October 17th, 1782, died July 22d, 1814 ; Zebulon, born November 15th, 1786, died December 15th, 1837; Esther, born August 19th, 1788, died July 14th, 1833 ; William Job, born March 19th, 1791, died July 14th, 1833 ; Samuel W., born April 13th, 1795, died in 1863 ; and Daniel, born May 13th, 1797, died March 23d, 1821, in the East Indies. William Job' Reynolds married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Davis. Their children are : Stephen Booyer", James Wyners, Hannah Wyners, Benjamin Davis, Susan E., Dolly Davis and William Job. The eldest of this number and the subject of this biographical sketch, Stephen Booyer, was born November 26th, 1811, in Wickford, where he has during his whole life resided. Here, after the customary period at school, he learned the car- penter's trade. His inclinations leading to the life of a mariner, his trade was at an early day abandoned for the more perilous and exciting career of a sailor. His first experiences were those of a common sailor, from which he rose to the command of a schooner, and finally to the principal ownership of a vessel en- gaged in trade with West India and the ports of the Gulf of Mexico, of which he was captain. Captain Reynolds finally tiring of this wandering life, which necessitated long absences from his home and family, enjoyed several years of leisure. He had been since 1856 in the board of directors of the Wickford Savings Bank, and was in 1866 elected its treasurer, holding the office until 1887, when he was succeeded by his son, Joseph G. Reynolds. He is also a director of the Wickford National Bank. 476 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. He has been from the first identified with the interests of Wick- ford, and a willing promoter of the various projects that add to its growth and prosperity. Formerly a whig, and at a later day a republican in politics, he has not participated in the struggle for office, nor been ambitious for public distinction. In religion his sympathies are with the Baptist church, of which he is a regular supporter. Captain Reynolds married August 7th, 1843, Harriet C, daughter of Beriah Gardiner. Their children are : Charles B., Stephen Eugene, Thomas A., Joseph G. and Benjamin G. Mrs. Reynolds is a lineal descendant of George Gardiner, who died in 1677. He married first Herodius Hicks Long, and a second time Lydia Ballou, to each of whom were born seven children. The birth of Nicholas, a son by the first union, occurred in 1654, and his death in 1712. He had three sons : Nicholas, Ezekiel and George. The eldest of these, Nicholas, married in 1709 Mary, daughter of Thomas Eldred, of Kingstown. Nicholas, one of their eight children, known as Esquire Nicholas, was born at Kingstown, December 10th, 1710, and died in 1801, a large land holder and owner of many slaves. He was twice married, having by the first union eight, and by the second four children. Nicholas, his son by the first marriage to Martha Havens, daughter of William Havens of North Kingstown, was born March 2d, 1738, and died June 6th, 1815. His first wife was Honour Brown, daughter of Beriah Brown. She had no children. He married in 1762 Deborah Vincent of Exeter, who had eight children. His third wife was Ruth Tillinghast. His son Beriah, who was born November 16th, 1771, and died February 12th, 1S.")3, married first Phebe Gardiner October 21st, 1792, and second Elizabeth, daugh- ter of Joseph and granddaughter of William Hammond, October 25th, 1808. Harriet C, wife of Stephen B. Reynolds, born March 11th, 1815, is a daughter by the last marriage. Alfred Blair Chadsey, son of Jeremiah G. and Avis (Wight- man) Chadsey, was born in Newport, R. I., September 13th, 1815. He is a descendant of William Chadsey, who was born in Wales, Great Britain, in 1692, and came to Newport, R. I., in 1716, and soon after crossed the bay, purchased a farm of about one hun- dred acres in North Kingstown, three miles north of Wick- ford, on which he settled. In 1719 he married Susanna, daugh- ter of Jabez Greene and sister of the father of General Nathaniel Greene, who was second in command to General Washington of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 477 the American armies in the revolutionary war. With her he lived after marriage sixty-eight years, having eight children, and both died within three months of each other in 1787, on the farm where they first settled. Their children all married and lived to old age, and two of their grandchildren died in their hundredth year. Jeremiah G. Chadsey, father of A. B., was in the third genera- tion from William, and was born in North Kingstown December 2d, 1780. His wife, the mother of A. B., was born in North Kingstown October 7th, 1780. They were married August 16th, 1804, and lived together after marriage sixty-eight years and nine months. They had nine children, three of whom died in in- fancy. The others (Euclid, Henry T., Emily G., Alfred B., Frances L. and Maria), each married, all having children, and they in turn nearly all married with the same result. Jeremiah G., above-mentioned, was characterized not only by bodily but mental vigor. His intellect was constitutionally clear and exact ; He was educated at Plainfield Academy, Conn.; was a teacher in East Greenwich Academy in 1805-6, and principal of the War- wick Academy frora 1807 to 1811, when he relinquished teaching and entered on the manufacture of cotton yarn, which in turn was made into cloth by the slow process of hand loom weavers, of whom he employed about six hundred in families in the towns of North Kingstown, Exeter, Richmond, South Kingstown and East and West Greenwich, at the same time keeping a large variety store in Wickford, from which the webs were dispensed, the cloth returned and the weavers paid in goods. This was continued in Wickford from 1812 to 1842, his son Henry T. being in partner- ship with him from 1826 to 1837, and Alfred B. from 1837 to 1842, when the business was discontinued. The father, J. G. Chadsey, then purchased several tracts of land in and adjoining the village of Wickford, in the cultivation of which he was suc- cessfully engaged for many years, and largely benefitted his fel- low-townsmen in giving new impulses to agriculture. He was very fond of mathematics. Astronomy was his favorite study, and in 1807 he constructed for his own gratification an entire al- manac, calculating the eclipses. He served two years in the Rhode Island senate. He was a member of the Baptist church from 1816 to the time of his death, in 1873. His piety partook something of the type of his mind. He seldom rose to a high degree of spiritual fervor, and almost never fell into depression. 478 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Alfred B., the subject of this sketch, was educated in the pri- mary schools and at Washington Academy in Wickford, secur- ing a good education in the higher English branches. In 1834 he taught a district school, and in 1835 entered his father's store as bookkeeper. In 1837 he was taken into partnership with his father, which continued till 1842. In 1844 he removed to Leices- ter, Mass., and with Stephen Draper and John C. Brown engaged in the manufacture of scythes. The firm in 1844, after erecting suitable buildings at the state dam across the Hudson river at Troy, N. Y., removed their business to that city. Mr. Chadsey with his family resided in Troy till 1851, when he sold to his part- ners his interest in the business and returned with his family to Wickford, where in 1852, at the solicitation of his aged father, he undertook the management of the homestead farm, an occupa- tion to which he became greatly attached, and for many years in addition to growing the ordinary farm crops he has made a specialty of growing field and garden seeds in great variety, for which he always found ready market only at wholesale. Several varieties, such as onion, beet, carrot and turnip, were grown by the ton and distributed in many of the states of the Union to ■wholesale dealers. His study of agricultural science was not only a necessity, but rapidly grew into a fondness to which he applied himself with devotion and much pleasure. For many years he compounded his chemical fertilizers which he found to be much cheaper and of equal value of those sold in the market. Mr. Chadsey 's connection with agricultural societies aided much in expanding his ideas in the line of methods and improvements so indispensable in the prosecution of farming pursuits. The in- timate relations into which he was brought with nearly all the practical and scientific farmers of the state, gave opportunity to compare notes and experiences which were found to be mutually valuable. He was many years a member of the standing and exec- utive committees of the State Agricultural Society, and a constit- uent member in the organization of the Washington County So- ciety. In 1880 he was president of the state society and was re- elected in 1 881 , but felt obliged to decline its acceptance on account of distance from its headquarters in Providence. Mr. Chadsey has by appointment prepared some papers on agricultural topics, which were read before the society, and many others which have been published in agricultural ^md other papers. In 1854-5 he served as member from North Kingstown in the y>^. ^^<*. ARTOTVPE, E B1ER6TADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 479 Rhode Island house of representatives ; was four years president of the town council of North Kingstown, and superintendent of schools for six years. He was appointed by President Lin- coln, during the war of the rebellion, provost marshal of the Second District of Rhode Island, and served till the close of the war. On his retirement from the of&ce of provost marshal the following item was found in one of the daily papers of Provi- dence : " Capjt. Chadsey has won the love and respect of all with whom he has come into personal or official relations since he has borne the office, and if all had imitated him in courtesy, in gentle- manly bearing and deportment, and in his modesty and zeal for the interest of both country and state, we should have enjoyed a greater harmony and peace. We tender our regrets to Capt. Chadsey that we are to lose the quiet smile with which we have so long been greeted by him, and trust that in the enjoyment of his home in Wickford he will not forget his fellow-citizens in this city, whose respect he has universally won." Politically he was a whig and then a republican and a pro- nounced anti-slavery man, always prominently identified with reformatory movements. After the terrible conflict between the North and South, peace being restored and the Southern states reconstructed, Mr. Chad- sey, together with hundreds of others of the republican party, felt that the party, which by divine Providence had been instru- mental in the abolition of negro slavery and preserving the Union, whose overthrow had been so desperately threatened by its en- emies, should next, under the same divine leading, exert its great moral power to abolish the drink slavery ; and after repeated promises and rebuffs and years of waiting, a few hundred were led by their convictions and want of sympathy and co-operation - on the part of the republican party, to step aside and organize an aggressive movement looking to the abolition of the liquor traffic. The prohibition party was organized and the warfare began. In 1876 Mr. Chadsey was placed on the ticket as candidate for lieuten- ant-governor. In 1877 he was appointed by the governor a member of the board of state charities and corrections for the term of six years, and was reappointed in 1883 for a similar term. In 1884 he was nominated as a candidate for congress from the Sec- ond District of Rhode Island. He has served on the board of trustees of the Wickford Savings Bank since its organization in 480 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1856, and on the board of directors of the Wickford National Bank since its organization in 1866. Mr. Chadsey married (first) September 14th, 1836, Susan, eldesi. daughter of Captain John Nichols, of Wickford. She was born October 18th, 1813, and died August 18th, 1879, having become the mother of three children : John A., died young ; Ellen A., married James, son of Hon. J. J. Reynolds ; and Deodata, mar- ried Reverend J. E. Fischer. Mr. Chadsey married (second) Oc- tober 27th, 1880, Annie E. Avery, eldest daughter of William D. and Eliza H. Avery, of Providence. Mr. Chadsey had two brothers, Euclid, deceased, and Henry T., and three sisters, Em- ily, deceased, who married Henry H. Wightman ; Frances L., who married Sheffield C. Reynolds ; and Maria, deceased, who married Reverend C. L. Woodworth, Mr. Chadsey united with the Baptist church when in his seventeenth year, in July, 1832. His conversion to Christ he has ever regarded as the crowning blessing of his life, and has never ceased to feel most deeply his accountability to God, his maker and redeemer, as the source of all power and blessings. CHAPTER XIII. TOWN OF SOUTH KINGSTOWN. General Features. — Erection of the Township. — Town Clerks. — Township of Nar- ragansett. — Freemen. — Early Births. — Reminiscences. — The Hazards, Robin- sons, Rodmans, Watsons, Perrys, Sweets and other Families. — Amusing In- cidents. — Short Sketches by Jeffrey W. Potter. — A Suicide. — Schools. — Town Farm. — Tower Hill. — Presbyterian Church. — Narragansett Pier. — Hotels. — Other Objects of Interest. — St. Peter's by the Sea. — Presbyterian Church. SOUTH KINGSTOWN is the largest town in the state. It contains an area of 77.9 square miles. Its ponds are large and numerous, and may become a source of great wealth by means of well tested systems of fish culture. Its swamps, though extensive, may be converted by drainage into excellent agricultural lands, and its forests of rhododendrons are of remark- able beauty and size. There are but few towns, probably, on our continent that contain so many rivers and brooks, springs, coves, islands, hills, points, beaches, rocks, swamps and other minor lo- calities of historic interest. Inasmuch as these natural features are of historic interest, and have a direct bearing when deter- mining the character of the town, we give below the list in full, as prepared by Mr. Amos Perry, superintendent of the census of 1885: " Villages. — Wakefield, Narragansett Pier, Peace Dale, Rocky Brook, Kingston (Little Rest), West Kingston, Usquepaug (form- erly Mumford's Mill), Glen Rock (formerly James' Mill), Perry- ville, Burnside, Green Hill, Narragansett Ferry, Mooresfield, Tower Hill (an important point in the Pettaquamscutt purchase, and the county seat from 1729 to 1752), Bridge Town and Gould. '' Minor Localities. — Point Judith, Backside, Little Neck, Great Neck, Tucker Town, Waits' Corner, Rodman's Corner, Curtis' Corner, Watson's Corner, Dockary's Corner, Columbia Corner, Armstrong's Corner, Matunuc, Sugar Loaf, Stony Point, Tower Hill Heights, Boston Neck, Harley's Mill (formerly Biscuit City), Glen Rock, Special Deep Hole, Sedge Beds, Flats, The Narrows, 31 482 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The Burbank, The Sewal Purchase, The Glass House, The Casey House, Governor Arnold's House. ''Lakes and Ponds. — Salt or Point Judith Pond, Lake Narragan- sett. Lake Worden or Great Pond (the largest body of fresh water in the state, Indian name Pesqiiamscof), Green Hill, Potter or Six Miles, Trustons, Yawgoo, Sherman or Hundred Acre, Barber's, Tucker's, Lake Tefft or Larkin's, Silver Lake or Kitt's Pond (has no visible outlet), Card.Westquage, Lake Matunuc,Wash or White- hall, Perry, White, Long, Cedar Swamp, Pier, Little Comfort, Lily, Lily Pad, Thirty Acre, Rum, Spectacle, Hope, Duck, Turtle, Frog, Babcock's, Wild Goose, Money, Teel Pond, Goose, Plain, Tower Hill, Knowles, Snake, Gardiner's, HoUeys, Cubit's, Tug, Well, Crying Child, Reed, Hot-house, Rutter, Pettaquamscutt. Reservoirs. — Wakefield Mill, Ice House Pond, Harley's Mill, Barber's Mill, Glen Rock, James' Mill, E. F. Watson's, Wells' Mill, Usquepaug, Lawton's, Mooresfield, Fresh Meadow, Peace Dale, Fiske's, Rockj^ Brook, Long Trough, Sprague, Holburton, Sea Side Mill. "Rivers and Brooks. — Pettaquamscutt or Narrow, Pawcatuck (South Kingstown side), Saugatuck, Queen, Usquepaug, Chip- puxet, Shickasheen or Miskianza, Indian Run, M^illson's Brook, Wild Cat, Gardner's, Sherman Town (South Kingstown side). Rum (back side). Brown (back side), E. F. Watson, Smelt, Broad Rock, Old Saw Mill, Casey's, Silvia's, Tobey Neck, Brown's Brook (South Kingstown side). Factory, Mink, Niles, Champlin's, Wil- cox, Old Mill River, Brenton's, Babcock's, Tucker Town, Wolcott, Marsh, Yawgoo, Cranberry, Moore's, White Horn, No Bottom, Rocky Brook, Stony Brook, Peckham's Creek, Sucker, Locke, Wells, Muddy, Alewife, HoUey Chappell, Matunuc, Genessee. "Springs. — Iron Mine, Gin, Lewis, Birch, Mt. Hope, Phillips, vStepening, White Oak, V/hite, Billington, Dead Man, Big Boiling, Tub, Trout, Austin, Mineral, Corey, Rock, Sheldon, No Bottom, Broad Rock, Cedar, North Cedar, Eel, Nichols, Great, Indian, White Birch, Bull and Dyer, Square Meadow, Willow, Great Boiling, Pettaquamscutt, Dick, Watson's, Freelove, North, Marsh. " Coves. — Pettaquamscutt, Sand Hill, Fish, Spring, Turner, Smelt Brook, Wheat Field, Congdon, Long, Mumford's, Ladd's, Champlin, Outside, Inside, Beech, Perch. " Islands. — Great, Ram, Little Comfort, Hazard, Gooseberry, Cedar, Beef, Pine Tree or Plato, Jonathan's, Beach, Gardner, Cummock, Spectacle, Sage. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 483 "Hills.— Tower Hill (Pettaquamscutt), Kings Town (Little Rest), McSparran, Sugar Loaf, Little Sugar Loaf, Rose, Green, Kitt's, Ferry, Tefft's, Old Mountain, Burial, Weston, Wood, Jumping, Whaley's, " The Hills," Cubit, Dugway, May, Briar, Rose, School House, Watson's, Winter, Christian, Carpenter's, Sheldon, Straw- berry, Indian Ridge, White, Broad, Upper Mountain, Lower Mountain, Laurel, Niles, Chimney, Oatley, Ned's, Freelove, Lo- cust, Hanna. " Points— Point Judith, Black, High, Thomas, Black Hill, Frank's Neck, Rye, Elm Tree, Buttonwood, Ram, Allen, Crown, Great Meadow, Little Meadow, Horse Shoe, Gooseberry Island, Jumping Hill, Succotash, Case, Stony, Rocky, Bonnet, Cormorant, Tobey, Long, Rutter, Rowland's, Wolcott, Reef, Harvey's, Locust Hill, Nichols'. " Beaches. — Narragansett Pier, Rocky Point, Westquage, Little Comfort, Sand Hill, Wolcott. * "Rocks. — Pettaquamscutt, Broad, Rolling, Wild Cat, Peaked, Money, Peggy, Porphyry Ledge, Queen Anne, Indian Spring, Fanning's Table, Prospect, Old Man's Face, Clump, River Rocks, Horse Shoe, Whale, Bass, Daniel, Twin Brothers, Bog, League, Gunning, Quahaug, Flat, "Indian, Black Point, Blue, Hale, Pieced, Tucker's Plain, Great Plain, Lock's, Old Cottrell, Jacob's Ladder, Comet, Bonnet, Old Sow's Back, Saddle, Mountain, Spring, Horse Shoe, Dickens' Reef, Drum, Round, Reef Point, Short Point, Long Point, Wolcott Point, Sunken Reef, Poon- nock, Hopkins. Glen Rock ledge has been worked, also'a ledge at Mooresfield. " Swamps. — Great (its area is nearly five square miles). Cedar, Hemlock, Tefft, Tucker's, Babcock's, Genessee. " Woods. — Ministerial, Borland, Dockary's, Potter's, TefEt's,Wil- son's. Brown, Yawgoo, Wait's, Genessee. " Groves. — Commodore Perry Place, Walnut, Minute Lot, Rob- inson's. " Historic. — Training Lot (Carter hung there. May 10, 1751), Hanging Lot (Thomas Mount hung May 27, 1791), Ministerial Lot, Ordination Oak, Indian Run Fort, Slave Pen, Tan Yard, Tucker's Fort (1842), Commodore Perry Place, Dorethea's Hollow, Wager Weeden's Fountain, Hand Poles, Dale Carlia, The Breach, Smelt Weir, Hazard's Castle, Memorial Tower, Druid's Dream, Site of the Great Swamp Fight, Dec. 19, 1675, The Bonnet, naval battle, 1814, E. A. Noyes homestead, former home of (Jemina 484 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Wilkinson) Wilkinsonians, Gen. I. P. Rodman born at Rocky Brook, Aug. 18, 1822, died Sept. 30, 1862, R. F. Gardner's House, at one time Lafayette's Headquarters, Bull's Garrison House on Tower Hill, burnt by the Indians, December, 1676, Indian Bury- ing Ground near White Pond, the Sewal School Fund, acquired from a grant of land made in 1695 by Judge Samuel Sewal (1652 — 1730) of Salem Witchcraft notoriety, the income once appro- priated for the support of the Kingston Academy is now spent by the school committee of the town ; a fund for the support of the Congregational church of the town was acquired in the same way. The history of this town has an intimate connection with the Pettaquamscutt purchase of 1658, provision for the main- tenance of religion and education resulting therefrom. Soldiers' Bronze Monument, 1886 (Westerly Granite Pedestal). The house of John G. Clarke, completed in 1886, is built of granite and fin- ished in woods all obtained from his farm, which was included in a grant made by Kachanaquant, a son of Canonicus, in"> 1664." The earliest census report published of South Kingstown was in 1730, at which time it contained a population of 1,523 ; it now has a population of 5,549. The town of South Kingstown was set off from North Kings- town by an act of the general assembly February 26th, 1722-23. Pettaquamscutt, however, was first settled January 20th, 1657-8. On this date Quassuchquansh, Kachanaquant, and Qcequaquenuet, chief sachems of Narragansett, for ^16 and other considerations mentioned in the deed, sell to Samuel Wilbor, John Hull, of Bos- ton, goldsmith ; John Porter, Samuel Wilson and Thomas Mum- ford " all the land and the whole hill called Pettaquamscut bound- ed on the south and southwest side of the rock with Ninigret's land, on the east with a river northerly bounded two miles be- yond the great rock in Pettaqtiamscut westerly bounded by a running brook or river beyond the meadow, together with all manner of mines, etc., they to have free ingress and egress on the sachems' lands." They also grant them all the black lead in a place called Coojoot. AVitnessed by John, Lawton and Philip Lang and signed only by Kachanaquant (2d Vol., page 147, An- cient Land Evidences). Quassuchquansh signed a similar deed, together with Kachanaquant, of the same date (see same record). Kachanaquant having agreed, January 29th, 1657, to convey to the same men another tract, confirms the former sale and con- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 485 veys a tract " bounded as foUoweth — beginning two miles from Pettaquamscut Rock and runneth to the head of the great river 40 rood and goeth northerly from the Pettiquamscut Rock and turneth north east and from said head goes north and north west by a river called Monassachuet ten miles and from that bound turns and runs west by south ten miles or twelve miles on a square and what it wants north to be made up etc. for ^135, dated June 24th, 1660." Witnessed by William Wilbor, Mathew Wilbor, John Rounds, etc. (See same record as above.) Appended to this deed is a confirmation made several years after by three sons of Kachanaquant. Having purchased of Ninigret seven miles square, i. c, seven miles from Pettaquam- scutt Rock, and all the land between said rock and the sea, March 20th,1657, they were obliged to obtain a confirmation of the sale February 28th, 1661, from Wanomachin, another sachem, who also conveyed to them all his lands seven miles west and south- west of the Great Cedar swamp together with the swamp (page 150). About twelve years afterward the purchasers (of whom there were now seven, William Brenton and Benedict Arnold having been admitted by them), obtained another deed from Wanoma- chin, who in the deed is called sachem of Nayhantic, conveying "a tract of land running south and west from the rock at Petta- quamscut in that part of the said colony above mentioned, and containing and including all the land between the river Musto- gage which runneth from the said rock to the sea south and southeast, and the river Saugotogkett, which lyeth west from the former river and runneth into the ocean " (page 153). Wanomachin had delivered siezin in the English form in April, 1661, and the certificate of it is witnessed by Anthony Low, John Tift, Eber Sherman (page 155). February 25th, 1661, they obtained another deed of Kachana- quant, consenting to have their lands laid out, and " what is want- ing northerly at the head of the great river pond shall be made up westerly, or any part of my land adjoining, i. e. to say along the Great Cedar Swamp and all my lands in the northwest side of said swamp, as also beyond the second Indian path that goes to Pequot northwest of that path." This was to make up the twelve miles square. He acknowledges himself in debt to them " ;^13-15s. for 13 coats a pair of briches." In the Massachusetts records is found a protest made by some 486 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of the Indians against the Pettaquamscutt purchasers. " Wemosit, otherwise Suckquansh, Ninicraft, Quequakanut, otherwise Gid- eon, chief sachem of the Narragansett and Neantick countries, having received much injurie by Samuel Wildbare and others of his companie, they pretending title to Point Jude and other lands adjoyneing, and have indeavoured to possess themselves forceably of the same both by building and bringing cattell, we having given them warning to the contrary, and they not taking warning, nor endeavoured to drive their cattell from of the lande, but they resisted and one of them presumed to shot of a gun at us. Now we knowing we have not sould them any land there, and being thus injuriously dealt withal by them, we are forced to make our com — to yourselves, the Commissioners of the United Collonies, hereby protesting against the said Samuel Wildbare and companie for their so unjust actings, and crave that this our protest may be received by you and kept upon re- corde with you as our acta and deede, and crave that it may not be offensive to any English if that Samuel Wilbare and his com- pany will not come to any faire trial, either before yourselves or some other indifferent judges, if then we endeavour to drive your cattell away, or take any corse whereby we may dispossess them. That is our acte and deed we have put to our marks and seals in the presence of these witnesses this 9 Sept. 1662." This protest was made to the commissioners of the colonies, and they wrote to Rhode Island concerning it. (See Hazard's col- lection of state papers, II, 443.) South Kingstown was set off and incorporated as a separate town in February, 1722. No regular town meeting was held, however, until 1723. This meeting was held at the house of Ich- abod Sheffield, probably in January, 1723. John Watson was chosen moderator and Robert Hannah was chosen clerk. John Watson and John Babcock were chosen representatives. The second meeting was held March 4th, 1723. Job Babcock, John Watson, Ichabod Sheffield, William Gardiner, Jonathan Turner and Isaac Sheldon were chosen councilmen ; Peleg Mumford, Joseph Mumford and Benjamin Reynolds, constables ; Ichabod Sheffield, town treasurer ; Solomon Carpenter, town sergeant. On June 10th, 1723, it was voted that a town house should not be built. On November 20th, 1723, Stephen Hazard and John Wat- son were chosen representatives to sit in the general assembly at Newport. The meeting was held at the house of Ichabod Sheffield. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 487 The town of Narragansett was set off from the town of South Kingstown by an act of the legislature in the January session of 1888, but as all matters pertaining thereto are not as yet satis- factorily settled, we will only give Section 1 of that act, which reads as follows : " Section 1. All that portion of the town of South Kingstown and being within the following boundaries, that is to say, com- mencing in Narragansett Bay at the easterly point of the bound- ary line between the towns of North Kingstown and South Kingstown, thence running westerly on said boundary line to the center of Pettaquamscutt river, thence southerly and south- westerly by the centre of said river and of Pettaquamscutt Cove to a brook which empties in said Cove, and which brook is the dividing line between the property of Edward W. Davis and the Narragansett Improvement Co.'s land, thence Westerly follow- ing the Northerly line of said Edward W. Davis' land to the highway, thence Westerly across said highway to the line divid- ing the property of the heirs of Jeremiah P. Robinson from the property of Samuel A. Strang, and following said line to the Sil- ver Lake or Kits pond, thence following in a Westerly direction the Southerl}'- shore of said Silver Lake to a line which divides the lands of the James B. Kenyon farm from the land of the heirs of Christopher C. Robinson, thence following in a Westerly direction to the Northerly line of said James B. Kenyon land to the Point Judith Pond, and continuing thence to the center of said Pond, thence Southerly through said Pond a straight line to a point midway between the Narrows, so called, thence Westerly midway through said Narrows to a point midway betweeen Betty Hull Point and Cummock Island, thence Southerly through said Pond a straight line to a point midway between Gardner's Island and Beach Island, thence Southerly a straight line through said Pond to a point midway between Gooseberry Island and Little Comfort Island, thence a straight line to the center of the breach- way and to the Atlantic Ocean, and thence following said Ocean and Narragansett Bay Easterly and then Northerly to the point of beginning, is hereby incorporated into a District by the name of Narragansett, and the inhabitants thereof shall have and en- joy the like benefits, liberties, privileges and immunities and be subject to like duties and responsibilities as the several towns in this state generally enjoy and are subject to, except as is herein- after provided." 488 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The town clerks of South Kingstown have been : Robert Hannah, from June, 1723, to June, 1736 ; Benjamin Peckham, to June, 1743 ; Thomas Hazard, to June, 1747 ; Samuel Gardner, to June, 1748 ; Thomas Hazard, to June, 1749 ; Jeffrey Watson, to June, 1753 ; William Potter, to June, 1779 ; James Helme, to June, 1812; Silas Brown, to June, 1827; Thomas R. Wells, to June, 1853 ; Powel Helme, to January, 1858 ; John G. Perry, to June, 1887 ; Howard B. Perry, present clerk. Freemen of South Kingstown. — " A list of freemen belong- ing to South Kingstown taken from ye Records of ye Late Kings- town September ye 16, 1723. The former List (See North Kings- town) bearing Date the 12th of December, 1696 : Moses Barber, Nathaniel Niles, Henry Gardner, Samuel Hopkins, Thomas Hazard, Stephen Hazard, William Congdon, Joseph Hull, Wil- liam Gardner, Samuel Warden, jr., Samuel Helme, John Watson, jr., James Kinyon, Robert Hannah, George Babcock, Thomas Potter, Robert Potter, Jonathan Turner, John Shelden, jr., Icha- bod Potter, Christopher Allen, Daniel McCooun, Joseph Cass, jr., Solomon Carpenter, Abiel Sherman, Stephen Wilcox and son, Nathaniel Gardner, Robert Cass, Henry Gardner, Ephraim Gard- ner, Benjamin Sheffield, Edmond Sheffield, Daniel Smith, George Hazard, Nathan Niles, Thomas Joslin, John Kinyon, Peter Boss, William Robinson, Richard Mumford, Daniel Knowles, William Mumford, Robert Knowles, Stephen Haz- ard, jr., Robert Hazard, jr., Joseph Mumford, Jeremiah Sheffield, Emanuel Cass, George Hazard, son of Thomas ; John Gardner, Benjamin Mumford, Benjamin Hazard, Thomas Potter, jr., Icha- bod Potter, jr., Peleg Mumford, Joseph Congdon, William Clarke, Ephraim Bull, Thomas Kinyon, George Babcock, jr., John Pot- ter, son of Thomas, Samuel Barber, John Browning, Pasco Austin." Early Births.— William Congdon (son of William and Mary) was born ye 35th day of December, 1698. The children of Rob- ert and Elizabeth Potter were : Marburg, born ye second day of february, 1697-8 ; Martha, born ye 10th day of August, 1699. George Babcock was married to Elizabeth Hall the 28th day of November, 1694. Mary Babcock was born to them the 20th day of September, on the 6th day of the week, 1695; George Babcock was born April 9th, 1699 ; David Babcock December 22d, 1700 ; Jonathan Babcock March 22d, 1702 ; Elizabeth (daughter of George) March lOth, 1704. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 489 The births of the children of Joseph Cass and Hannah his wife : Joseph, July 16th, 1678 ; William, May 27th, 1681 ; Mary, December 2d, 1682 ; Hannah, July 6th, 1687 ; Margaret, August 20th, 1690 ; John, November 20th, 169— ; Emanuel, November 2d, 1699. Children born to Moses Barber and Susannah his wife ; Dinah, January 5th, 1692-3; Lydia, February 24th, 1693-4; Samuel, November 8th, 1695; Susannah, October 23d, 1697; Thomas, October 19th, 1699 ; Joseph, October 16th, 1701 ; Martha, Novem- ber 30th, 1703 ; Ruth, June 23d, 1705 ; Benjamin, March 10th, 1706-7; Mary, March 13th, 1708-9 ; Ezekiel, March 6th, 1710 ; Ab- igail, January 6th, 1712-13. Mary Place (daughter of Enoch and Mary) was born October 16th, 1697. The children of Ephraim and Mary Bull : Mary, born July 30th, 1693 ; Rebeckah, July 27th, 1697 ; Content, November 24th, 1699. The children of Ephraim and Hannah Bull: Ephraim and Hannah, twins, born April 18th, 1702, " in ye night." Thomas Mumford, September 14th, 1706. James Allen, June 15th, 1688. He was son to Christopher and Elizabeth Allen. John, son to William and Elizabeth Brown, was born August 6th, 1708. Margaret Smith, daughter to John and Mary Smith, was born October 2d, 1708. Ruth Robinson, daughter to John and Mary Robinson, was born March 12f;h, 1708. Elizabeth Gardner, daughter to Elizabeth Gardner, was born May 17th, 1708. Bathsheba Smith, daughter to John and Mary Smith, was born April 7th, 1710. Henry Gardner, son to Henry and Abigail Remington, was born February 25th, 1691 ; Ephraim, January 27th, 1693 ; Wil- liam, October 27th, 1697. Mary Robinson, daughter to John and Mary, was born Sep- tember 30th, 1705. Children of Stephen and Elizabeth Hazard : Mary, July 20th, 1695; Hannah, April 20th, 1697; Susannah, April 20th, 1699; Stephen, November 29th, 1700 ; Robert, September 12th, 1702 ; Samuel, June 29th, 1705 ; Thomas, July 28th, 1707. 490 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The children of Joseph and Lacy Hoxse : Zebulon, August 11th, 1697; Mary, September 15th, 1699; Joseph, November 25th, 1701 ; Ann, August 1st, 1704 ; Gideon, July 3d, 1706 ; Lo- dowick, September 27th, 1708 ; Ann, December 10th, 1716 ; Zeb- ulon, September 21st, 1718. Sarah Robinson, daughter to John and Mary Robinson, was born January 22d, 1706-7. The children of John and Sarah Potter : Martha, December 20th, 1692; John, May 20th, 1695; Samuel, September 2d, 1699; Sarah, April 15th, 1704; Susannah, September 17th, 1706-7; Samuel, July 28th, 1715. The children of Samuel and Mary Brown : Sarah, December 12th, 1703 ; Mary, July 17th, 1705 ; Jeremiah, October 29th, 1707; Penelope, October 27th, 1709 ; Samuel, November 5th, 1711. The children of Rouse and Sarah Helme : James, May 7th, 1710; Sands, August 21st, 1711 ; Rouse, February 11th, 1712-13; Nathaniel, December 17th, 1714; Benedict, February 17th, 1716; Simeon, December 15th, 1718 ; Benedict, 2d, October 3d, 1720. The children of Samuel and Mary Brown : Elizabeth, October 28th, 1713 ; John, November 14th, 1715 ; Freelove, January 29th, 1717; Zepheniah, December 28d, 1721. Children of Ezekiel and Ann Johnson : Ann, July 24th, 1718 ; Elizabeth, March 5th, 1719 ; Benjamin, May 5th, 1722. The children of Joseph and Mary Sheffield : Joseph, April 5th, 1711 ; Mary, September 9th, 1712. Reminiscences of the Freemen. — Moses Barber was born in 1652, and died in 1753. In 1692 he married Susanna Wait. Their children were : William, jNIoses, Dinah, Lydia, Samuel, Susanna, Thomas, Joseph, Martha, Ruth, Benjamin, Mercy, Ezekiel, Abi- gail, Daniel and Ann. The old Barber house stood on a knoll near the present residence of Mrs. Luke Clarke. Nathaniel Niles was born in 1642. He married Sarah Sands, February 14th, 1671, and died December 22d,1727. His son Samuel Niles, born in 1674, had three wives — Elizabeth Thatcher, Anne Coddington and Elizabeth Whiting. Samuel Niles moved to New Shoreham, where he was attacked by the French privateers at the time they landed and plundered the inhabitants. This raid was made July 3d, 1689, when he was fourteen years of age. In the year 1700 he accepted a call to preach at Block Island. In 1745 he published " Tristia Ecclcsianim:' He also wrote other books, one of which, "God's Wonder Working Providence for HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 491 New England in the reduction of Louisburg," was in verse. Nathaniel Niles, brother of Samuel, born in 1677, was justice of the peace in 1709. In 1740, under appointment by the assem- bly, he built a watch house at Point Judith. The watch kept in these houses by the different towns was placed under regula- tions of the council of war. Henry Gardner was appointed on a committee to lay out the highways of South Kingstown in 1703. Many of these roads are still in use. The Hazards of South Kingstown are and have been numerous. They descend from Thomas Hazard, the ship builder, who was born in 1610 (see sketch). Joseph Hull was a preacher. He was born in 1652, married Experience Hooper in 1676, and in 1681 the first meeting for worship by the Quakers was held at his house. He was fined £1 for beating the sheriff for prosecuting him because of his re- ligious belief, but the fine was afterward abated. He was min- ister of the denomination that built a house of worship at Masha- paug in 1702. Samuel Helme was one of the elder brothers of Rouse Helme, a very influential man in South Kingstown. Rouse Helme for a nuraber of years, beginning in 1714, was deputy. In 1720 he was clerk of the assembly, and was judge of the superior court for over twenty years. He and Francis Willett, appointed by the assembly in 1723, drew a copy of all the records belonging to South Kingstown from the records of the late Kings Town. The charge made for the work was ^60. Robert Hannah was town clerk from 1723 to 1736, inclusive. He died in 1736. Thomas Mumford is spoken of as purchaser of a large tract of land in Pettaquamscutt of certain Indian sachems in 1658. In 1668 he and his wife, Sarah Sherman Mumford, sold Peleg Sanford of Newport 1,000 acres of this land for ^25. His son, Thomas, born in 1656, married Abigail, who was murdered by a slave belonging to him. The murderer, a negro, drowned him- self to prevent being taken alive. The assembly ordered his body to be disposed of in the following manner, as a terror to others perpetrating like barbarities : his head, legs and arms to be cut from his body and hung in some public place near New- port, and his body to be burned to ashes. In 1708 Mr. Mumford deeded 180 acres of land in Point Judith to his son George. He and his wife were buried in the Mumford burying ground. 492 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Benjamin Congdon, as early as 1671, bought of William Bren- ton and Benedict Arnold and others 230 acres in Narragansett, near " Pettacomscott," and in 1710 he and seventeen others bought 7,000 acres of vacant lands in Narragansett. His chil- dren were : William, Benjamin, John, James, Elizabeth and Susanna. The Hazard Family. — The Hazards are a numerous family. Watson, in his " Historic Tales of Olden Times," says Mrs. Maria Hazard, of South Kingstown, R. I., mother of the gov- ernor, died in 1739 at the age of one hundred years, and could count up five hundred children, grandchildren, great-grand- children and great-great-grandchildren — two hundred and five of them being then alive. A granddaughter of hers had already been a grandmother fifteen years. " Probably," says Updike," this instance of Rhode Island fruitfulness may match against the world." The Hazards have descended from Thomas Hazard, who emigrated from Wales about the year 1630 to the Jerseys, and came to Rhode Island in 1639. His name appears among the elders appointed April 28th, 1639. Thomas Hazard died in 1677. The Hazard family take their name, says Willis P. Hazard, from the two words " lias" high, and " ard," nature, meaning of high disposition, proud, independent. These two words are of the ancient British or Welsh language, spoken and written by the people of that name, and more nearly allied to the Gallic than the Teutonic. The name was originally spelled Hasard. As a race they are strongly marked, strong physicall}^ of good stature, of vigorous frame, with rather a square head, high forehead and complexion fair, a little inclined to florid. The coat of arms handed down through generations has three escalops and three bars, with an escalop rampant for a crest. The motto adopted is " Sinccritas; " " Be just and fear not." Thomas Hazard' came over from Wales in 1630 or 1632. He is said to have first visited Jersey, then to have gone to Boston, where he was made a freeman in ] 630, then to Long Island, where he founded Newtown, then to Rhode Island. His son, about four years old, came with him, and he was the only son who crossed the sea with him as far as can be ascertained. His chil- dren were : Robert, George, Jeremiah, Benjamin, Stephen, Jonathan and Thomas. From these sons a numerous issue have descended, and many of them distinguished men. George Hazard, who was deputy governor of the colony from 1734 to 1738, was a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 493 descendant of the first settler. He lived and died in South Kingstown. Thomas Hazard (College Tom) was a descendant of the first settler in the fourth generation. He entered college, but having been early indoctrinated in the faith of the Quakers, he became conscientious respecting collegiate honors, and left the institu- tion before the regular period of conferring degrees. He mar- ried Elizabeth, the daughter William Robinson, and settled on his farm in his native town of South Kingstown, near Tower Hill. Mr. Hazard was comely in person, large in stature, and of great physical strength. He was a preacher of the Society of Friends for forty years before his death, and tradition speaks of him as a strong, forcible and argumentative speaker. He was deservedly popular in his denomination, and was the first in his society that advocated the abolition of negro slavery, and trav- eled much as a public Friend, preaching the doctrine of emanci- pation among his brethren. Mr. Isaac P. Hazard, in a communication to Mr. Updike, says : " My grandfather's mind had once (if not oftener) been turned to the subject of slavery when directed by his father to oversee some slaves at their labor on a very hot day. He took a book and sat under the shade of a tree, but from the extreme heat he could not, even in that situation, keep comfortably cool. This led him, while the laborers were toiling in the heat, to contrast slavery with freedom, and he became thoroughly convinced of the error of holding slaves. This conviction he communicated to his father, and signified to him his intention of cultivating his farm by free labor. His father at that time being the largest farmer and one of the largest slave holders in New England, and considering his son's views, if persisted in, would greatly injure if not ruin himself and neighbors, endeavored to dissuade him from it, but finding him determined, threatened to disinherit him if he persisted. The subject occasioned a coolness between them for some time. He persevered in what he believed to be his duty, expecting from the firm and unchangeable character of his father and family to be disinherited." He commenced cultivating his farm with free labor, and la- bored himself in the cause of negro emancipation, visiting vari- ous parts of New England and New York to promulgate his views. Mr. Jeremiah Austin was an overseer or manager of his farm. He also shared the views of Mr. Hazard on the subject of 494 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. negro emancipation, and finding liimself after the death of his father the possessor of a single slave, his sole inheritance, he freed him and worked himself as a day laborer. In person Mr. Hazard was large, full six feet in height, and weighed about two hundred and fifty pounds, and possessed great strength both in body and mind. He died at South Kingstown August 26th, 1795, aged about 76. He lived on the farm owned by William T. Nichols, and was buried in the Friends' burial ground, near where the Tower Hill House now stands. His children were Sarah and Rowland. The daughter died young. Rowland Hazard", the founder of the mills at Peace Dale, was born April 4th, 1763, and died at Washington Hollow, near Poughkeepsie, N. Y., in 1835, aged 72. He married Mary Peace, who died in 1853. Their children were : Isaac Peace, born in 1794 ; Thomas Robinson, born in 1797 ; Elizabeth Gibson, born in 1799 ; Rowland Gibson, born in 1801 ; William R., born in 1803 ; Joseph Peace, born in 1807; Isabella Wakefield, born in 1810; Mary Peace, born in 1814 ; and Anna, in 1820. Rowland Hazard en- gaged early in mercantile pursuits, but was finally ruined through the operations of Napoleon's Berlin and Milan decrees, under which there were no less than seven ships and other vessels con- fiscated of which his mercantile firm was sole or part owner. He returned to South Kingstown and engaged in the manufac- ture of cotton and wool lindseys, about the beginning of the present century. Thomas R. Hazard, the author of " Recollections of Olden Times," was a son of Rowland Hazard. He was born in South Kingstown, R. I., January 3d, 1797, and married Frances Min- turn, daughter of Jonas Minturn, of New York, October 12th, 1838. Thomas R. Hazard wrote the work above referred to when over eighty-one years of age. " Recollections of Olden Times," besides giving a history of the Robinson, Hazard and Sweet families, and from which we have by consent copied freely, contains also a sketch of the romantic life of the unfortunate Hannah Robinson. The narrative and genealogies first ap- ■ peared simultaneously in the Newport Mercury and Narragansett Times, in the latter part of the year 1877 and early part of 1878. Their perusal excited considerable public interest, which led to their publication in book form. The work was issued in 1879. The style is vigorous, terse and healthful throughout, and the subjects under discussion very ably treated. The author, in HISTORY or WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 495 speaking of himself, says : " Thomas R. Hazard, the compiler of these tables, has been an earnest worker in the cause of what is called modern spiritualism since the year 1856, and whatever may be his merits or demerits otherwise, he has no higher ambition than that his name should be handed down to coming genera- tions associated with this fact alone." Governor George Brown's house afterward became the home- stead of Geoffrey Hazard, called Stout Geoffrey. This house was in Boston Neck. Mr. Hazard, in his " Recollections of Olden Times," in speaking of this giant in strength, says: "Stout Geoffrey, if the half is told be true, must have approached nearer in physical strength to the fabled Hercules than almost any other man known in modern times. I have heard old people say that Stout Geoffrey was remarkably broad across the shoulders and so thick through the chest than when he stood with his face fronting you his head looked as if it were set unnaturally far back on his shoulders, and that when his back was toward you it looked as though he stooped, his head seeming to project so far in the con- trary direction. Most marvelous stories used to be told and vouched for within my memory of the feats of strength per- formed by Stout Geoffrey, and also those of a sister who married a Wilcox. There may now be seen on the lawn in front of Row- land Hazard's house at Peace Dale, in Narragansett, a blue stone weighing by the scales sixteen hundred and twenty pounds, that Mr. Hazard had drawn with. oxen some years ago from Stout Geoffrey's homestead in Boston Neck, with which the fol- lowing tradition is associated. Several negroes were engaged in laying a wall on the premises when Stout Geoffrey, chancing to observe a large stone lying near by that they had neglected to build into a wall, asked why they had left it out. ' Cos, massa, it be too heavy,' was the reply. Thereupon Stout Geoffrey stooped down, and taking the stone partly on his knees, carried it some twenty feet from the wall, and dropping it on the ground, said : ' Let that stone lie there until a man is found strong enough to put it back again.' " It was said that Stout Geoffrey and his sister would alternately lift in playful sport, a full barrel of cider — thirty-one gallons — by the chimes and holding it up drink at its bung ; a thing hard to believe in these degenerate days. Isaac Peace Hazard was born October 3d, 1794, in South Kingstown, R. I., at the residence of his grandfather, Thomas 496 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Hazard (known as " College Tom ") on the southeastern slope of Tower Hill, near where William T. Nichols now lives. He was the oldest of the nine children of Rowland Hazard and Mary- Peace, his wife. In 1789, Rowland Hazard had in connection with his cousin, Stephen Ayrault Robinson, established a mer- cantile business in Charleston, S. C, under the firm name of Hazard & Robinson. As a consequence he spent much of his time in Charleston.though he did not make it his permanent residence. The firm had consignments of merchandise from the North, and in looking after these business connections Mr. Hazard made his headquarters at his father's house in Rhode Island. It was, however, in Charleston that he met and married his wife, Mary Peace, in 1793, and it is evidence that he still regarded South Kingstown as his home that he brought his bride to his father's house, and there his elder children were born, though the business in Charleston was continued for a number of years. Isaac Peace Hazard was therefore a true South Kingstown boy ; he grew to manhood amid surroundings which imbued him with the true Rhode Island spirit. Throughout his long life he took great pride in his native state. He particularly admired that independence in thought and judgment, that rugged individ- uality which is a most marked feature of Rhode Island character. He had the advantage of attending the Friend's school at West- town, near Philadelphia, Penn., an excellent institution, where the students were most carefully instructed in mathematics, and in all the English branches; foreign languages, ancient and modern, were not included in the course of study. On leaving this school he returned to South Kingstown, and at once began to assist his father in business. This was about 1810 or 1811. Some years previous the business in Charleston had been broken up by heavy losses of vessels taken by French privateers ; losses for which the United States government sub- sequently was paid by France, but for which nothing has ever been paid to the losers. Rowland Hazard and his sons were, however, wise enough not to waste their energies in seeking re- dress from the government. They set to work to regain by labor the fortune which had been so unjustly taken away. Manufac- turing was in its infancy. As early as 1750 there are indications that Thomas Hazard paid hand loom weavers for several kinds of cloth, both linen and woolen, which he had woven and kept for sale in his store, but not till about 1800 is there any intima- cX/<2^<^ .fy^e^tG.^ ^:/^a S£t(L^ ^::7^ a.yx.a^e^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 497 tion of an organized industry. At that time there was a fulling mill at Peace Dale, R. L, and Rowland Hazard bought an interest in it in 1802 and soon after set up a carding machine and a spin- ning jenny with Joseph Congdon and John Warner Knowles. When Isaac and his brother Rowland returned home from school they found these machines in operation and the manufacturing industry actually begun. Still much of the spinning was done by hand. The rolls of wool were made on the card, they were put up in bundles and taken on horseback to the different fami- lies where spinning was done on the large hand wheel. After- ward the yarn was collected, arranged for weaving, and put out again to be woven on hand looms. The attending to this work, involving as it did long hours in the saddle, in all weathers, gave ample occupation to the young men. Isaac Peace Hazard may thus be said to have grown up with the manufacturing industry in the United States. The year of his birth (1794) witnessed the starting of the first carding ma- chine in this country. This was by Schofield in Massachusetts. He himself actually saw as a boy the starting of the first carding machine in Rhode Island between 1802 and 1804. Subsequently keeping pace with the inventions as they were made, he, with his brother, built up a large and flourishing industry at Peace Dale. It was at Peace Dale that the greater part of his life was spent. He took a most kindly interest in the welfare of all his neigh- bors there. He was constantly appealed to for advice and assist- ance, and no one whom he could aid ever applied to him in vain. He possessed the confidence and esteem of all who knew him. He never sought political power or office, but in response to the earnest solicitations of his townsmen he on six occasions rep- resented the town of South Kingstown in the general assembly, viz.: August 28th, 1838, April 17th and August 27th, 1839, April 20th and August 30th, 1842, and April 5th, 1843, there being at that time semi-annual elections for the general assembly in Rhode Island. He, in connection with his brother, Thomas R. Hazard, of Vaucluse, on the island of Rhode Island, became very much im- pressed with the necessity of improved and more humane methods in the care of the insane and of the poor. The per- sonal investigations of Thomas R. Hazard and the reports he made brought about a revolution in the state and a very general 32 498 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. reform. The two brothers, working together, were largely in- strumental in securing the establishment of the Butler Hospital for the Insane, which Cyru.s Butler liberally endowed. Rowland G. Hazard also aided in obtaining the necessary funds, so that the three brothers are connected with the founding of that beneficent institution. " From the organization of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Com- pany, in 1848, he was the president of the company until he re- tired in 1864. His brother, Rowland G. Hazard, was the treas- urer, but the names of the offices do not indicate with any exactness the duties which each discharged. They divided the conduct of the business between them, working together har- moniously. After his retirement from active business in 1864 he went to live with his sisters in Newport, R. I. He there was loved and honored by a large circle of friends and acquaintances, and as he entered into the decline of life, he appeared a striking example of a beautiful and happy old age. He was never married, but continued to live in Newport with his sisters until he died on the 28th of March, 1879. He lies buried at Peace Dale, in the Oak Dell Cemetery, among scenes with which he was so familiar, and among the people whose welfare he had so much at heart. His monument bears the following inscription : Isaac Peace Hazard, BOEN IN South Kingstown, R. I., Oct. 3, 1794, Died in Newport, R. I., March S8th, 1879. He was a man of broad and active benevolence, prompt to denounce injustice and ever ready to befriend all whom he could serve. Rowland Gibson Hazard, the third son of Rowland Hazard and Mary Peace, his wife, was born in his grandfather's house on Tower Hill, South Kingstown, October 9th, 1801. His family for several generations had been extensive farmers in the neigh- borhood. Tradition asserts that the son of the first immigrant, who settled in Newport, came to Narragansett in 1671. By a deed in the possession of the family, dated 1698, portions of the Pettaquamscutt purchase, amounting to nearly a thousand acres, were conveyed by Judge Samuel Sewall to Thomas Hazard, the grandson of the first settler. These lands include the present a^ "^"^^ IN HIS 83rd. YEAR, 1879. ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSrADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 499 site of Peace Dale ; the whole of Little Point Judith Neck, and the lands upon which Narragansett Pier now stands. To this original purchase more land was added, until the Hazards were among the largest landholders in New England. It was from such a vigorous race that Rowland Gibson Hazard sprung. In early childhood he was taken to Bristol, Pa., to the home of his maternal grandfather, Isaac Peace. He attended school in Burlington, N. J., across the Delaware, and in Bristol, and in 1813 was sent to Westtown school, an excellent school under the charge of the Society of Friends, of which society his parents were members. Here he remained five years and de- veloped a strong taste for mathematics, discovering some new modes of demonstration in conic sections. This school gave him a thorough training in the branches it taught, and though he lamented his want of a classical education, yet by his own read- ing he early acquired a knowledge of classical history. In 1819 Mr. Hazard returned to Rhode Island, and with his brother, Isaac Peace Hazard,* took charge of the manufacturing business at Peace Dale, in which their father was engaged- Linsey-woolsey and goods chiefly sold at the South were then made. Under the management of the brothers, the business largely increased. From 1833 to 1843 Mr. Hazard made yearly visits to the South, and had the opportunity to see the workings of slavery, an institution which he abhorred. In New Orleans, through his efforts, many free negroes unjustly detained in the chain-gang were released. His speech on the fugitive slave law in the Rhode Island legislature, in 1850, while generous and ap- preciative of the slave owners' position, is a powerful denuncia- tion of the institution. In 1835 Mr. Hazard published his first Essay on Language, though the title page bears the imprint 1836. This was published anony- mously, and attracted the attention of Dr. William Ellery Chan- ning, who discovered the author and came to Peace Dale to see him. This acquaintance ripened into friendship, and acting on the advice of Dr. Channing, Mr. Hazard began to reflect upon the problems of free will and necessity, which flnally led to the publication of the book on The Will in 1864. Of this book Dr. E. G. Robinson remarks: " For subtle analysis, for original- ity of argument, for lucidity of statement, for ingenuity and freshness of illustration, and for conclusiveness of reasoning *See Hazard, Isaac Peace. 500 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. from its premises, no book yet written on the Will is entitled to take precedence." A visit to Europe in 1864 enabled j\Ir. Hazard to make the ac- quaintance of John Stuart Mill, and conversation and corre- spondence with him gave rise to the book on Causation and Freedom in Willing, published in 1869. This is regarded by com- petent critics as his ablest book, and as the best refutation of the Hume and Mill doctrine of causality that has yet appeared. This metaphysical work was carried on in the midst of press- ing business. Mr. Hazard perceived the necessity for regulating the powers of railroad corporations, and in speeches in the legis- lature, in 1851 and 1854, enunciated principles which have since passed into the inter-state commerce law. The adjustment of the tariff and national finance occupied his mind. During the war he rendered important service in inspiring confidence in the national credit. After the war the construction of new railroads occupied him. In town affairs he took an active interest, delivering addresses on public questions, such as bribery and temperance and public schools, before the local societies. He represented the town in both house and senate on several occasions from 1850 to 1880. He gave the present town house to the town in 1877, and took an active interest in the building of the Narragansett Pier rail- road. He married, September 25th, 1828, Caroline, daughter of John Newbold, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. He died June 24th, 1888, beloved and respected by his neighbors. The following list of published writings shows the extent of his work in various directions : Complete Works of Rowland Gibson Hazard. Edited by his Granddaughter, Caroline Hazard. Boston : Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1889. Vol. I. — Language, 1835 ; The Adaptation of the Universe to the Cultivation of the Mind, 1841 ; The Bible, 1841 ; Intemper- ance, 1843 ; The Philosophical Character of Channing, 1845 ; Pub- lic Schools, 1845; Character and Writings of Chief Justice Dur- fee, 1848 ; The Duty of Individuals to Support Science and Lit- erature, 1855 ; To Write Well, Write about What You Know Little or Nothing About, 1864. Vol. II. — Freedom of jNIind in Willing ; or, Every Being that Wills a Creative First Cause. First published in 1864. ^6^9-^^ l\abximl likjnjflticat Mb Hslimi/ i HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 501 Contents : Of the Existence of Spirit ; Of tlie Existence of ^Matter ; Of Mind ; Liberty or Freedom ; Of Cause ; Of the Will ; Of Want ; Of Matter as Cause ; Of Spirit as Cause ; Freedom of Intelligence; Instinct and Habit; Illustration from Chess; Of Want and Effort in Various Orders of Intelligence ; Of Effort for Internal Change ; Conclusion. Rcvicic of Echvards on the Will. —Edwards' Definition of Will ; Liberty as Defined by Edwards ; Natural and Moral Necessity ; Self -Determination ; No Event without a Cause ; Of the Will's Determining in Things Indiffer- ent ; Relation of Indifference to Freedom in Willing ; Contin- gence ; Connection of the Will with the Understanding ; Motive ; Cause and Effect ; God's Foreknowledge ; Conclusion. Vol. III. — Two Letters on Causation and Freedom in Willing, addressed to John Stuart Mill. With other Papers. Contents : Letter on Causation ; Letter on Freedom in Willing ; The Existence of Matter ; Our Notions of Infinite Space, 1869 ; Animals not Automata, 1874 ; Letter on Causation to Francis Wharton, LL. D., 1878, and Man a Creative First Cause, 1883. Vol. IV. — Economics and Politics. A Series of Papers upon Public Questions, written on various occasions from 1840 to 1 885. Contents : The Decline of Political Morality, 1840 ; Letter on Specie Payment, 1843 ; Speech on the Fugitive Slave Law, 1850 ; Railroad Corporations and the Public, 1849 ; Speech on a Bill to Equalize the Charges for Carrying Freight, 1851 ; Speech on the Railroad Bill, 1854 ; Bribery, 1854 ; The Narragansett Speech, 1856; Address to Republican Electors, 1860; Duties on Wool, 1864; Additional Arguments before Committee of Ways and Means, 1864 ; Woolen Manufactures as Affected by the Tariff, 1866 ; Our Resources, 1864 ; Letter to President Lincoln, 1864 ; Hours of Labor, 1866 ; How to Resume Specie Payments, 1866 ; Reconstruction, 1866 ; Union Pacific Railroad Circular, 1867 ; Payment of the Five-twenty Bonds, 1867 ; Inflated Currency, 1868 : Our Finances, 1868 ; Letter on Woman's Suffrage, 1868 ; Grant and Colfax Speech, 1868; Argument on Constitutional Rights, 1873 ; The Tariff, 1885. Joseph Peace Hazard was born February 17th, 1807, in Bur- lington. N. J., from whence he a few weeks after removed with his parents to Bristol, Penn., and remained until his thirteenth year, when Peace Dale became his home. At the age of nine years he was placed in school at Westtown, Penn., and pursued his studies at this point until the age of fourteen. He then 502 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. busied himself in the mill owned by his eldest brother, and in 1835 erected a woolen mill at Peace Dale, which was operated for several years and subsequently leased, after which he abandoned business. Having a taste for travel, Mr. Hazard acquainted him- self thoroughly with the land of his birth, and in 1856 made the tour of Europe, spending much time in the cities of London and Rome, which, with their historic and antiquarian associations, proved especially attractive to him. For many years much of his time was spent abroad until 1879, when he returned to his native land. During the last two years of his tour he made the circuit of the globe, including the islands of Japan and Iceland, and many other interesting but less frequented points. His home for the past three years has been chiefly at Peace Dale. Mr. Hazard was among the first to foresee the advantages pos- sessed by Narragansett Pier as a popular resort, and at an early day furnished means to aid in its development, and promote its growth as a business center. He is still a considerable holder of land at that point, and in 1846 began the erection of what is known as the " Castle," a picturesque structure surmounted by two towers. Mr. Hazard is in no sense a politician. His sym- pathies are with the prohibition party, though ever opposed to the claims of a candidate whom he deems an improper person, regardless of party. Rowland Hazard, eldest son of Rowland Gibson Hazard and Caroline Newbold, his wife, was born in Newport, R. I., August 16th, 1829. His parents moved to Peace Dale, R. I., in 1833, and it was in Peace Dale that he grew to manhood. He attended Nine Partners' School in Dutchess county, N. Y., in 1835-6, the Kingston Academy in 1836-7, and later studied Latin and mathe- matics with the Reverend Thomas Vernon, then living on Kings- ton Hill. In 1845 he went to the Friends' College, at Haverford, but upon the temporary suspension of that place of learning, concluded to enter Brown University. In the autumn of the same year he entered the Sophomore class in mathematics, and the Freshman in other studies, intending to take only a partial course, as he was not fully prepared in Greek. He soon, how- ever, determined to fit himself for the full course ; and by enter- ing the Freshman class gained time from the mathematical work, in which he was in advance, to devote to the study of Greek. He graduated in 1849, ranking in the first third of the class. In the department of mathematics he showed ability, having taken ^''Vj^fesl^-^AC?»-y^ cry J^ J>^i^^^^z^ &^-i^a^ svxi 9jz| siq inoqSnojn; puB 'pisys^tBAV "T ssnoii uavo; aq; }o u^e^d aqi .wajp 'oixqiad aq; jo souaiusAuoo sq; joj Xu-eduioo SuunpBj -nni3]/f ai^Q 9db9j aqi jo ssoq; puB sptiBX umo sii[ uStiojq;:^ sp-eoj; p9U9do SBq 'X;j;9;9ra90 XPQ ^^^O ^^^o PJ'^I ^H ■9ldo9d 9q; jo pooS 9t[; JOJ S9JnST39ra SuiUUBxd pUB Sui;S9SSnS 'iJBd 9AX19'B UB pT3q ST3q 9t[ UAVo; puB oSv.iiiA 9q; jo iu9ui9AOj:drai gq:^. oi Sui^^pj Suiq; -i(j9A9 ui ■90UT3U9;ureni s^ ux Sni;sissT3 puB 'SitiptTiiq 9qi joj puB^ 9q; SuxAiS 'p9;s9i9;ux AutsqjS sbav 9q looqog qSxjj sq^ Jo uox^bzx -xibSjo gq:; uj -gggl nx 'iCjBjqxq; :^^9S^•BS^3JJ;■BJ^I sq; Suxqsnqi3lS9 xix X^3;u9IIIX^J:^s^x XpSj^x sbm. gjj -g^-e^s 9qi ux qoJB 9|Suxs isaSmi 9q; 9q o; pres sx ';99j JiUo} jo u-Bds v qjm 'xpiv 9iio;s 9i;Saxs •B JO 9Spuq 9U0 -Suxpiraq sxq jo hb oiv 9i;bq 90^9^ ^noqij S9Spxjq 9xtojs aq; pxxB '9;Bp jg^B^ b :;b p9qs SnxAB9A 9q; 'ZL81 ux 'suBi;d sxq a:9;jB ^[xnq sbav ||;xxu p9:;sjOiW s2x-ei 9qj, "^981 ux 'j:9axj: i;xxosxuBnbB;;9j; j;9A0 gSpuq 9q; ;ixnq 9jj -uoponj^suoo JO SAVB]; 9X[; jo Apn;s pjajBO 9pBxu puB '9jn;99jxqoiB ux :^S9J[9; -ux ;b9j;S pBq sX^BAvp SBq pjBZBjj '-iH "uopBOxpgp s;x ;b ':jq9p WLOX} 99JJ 'X;9xoos 9qi o; p9;u9S9jd SBAV ;x puB 'Suxpxmq 9qq. }0 9SU9dx9 9q; 9joq pjBZBjj -JYi 'suopnqxj^uoo ai9J b jo uopd90 -X9 9qj q:;x7V\. 'auajs Xj:9A9 jo SuiAvi 9qj ib Aq SuxpuB^s ;soxu qB puB '{XBJ9P jsajnuxxu gqj o; UAVop 'jpsxuxq suB^d 9qj SuxAVBjp 'qoanqo guojs ju9S9jd 9t[; j^mq 9q g^gl ^i ■:^Bq; ux pgddxqsjoAv qoaxxqo 9i;jjxx 9qj puB 'suB^d sxq uiojj pgqsxuxj uasq pBq 'xiBq sxbq aoB9j[ 9qj sx qoxqAV ux 'Suxpxmq 9uojs 9Sjbx 9qj msA sxxoxAaad 9qi JO uuin:^nB 9qj uj -pgzxuBSjo SBAi. uavojsSuxx ^^i^og jo qojnq^ -[BuoxjBSgjSuoQ puoosg sqj puB '9sxioq sxq jb ;9xu 9xdo9d U99jaxqj 'uoxjBjxAux sxq oj 9Suods9j; ux 'Z,98I '^^SI ^-iBUjqgjj -asxioq poqos aqj ux poqos ABpung b jo uoxjbzxubSzo 9qj sbav s9IB0 :^sj;tj sxq jo 9U0 puB '9i;bq 90B9i aNV koxonihsvm ao ahoxsih 504 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. been active in everything which could promote the welfare of his town. The well-being of those in his employ he has had closely at heart. From ISiifi to 1860 he acted as superintendent of the Peace Dale mills, and became thoroughly acquainted with all the details of the business, and the needs of the operatives. In 1864 he became treasurer and senior partner of the Peace Dale Manu- facturing Company. He remodeled the tenement houses, and inaugurated a policy of building single houses for the operatives, which they were encouraged to buy on easy terms of payment. A system of public gardens had been in vogue, each occupant of a tenement being entitled to a certain amount of land to culti- vate. But these before long were abandoned, as each became possessed of his own land. The personal interest of Mr. Hazard in the welfare of all in his employ has had much influence in making Peace Dale an exceptional community, free from strikes and other disquieting influences with which many manufactur- ing villages are inflicted. The distribution of profits and the question of the relation of capital and labor has received his earnest attention. After much study of the subject, and after a personal inspection of the co- operative establishments at Rochdale, England, and elsewhere, he decided to introduce a system of profit sharing into the Peace Dale mills. The plan proposed was set forth in the following circular, which, with the consent of his brother, John N. Hazard, he wrote and issued in 1878 : " For some years past the subject of co-operation has been at- tentively considered by the members of the Peace Dale Manufac- turing Company. The great depression which has, during that time, existed in the shawl trade has prevented the adoption of any special plan. It would have been useless to offer co-opera- tion to laborers when there was prospect of loss instead of profit. Just here observe that labor can not run the risk of loss. It must have its daily wages guaranteed. This is the real difficulty in making any plan for co-operation. If capital must pay the cur- rent wages, and run the risk of loss, the argument seems sound that it should have the advantage of corresponding gain. How- ever just the principle, there has been developed in practice, par- ticularly in Europe, a tendency to bring labor and capital into antagonistic relations. This is a false position. Capital and la- bor are intcr-dcpcndciit. Their interests are identical. Neither is ^^Z^^^Z^^Li^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 505 of value without the other, and only when they work together in harmony are the best results attainable. In view of these facts several systems of co-operation have been devised, by which the laborer may obtain a larger share of the product of his labor than usually falls to his lot. The only one which seems to be applicable to the circumstances of the case of the Peace Dale Manufactu.ring Company, is that which the company has adopted as follows : " The Peace Dale Manufacturing Company proposes, in each year in which there are surplus profits, to divide a sum among all its employees, which sum shall depend upon the results of the year's business. This sum cannot under ordinary circumstances be very large. Before anything can be set apart for it, wages must be paid, interest must be paid, and profit on capital must be paid. Then an amount must be set aside to make good wear and tear of buildings, to replace worn out machinery, and to strengthen the reserve funds, that the company may be able to pass through a year, or a series of years of depression. The im- portance of this last is seen in the experience of the past five years, when but for the existence of such reserve funds the mills would have been obliged to stop. Out of what is left after all these things are provided for, the bonus for labor must be taken. " Under present conditions the items before mentioned, on the average absorb nearly all the profits, leaving little or nothing out of which to pay this proposed bonus ; whatever is left will, how- ever, feel the full effect of any extra care and attention on the part of the employees. If they prevent waste of material, if they save the wear and tear of machines, if they are diligent so that a large amount of work is performed, the sum out of which the bonus is to be paid will be enlarged. Indeed, in proposing this bonus the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company confidently ex- pects that the increased care and diligence which it will thus be the direct interest of each employee to exercise, will result in a saving which will go far toward providing the means of payment. " The mode of distributing this bonus will be by making a dividend of so much per cent, upon the amount of wages earned during the year by the persons entitled to receive the bonus. This percentage will be fixed by the directors of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company, in view of the year's results, and if in their judgment, after providing for all other contingencies, there is not enough left to make a dividend of one per cent., no divi- dend will be made for that year. 506 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'J' COUNTIES. " In case of a dividend it will be paid on and after the 20th day of March in each year, to all employees who were in the employ of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company during the preceding month of January; and who were in said employ for at least seven months out of the twelve next preceding the first day of February. The amount of wages earned by each employee dur- ing the twelve months next preceding the first day of February, shall be taken (to the nearest whole dollar), as the amount upon which the percentage is to be calculated to ascertain the amount of dividend to be paid each said employee. " Employees who have been discharged for cause, who have not worked at least seven months during the year ending Janu- ary 31st, or who have voluntarily left the employ of the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company previous to that date will not be entitled to any dividend. This plan of co-operation is adopted as an experiment only. If after trial it fails to accomplish the ends proposed, among which greater neatness, care, and atten- tion in all departments of the works are especially desirable, it will be abandoned. The Peace Dale Manufacturing Company expressly reserves to itself the right to modify or discontinue the plan, whenever it shall deem proper ; but it also expresses the hope that its continued working will be productive of only good results." Mr. Hazard has also been much interested in agriculture and the improvement of breeds of cattle, and is the president of the Washington County Agricultural Society, to which office he was elected at the organization of the society in 1876. Before this society he has annually (with the exception of one 3'ear) deliv- ered an address, in which he has discussed not only agricultural topics, such as the different breeds of cattle, the raising of vari- ous crops, dairy farming, ensilage and other cattle foods, but questions of general interest, a sound currency, taxation, the tar- iff and civil service reform. These and kindred topics have been treated with great fairness and ability, Mr. Hazard making it, his aim to convince his hearers, among whom are many farmers, of their vital interest in all that pertains to good government. Some of these addresses have been published and widely circulated, and have attracted the attention of scholars. Mr. Hazard served the town of South Kingstown as moderator for several years, and in the state legislature as representative in 1863, and as senator in 1867 and 1868. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 507 He was the independent candidate for governor in 1875, re- ceiving the plurality of votes, but failed of election in the legis- lature. His candidacy was regarded at the time as a severe re- buke to party methods of management, which had corrupted the people to an alarming extent. In politics he has always been a republican, but not one who yielded the right of private judg- ment. In late years, therefore, he has been an independent, vot- ing when it was possible with the republicans, but for the best candidate without regard to party lines. Mr. Hazard has been interested in the production of lead. He took charge of Mine La Motte, Missouri, in 1876, when the estate was badly run down, and it has required much attention to make it productive. His active mind has naturally been interested in all new indus- tries. In 1881 he took steps to introduce the manufacture of soda ash into this countr3^ Previously nearly the whole supply had been imported and none had been made by the ammonia process. He was instrumental in organizing the Solvay Process Company, of Syracuse, N. Y., and became its president. The first soda ash made by the ammonia process in America was produced by this company in January, 1884, and Mr. Hazard's large experience and practical wisdom have greatly aided the infant industry. The works have grown from a production of forty tons of ash a day to one hundred and fifty tons a day. The Robinson Family. — Rowland Robinson built his house be- fore the middle of the last century. It stood about one mile west of Narragansett bay and a half mile north of the old Colonial highway that leads to and from the South Ferry. It was a gambrel roofed house, and including negro quarters was one hundred and five feet in length, but was subsequently cut down to fifty-four feet front. The house has been occupied of late years by Rowland F. Gard- iner. The timber for this structure was cut on the estate, and the house was elaborately finished. Mr. Hazard says : " In a recent visit to these premises I took especial note of the middle cross beam that supports the chamber floor over the west front room (this room is 20 by 20 feet). It is twenty feet long and twelve inches square, and is without support underneath its full length ; yet I could not perceive that in the century and more that had passed since it was placed there it had sagged or bent in the least degree. All the rooms in the house are finished after the same costly pattern, and most of the fire places orna- r)08 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. merited with the old-fashioned Chinese tiles. The dining room is 22 by 20 feet in dimensions. On the panel over the fire place, in a back room on the ground floor, is a large, ancient painting in which the artist has in a more graphic than finished style sketched in oil, a stag or deer hunt that occurred on the premises while the house was being built. The huntsmen are depicted fully accoutered in their sporting costumes, with high flap boots, and sitting or rather standing very erect in their stirrups. " The chamber over the west room was occupied for some time during the revolutionary war by the Marquis Lafayette, and has ever since been designated by the successive occupants of the premises, the Lafayette chamber. In making some repairs some two ounce bullets were found imbedded in the plank in front of this room. Whether there is any historical significance attached to this incident, I have, not learned." A large apartment over the dining room is called to this day the " Unfortunate Hannah's Chamber," from its having been oc- cupied by a beautiful daughter of Mr. Robinson by that name, whose tragic story is told at length in Hazard's "Recollections of Olden Times." The cupboard is still shown in which her lover used to retreat when the steps of her irascible father were heard on the stairs. Rowland Robinson, the first, ran away from his parents and escaped on board a ship from England to the colonies, and bound himself to a carpenter. By good behavior he soon got ad- vanced in business, and bought from the Indians large tracts of land on which he built partly with his own hands the homestead in Point Judith. He married a rich farmer's daughter, had many children, and from his eldest son, William, the Robinson family are descended. Rowland Robinson was born in 1654 at or near a place called Long Bluff, in Cumberland, England. He came to this country in 1675, and in 1676 married Mary, the daughter of John and Mary Allen, who were from Barnstable, England. Rowland Robinson died at his residence, situated near the pond or cove of Pettaquamscutt river in 1716, aged 62 years. He and his wife were both buried in the Narragansett Friends' burial ground. South Kingstown, about two miles south of Tower Hill village. Mr. Robinson's lands were purchased of the Narragansett Indians. He also purchased largely in the Pettaquamscutt and Point Judith lands. On these lands he built several houses, and sold farms containing from one hundred and fifty to three hundred acres each. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 509 Rowland Robinson's children were as follows : John, who mar- ried Mary Hazard in 1703 ; Joseph, who died in infancy ; Eliza- beth, married William Brown in 1698 ; Margaret, who married Thomas Mumford in 1703 ; Sarah, who married James Barton in 1712 ; Rowland, who died at the age of five years ; Mercy, who married Colonel John Potter in 1714; William, who married Martha Potter in 1717, and his second wife, Mrs. Abigail G. Haz- ard, in 1727 or 1728 ; Mary, who married Thomas C. Hazard in 1727 ; Rowland, who died in infancy ; Sarah, who married Charles Babcock in 1725 ; and Ruth, the twelfth and youngest child, who married Robert Underwood in 1728. Governor William Robinson was the eighth child of Rowland- By his first wife, Martha Potter, was born Rowland, who mar- ried Anstis Gardiner in 1741. The children of Rowland Robin- son were : Hannah, born in 1746, married Peter Simons in 1773, who went to Europe after the death of this celebrated beauty ; Mary; William R., who married Ann Scott in 1784. John, the second child of Governor William Robinson, died in 1739, a youth of eighteen years ; Margaret married William Mumford in 1745 ; Elizabeth married Thomas Hazard in 1745 ; Martha married Latham Clarke in 1747. Christopher, the first child of Governor William Robinson by ' his second wife, married Ruhama Champlin in 1752 ; William married Hannah Brown in 1752 ; Thomas married Sarah Rich, ardson in 1752 ; Abigail married John Wanton in 1751 ; Sylvester married Alice Perry in 1756 ; Mary married John Dockray in 1756 ; James married Nancy Rodman ; John married Sarah Peck- ham. The above gives the heads of families only, but is sufficient in a sketch of this character to show the relationship of the Robin- son family to innumerable other ones in South Kingstown who are in one way or another connected. Following we give the sad circumstances connected with the unfortunate Hannah Robinson. Rowland Robinson was the eldest son of Governor William Robinson by his first wife. He was a gentleman of opulence, and sustained many responsible offices under the state government. His noble mansion is still standing in a good state of preservation, and is one of the re- maining memorials of the aristocracy of the past ages. His children were : Hannah, Mary and William. Mary died single, at middle age ; William married Ann, the daughter of George 510 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Scott of Newport, and died a short time previous to his father, "without issue. Hannah was styled " The unfortunate Hannah Robinson." She was the celebrated beauty of her day, and if unbroken tradition is sufficient authority, the appellation was justly bestowed. The late Doctor William Bowen, of Provi- dence, frequently conversed about her and observed that Miss Robinson was the most perfect model of beauty that he ever knew, and that he frequently visited at her father's ; that her figure was graceful and dignified, her complexion fair and beau- tiful, and her manner urbane and captivating ; that he was pas- sionately fond of her, and proposed to her a matrimonial union. She replied that his wishes to promote her happiness were highly flattering ; that as a friend she should ever entertain for him the highest respect, and in that character should ever be extremely gratified to see him ; but that she was bound to disclose to him, however reluctant she felt to give him pain, that she was engaged. He further observed that though disappointed in the hope he had so ardently cherished, the refusal was imparted with such suavity and tenderness, united with personal respect, that though disap- pointed, he felt consoled. The late Hon. Elisha R. Potter, Judge Waite and others who knew Miss Robinson, fully confirmed Doc- tor Bowen 's testimony in respect to her personal beauty aud ac- complished manners. Mr. Peter Simons, a young gentleman of Newport, became early attached to Miss Robinson ; they had been schoolmates and the attachment was reciprocal. Her father, without any apparent reason, was hostile to the connection, and his efforts were un- wearied to prevent their union. Mr. Robinson in temperament was constitutionally irritable, rash and unyielding. His antip- athies, when once fixed, no reason or argument could remove- Mr. Simons had early in life become attached to Miss Robinson ; it had been reciprocated ; their dispositions were congenial ; time had cemented their affections ; she had plighted her faith, and no promise or threats could induce her to violate the vows she had made ; she could become a martyr ; she could suffer, but she could not betray her own heart or the faith that another had reposed in her. As might have been expected, the violent and unreasonable measures adopted by her father, instead of subdu- ing, only increased the fervor of their attachment. Her conduct was constantly subjected to the strictest scrutiny. If she walked, her movements were watched ; if she rode, a servant was ordered HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 511 to be in constant attendance ; if a visit was contemplated, he immediately concluded it was only a pretense for an arranged interview ; and even after departure, if the most trifling circum- stance gave color to the suspicion, he would immediately pursue and compel her to return. In one instance she left home to visit her aunt at New London. Her father soon afterward discovered from his windows a vessel leaving Newport and taking a course for the same place. Although the vessel and the persons on board were wholly unknown to him, his jealotisies were immedi- ately aroused, conjecturing it was Mr. Simons intending to fulfill an arrangement previously made. He hastened to New London, arrived a few hours only after his daughter, and insisted on her instant return. No persuasion or argument could induce him to change his determination, and she was compelled to return with him. Her uncle, the late Colonel John Gardiner, commiserated the condition of his unfortunate neice. He knew her determination was not to be changed or her resolution overcome by parental exaction, however severe ; and aware that the wrongs she had already undergone had sensibly affected her health and would soon destroy her constitution, with a generosity and disinterest- edness that belonged to his character, contrived interviews be- tween Mr. Simons and Miss Robinson unknown to her father. The window where she sat and the shrubbery behind which his person was concealed at these evening interviews are still shown by the family residing there. These were perilous meetings, for such was the antipathy of the father, that detection would prob- ably have resulted in instant death for Mr. Simons ; but as usual in such cases, their precautions were in proportion to the immi- nence of their danger. All efforts to obtain the consent of her father, aided by the in- fluence of her mother, having proved unavailing, and seeing no prospect of his ever becoming reconciled to their union, she abandoned all further efforts to reconcile him to her wishes, and consented to make arrangements for an elopement. Having ob- tained her father's consent to visit her aunt Updike, near Wick- ford, she left home, accompanied by the servant who usually at- tended her. On arriving at the gate that led to her aunt's house Mr. Simons was in waiting with a carriage, as had been previ- ously arranged, and disregarding the expostulations of the servant, who feared for his own safety should he return without 512 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. her, she entered the carriage, and that evening they were married in Providence. The intelligence of the elopement, when communicated to Mr. Robinson by the servant, roused all the fury of his ire. He offered a reward for their ap- prehension, but no discovery could be made. Every friend and relative became accessory to their concealment. Even the name of the clergyman who performed the nuptial ceremony could never be ascertained, but the anticipated happiness of the beautiful and ill-fated lady was destined to be short lived. The severity with which she had been treated, the unkind and har- rowing perplexities she had endured, had so* materially affected her health and preyed upon her constitution, that in a few short months the fairest of her sex exhibited evident symptoms of a speedy decline. At the urgent solicitation of her mother, Mr. Robinson finally permitted the daughter once more to return ; but it was too late, the ceaseless vigils of a mother's love could not restore her, and in a few short weeks this beautiful and un- fortunate woman, the victim of a father's relentless obstinacy, expired in the arms of her husband. Sylvester Robinson was born in South Kingstown, R. I., July 16th, 1798. He was great-grandson of Governor William Robin- son, grandson of John, and son of Benjamin Robinson. His mother was daughter of Governor George Brown. In the New- port Herald, March 19th, 1791, published by Peter Edes, in Thames street, Vol. V., No. 211, is found this quaint notice of the marriage of his father : " At South Kingstown, Mr. Benjamin Robinson to Miss Elizabeth Brown, eldest daughter of Mr. George Brown, — a young lady of singular merit, and highly adorned with every social and domestic virtue." Modest and unpretentious, she was yet a woman of fine intellect and integrity of character, softened and blended with a large charity. In her gentle ministrations to the sick or poor neighbor, shame even did not restrain the kind hand from helping. Her example and influence in the early training of her sons was so potent and long-abiding, that it would be difficult to find four men in one family who throughout life exhibited finer moral characters ; their names were synonyms for honesty and truthfulness. Sylvester, the third son, received a common school education only. He was, however, ambitious from a boy, of an inquiring mind, that seized every opportunity for improvement. A good reader, he became well informed upon the topics of the day, and % ARTOTYPE, E. 6IEH5K 88 nsAv I iinaq 9|oqA4. sin h^^tav svm. j[oo;aapun 9q jQAa^^q^ •suop -DiAuoo SApisod JO uBui B sbjw 9jj„ isX'bs 'uosuxqo-g; jg^saAjiCg jo Sui -Jl-eads ui 'sJuaX Xubui joj ^tu'ea sSuiabq q^ jo j;9jnsB9Jj pu-e '5[ii'Ba XBUOIJ'BJSj PI9y95[T3^ 9ip JO j;9It];ST30 'UBUXp9JS '3 'H |9XUBQ U]^ ,/|9SUnOD pUB 90U9S9jd Siq JO ;j9-I9q j;9A9JOJ 3ZV 9AV U9I[AV 'AVOU SB p9Zip9J[ A^nj OS J9A9U 9J9jtt. 'pjiBog siqj Aq pa^BiogjddB agsq a9A9 9A-Bq sjrejjB sji JO xioxjBjjsiuxuipB gqj ux Xjxppg puB xuopsm sxq qSixoq; -|B puB 'X:;x{xqB puB ss9U|njq;xBj q^xAv 9oxjjo :^Bq; p9nu SBq 'sj;b9X JXX0j-iC:iU9A\.:^ X;|jB9n joj oqAV 'uosuiqoy; X3fS3ajiC^ -iioff 'pu9Xj;j pxiB :;a9pxs9jd p9;u9taB[ pxiB p9iu99;s9 qoxxxu jxio JO q;B9p ^m xix ssoj; jb9jS Aj;9a b psuxBjsns SBq uopBioossy sxqj :^BqJL 'p9Aps9"jj ,, : sjojo9iip JO pjBoq aq; Xq pajdopB suoxjnpsgj jo j9S b xuoaj J0BJJX9 UB Xq uA^oqs :^saq 9q ubo 90Bi;d sqj jo S9x;np 9q; paxujoj -J9d 9q \YS^ Avojj '^ggl XIX 'qjB9p sxq jxjuxx uopxsod sxq; p[9q 9fj -uosuxqo-y; -y ui'Bqix^ jo ju9xri9jp9j; aqj Aq :^^BOBA 9pBm 9DBxdB 'jfUBg ppxj93[BjiV\. 9q^ JO JU9pXS9j;d U9SOqD SBAV 9q xt8I oi •uAvo;s9];j;Bq3 jo xxAioj JX9U 9qj uBxi;j j9j;b9U 5[xiup SapBOxxo:^xxx xm uxB^qo o:; ubtu b joj 9i;qxssodxux sbav jx sj;b9A jo J9qraxxu b jo^ qooqos oj :^U9S puB p9qjop A[ju909p ugjpixqo gqj 'U9zpp p9;o9ds9J b 9raBD9q a9qjBj xi95[nnjp 9q; iUi\A.oj 9qj xix 9SuBqo p95[j;Bxu b sbjw sjaqj iioos :>Bqj qSnojoqi os sbav jjjoav sxqx ■jj;Bd 3[ooj 9q qoxqAv ni 9sxj;dj9;u9 AxiB p9zxj;9pBj;Bqo jBqj JopjB puB p9z 9q:^ qjXitt. p95[JOAV 9q sxqj u\ 'VW 's-toxaxjiBa ux p9;jB;s jsjg ,/xiBxuoiSuiqsB_/VY » 9^^ sb iiiW.ou3[ 'JU9XIX9A0XII 90UBj9dux9j 9qi UX p9:>s9j;9;ux 9XUB09q 9q g-XtSI HI "1881 ^y ^I™c[ SBAV 'sxuooa jo ju9xuaSuBJJB juxBub ;BqAV9raos puB 92xe\ sjx q;m 'pB9;s9xuoq 9qx "luxq p9p990ons uospuBjS puB uos sxq 9j;9qAS. puB 'q;B9p sxq xx^uxx ss9uxsnq 9qj pgxiupuoD 9q gjgqM. 'Suxpxraq aSjBX 9qj p9p9J;9 9q g^gC ^x puB ';sjg 9q:; xuojj p9jdnj[J9juxun sbav .ss90ons sxq ./X^^Avop g^sBq aqBxu,, Sux -9q ojjotu sxx| 'sjqojd i;xBxus Ji\QAi-\T3xedva.oz> puB gjojs xibxus b q;xAv JU9JUO0 Supa -aoB^d 9qj ux puoo9s aq:; '9j;o;s b pguado aq 9jaqAv 'pxaxj9J[B^ ux Ajjgdoid [[buis b uopSuoQ j9qdojsxaq3 JO ;qSnoq puB UAVOj 9ax;bu sxq oj p9ujxxj9a aq xggx uj -pauxB^qo pjBAVjajjB 9q ^Bqj ss90ons gqj p9Avo gq Suxuxbj; sxq; oj^ -ssguxsnq jo aui; -noj aqj ux pauxBJj Ax|njajBO sbav ajaq; puB 'AyaajS9_/V\. P 'qoooqBa asAvo-g 'apuu sxq jo ajo;s aqj p9j9;u9 gq u99;jnoj jo 9Sb 9qj ^y ■s9SBnxA Sxxxqsuxxoy ojux asu 'sasnoq p9ja;;Bos Avaj sjx q;xAV 'uavo; aq; U99s pBq 9q moqAV x|jxav '9xdo9dsuAioj sxq jo XuBui JO jasxApB puB puaxjj paisxxjj aq; sbav sjB9iC SupuBApB ux 8X2 -saixNaoD XNa->i qnv noxonihsvav io ahoxsih 514 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. remember the persistency and anxiety with which he labored to extricate the banks from the embarrassments they suffered in 1857. We worked almost day and night to save them from utter failure ; and I now look back over those years of incessant toil and anxiety with the greatest satisfaction. There was never any misunderstanding or unkind word between us in all that time. It is a pleasant thought to me that he lived to see the de- sire of his life accomplished — the banks and the church free from embarrassment, with bright prospects for the future." He represented his town several times in the general assem- bly, being sent as senator. Although often urged to accept of this position, when a nomination was equivalent to an election, his party being in power, it was rarely he could be persuaded. Quoting again from Mr. D. M. C. Stedman, and old friend and co-laborer, who knew and loved him well : " Although he was not early connected with the abolition cause, yet we all remem- ber with what enthusiasm he entered the republican party, and raised a flag for John C. Fremont. From that time, and during all the dark days of the war, no man was more hopeful and confi- dent of its final success. He had no soft word for 'copperheads,' but was always true and loyal to his country. Such a man and such a life, is worthy to be kept in remembrance by any community." He united with the Baptist church in December, 1838, and from that time until his death was an honored member. " No one loved the old church better than he, always trying to do something for its prosperity. Some of its best social meetings were held in his own home, nearly always attending the noon- day prayer meetings that were held in the room over what is now Mr. Robert Rodman's counting room, and also the west room of the bank. He paid at one time nearly $4,000 to free the church from an old and oppressive debt." He filled a large place in the growth and advancement of his town, early identifying himself with all its interests. He was ex- ceedingly liberal in his views ; a man of ready sympathy and charitable to the poor ; his friendships firm and lasting. Unde- niably there was in his tastes and manner a trace of the patrician, inseparable possibly from his birth, training and precedents. The native refinement and courtliness was an outgrowth of the holi- ness and purity of his life. He was a kind and considerate hus- band, a tender and indulgent father. He married October 9th, 1822, Eliza, daughter of Joseph Noyes ppaauiraoD puB XSjQng ;b9iS jo ubui b sba\. uosuiqo'^ "Q 9Sjo3£) •Xqd-BjSoxq siq; jo ^oaCqns aq; jo jaq^Bj aq; 'uosaxqo'g "Q aSjoaf) jo Jsq^Bj aq; sbav j;9;;-Bt sqx "s^b^s 9q; nt 9uip sxq }o mswL Avm-es/A. puB ;u9UXiaoj;d ■b 'uosuiqo-y[ J9qdo;suqQ jo j9q:i-Bjpu-BjS-;B9j:S 9q; sbjw iiosnxqo-y; tiiBinij^ aouj9AOQ •A;i^iqisuods9J .qSiq jo suoTixsod o; pa^'BO Xpu9nb9Jj: sbav puB 'su9zi:^p pgtipA si^i }0 9UO SB 90UTAojd 9q; ui UAvou3[ ^|9A\. 9ui'B09q 9q 'snou^snpui puB Xpjtijg •pnB|si gpoq^ tit iibui ;u9uxuioid b sba^ 'qoi95[s siq; jo pgCqns 9q:^ mojj P9A0XII9J; suopBJ9U9S xis 'nosniqo-y; inBqxx^ '9pis XBtU9;Bd 9qi UQ ■ss9uxsnq }o qouBjq Xj9A9 ^soiixib ui puB qou9q 9q:^ uo 'niTuoj 9q; ':^id|nd 9q; ui 'piiB]; 9q; jo s^JBd n^ ^} um.ou3{ U99q 9ABq s;uBpu90S9p jraq; 9thi; qoxqAV 9oais'989X ut aotiapiAOJj; ni p9p;9S oqAV 'suiBi[];i^ a9Sog q:;iAV sno9UBJodra9:;noD 9J9jw saojS99UB 9Soq; 'puBi;si 9poq"g JO sj9i;;j9s ^sjg 9q; Suoray '^iJids ss9i;j;b9j puB ;u9pu9d9put UB qjiAv pooquBui jo j99jbo 9q:^ uodn Suu9;a9 ;noqB qjno^ gq:; SAVopu9 sAbav^ 9uop sxq; puB 'jonpuoo iCq;j;oitt.9SXBad puB 9i;qBaoxioq aoj pg^ou s.xojs9Dub jo gux^ 2uoi b jo 9Sbjuba -pB gqj '9txa; sx jx 'pBq afj '^oq aood b sb 9ji[ ss9uxsnq sxq nBSgq qoj9J[s XBDxqdBaSoxq sxqi jo jogfqns 9qx — ■NOSNiao'^; "(J HViwanaf ■XjXSJ9AXnf][ pjBAJBJJ JO g^BUpBjS B ''Q 'J^ 'iiosnxqo^ UBXupo"y; puB{Avo"y; puB 'opBJopQ ux xxbxu 9x;jb9 b 'uos -uxqo'g UBxupo'y; pxaxxiBg : ppqa^lB^w nx j;9qjBj sxq q^Xvw. ssguxsnq ux '-jf 'aosuxqo-g^ 'jj xixxiiBCu9g :siios 99j;qj SBq puB 'nBxupo"y; pnuiBg 'xxoH JO jgjqSxxBp 'guipjBQ 'fQQl ux p9XJJBXu 9jq; -sjfjoAV ^UBjJoduix agqjo iCuBtu puB spBOJ 9uojs 'pBOJjXB-g jgxj ;;9SUbS -BJJBjvj ano 'X:[9i9ui93 9pxsj;9Ax-g axxo ux U99S 9q ubo 9];do9d 9q:j jo 9DU9Sqpjux gqj uodn Sux:5[joav ;u9jsxsj;9d sxq jo s;tns9J jogaipuj ,/u9mAion9j sxq S9aox oqjw 9U0 sb axu 9:>xj:7V\. ,, 'mxpy ugg Tioqv q^t-^ -^133 piuoo 9H "jgjoBjBqo jo sjoqB^ sxq ux „ o^7f „ gq:^ joj 90Bxd nBius U99q SBq gjgqx "jpsxuxq joj jouoq joj ;ou puB sixns9a JOJ Sux5[J0Av 'Abav :(9xnb b ux S3[j;oav jBqj jgjoBjBqo jo ASjd -us juajsxsjgd b SBq gfj -gidogdsu^ioj sxq jo pooS js9q 9qj puB UAvoj sxq JO ;u9xu90UBApB gqj ux p9js9J9:>ui X]^;b9jS U99q sA.v^^.l■e SBq 9q jaqjBj sxq 95j;xt; 'agujiBd b sb 9jo;s s,J9q;Bj sxq p9j:9ju9 9q 9Sb jo sib9jC 9uo-iCju9Aj ;y -gouxs J9Aa px9q SBq gq uox:^xsod B '5[UBa [BuoxjBjsj PIsysJi^AV sq^ JO jugpxsgjd gpBui sbtw gq qjBgp gsoqAV jgjjB 'jaqjBj sxq saAXAjtis 9U0|B uosuxqo-jj -^ uxxuBCugg '8881 ujoq '3[DooqBa q^nuBfj puB : 9g8X aaoq 'guuy ^m'R ■ f'SSX 'q;6 ^-iBUUBf ujoq '• j uxxu -Bfuag : ugjpi;xqo ggaqj pBq Xaqj^ -QUI }o jbav gqj Suunp Xxujb gqj ux jgoxjjo ub 'sgXoj^ qdgsof puopQ jo jg^qSuBppuBjS puB Qig -saixNnoo XNa>i qnv noxonihsvav ao ahoxsih 516 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. enterprise. He followed the sea as a profession, and so great were his ability, integrity and manly qualities, that he soon be- came captain of a ship in the East India trade, and pushed his prow to the shores of countries as remote from his native land as any who sailed the then almost unknown seas. He married the daughter of Jeremiah Niles Potter, while quite young, and was suddenly stricken down, while at Canton, China, at the age of thirty-two, leaving five small, fatherless children without direct parental means of support. Of these Jeremiah P. was the eldest. The American progenitors of the families of Niles and Potter were among the first settlers of Rhode Island and of the highest respectability and standing. Jeremiah Niles was a man of large possessions, and for many years was judge of the superior court, holding commissions from both kings, George II. and George III., some of which are still in possession of the family. Beside this he held other positions of trust. John Potter, whose family was also among the original settlers of Rhode Island, was a man of wealth and high character. One of his sons married into the Niles family, and had a son named Jeremiah Niles Potter, who was the father of Mary Niles Potter, the wife of Captain George C. Robinson, and the mother of Jeremiah Potter Robinson. It will thus be seen that Mr. Robinson traced his lineage on both sides, through many generations of honorable men and women, and his christian names are taken from the two distinguished families on his mother's side. The family on his father's death having been left in straightened circumstances, Mr. Potter, quite a landed proprietor, took his daughter and her children to his home in South Kingstown, near the present village of Wakefield, and gave his grandchildren such advantages as the locality afforded until able to undertake the struggle of life for them- selves, the mother remaining on the homestead until her death. Jeremiah Potter Robinson was born August 18th, 1819, in South Kingstown, R. I., and early developed an independent and fearless spirit. When about twelve years of age, having been used to labor and toil on the farm, and having enjoyed but limited advantages of education, he went to Newport and entered the grocery store of his uncle, Stephen A. Robinson, where he at- tained the position of accountant. Here he remained about two and one-half years, when he for a short time returned to his grandfather's farm. In 1836, at the age of sixteen, he went to J^^<^-^^c !"- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 527 factors. During his days of prosperity he aided by liberal con- tributions in the building of no less than twenty-six other churches ; nor did he confine his benevolence to his own de- nomination. That a house was to be built for the worship of God was a sufficient appeal to his sympathy and help. In the Sunday school of the church he was a devoted and helpful laborer, holding for many years the position of superintendent. His character was one of great natural energy, yet there were no hard lines in it, and he had a certain gentleness of manner, combined with decision, which made him greatly beloved. Dur- ing his last illness his former employes came to his house and requested the privilege of sitting up to watch him. " No strike was ever meditated in his mills." Mr. John Eddy of Providence has outlined his character as follows : " A man of great physical strength and power of endurance, of energy and force of char- acter, of mental and moral courage ; but these were so united to an active benevolence to all, a generous and conscientious con- sideration for the rights of others, that his rounded and symmet- ric personality commanded the respect and love of all who knew him. The relations between him and his employes were those of mutual confidence. He perceived that the truest method of elevating the laborer was to make him independent, and to this end by the sale of lands to them at nominal prices he encouraged his laborers to become land owners." His hospitality was proverbial. Rarely were the guest cham- bers tenantless, or were there vacant seats at his hospitable board ; while the distinguished guest received no more cordial welcome than the poor and needy friend or relative. A friend, writing to his widow after his death, said : " Mr. Rodman was the most generous man I ever knew, and I have reason to know how generous. He conferred a favor in such a way that the re- cipient might well question whether he had received or conferred the favor." Samuel Rodman married Mary, daughter of Benjamin Taylor and Abigail (Oatley) Peckham. She was the mother of all his children, a woman of remarkable strength of character and in- tegrity, and a devoted Christian. The influence of her character and teaching was seen with remarkable clearness in her eldest son, the late General Isaac Peace Rodman. To her husband she was truly a helpmeet — not only in forming the characters of the older children, who came especially under her influence, but as 528 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. a wise and faithful counselor in all his business relations. He took^ no^ important step without her advice. His second wife, whom he married in 1854, was Mary Anstis Updike, daughter of Hon. Wilkins Updike, of South Kingstown, and author of the " History[|of the Narragansett Church," " Memoirs of the Rhode Island Bar," and other works. Mr. Rodman died May 9th, 1882, in South Kingstown, on the Rodman land where he was born, and was buried in the family burying ground. Eight of his grandsons, obeying his request, were his pall-bearers. They were Isaac P. Rodman, Thomas Rodman,^Rowland Rodman, B. F. Robinson, Jr., S. Rodman Rob- inson, S. A. Rodman, Samuel Rodman Thompson and William H. Baldwin, Jr. We may conclude by saying, in the words of one who knew him well : "A larger-hearted, more whole-souled man than Sam- uel Rodman, Rhode Island has never produced." Isaac Peace Rodman was the eldest son of Samuel and Mary (Peckham) Rodman. He was born in South Kingstown, R. I., August 18th, 1822. He was educated in the public schools of his native town, but quite early in life left school, in order to enter in the manufacturing business with his father. He had a pas- sionate love for books and the knowledge that books give, com- bined with a remarkable memory ; his leisure hours were for many years nearly all devoted to study, and thus he was enabled to take his place amongst men of a more liberal education on an equal footing. " He was a man of exceedingly acute and ele- vated intelligence, reasoned with great sequence and logical force from cause to effect, a believer in the ' Gospel of expedi- ence ' in all the ordinary affairs of life." His extensive reading and intimate acquaintance with the classics rendered him a liter- ary critic of no mean order. E. H. Hazard, in a biographical sketch, written for Bartlett's " Rhode Island Officers," said of General Rodman : " He was ex- tremely modest and retiring in his nature. There were no extrav- agancies in his life or conduct ; his character as a whole was uni- form in all its elements. He was for many years an honored member of the Baptist church ; at one time teacher of a Bible class composed of young men ; at another, superintendent of the Sunday school. He was liberal in his religious views to all denominations, intolerant only to superstition and narrow bigotry. ^/7^.^. BRIC-CEN ISAAC R RODMAN, U,S.' HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 529 After a few years of initiatory labor in his father's mills, more especially in office work, he, with his brother Rowland Gibson Rodman, entered into partnership with their father under the firm name of S. Rodman & Sons. He was for many years president of the town council of South Kingstown, and was a representative for several terms in the assembly of Rhode Island, and also in the senate of that state ; a director in the Wakefield Bank, also in the Institution for Savings. When the president called for seventy-five thousand men at the commencement of the civil war, he was among the first to respond to the call of his country. He raised a military com- pany composed of his fellow townsmen for the Second Rhode Is- land regiment of Volunteers, and was chosen their captain for his gallant conduct at the battle of Bull Run ; Governor Sprague, when the Fourth Rhode Island regiment was mustered into the service, appointed him its lieutenant-colonel and soon after colonel. He distinguished himself by his gallant conduct in the battle of Roanoke February 8th, 1862, and at Newbern March 15th, 1862. Abbott, in his " History of the Civil War," said in speak- ing of this battle : " The charge by Colonel Rodman, leading the Fourth Rhode Island regiment, was one of the most heroic deeds of the day." This gallant charge won a brigadier-general's com- mission for Colonel Rodman. Yet he always insisted that his regi- ment deserved more credit for their conduct at the battle of Roan- oke Island in which they took a conspicuous part, than at the battle of Newbern. After the capture of Fort Macon April 17th, 1862, General Rodman contracted typhoid fever and was obliged to return home, " broken in health, but crowned with the honors he had won." On his arrival at the Kingston station he was met by a large delegation of his fellow citizens, with the militia compan- ies and bands of music. Overcome by this proof of the estima- tion in which he was held by his townspeople, and enfeebled by severe illness, he could say but a few words to them. A few weeks later, when the same company again conducted him to his home, instead of the triumphant strains of martial music, the tap of the muffled drum and funeral march alone was heard ; no kind words greeted the old friends, for the voice was still forever. He remained at home but a few weeks ; before his furlough 34 530 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was ended or his health re-established, General Burnside wrote to him that the army was on the eve of a great battle, urging him to return if possible, as there was urgent need for commanding officers ; and against the remonstrance of his physician, he hast- ened back to the field of duty. At the battle of Antietam, September 17th, 1862, he commanded the Third Division of the Ninth Army Corps, and fell mortally wounded while leading his division to the charge. " Though feeble in health and exhausted from five days and nights of ardu- ous service, he kept in the saddle from early dawn till sunset, when he fell, pierced with a minie ball through his left breast. Surgical aid and efforts of friends were unavailing to save his life ; his system was exhausted. His patience in suffering was equal to his courage on the battle-field. He died as he lived, a Christian soldier. His physician, who had witnessed many death-bed scenes, said that for calm, conscious, peaceful resigna- tion, he never witnessed its equal. From the time he left his home in the spring of 1861 to the hour of his fall, his Bible was his daily companion, and was daily read by him. It was found in his bosom, clotted with his blood." Abbott, in closing a notice of General Rodman, says : " At South Mountain he escaped uninjured. At Antietam, while at the head of his division, and performing the part of a Major- General, a bullet pierced his breast, and he was carried to a house in the rear. There, after the lapse of thirteen days, he died. His remains were buried at his native place, South Kingstown, with the highest honors. He was mourned as a Christian war- rior, and as one of the purest and best of men." The state of Rhode Island brought back his remains amid uni- versal demonstrations of mourning, and laid them in state in the hall of the house of representatives. His obsequies, of a very imposing character, were conducted by the state, amid every demonstration of respect on the part of the citizens. It has also placed his portrait in the Memorial Hall of Brown University at Providence, R. I. Senator Anthony, in a funeral oration, said of him : " Here lies the true type of the patriot soldier. Born and educated to peaceful pursuits, with no thirst for military distinction, with little taste or predilection for military life, he answered the earli- est call of his country, and drew his sword in her defuse. Entering the service in a subordinate capacity, he rose by merit HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 531 alone to the high rank in which he fell ; and when the fatal shot struck him, the captain of one year ago was in command of a di- vision. His rapid promotion was influenced by no solicitations of his own. He never joined the crowd that throng the avenues of preferment. Patient, laborious, courageous, wholly devoted to his duties, he filled each place so well that his advancement to the next was a matter of course, and the promotion which he did not seek sought him. " He was of the best type of the American citizen ; of thor- ough business training, of high integrity, with an abiding sense of the justice due to all, and influenced by deep religious convic- tions. In his native village he was by common consent the arbi- trator of differences, the counselor and friend of all." He was buried in the family burying-ground, at South Kings- town, on the 5th of October, 1862. He married, June 17th, 1847, Sally Lyman Arnold, daughter of Governor Lemuel H. and Sally (Lyman) Arnold. They had seven children, five of whom survive him. The Watson Family is also numerous in this town. John Watson died about 1727. His sons were Samuel, John, William, etc. John had children : Hannah, Ann, John, born 1709 ; Jef- frey, born 1712 ; Elisha, bArn 1716 ; and Amy. The children of Jeffrey were : Hannah, Jeffrey, Elisha, Marcy, Dorcas, Sarah, William and Bathsheba. The children of John last named were : John, born 1737, father of Judge John ; Hannah, Bridget, Job, Mary, Elisha, born 1748, father of Judge Elisha Watson, Esq.; Joseph William Freeman, Isabel and Walter, 1753. The chil- dren of Job Watson were : Isabel, Job, 1767 ; Robert Hazard, 1769 ; Walter, 1770 ; Borden, 1772 ; and John Jay, 1774. One branch of the family descended from Benjamin Watson, a respected citizen of that name who lived and died on McSparran hill. His children were : Oliver, Samuel, Sylvester, Wescott and Jesse. From these children descended a numerous progeny, many of whom are still residents of Washington county. Oliver Watson was the father of William Watson of Kingston Station. Oliver was born in 1760 and died in 1839. His children were : Sarah, Ann P., Benjamin, Rachel, Mary R., John K., Oliver, William, Hannah, Isabel, Elizabeth, Samuel, Harriet and Wil- liam. William Watson built his house at Kingston Station in 1857. He and his brother Oliver Watson have each been directors of the National Landholders' Bank for many years. 532 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Reverend Elisha F. Watson is a lineal descendant of John Watson, who at an early day settled on the Watson farm situ- ated on Tower Hill in South Kingstown. The latter was united in marriage to a Miss Gardner, a sister, as tradition relates, of one of the original purchasers of the Pettaquamscutt tract, and died at an advanced age, about the year 1727. The estate for five generations has remained in the family, and but recently passed into other hands. This tendency to acquire and retain landed property has been a characteristic of the Watsons, and finds an exemplification in the subject of this biography, whose estate will, as a safe and sure heritage, be transmitted to his descendants. Freeman P. Watson, the father of Elisha F., a lineal descendant of the late Judge Freeman Perry, married Phoebe, daughter of Job Watson, of Jamestown. Their children were : Job W., Elisha F., Freeman P. and a daughter, Phoebe W., wife of Stephen H. Tefft. Elisha F. was born on the 28th of March, 1814, at Boston Neck in South Kingstown, and pursued his early studies under Wil- liam H. Gaynor, an instructor of repute in those days. He pre- pared for college at Amherst, Mass., and Bristol, Penn., mean- while devoting some months to teaching, as an aid toward de- fraying the expenses attending a college course. In 1837 he entered Brown University, Providence, and was graduated from that institution in 1840. He then began the study of theology at the General Theological Seminary of the Protestant Episcopal Church, concluding the course under Reverend Doctor Francis Vinton of Newport. He was ordained to the ministry in August, 1843, and for the succeeding three years was rector of St. Paul's church, Tower Hill, and St. Matthew's church, in Jamestown. Mr. Watson was then called to Christ church at Lonsdale, in the same state, and for more than three years had charge of this parish. In 1851 he returned to South Kingstown and located upon the farm inherited by his wife from her father. In 1860 he filled a pulpit in western Massachusetts ; and in 1861, on the outbreak of the late war, joined the Army of the Potomac, as chaplain of the Eleventh Massachusetts volunteers, serving in that capacity for more than three years, with an absence of but two weeks during the entire period. He later acted as volunteer chaplain of the Seventh Rhode Island volunteers, returning to his home in the fall of 1864. Mr. Watson has as an early whig, and later repub- ^^ ^r^l-t^ ARTOTYPE, E BIERSTAOT, N. Y, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 533 lican, been much interested in the political questions of the day. The reading of " Clarkson's Abolition of the British Slave Trade " strongly impressed upon his mind the evils of the slave system, and made him an abolitionist. Hence his labors during the late war were not more directed to the preservation of the Union than the abolition of slavery. In 1834 he became a mem- ber of the first temperance society organized in South Kings- town, and is both in theory and practice a strong advocate of temperance, having for his motto: " From the cradle to the coffin, in principle and practice a temperance man." He fills the position of superintendent of schools for South Kingstown, but has sought no other office. Mr. Watson was married June 6th, 1843, to Mary, daughter of the late John B. Dockray of Wakefield. Their only child, a son Arthur H., is a resident of Providence. Mr. Watson received the degree of A. M. from Brown University in 1843. The Perry Family, of South Kingstown, are descendants of Edward Perry of Sandwich, Mass. Edward Perry came from Devonshire, England. He had two sons — Samuel and Benjamin, who came to South Kingstown and settled at Perryville. From them sprang all the Perrys in Washington county. In parental line the successors of Samuel Perry' were : James', James", John*, John R.°, John G.', who is the father of Doctor John E. Perry and Howard B. Perry (town clerk), both of Wakefield ; Millard F. Perry, cashier of the Kingston Bank, and also of Mrs. Hattie E. Thomas of Wickford. John G. Perry", above named, is prominent in both county and state. He was town clerk of South Kingstown for nineteen years, and state treasurer in 1887. Benjamin Perry, together with his brother, Samuel, purchased a thousand acres or more of land covering the present site and vicinity of the village of Perryville. Benjamin was the ancestor of the two commodores, Matthew C. and Oliver H. Perry. Christopher Raymond Perry, the father of these two distin- guished men, was a seafaring man. He was united in marriage to Miss Alexander, an estimable lady. Oliver H. Perry, whose brilliant achievement on Lake Erie has preserved his name imperishable, was born in South Kings- town, August 23d, 1785. Young Oliver received a liberal educa- tion, and was an apt scholar. He early imbibed a strong desire for the naval profession, and was admitted midshipman on board 534 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of tlie " General Greene " in April, 1799, when but fourteen years of age, and set sail for the West Indies. His most brilliant exploit was that of the naval combat and victory on Lake Erie. He was attacked with yellow fever while on an expedition to South America, and died Augnst 23d, 1819, in the thirty-fourth year of his age. Commodore Matthew C. Perry, his brother, was born in New- port in 1794. His greatest exploit was the celebrated Japan ex- pedition, which he commanded in 1852, in which he conquered a powerful empire. He died in 1858. The Brown Family emigrated from Glasgow, Scotland, and settled in South Kingstown. Governor George Brown was a son of Robert and grandson of William Brown. April 24th, 1768, he married Hannah, granddaughter of Governor William Robinson. Mr. Brown occupied for many years the position of representa- tive in the general assembly. He was associate justice of the supreme court from May, 1796, to June. 1799. In 1799 he suc- ceeded Samuel J. Potter as lieutenant governor of the state, and held the position until 1800. In 1800 Governor Potter was again elected. Governor Brown was a courteous and amiable gentle- man, a communicant of the Episcopal church, and sustained an irreproachable character through life. He died January 20th, 1836, in the ninety-first year of his age, and was buried in the church yard at Tower Hill. The Gardner Family. — William Gardner, of Boston Neck, died December 14th, 1732, in the sixty-first year of his age. He was the eldest son of Benoni, and grandson of Joseph Gardner, an emigrant from England and one of the first settlers of Narra- gansett. William Gardner's first wife was Abigail Remington. They left seven children: John, William, Thomas, Sylvester, Abigail, Hannah and Lydia. Sylvester Gardner, the fourth son of William, was born in South Kingstown, at the family mansion on the farm next south of the Ferry estate, in 1717. Mr. Gardner, upon the advice of his son-in-law. Doctor McSparran, who mar- ried his daughter Abigail, decided to educate him for some pro- fessional pursuit, inasmuch as he was physically incapacitated for farm labor. Doctor McSparran took charge of his education and placed him in Boston to complete his primary studies, and sub- quently directed his education to the study of medicine. He was then sent to England and France, where he enjoyed the best advantages for eight years, and returned to Boston an accom- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 535 plished physician and surgeon, being among the most distin- guished of his profession in the day in which he lived. John Gardner, the son of William Gardner, was a resident of Boston Neck. He was married twice. His first wife was Mary Hill, and by her he had children : Anstis, the wife of Row- land Robinson and the mother of the unfortunate Hannah ; Thomas and Amos. His second wife was Mary Taylor, the neice of Hon. Francis Willet. Their children were ; John, who mar- ried Sarah Gardner ; Benjamin, Abigail, who married Lodowick Updike ; Mary and Sarah, both of whom died young ; Lydia, who married Robert Champlin, brother of George and Christopher Champlin. Mr. John Gardner died July 7th, 1770, on Saturday, and" on Sunday was buried in the churchyard of St. Paul's. Sarah Gard- ner, above mentioned, was the eldest daughter of Captain Sam- uel Gardner. Colonel John Gardner was an accomplished gentleman of the old school, and of popular manners. He rose into favor, and was a whig in the revolution. He was elected to the general assem- bly from South Kingstown for the years 1786-7 by the paper money party. In 1788 and 1789 he was elected by the popular vote of the state a delegate to the confederated congress, but did not take his seat in that body. Colonel Gardner inherited the patrimonial estate, the farm next south of the South Kingstown ferry, containing five hundred acres, reputed to be the most fer- tile tract in Narragansett. He died in October, 1808, aged 61. His son Robert was some years United States consul in Sweden. John Case owned the Quaker Hill farm and wood lot in Nar- ragansett, at Tower Hill. He died July 29th, 1770, and gave this farm, his homestead, to the use of his wife as long as she lived, and after her decease, in trust for the use of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, the rents, issue and profits to be applied toward the support of an Episcopal bishop of the Church of England when it should please God to send one to preside over the Episcopal church of North America, whose diocese should comprehend the Narragansett district. Prior to that time the profits of the farm should go toward supporting the poor belonging to the Church of England. He also be- queathed $500 for building a church on the lot given Doctor Mc- Sparran ; $150 for a church in North Kingstown ; $50 for a school 536 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. house on Tower Hill ; and $350 in trust, the interest to be ap- plied to educate poor children in the school house at Tower Hill. Captain Benjamin R. C. Wilson, the king of whalemen and prince of the sea, was born in South Kingstown May 25th, 1805. At the age of five years he was placed at school, under the in- struction of Robert F. Noyes, who was succeeded by William Nichols. At the age of eighteen he sailed from New Bedford on a whaling voyage to the South Pacific ocean. On this voyage he studied navigation and kept the ship's reckoning. He performed his next voyage in the capacity of a boat steerer, and his third voyage as chief mate, and in that capacity he sailed around Cape Horn. He next took charge of a ship and went upon the coast of Brazil, and in ten months and seven days returned with a full cargo. His share amounted to eighteen hundred dollars. He sailed the second time around Cape Horn, and afterward around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian ocean. He afterward, in company with EUet L. Perkins, run the Cory Hotel, in New Bed- ford. His life was one of adventure, and it reads like romance. He died August 22d, 1869, aged 64 years, and was buried in the Presbyterian grounds at Tower Hill. The Sweet Family. — The family of Sweets, bone-setters, have made quite a history in the south county, although they are not recognized by the regular profession in the same way Updike, Hazard and other writers have done. These authors accord to this family the wonderful gift of being natural healers of human infirmities, and the cures they have performed, the dislocated joints and bones set to right, where physicians counseled ampu- tation as the only remedy for saving life ; and also the remarka- ble faculty possessed of compounding liniments and washes, and various concoctions made from the roots and barks of trees, etc., etc., and the different and marvelous cures cited in proof thereof, entitle them to professional respect. Updike says, " that James Sweet, the father of Benoni, emi- grated from Wales to this country and purchased an estate at the foot of Ridge Hill, so-called, in North Kingstown, the same in which the late William Congdon, Esquire, lived and died. Beno- ni had been a captain in the British service, was well informed and of polished manners. He was a natural bone-setter, and progenitor of the race in Rhode Island. He was styled Doctor Sweet, but he practiced in restoring dislocations only. He was a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 537 regular communicant of the church and officiated as a vestryman until his death. 'July 19th, 1751,' says the record, 'died Captain ' Benoni Sweet, of North Kingstown in the ninetieth year of his age.' " Job, one of the family, obtained an eminent and wide-spread reputation as a natural bone-setter. During the revolution he was called to Newport to set the dislocated bones of some of the French officers, an operation which their army surgeons were un- able to perform. After the revolutionary war Colonel Burr, af- terward vice-president of the Uiiited States, invited him to New York to restore the dislocated hip bone of his daughter Theodo^ sia, afterward Mrs. Allston. In this operation, which had pre- viously baffled the skill of the city surgeons, Doctor Sweet was successful. The fear of taking the small pox deterred him from accepting Colonel Burr's invitation when first applied to ; but this difficulty having been obviated, he embarked in a Newport packet. Doctor Sweet used to narrate the venture in this wise : ' That when he arrived Colonel Burr's coach was in waiting at the wharf for his reception. Having never rode in a coach he objected to being transported in a vehicle that was shut up. He was fearful of some trick, and further he did not like to ride in a thing over which he had no control, but fearing the small pox, he was induced to enter it. He said he was never whirled about so in his life ; at last he was ushered into the most splendid mansion that he ever saw. The girl was alarmed at his appear- ance when he was invited into her chamber. The family sur- geon was soon introduced, and he proposed that the operation should be performed the succeeding day, and ten o'clock was agreed to, when other surgeons would attend. But the doctor meant to avoid their presence if he could; he did not fancy learned men. In the evening he solicited an interview with his patient ; talked with her familiarly, dissipated her fears, asked permission in the presence of her father just to let the old man put his hand upon her hip. She consenting, he in a few minutes set the bone ; he then said, now walk about the room, which to her own and her father's surprise, she was readily able to do.' " Though totally unlearned in surgery. Doctor Job Sweet seldom if ever failed in his bone-setting operations. Mr. Hazard, in his " Recollections of Olden Times," thus speaks of him : " Among many characteristic anecdotes of Job Sweet, it is told that a skeptical young sprig of science, falsely so-called, once sent for 538 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the doctor to set liis dislocated elbow. The old man went and found his patient apparently in great pain, with his bandaged arm in a sling. He scarcely touched the limb before he discov- the trick and left. He was, however, overtaken on his way home by a messenger, who implored him to return and restore the young man's elbow, which had been really dislocated by the touch of the Doctor's hand as a punishment for deceit. " On another occasion it is said he was shown through an anatomical hall in Boston by a city doctor. In glancing at a human specimen as they passed along, the old man remarked that there was a little bone put in wrong side up in the foot of the one before him. This was for a time controverted by his learned friend, but he was eventually forced to admit the cor- rectness of the natural bone-setter's assertion, after permitting him to change the position of the bone in question." Benoni, son of Job, born in October, 1762, removed to Leba- non, Conn., where, until his death, he was very celebrated as a natural bone-setter. Doctor Job Sweet early in life moved to South Kingstown and settled near Sugar Loaf Hill, where his descendants have contin- tied to practice since his time. Jonathan, another son of Job, born September 6th, 1765, set- tled at Sugar Loaf Hill, near Wakefield, where he continued to reside until his death, about the year 1820. Gideon, an elder brother, used occasionally to set bones when Jonathan was out of the way, but on no other occasions. Job Sweet finally removed to Boston, and his brother William, born October 28th, 1802, of Sugar Loaf Hill, commenced bon€- setting, but in accordance with the usages of the family, whereby only one of its members habitually practices in a neighborhood at the same time, he gave way to his brother John, son of Gid- eon, who had relinquished farming that he might devote his whole time to the business of bone-setting. After a time John removed to New Bedford, and William resumed bone-setting in South Kingstown. Of his children Job, the eldest son, a skillful bone-setter, practiced in New Bedford, and George, the younger son, practices the profession in Wakefield. William N. Sweet, another son of William, lives with Job, but practices principally in Boston and elsewhere. Jonathan, another son, lives in Prov- dence. Thomas, another son, practiced in Providence for ten years, until his death, in 1867. Edward, youngest son of Wil- liam, lives at the homestcnd. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 539 Mr. Hazard, in his " Recollections of Olden Times," thus speaks of Jonathan Sweet : " I well knew the blacksmith Jonathan Sweet, of Sugar Loaf Hill, a son of Job, who seldom left home but on extraordinary occasions, and who, when patients were brought to him whose cases had perhaps in some instances baffled the skill of the most renowned doctors, was wont to ask the customer whose horse was left only partly shod, to excuse him a few min- utes whilst he put the stranger to rights. Having done this, he would charge his patient a pistareen or quarter for the loss of time incurred by the interruption, and return to finish his more im- portant job of shoeing the horse." Many and miraculous almost have been the operations per- formed by the Sweets in their natural calling of bone-setting. Doctor William Sweet probably attended thousands of cases, yet he never had a patient die on his hands. It would be impossible to give in a short sketch like this anything of a detailed account of the most difiicult ones. A case in point will suffice for the many that might be told. William Whitney went over a drum in Dutee Hall's mill in Exeter. One arm was broken, both badly damaged, both thighs broken, and both legs below the knees broken short off. " Two doctors got there before me, and had just finished sawing off one arm. I fixed up Avhat was left of him in about .six hours, and could just as well have saved his arm." This young man got well, but had to peddle for a living owing to the loss of his arm. The Sweet family were indeed nat- ural healers. Anecdotes, — In " Recollections of Olden Times " we find the following amusing incident: "William T. Robinson, son of Thomas, and father of Mrs. Mary Hunter, used to relate an amusing anecdote of one of the early Robinsons who, it appears, had joined the Quaker meeting. Governor Brenton had placed him on a farm belonging to him, situated on the south end of the island adjacent to Brenton 's Point, and stocked it largely with sheep. In a violent snow storm, such as used to prevail more frequently than of late in New England — though I have known several in my day perhaps equally as destructive — these sheep having been left in an exposed position, were driven by the in- clement tempest of wind and sleet off the rocks into the sea, where they perished. When Robinson communicated the loss of the sheep to Brenton, the governor being a man of hasty temper, as most of the early settlers of Newport and Kings — now Washing- 540 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ton — counties in Rhode Island seem to have been, he flew into a towering rage with his tenant, and reproached him in unmeas- ured terms for the loss of the sheep, through, as he charged, gross neglect. To all the abuse heaped upon him Robinson an- swered not a word, which submissiveness seemed only to increase Brenton's ire, who at last in his frenzy declared that Robinson should pay for the lost sheep, and bid him choose a man to arbi- trate their value, while he chose another, which Brenton did on his part instanter. It was now Robinson's turn to choose his man. ' Friend Brenton,' said he, ' I know of no one whom I should prefer to trust my interest with than thou. I think I will choose thee for my man.' This was too much for the governor, and he burst into a fit of laughter, told his unmanageable tenant to go back to the farm and he would trust one more flock of sheep to his care." The extent of Governor Robinson's farming operations may be guessed at from the statement made by one of his daughters, who used to say " that after her father had given several large tracts of land to his sons, including the Governor Sprague, Little Neck and Narragansett Pier estates, he used to congratulate him- self upon having his parlor and kitchen family reduced in the winter season to seventy persons, all told." Mr. Sewal owned all the land in Point Judith lying south of Governor Robinson's estate, now constituting a half dozen farms. The Champlins, Potters, Noyes, Babcocks, Gardners, Perrys, Browns, Niles, Brentons and others were also large land owners. " Rowland Robinson," says Mr. Hazard, "was a fair specimen in temper and manners, and a perfect beau ideal in costume, presence and person of the old-time country gentlemen who con- stituted the semi-feudal aristocracy of Narragansett. In person he was portly, tall and erect. His features were Roman, slightly tempered with the Grecian type. His clear, blonde complexion inclining to red, and undulating brown hair worn in a cue behind attested his Saxon descent. When in full dress Mr. Robinson generally wore a dark silk velvet or brown broadcloth coat, light yellow plush waistcoat, with deep pockets and wide flaps rest- ing partly on the hips, short violet colored velvet breeches, buckled at the knee, nicely polished white top boots or silver buckled shoes, fine cambric shirt profusely ruffled and plaited at the bosom and wrists, with white silk neck tie to match ; the whole surmounted and set off by a looped-up triangular hat on his head, and a stout gold-headed cane in his hand. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 541 " I have heard it said by persons acquainted with Revolution- ary data that such was tlie admiration inspired by the fine ap- pearance and courtly bearing of Rowland Robinson, though then far beyond the prime of manhood, who occasionally came to his brother Thomas Robinson's house, in Newport, where Count Rochambeau, commander of the French land forces, resided for a time as a guest, that many of the court officers sought intro- ductory letters to Mr. Robinson, that they might obtain access to and share in the hospitalities of his home in Narragansett. To what extent Mr. Robinson's beautiful and accomplished daughter might have contributed as a further element of attraction, had they seen her when in the zenith of her glory, to the proverbially gallant and light-o-love Frenchman, can only be surmised. I do, however, know that a fair cousin of Hannah's, Mary by name, was sent to Narragansett and placed by her parents in the care of her uncle and aunt (my grand-parents), that the lovely maiden might be removed from the society of the numerous young French officers, one of whom, under the cloak of calling at her father's house to see his general. Count Rochambeau, had nearly succeeded, through his blandishments, in persuading the little Quaker beauty to exchange her drab bonnet for a Parisian hat and become his bride before the alarming plot was discovered and its further denouement arrested by keeping the lovers separated until his most Christian majesty's land forces took their final de- parture from Newport." The homestead house of Thomas B. Hazard, called " Nailor Tom," stood two or three furlongs east of the old Jeremy Niles house, on a pleasant rising ground a little to the east of the Saugatucket river, where it is lost in the Wakefield mill pond ; and his blacksmith shop stood on a little, abrupt knoll on the west side of where the road between Peace Dale and Wakefield now runs, nearly opposite the remains of an old mill dam, the first that was built in Narragansett. Nailor Tom's house was said to have been one of the first six houses that were built between Franklin Ferry and the Pawcatucket river. It was here, tra- dition says, that the crews of pirate vessels used to resort in olden times, when the coast was sparsely settled, and of course it has been said Captain Kidd buried a treasure box here. Thomas R. Hazard, in speaking of Nailor Tom, says : " Thomas B. Hazard was a most remarkable man. His fund of anecdote and old time 542 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. historical and biographical knowledge seemed inexhaustible. During most of a long life he kept a daily record of passing local events, which was so often brought into court as evidence that the ' Blue Book,.' as it was popularly called, was at length ruled out of court on the alleged ground that its endless memoranda of dates and corresponding events, when sworn to by Nailor Tom, tended to unsettle not only the titles of real estate, but, through litigation, the peace of the community. I learn that the Blue Book is now in the Redwood Library. I think it might more properly be deposited with the Rhode Island Historical Society. Thomas B. Hazard died in 1845, aged ninety years." The Brown FA^^Lv. — From J. A. Brown, West Kingston, we learn the following concerning the Brown family. He says : " My father's great-grandfather, John Brown, died January 2d, 1764, aged 68 years. He lived near the Great Swamp. His son, Robert Brown, died August 2d, 1794, 60 years of age. His widow, Elizabeth Cook Brown, died November 27th, 1815, 72 years old. His son, my grandfather, John Brown, died at the age of 72 years, and my grandmother, Rebecca Clarke Brown, died April 5th, 1841, 74 years old. Captain Silas Brown, for many years town clerk, was the son of Robert and Elizabeth Brown. John Brown, son of John and Rebecca, died February 6th, 1880, in his 85th year, and his wife, Abby Adams Brown, died April 27th, 1877, in her 77th year. They had six children : Elizabeth Cook, Albert, Edwin, Abby, John F. and Joseph A. The children of Silas Brown and his wife, Frances Brown, were : Robert, Peleg, James, Henry and Elizabeth." Deacon William Browning was a settler of South Kings- town and lived near Burnside, owning the farm and house now occupied by George W. Browning, his grandson. His house was frequently used for religious gatherings as meeting houses in those days were few in number. This farm was deeded to him by his father and descended to his son George H. Browning, who was born on the place, lived there until eighty-two years of age, when he died in 1885. The children of William Browning were : William T., whose daughter became the wife of William F. Segar ; Stanton, who at one time operated a mill here ; Abial Tripp and George H., who remained on the homestead. George H. Browning married Eliza W. Browning, his cousin, who was the daughter of Stephen Browning, who lived where Stephen W. Browning now lives. George H. Browning was a farmer and was a deacon of the Baptist church for forty years. His son, George W. Browning, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 543 lives on the homestead. He was a member of the town council 1870-71, 1881-82, 1884-87. By his first wife, Elizabeth N. Cran- dall, he had two children : Mrs. Edwin S. Agard of Tolland, Conn., and Frederick D. Browning, a graduate of Columbia College. He married for his second wife Miss Waity E. Tefft. Miss Esther Bernon Carpenter, of Wakefield, is a name now frequently mentioned by the people of South Kingstown and by the reading public generally. She is the daughter of Reverend James H. and Mary Hazard Carpenter, and is known in literary circles by her frequent contributions to first-class magazines and other publications. Her father at one time was rector of the Church of the Ascension, Wakefield, and her mother was the daughter of Doctor George Hazard, so well known to the people of Wash- ington county, both of whom reflect credit upon the parental training of their daughter, now recognized as a skillful writer. Miss Carpenter began writing prose and verse contributions for the Providence Journal va. the year 1872, and still corresponds for the Sunday edition of that paper. She also contributed some verses to Longfellow's Collection of Poems of Places, also to the Poets' Tribute to Garfield, published by Moses King, Cam- bridge, Mass. She assisted Doctor Greene in part on the History of East Greenwich, and in 1885 she read a paper before the Rhode Island Historical Society on the Huguenots and their Influence on Rhode Island, which paper has been published by the society. Miss Carpenter is also the author of " South County Neighbors," published by Roberts & Brothers, Boston, 1887, a work which is having a good sale at the present time. Jeffery W. Potter, the author and poet, and inventor, was born in Perryville, South Kingstown, R. I., August 12th, 1849, and was the eldest son of Rouse and Dorcas G. Potter. His edu- cation was wholly obtained at the district school, and after more mature years he was employed as a farm hand until after the death of his parents, when he purchased their estate and has since lived there alone. Mr. Potter read law in his youth, but his poetic talent was beginning to show more plainly upon the front. Some of his larger works consisted of epic poems ; first, a volume in manuscript on the "Discovery of America," "The American Revolution," and several volumes of smaller articles. His attention is now engaged upon the battles of the great Re- bellion,which will consist of many volumes of poetry if completed. The following short sketches are from the pen of Mr. Potter, and will be of interest to our readers : 544 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " The Great Spring at Perryvillc and the Hannah Hazard Spring. — The great spring at Perry ville is without doubt the grandest of all springs within the county of Washington and perhaps the state. There never has been any local pride concerning this remark- able source of water more than that some women have acquired their scouring sand, when such was fashionable, from the brink of this spring, but to stand and look at its boilings and heavings is truly wonderful. It is at times almost calm, and then an upheav- ing of white sand as large as a cart wheel, and the rolling forth of water as if something was struggling to raise up and then 'twill cease from its spasm for a minute only to repeat. A stream of some ten or twelve feet wide flows from it a few inches deep con- tinually, but the leaves and brush fall into it as they die, which keeps part of its outward surface hidden. There seems to be many little springs bubbling up around this great one, and we might term them a nest of springs. An old Indian wigwam ruin stands near by upon the hill and the writer has christened it King Phillip's spring, for undoubtedly King Phillip, while journeying upon the Pequot Path, afterward the Queen's highway leading from Boston to New York (for it was established by Queen Anne in 1702), to visit members of the Narragansett tribe here, undoubtedly drank water from this spring. It lies about one hundred rods south of this old famous route or Indian trail, now the post road leading from Westerly to Newport. " Hannah's Spring, so called, lies about one hundred rods north of the old post road. It came into existence through the effects of a dream by an old Negro lady. She said she dreamed if she dug a few rods north of her house under a certain oak tree she would find water, and she rose the next morning and went with a hoe and dug, and water came forth which she called her ' clay hole ' ; but some of her family dug deeper afterward, and it dried away in the summer, and she said that other hands touched it which caused it to dry. It was more remarkable for all the sur- roundings are very dry and sterile. The Dead Mans Spring, some one hundred rods southeast of the old log tavern, has become choked up by leaves and brush, and but little water escapes from it. The Congdon Mill Pond was raised which flows back upon it by times. It became noted an- ciently by the finding of a dead man beside its brink, an un- known traveler upon this old ancient thoroughfare before spoken of. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 545 " The Great Chimney House, anciently called, was the house that George Fox preached in about the years 1680-82. It stands to- day in a gpod state of repair. This house was of course among those that were first built in the Rhode Island colony, and was also built by one of the seven purchasers that settled the southwestern part of South Kingstown. Traditional reminiscence states that it was built by the Hull purchaser, for it stands upon where the latter generations can remember of the Hull family living. It stands across the road and south of the old Quaker meeting house at' Perry ville. " The Log Tavern, that has long gone to decay, is two miles be- yond and exactly half way between Westerly and the Narragan- sett Ferry. It is supposed that Benjamin Franklin has lodged many times in this house on his journeys in earlier life. " The Great Eclipse of June 16th, 1806. — There, perhaps, can be no better evidence furnished of the great eclipse of June 16th, 1806, than from a witness who sat and saw the wonderful phe- nomenon of nature. At that period literature was scarce, and the farming and laboring classes were in fact ignorant of the eclipse that was to be visible. But at ten o'clock, as the farmers were working in the field, the sun was becoming obscured and darkness was fast approaching ; so much so that labor was aban- doned, and the father of the author of this sketch sat upon a fence some two hours until it was light enough to resume labor. He said that stars were almost as visible as a bright moon shiney night, and that the roosters crew at the advance of light. " The old Quaker Meeting House at Perryville. — In producing a sketch of this, one of the most ancient of meeting houses in America, we are led back in thought to a period almost a century before our national existence began. If we should speak of the events that have passed since the erection of this building we might quote all of the principal head lights of science and of national importance that have transpired toward the wonderful advance of our present Christian civilization. Its existence had its origin in those days when George Fox preached to the colon- ists, in about 1680, and soon after that his converts to that Chris- tian faith erected this most endurable structure for a place to worship. It stands a few rods north of the old post road, beyond the brow of a little hill overlooking the wilderness and the ocean below. But this year of 1888 a committee of men pur- porting themselves to belong unto the Quaker faith, has ordered 35 646 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. it torn down, evidently for the purpose to take the legacy left by the will of Amy Knowles, for more favored churches. The tim- ber and sills were comparatively in a good state of preservation. James Perry, senior, was instrumental in its building, and also gave three acres of land for a free burial lot upon which this building stands. He died about 1700. ''Tlie T%vo Colored Giants, George Gamby and Sharper Booth. — Giv- ing the public a sketch of the lives of these two most powerful men will be something that no writer has yet ventured to do, with the exception of an allusion once made by the present writer upon the strength of the former giant. It appears that George Gamby was the son of a thorough blooded African that always went by the name of ' Gamby,' and was famous for his great story telling of what wonderful things there were in Africa. He also said that he was the son of a king. He was short of stature, but strongly built. He married a large woman, from whom George must have inherited his strength. George was born one mile north of Perryville post office, and with his parents and brother Andrew, much smaller than he, was considered the property of Judge Samuel Perry, but soon, however, the Rhode Island slave system was abolished. George's wonderful strength was becoming evident, for he managed everything that he under- took, and wherever he went to work years afterward stories are told of his athletic exploits. He would turn over, for the amuse- ment of a crowd, a cart with nearly a cord of green wood, hold out large oxens' hind feet to be shod, throw anvils over his head and many other great feats of strength. He went away in a vessel to the south, and was never heard of afterward. He was of stature some over six feet, broad shoulders, and not given to corpulence, and never married. " Sharper Booth purported himself from Newport, his youth devoted to the work of a coachman, but he became so strong and heavy that his labors in that direction were discontinued, and he drifted over to the Narragansett country, and finally he married and settled in the northern sections of Perryville. He was em- ployed much by Judge Samuel Perry. He was larger round than George Gamby, but not so tall. It was said that he took a cannon from a boat somewhere that weighed 1900 pounds, and carried it over the bank. His wife died, and I think that he died upon charity. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 547 " The Dark Day of June 3d, 1769. — This remarkable phenome- non that appeared in the closing days of our colonial history, gave birth to many vague and ominous ideas concerning its im- portance, and more especially the unlearnt, that it was something which astronomers could not account for. Such, however, was the testimony of those that I have had the privilege to converse with upon the subject many years ago. Ruhamah Melborne, an Indian lady, out selling baskets, with her son, called at our house and told her name, and said that she was 105 years old, and that she could remember well the 'dark day,' and' told much of its appearance, and that many of the colonists supposed that the end of all things was at hand. Her child that was with her she said was the youngest living, being then over 80 years of age. So little has been written concerning this day or that I have seen, it has in my belief rested as a phenomenon with many. How- ever, a search among a pack of very ancient almanacs that I possess has cleared up in my mind all the presages of evil that those olden people thought it predicted, for I find the following paragraph relating to this day : " On the third day of June will happen a most rare phenome- non which it is probable not any now living will have another opportunity of beholding, for it will not happen again till the 8th of December, 1874 ; for an accurate observation of which most civilized nations have ordered their astronomers to prepare, at the expense of the public, some impoitant principles in astron- omy being thereby to be settled. " The passage of Venus over the disk or face of the sun on the third day of June, 1769, is as follows : It began at 2 o'clock and was off at 8.30. It is supposed of course that the record of foreign observations has secured this wonder in astronomy." Suicide. — A painful suicide occurred at Kingston on Tuesday morning, December 5th, 1882. The victim was Mr. John F. Adams, proprietor of a harness shop in Kingston. No suspicion was excited until the afternoon, when a letter was found in his coat pocket directed to his brother, Mr. Samuel ;;Adams. The letter was in detached, mysterious sentences, to the effect that it was best he should do this ; that it would have been bet- ter had he done this last October ; that he hoped his brother would give good advice to the children, and that he would like to write more, but there was no time. A search was immediately instituted, but darkness coming on, it was abandoned till Wednes- 548 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. day morning, when a large number of citizens turned out, de- termined to sift the mystery to the bottom. Early in the fore- noon George Briggs found Mr. Adams leaning against a tree, with his head down on his chest, looking so lifelike that he was at first on the point of speaking to him, but in a moment discov- ered he was hanging by a small cord tied around his neck. The cord had been thrown over a small limb, one end tied to a sap- ling, and the other, in the form of a slip-noose, was around the victim's neck. He had probably stood on a stump while adjust- ing the cord, and then stepped off, his feet touching the ground, yet allowing the fatal work to be accomplished. Mr. Adams was fifty-three years of age, and left a family of five daughters and one son, all married but one daughter. He was an excellent workman, was very popular in the village, and no satisfactory causes have been shown why he accomplished the melancholy deed. Schools. — The town of South Kingstown has now twenty-two school districts. In an early day this territory was lorded over by slave owners, who owned large tracts of land, and as wealthy proprietors, having a life of leisure, large libraries and social in- tercourse among themselves, and their own private schools, found no time to devote to the subject of maintaining public schools. The general assembly, in February, 1800, enacted a law, however, " That each and every town in the state shall annually cause to be established and kept at the expense of such town, one or more free schools." By a further enactment, also, the town of South Kingstown was required to keep " so many free schools for such a term of tunc as shall be equivalent to keeping three such schools eight months each." Thus encouraged, the friends of education had in the year 1828, " One academy in which a school was kept the year round, and seven school houses in which schools were kept winter and summer." There were at that time also a number of schools kept irregularly in private houses. The inhabitants of the town that year numbered 3,723. The town also received that year the al- lowance made by the late enactment of the state, of $10,000, to be proportionately distributed, which gave to South Kingstown the sum of $336.74. In 1839 the whole amount spent in the state for public schools was $35,354.86, and South Kingstown spent $1,154.38. In 1839 the aggregate number of pupils in the town was 645. The census reports of 1885 show that there were 369 males HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 549 and 389 females in the town between the ages of 7 and 14 years, and that the public school tax was $3,847.42. The school officers for the year 1887 were as follows : School Committee : J. G. Clarke, chairman ; H. N. Knowles, clerk ; George G. Pearse, Charles H. Knowles, R. G. Hazard, 2d, A. W. Brown, J. G.Perry. Superintendent of Public Schools, Arthur W. Brown. Trustees of the South Kingstown High School : John G. Clarke, John A. Brown, Benjamin F. Robinson, Rowland Hazard, Daniel Wha- ley. Special constable under Chapter 641 of Public Laws, for the Enforcement of the Truant Law, John P. Case. Town Farm. — The town of South Kingstown has made ample provision for the poor. In 1865 sixty-two and a half acres of land were purchased of Thurston Robinson for a town farm. Elijah Watson and others planned a building that was afterward erected by Albert Gardiner, and which has since been used as a home for those financially unfortunate. The average number of the inmates of this institution is twenty-six. It started with fif- teen, and the number has run as high as thirty-five. There are now but eighteen persons in the building. Five of these are ne- groes, two are idiotic, and one is utterly helpless. Job Briggs was the first superintendent. Mr. William E. Sheldon, the pres- ent efficient superintendent, took charge March 17th, 1871. Tower Hill. — The hamlet of Tower Hill is situated upon the summit of a lofty hill in South Kingstown and overlooks the waters of Narragansett bay, the Atlantic ocean and Long Island sound, and presents an extensive view of the adjacent landscape. The first individuals who settled there were of English extrac- tion, and they thought proper to name it after a celebrated place in England where Lady Jane Gray was decapitated. The first house erected at this place was built by Samuel Wilson, from whom have since descended seven generations, .some of which reside there yet and own the original homestead. This man was grandfather of J. Wilson's grandfather and was one of the seven Pettaquamscutt purchasers. The house was forty-two by fifty-six feet, two stories high, with a roof of one-third altitude. It was taken down in 1823. " About one hundred and seventy-five years ago," says James Wilson in the Narragansett Times, from which we have freely copied, " wealthy families located themselves on Tower Hill and built gambrel roofed houses, and as their proportions somewhat resembled the present Mansard roof, we have every reason to 550 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. believe that the style was of French origin. Those first settlers represented four different nationalities. The Torreys, Browns, Wilsons, Dyers, Watsons, Balls, Hulls, Cases, Smiths, Nileses, Bosses and Mumfords were Englishmen'; the Helmses and Nicholses were Frenchmen ; the Pollocks and Douglasses were of Scotch and Irish extraction. Several other wealthy individuals built houses of the same style in different parts of the town, among which was that of Rowland Robinson about a mile distant from South Ferry. The floor boards of this house were glued together and laid down as one piece, no nails except around the edging, and they were concealed from view by the wain- scotting." All of the above named parties spared no pains to render their houses convenient and attractive. From the incorporation of Kings county June 16th, 1729, until the court was removed to Little Rest (Kingston Hill) Tower Hill was the principal village of the county. Judge James Helme, at one time chief justice of the supreme court, was married to Esther Powell October 19th, 1738, and immediately took up his residence there, and for a number of years kept a large retail dry goods store. The court house stood on the west end of Helme's lot and the jail directly across the way on the Brown estate. Rowland Brown and his brother established a hotel and a dry goods and grocery store. Their house stood on the west side of the post road nearly opposite the Presbyterian meeting house, which was in close proximity to Helme's burying ground. The Browns continued in business for many years and finally became wealthy. As they were affable and polite gentlemen their establishment was well patronized. The hotel was a large building with numerous out houses, and it had quite a picturesque appearance. " It had a quadrangular front yard enclosed with an ornamental fence and arched gateway. The enclosure was paved with grey stone, except two diamond shaped spaces which were white. On the outside a pavement six feet wide, surrounded the enclosure. A great variety of ornamental shrubs, with trail- ing vines had a vigorous growth within the enclosure, besides there were six large poplar trees seventy feet high, which gave the whole establishment a delightful appearance. As there were no carriages in those days except a few old fashioned chaises, which were purchased in England at a cost of three or four hun- dred dollars apiece, most of the travel was performed on horse- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 551 back, consequently stone horse blocks were very common. There -was one of those horse blocks a few feet north of the hotel about eight feet long, five feet wide and four feet high, with steps, and the hitching post was a whale's rib-bone ten feet in length, im- bedded in the ground, which remained undisturbed till 1830. " The post road from Boston to Philadelphia passed directly through the village, and the inn-keepers entertained many dis- tinguished individuals. It was positively asserted by many of the residents that Doctor Franklin in his peregrinations about the country, frequently passed a day or two at Brown's hotel. There were formerly several other houses of entertainment, and quite a number of grocery stores. Besides these there were tailor shops. Holly Chappell followed tailoring in a part of the Robert Brown house, and Fanning Adams' tailor shop was direct- ly opposite, across the road. " On the brow of the hill on the south side of the road stood the Case house. Nathan Gardner kept a tavern there for many years. The father of Christopher Raymond Perry, father of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, lived there for several years whilst he was engaged in nautical pursuits, and only visited them occasionally. The Perry family and Browns were very intimate. John Hull, one of the seven purchasers, built a large gambrel- roofed house upon a lot of land a few rods west of the court house, and his grandson Joseph Hull followed farming and black- smithing. He also kept a house of entertainment there for sev- eral years. A few rods further west Andrew Nichols built a large two-story house, and kept a dry goods and grocery store until he moved upon his farm, which subsequently belonged to Mr. John Sweet. A few rods further, on a portion of the Presbyterian burying ground lot, stands the small ganibrel-roofed house of William Nichols, which now belongs to the heirs of Edward Oat- ley. The next in order comes the Presbyterian meeting house, which stood on the corner lot and fronted west, close beside the Helme burying ground. The underpinning stones and sills re- mained in their places until the year 1810. The school house stood a few rods further south on the same lot, and the Petta- quamscutt school was kept there until 1817, when it was removed to Little Rest. A few rods further south John Nichols built a large gambrel-roofed house, and was engaged in the tailoring business there for several years. The house now belongs to Mr. Benjamin F. Hull. Across the road was the house of Robert 552 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Brown. It was a two-story building and was occupied by Row- land Brown, Jr., who was engaged in farming and in the grocery business, which he continued to the year 1815. " William Dyer built a large dwelling house on what is now called the Dyer farm ; a part of the house is still standing. He followed farming and was wealthy. Adjoining the Dyer farm on the south was the Bull farm, upon which formerly stood a large two-story house built by Henry Bull, which John J. Wat- son took down in 1811. The Bull farm was considered the best dairy farm in Narragansett. When Staunton Tucker improved the Dyer farm he made butter enough to pay the rent. A few rods south of the Bull house on the opposite side of the road stood the dwelling house of William W. Pollock, who kept a house of entertainment. He also followed carpentering and blacksmithing. About a quarter of a mile from the Pollock house in a northerly direction is Wilson's Corner. Samuel Wil- son, who was one of the seven purchasers, erected there a large house, soon after the Pettaquamscutt purchase, which took place in the year 1767, and which after various repairs, new sillings, etc., stood until 1823. There were also a carpenter shop and a blacksmith shop on the premises. Half a mile from this corner in a northeasterly direction (upon what is called the Side Hill farm) John Watson erected a house about twenty rods north of Pettaquamscutt Rock. " Many of the individuals owned slaves, who usually bore the surnames of their masters. John Watson owned a number of slaves, among whom were Ned and Sip. The former was a preacher, the latter a skillful performer on the violin. He owned another slave named Guy Watson, who was captain of a company in a colored regiment that served in the continental army, and who was distinguished for his heroism, particularly in the bat- tle of Ticonderoga. Ned and Sip lived in a small house which their master had provided for them, about three rods east from Pettaquamscutt Rock, until they were freed by the laws of Rhode Island. Having obtained their freedom, they established them- selves in a small house upon the hundred acre lot. The cellar and pear trees are still to be seen there. Ned built an altar a few rods from his house, which consisted of a stone about six feet across, placed upon four other stones, and shaded by two large oak trees. There he preached the gospel for a number of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 553 years. Afterward he bought a house and lot near Watson's Cor- ners, which is now owned by Bridget McGuire." The Tower Hill House, now standing on the hill, was opened in 1871, and kept in iirst-class style. It is now kept by Charles A. Oakes, and is acknowledged to be a first-class hotel. Its com- manding situation and pleasant surroundings render it very pop- ular. It is 150 feet above and half a mile distant from the sea, and looking oceanward one beholds as fine a view as ever looked upon in Rhode Island. The parlor of this house is very large, the piazza that surrounds the building wide, the bedrooms are handsomely furnished, and every addition and equipment neces- sary to a first-class summer resort has been made. Presbyterian Church.— A Presbyterian church was estab- lished on Tower Hill May 17th, 1732, and the Reverend Doctor Joseph Torrey was the first pastor. He labored there with un- tiring fidelity for sixty years. After his death, which occurred November 25th, 1791, the church neglected to repair the meeting house, which had become somewhat dilapidated, and it was finally sold at auction. Mr. James Wilson was born and lived in a house] constructed from the materials of the old Presbyterian church. Reverend Thomas Kendall took up the pastorate in 1802, and continued to preach the gospel to the benighted sons and daughters of the village until 1818. Under his ministra- tions religious services were held alternately in the school house on Tower Hill and in the court house at Little Rest. Most of the graves in the burying ground have been plowed over. Rob- ert Helme was buried there, clothed in a suit of black broad- cloth with a gold watch in his pocket, which was wound up a short time before the funeral services, agreeably to his request. The church at Tower Hill was gathered less than three months after the birth of General Washington, with Joseph Torrey for pastor, William Mumford, George Douglass, Mary Wilson and Alice Gardner, the original members. The following forty-six years show 124 baptisms, among whom were the Douglasses, Wilsons, Helmes, Nichols, Mumfords, Hazards, Coles, Arm- strongs, Niles, Smiths, Hammonds, HoUoways, Tisdales, Wood- bridges, Pollocks and Browns, Doctor Torrey making for himself an exhibit of fourteen children and thirteen grandchildren on the roll of the consecrated ; Oliver Hazard, the great-grandfather of Oliver Hazard Perry of Lake Erie fame, and his wife Eliza- beth also. Of his numerous offspring six succeeded to the min- 554 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. istry. This ancient church was really the same with the Congre- gational church at Kingston Hill. The house of worship was on Tower Hill. Its field was the Pettaquamscutt purchase. Its revenue originally was derived from a donation of three hun- dred acres of land made in 1668 by the first purchasers. Doptor Torrey married, October 15th, 1730, Elizabeth Wilson, and left five sons and five daughters. Thomas Kendall became pastor in 1802, and continued till 1818. The court house, the jail and the law having migrated to Kings- ton Hill, it must be that the Gospel, with its alleviations, should follow. Reverend Oliver Brown took up his pastorate in 1820, in which year the present Kingston church was built. In 1857 valued mem- bers residing in Peace Dale joined themselves to other pious souls, and the church in that place was organized. Narragansett Pier. — One of the most important factors in the prosperity of the town has been the Narragansett Pier rail- road, which was opened in July, 1876. The only means of access to the pier before that date was by stage coaches from Kingston. The railroad now connects with the New York, Providence & Boston railroad at Kingston Depot, and is about nine miles in length. Every possible facility is furnished by the management of the road for the convenience of the summer travel. Mr. George T. Lanphear has been superintendent of the road since the start, and has labored hard to secure for the Pier giiests suit- able accommodations to and from New York and beyond. The Stonington railroad was laid out in 1837, and it also runs through the town. The following sketches of Narragansett Pier and its surround- ings were taken principally from the Narragansett Times . Rowland Robinson came to this country from England in 1676. He purchased lands of the Narragansetts soon after coming here, and purchased also large tracts in the Pettaquamscutt and Point Judith lands. He died in 1716, leaving two sons and several daughters. To the eldest son John he willed land bought of Samuel Hopkins and John Crowder, and the house occupied by William Dunkin and the grist mill. To William Robinson he gave three hundred acres in Boston Neck. As was the custom in those days the daughter was given only money. But John Robinson left only daughters, and so the real estate passed back into the hands of Governor William Robinson, who, at his death HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 555 (1751), willed to Rowland Robinson, the father of the beautiful Hannah Robinson, the farm in Boston Neck, one hundred andsixty acres; to William, the farm bought of George Mumford one hun- dred and sixty acres; to Christopher, the present Shadow farm in Wakefield, with farms adjacent,; to Thomas, eighty acres, bought of Samuel Allen, and a part of the Brenton farm ; to Sylvester and James, he willed the farm in Point Judith, bought of Martha Church and Benjamin Brenton. As their land ran south to that of Francis Bourland, it must have included a large part of Point Judith. To John, the youngest son, and the founder of Nar- ragansett Pier, he gave the farm bought of Joseph Mumford. On the division between Sylvester and James, the former took the north end with the house upon it, built by Governor Rob- inson (Canonchet), and the latter the southwest part. The farm given to John also had a house upon it (Mansion house). The Sylvester Robinson house passed to his only son James, better known as " Jimmy Robinson," who died in 1841. He married Mary Attmore of Philadelphia, and was the father of Attmore Robinson, afterward so prominently identified with the interests of Narragansett Pier. John Robinson was born in 1742, and died in 1801, and was the pioneer of the mercantile interests of Narragansett Pier. He married Sarah Peckham in 1761. His eldest son was Benjamin Robinson, grandfather of B. F. Robinson of Wakefield. He must have built the wharf in the latter part of the last cen- tury ; not before about 1780, as the story comes down to us on good authority, that while the pier was being built a son of his was swimming outside the breakers when his father observed the fins of a shark moving from seaward toward the boy. Mr. Robinson called to his son to see in how short a time he could swim to the shore and thus saved him. These man-eating sharks are not now, and were not then, indigenous to our shores, but followed in the track of slave ships from the Guinea coast ; a number of Bristol and Newport ships then being engaged in the slave trade. As Benjamin Robinson was born in 1763, he could not have been an expert swimmer before 1780. John Robinson some years before his death moved to New- port and engaged in mercantile pursuits, and just before his death, in 1801, he deeded to his eldest son, Benjamin, one-fifth of his pier property, and Benjamin bought out the other heirs. In this. deed he mentioned a dwelling house, store and pier wharf. 556 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The land was bounded east by the sea, north by James Robin- son and south and west by Samuel Congdon ; so that it is evident that John Robinson began the store business at the Pier. Benjamin Robinson sold twenty-four acres with two stores and two pier wharves to Rowland Hazard January 30th, 1810. The sale included the sloop "Sally." Mr. Hazard leased the pier to Joseph Congdon, and Captain John Aldrich Saunders built for Congdon and others, forming a stock company, the " Commerce," in 1815. The vessel was built on the training lot near the Nar- row River Middle Bridge. She was a center-board vessel. At that time the pier had just been destroyed by the gale of Sep- tember 23d, 1815, and it is said that Mr. Hazard rebuilt the pier with cabbage palm posts brought from Charleston, S. C. These posts were said to be proof against being worm-eaten. During the gale the " Sally " was at the pier loaded with cheese, and was carried up high and dry. Mr. Hazard, October 23d, 1817, exchanged the pier with Cap- tain Robinson Potter, of Newport, for a part of the ship " Fred- eric Augustus." Joseph Congdon afterward bought the vessel and sold it to the Narragansett Pier Company. But it is proba- ble that Congdon still continued in business, and December 28th, 1818, he bought the property of Robinson Potter. George C. Brown, a son of Peleg Brown, purchased the pier of Robinson Potter January 1st, 1822. In 1822, March 25th, James Anthony and Jerry Whaley commenced running the " Com- merce " for Brown, and continued to do so until September 25th, 1827. Samuel S. Eldred was storekeeper for Brown. They were both single, and kept bachelors' hall over the store that stood nearly on the site of the Pier Cottage. The only other house at the Pier was the long house, on the site of Doctor Hitchcock's cottage. Brown afterward built a house on the present site of the Casino. It is said by some that Brown took boarders in this house prior to 1845. Benjamin Robinson, eldest son of John Robinson, lived at what has since been changed into the Mansion House. He died in 1830. His wife was Elizabeth Brown, a daughter of Governor George Brown. The farm was sold to John T. Bentley after his death. James Robinson lived at what is now Canonchet. He died in 1841. His wife was Mary Attmore, of Philadelphia. George Congdon, who lived at what is now the Congdon House, owned HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 557 all the land at what is now South Pier, as far south as Stephen Champlin's farm, now occupied by Samuel P. Allen, his land ex- tending most to the estates of Benjamin and James Robinson. Further west was the brick hotise owned by Nathaniel Mumford (Sprague's farm house), and Gideon Sweet lived on the present Anthony place ; and going still further west, Kit Robinson (Shad- ow farm) and Rowland Hazard's " Dale Carlia." A brook ran out of the pier pond where the McSparran stands, and the point was resorted to by herring fishermen in the springtime. Brown built the wharf now called Billington's wharf, but pre- vious to that time the wharf had been two box locks filled with stone. John A. Saunders, the pioneer ship-builder of Narragansett, was born at Shadwick Weir, now Niantic, in 1786, and died at Tower Hill in 1832. His first vessel, a fishing sloop, the " Cath- erine," was built near Dorrville. His second vessel was the " King Fisher," built at Newport. He removed to this town in 1813, where he built the " Dolphin," the first center-board vessel ever built in Rhode Island. He also built the " Eagle," for John J. Watson. The " Commerce " was his fifth vessel. She was con- structed with a water-tight casing, or sheath, that extended from the deck downward to and through the keel of the vessel. In this sheath a sectional center-board was suspended, that required no further attention than to loose the rope that held it entirely within the sheath, excepting when head winds required its use as a temporary keel. This movable keel was made in three dif- ferent portions, so that either or all could be lowered ; but it was soon discovered that the three united in one would work better, and by the aid of " Nailor Tom," the change was made. Cap- tain Saunders also built for his own use the " Rising Sun," a sloop of sixty tons, at the Pier, in 1819. Captain Saunders built in all twenty-two vessels, among them the " South Kingstown," built in 1824, for E. R. Potter and the Gardners, that was after- ward lost on the shore at Seaside. George C. Brown in 1832 sold the Pier property to Attmore Rob- inson, who took as a partner George C. Knowles. They bought the " Commerce " with the business, and Robinson put the sloop " Emily Ann " into the concern. Knowles sold out to Samuel Rodman, and afterward the Narragansett Pier Company was formed by taking in other partners. The company was chartered. The north wharf was built under the direction of Attmore Rob- 558 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. inson. He built the first batliing liouse . at the Pier for his own private use, and Benjamin Hadwen, who lived on the present site of the Hotel Gladstone, commenced taking a few boarders about 1845. In the year 1848 Joseph H. Dulles, a resident of Phila- delphia, and the owner of a cotton plantation in South Carolina, visited the Pier. He was a customer of Rowland G. Hazard, who manufactured cloth for slaves at his mill at Peace Dale. Mr. Dulles came to Peace Dale on a visit and Mr. Hazard took him to the Pier to see the beach where people sometimes bathed. There was but one bathing house, and the few boarders Mr. Hadwen had were from Providence. Mr. Dulles was charmed with the beach and engaged all the rooms Mr. Hadwen had for the com- ing season. In 1856 Mr. Dulles and his friends took up their abode at "Uncle Esbon's," now the Narragansett House. James H. Rodman had, however, the year previous (1855) commenced taking Southern boarders, as they were called, and these two men were the only original proprietors of Pier hotels now living. Jonathan N. Hazard about this time became manager of the Narragansett Pier Company, and finally leased the property and conducted the business himself. A planing mill was built and a steam engine put in. Mr. Hazard continued to carry on business in a random sort of a way. At one time he bought an entire cargo of pain-killer, at another a load of white hats, and upon one occasion he went to New York, and being pleased with the price of a sample of matches, offered to buy all the dealer had, and was surprised to receive a dray-load. And the story goes that he made several voyages with Abram Perry, to New York, on board the " Point Judith " ; but one trip, being too busy to go himself, he marked out a chart of the sound on the cabin floor but left out Fisher's island, and that Perry ran down the island and the "Point Judith" was lost. Hazard built a planing mill in the building now used as a store by James D. Caswell. It was after- ward changed into a store and let to William C. Caswell, who finally bought the property, that had been taxed to the Narra- gansett Pier Company until 1855 ; and again at a later period (1868) Mr. Caswell bought the pier. On February 9th, 1836, Sam- uel Rodman and Attmore Robinson sold to Christopher P. Sted- man one half acre commencing eight feet from the southeast corner of a lot occupied by the grantors as a buttonwood nursery. On the site of the present blacksmith shop, Stedman built a tin shop and established a foundry. As will be seen from the fact HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 559 that a deed is made of an addition to this lot January 16th, 1838, from Narragansett Pier Company to Christopher P. Stedman, yeoman, alias founder. On August 15th, 1836, Stedman mort- gaged to I. P. Hazard and others this same lot, etc., naming fur- nace, patterns, tools, etc., and finally Stedman made an assign- ment to Henry M. Holley, who took in John P. Sherman, Jr., as a partner, and carried on the foundry business for a short time. Holley had a store on the corner now north of the Delavan. Mr. Caswell built a new wharf and built the sloop " Evelyn " at Saunderstown, and bought the schooner " Josephine " ; also built a planing mill and a steam grist mill, the first in the town. April 23d, 1836, Joshua Champlin, of Charlestown, purchased of George Congdon twenty acres of land at what is now South Pier, for fifteen hundred dollars. About 1845 he built a wharf and mortgaged the property several times, and finally sold it January 21st, 1851, to Stephen A. Wright, Erasmus D. Campbell and Amos P. Rodman, as the firm of S. A. Wright & Co., for six thousand dollars, nineteen acres of land with a dwelling house, store and wharf. James P. Peckham hired of Champlin about 1850 the right to land at the wharf, and hired Jonathan Sheldon to run the " Rocky Brook," and in this boat Captain Sheldon brought the lumber that was used by Stephen A. Wright in building Wright's meeting house, Wright's store and the houses on High street, Wakefield, Peckham having a contract to erect the buildings. The first craft to run regularly from the Pier was the " Susan and Mary," built by S. A. Wright & Co., and named after Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Rodman. She was commanded by Captain Sheldon. The story goes that Amos P. Rodman once went to Nova Scotia and ordered a cargo of lumber for I, Wright & Co. Rodman afterward leased the pier of Wright and E. S. Taylor was taken in as a partner, and the firm was carried on as Rod- man & Taylor. Daniel Sherman and Jason P. Hazard were les- sees one year, Hazard retiring before the expiration of the year. And December 1st, 1855, the pier was sold at auction and pur- chased by N. C. & J. G. Peckham, and business was carried on by the latter gentleman. Peckham ran the " Justice," owned in company with R. Hazard, Samuel Rodman and Captain Sheldon, who commanded her ; the " Susan and Mary " and " Rocky Brook." The next year J. G. Peckham bought out N. C. Peck- ham. 560 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Clarke & Cottrell bought the pier in 1867. They put on the first steamer at the pier. But the " Florence " was the first per- manent steam vessel to run there. June 1st, 1872, J. Hamilton Clarke sold his half of the Pier property to William C. Caswell for twenty-two thousand dollars, and business was continued by Cottrell & Caswell until July 25th, 1873, when Mr. Caswell bought out Mr. Cottrell. He moved his steam planing mill from the north pier and mercantile business ceased at that place. Mr. Cas- well was a contractor as well as a coal and lumber dealer. In 1879 Mr. Caswell made an assignment and the property was bought by Rowland and John N. Hazard of Peace Dale. J. C. Tucker, Jr., and H. W. Partelow were admitted as partners, and the firm was known as Tucker & Partelow. In 1882 Mr. Partelow withdrew from the firm and the business has since then been conducted in Mr. Tucker's name. Many improvements have been carried out by the present owners and to-day the bulk of the coal and building material used in the town is handled by this firm. The Narragansett House was built and opened by Mr. Esbon S. Taylor. At first it was scarcely one-half the size of the present building. It has always ranked among the most exclusive houses at the Pier. A glance over its. register shows that it has been filled year after year by the same parties who boarded there thirty years ago. Its register is the only record of the earlier guests at the Pier. From it we learn that the house opened July 11th, 1856, and the first names appearing are those of Joseph H. Dulles and family, David Lapsley and family, Mrs. S. E. Ran- dolph, Samuel Welch and others of Philadelphia and Samuel A. Strang and family of New York ; and in 1887 the house opened for its thirty-second season with its pioneer landlord, Mr. Taylor, still at his post, and as popular as ever with his guests, whom he draws together year after year with flattering regularity. The Atlantic House was built by the late Abijah Browning, during the winter of 1866-67, and was opened for its first season in the summer of 1867. Two others of the Pier hotels were opened during that year. Mr. Browning built the house with the intention of running a family hotel, and how well he suc- ceeded the constantly increasing patronage from year to year, together with the three additions made to the house, since its start, speaks for itself. For several years prior to his opening the Atlantic House, Mr. Browning had kept summer boarders at HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 561 what is now known as the Mansion House, and brought the greater number of his guests from there to the new hotel. Mr. Browning continued as landlord of the Atlantic House until the close of the season of 1885. His wife died during that summer and during the next fall " Uncle Bijah," as his guests were wont to call him, closed a life of nearly a quarter of a century as a Pier hotel proprietor, and joined the silent majority beyond. By the terms of his will the Atlantic House was left to a minor son of Elisha D. Browning of Boston Neck. His guardian leased the hotel for a term of years to Mr. Stephen T. Browning, who had been clerk at the Atlantic for five years and upon whom during the last few years the greater part of the burdens of its management had fallen. He opened the house for the summer of 1886, and enjoyed one of the most flourishing seasons the house had ever known. His rooms were taken early and his guests stayed until late into September. The Atlantic House is very centrally located on Ocean avenue, being easy of access from both the railroad station and the steamboat landing, and is within two minutes walk of the Casino, and but little farther from the beach. The house is located far enough back from the street to avoid all dust and other inconveniences, while there is nothing between to prevent the full sweep of the ocean breezes, and the intervening space is taken up by a large lawn which affords a fine playground for the children, as well as ample facili- ties for tennis courts, etc.; swings and tents for the younger guests are provided, and from the broad piazzas which extend the entire length of the house an excellent view can be gained. The hotel has eighty-seven fine sleeping rooms, giving a capacity of one hundred and fifty guests. It is four stories high, and the rooms are large and well arranged for comfort. The A twood House was built in the winter of 1866-7, and opened during the following summer by Mr. Joshua C. Tucker. Mr. Tucker had previously for about fifteen years occupied the Congdon farm, so-called, near the South Pier, and had taken summer boarders there as far back as 185b, thus ranking, as it will be seen, among the pioneers of the summer resort. He had met with such success in catering to the public there, that he was induced to build a larger house on the ocean front. The new house was christened the Atwood, and he managed it success- fully for several years, meeting with a constantly increasing patronage, being obliged to enlarge during that period. Mr. 36 562 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Tucker finally retired, as the infirmities of age crept upon him, and in favor of his son, Mr. J. A. Tucker, who had been connected with the management of the house with his father, and who makes a model landlord. The Atwood House is one hundred and thirty feet in length, fronting upon the ocean with a wide spread lawn between, which affords abundant opportunity for lawn tennis and kindred games. The house has ample accom- modations for two hundred guests, and the rooms are large and well lighted, the larger part of them fronting directly upon the ocean. The house is lighted by gas, and each room is connected with the office by electric bells. The Ocean House is located on Caswell street. It was built by Mrs. S. L. Reed in 1870, and a few years afterward sold to its present proprietor, Captain George N. Kenyon. It occupies a delightful situation, the surroundings being very pleasant. It has been conducted by its owner, and has met with good success. The interior of the house is as neat as can be made, and well ar- ranged as a summer hotel. In 1885 Mr. Kenyon built the Petta- quamscutt House on Little Neck farm north of Canonchet, on the heights overlooking Narrow river and the Pier. The Metatoxct House. — During the year 1866 Mr. John H. Cas- well purchased five acres of the Bentley farm, and during the fol- lowing winter erected a hotel upon a portion of the land. Mr.Cas- well is of South Kingstown origin, having been born within three miles of Narragansett Pier, and has therefore witnessed the whole of its growth and popularity as a summer resort. Two other houses were built the same year. At that time it was thought that a hotel was not as advantageous if not located di- rectly upon the sea, and of course his competitors possessed the advantage ; happily that misapprehension is a thing of the past, and at Narragansett Pier, at least, the well-kept hotel presided over for so many years by Mr. Caswell has been one of the fac- tors in changing that impression. The new house its owner named the Metatoxet, and opened in 1867. At that time it was vastly different from the Metatoxet House of to-day, having only twenty -nine rooms ; but as season after season rolled by, the careful, conscientious attention that Mr. Caswell gave his guests, together with the excellent table that he had gained the reputa- tion of furnishing, had made rooms so much in demand that he had to enlarge his house at three different periods, until now it contains seventy-six sleeping rooms, with a capacity for one hun- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 563 dred and fifty guests. Mr. Caswell is still in charge, he now be- ing next to Mr. Taylor of the Narragansett, the oldest landlord at the Pier in continuous service. The Metatoxet House is lo- cated on Main street, the grounds being bounded by Caswell street on the west. The house setting back over three hundred feet from the street, the space in front forms one of the largest and pleasantest lawns at the Pier. The Delavan House was built during the winter of 1869-70, and was opened in the latter year by David Briggs, for whom it was built. Briggs ran the house two seasons, then falling into financial difficulties, the house fell into the hands of Clarke & Cottrell, who were then in company at the lower pier, and they leased it to one Devol, who occupied it only one year. In 1873 Mr. John T. Cottrell, of Pawtucket, ran the house, and in 1874 it was leased to James G. Burns, who was landlord for nine years, only leaving the house in 1888 to remove into the new McSparran Hotel, which he had built. Under Mr. Burns' man- agement the house rapidly sprang into popularity, and for sev- eral years was known as one of the gayest at the Pier, and was noted as a center for military guests, holding among its patrons a large number of officers of the army and navy. On Mr. Burns' retirement the house was leased to Mr. George W. Browning, who ran it for three years, when it was leased by the present pro- prietor, Mr. James O. Chandler, who for five years had been land- lord of the Pier Cottage, since an annex of the McSparran. Un- der the management of Mr. Chandler the Delavan has regained much of its former prestige. The Continental Hotel was opened in 1871, being built and owned by a stock company. It has had several different managers during the years it has been open ; but it has always held the same reputation as a first-class summer hotel. The house has always been noted for its cuisine. For a number of years the sec- retary of the association and managing director was George K. England, of Wakefield. On his resignation m 1886 Mr. J. V. B. Watson, of Wakefield, was selected for that position. The Conti- nental is among the foremost houses at Narragansett Pier. It is lo- cated on Ocean avenue, between the Mount Hope and Revere, com- manding a fine view of the ocean ; in fact, the waves beat against the rocky shore at its very gates, only the avenue lying between. Its lawns are wide and spacious. The house is four stories high, contains ninety rooms, and has a capacity of nearly 564 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. two hundred guests. Broad piazzas encircle the front and end of the house, and all the appointments are in keeping with its excellent reputation. Large open fireplaces on the first floor, which in reality wears more the appearance of a reception room than a hotel corridor, serve to drive away the chill of the air when necessary. The rooms are large, and the house is lighted throughout with gas, and electric bells connect with every room. The Revere House is situated nearly midway of the long line of hotels that fringe the ocean front. It is more familiarly known among its patrons as " Rodman's." The house is a large struc- ture, facing the ocean, with broad porticos along its front, and large roomy wings extending back toward the rear. The house is located on the corner of Ocean avenue and Rodman street, and was built and is still owned by Captain James H. Rodman, who was beyond doubt the first man to build a house at the Pier for the special purpose of taking boarders. This probably makes Mr. Rodman the pioneer hotel owner at Narragansett Pier, as the house was built in 1854, Mr. Rodman purchasing the lumber for the building of Mr. Esbon S. Taylor, who was in business at that date at the lower pier, and who a year later built a hotel himself. At this date no one even imagined the future possibilities of Narragansett. In fact, Mr. Rodman tells the story that when he was hauling his lumber he met a man who, when he heard that Mr. Rodman was going to build a house, and a large house, too, and above all was building it with the expectation of taking summer boarders, thought that Mr. Rodman must betaking leave of his senses. " 'Twas the craziest idee he ever heard of, to im- agine that a man could expect to make any money taking boarders way down here." But Mr. Rodman built nevertheless, and in the summer of 1855 had some boarders, too. That house was located in the open pasture west of the present Revere House, and in fact still forms a part of the present hotel, having been moved nearer the water about 1868, when Mr. Rodman enlarged the house. The story of the Revere is very similar to that of most of the earlier hotels at the Pier, a constantly increasing de- mand for more rooms ; for as the Pier grew in popularity it led to a corresponding increase in the supply, and so the Revere in- creased in size as the years rolled by, and back in those old days when the guests rode down from Kingston in the old lumbering stage coaches and the landlords met each arrival in person, and looked after their comfort, there was no house here more popular HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 565 than the Revere, and it numbers among its guests at the present day, some of those of its first years and many of their descend- ants. F. P. W. Tefft is lessee of the house. The Massasoit House was formerly the Maxson House, owned by Edward Tucker and named after its builder, Charles Maxson. It stood a short distance back of the pond in rear of the bathing houses. Its location was unfortunate. Being reached by a bridge across the pond on the one hand, and by a walk through a wet swamp on the other, the result was an unfortunate investment for its owner. In 1877 its new owners decided to move it. A lot was bought of Mrs. DeGrasse B. Fowler on Mathewson street, and the house was moved to its present location, and at an ex- pense of many thousand dollars enlarged and otherwise much improved. Its name was changed to the Massasoit. The present location is a very desirable one, by reason of its being high ground, thus affording excellent drainage to the ocean, and al- though not on the immediate water front, is sufficiently near to afford an excellent view of the Atlantic ocean from its piazzas and sleeping rooms without the morning glare of the sun on the glassy water that is experienced at situations on the immediate water front. This hotel is also very near the bathing beach (about three minutes walk), and has a concrete walk the entire distance, thus avoiding carriage hire, while its northerly rooms overlook the Casino buildings and grounds, yet sufficiently re- moved to avoid the noise of the bowling alley. It has an exten- sive inland view from, its elevated position, being on higher ground than any other house at this noted resort. The Massa- soit has accommodations for one hundred and forty guests. The house usually opens about June 15th and continues until late in September. The sleeping apartments are large and airy through- out, and from its piazzas, which are forty-five feet above the ocean, an excellent view may be had. The house is four stories high, with some three hundred feet of piazzas. It is provided with wrought iron fire escape, electric bells, etc. The Massasoit is owned by the Wakefield Institution for Savings, of which its president, Mr. John Babcock, is manager. The Southern Hotel stands on the site of the old dwelling house once owned by W. E. H. Whaley, where over thirty years ago he "took boarders " and accompanied them as guide to the best fishing grounds. Mr. Whaley enlarged the building and called it the Whaley House. In 1880 the place was purchased by the 566 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. present proprietor, Mr. H. W. Greene, who remodeled it and named it the Southern. It makes no pretentions to vie with its larger neighbors, but its rooms are always full in the summer. Mr. Greene is assisted in the management of the house by his son, Nathaniel C. Greene, and they also have a large livery and boarding stable adjacent, which cares for many of the equipages of summer cottagers. The Southern is kept open the whole year and caters to many guests during the winter. The Hotel McSparran was built and opened in 1883 by J. G. Burns, who had been proprietor of the Delavan House for nine years. The McSparran is located on Main street, directly oppo- site the Casino, and is the nearest house to the bathing beach, which it directly overlooks. The hotel is five stories high, with broad piazzas facing the ocean, bathing beach and Newport. Four fire escapes of the most modern and practical construction on each side of house, together with fire-proof iron roof, and large force pumps, afford sure protection from fire. The house is lighted with gas ; electric bells in each room and speaking tubes on each floor ; a passenger and baggage elevator for guests. An abundant supply of pure spring water is furnished from the famous Mathewson spring. The sanitary arrangements are per- fect. A large sun parlor was added in 1886, greatly enhancing the comfort of guests. The house has hot and cold, salt and fresh water baths, also the largest and best bathing pavilion on the beach, with double balconies. The table is strictly first- class. The hotel is under the immediate supervision of Mr. Burns, whose hotel experience assures his patrons of receiving every attention possible. New wardrobes in each room and drapery curtains, and the finest spring beds and mattresses pos- sible to procure have been added. The Columbus and Gladstone Hotels are under the proprietorship of W. A. Nye. The Columbus was established in 1879, and has accommodation for one hundred guests, and a reputation not surpassed by any at the Pier. It is lighted by gas, heated by furnace, and has electric bells in each room, and is supplied with water from the celebrated Robinson spring. The Gladstone is situated on the old Elmwood estate, and has accommodation for two htmdred guests. It contains all the modern improvements, has five hundred feet of piazzas, beautiful lawn and shade trees, and is located in the vicinity of bathing beach and Casino. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 567 The Mount Hope was built in 1871 by William G. Caswell, its present proprietor, together with several others. The opening was in July of the same year, with forty guests. Soon after the customary addition was made, and the dining-room lengthened to 150 feet. The central tower is ninety feet high. Mr. Herbert Caswell is the active manager. The house is lighted throughout by gas, electric bells in every room, and speaking tubes in the halls connecting with the oflEice. The Mount Hope has accom- modations for three hundred guests, and is fitted expressly to meet the wants of those seeking rest and recreation during the summer months. The Mathewson, S. W. Mathewson, proprietor, is situated on Ocean avenue, three hundred feet from high-water mark, having an unsurpassed view of the Atlantic ocean. The Mathewson has all essential modern improvements, including electric bells, gas, hot sea baths, French cuisine, steam laundry, rooms en suite with baths, etc. The house was built by the present proprietor in 1868. One of the greatest features, if not the greatest in the popular- ity of the Pier, is its bathing beach. This is located at the north- ern limit of the hotels and yet within easy access of all. Much has been written about the beauty and safety of the Narragan- sett beach, and volumes can yet be written. Imagine a mile or more of broad, glistening sand, sloping gradually to the water's edge, and sweeping northward in a crescent-like curve until its contour is broken on the north by the waters of the Pettaquam- scutt river. The beach is absolutely and unqualifiedly safe. There is no undertow. No life-lines are ever needed as at other resorts, and it has long been noted as the one beach above all others where ladies and children can bathe unattended without the slightest danger. The descent into the water is gradual, and the bottom as hard and smooth as a house floor. The surf is all that a bather can possibly desire ; the breakers come dashing in in rapid succession, with just enough force to add exhilaration to the bath. Bathing has always been fashionable at Narragansett Pier, and bids fair to remain so for years to come. The bathing hour fashion has decreed shall begin at ten o'clock and extend until one ; at least those have been the hours in the past. In the old days, when there was absolutely no central gathering place save at the beach, bathing was always at its height about eleven o'clock, but since the advent of the Casino and the changes 568 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in the life of our summer visitors that it has brought with it, the hour has year by year grown later, until during the last seasons the fashionable hour was nearly one o'clock. The beach is flanked by a row of ample and commodious bathing houses, nearly all of the hotels possessing one for the conven- ience of their guests, with as many owned by private parties sandwiched in between. These houses are not isolated as at other beaches, but are connected by a broad covered promenade in front, while almost all the houses have during recent years been fitted with covered balconies above this promenade for the comfort of onlookers, without the discomforts of the crowd of bathers below. In the afternoon, if the tide is out, the beach presents another spectacle, for the hard, unyielding sand affords one of the pleas- antest of drives, and scores of carriages and equestrians can be seen enjoying to the utmost its advantages. Prominent among the attractions of the Pier, if not its most prominent one, is the Casino. Unlike any other building ever constructed, and differing from the Newport Casino in its scope, it is an acknowledged 'success. For years the idea of some cen- tral gathering place for hotel guests and cottagers had been dis- cussed, but it was not until 1883 that the plans assumed tangible form. A charter for its incorporation was granted in that year and a company formed, the capital stock being placed at one hun- dred thousand dollars, in non-assessable shares of one hundred dollars each. A location was selected, the Saunders Coates prop- erty at the head of Ocean avenue being purchased for the pur- pose, and work was at once commenced. The building and grounds extend from Ocean avenue to Mathewson street. Over the avenue in front stretches a massive stone arch, connecting with double towers on the east of the roadway. The main en- trance is under this arch. Entering the building one finds on either side the offices of the secretary and directors' rooms, and opening from the landing in front is the ladies' parlor. The grand staircase leads from this landing to the upper floor. Opening from the tower is a broad promenade encircling the entire front. The dining-hall opens upon this, and both the promenade and terraces in front are often covered by lunch and dining parties overflowing from the dining-hall. Opening from the hall is the rotunda, circular in shape, with a huge stone fireplace on one side. Passing up the stairway we reach a balcony overlooking HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 569 the rotunda. A corridor leads to the billiard-room, which is furnished with billiard and pool tables of the latest pattern. A gentlemen's reading-room, supplied with all the leading papers in the country, opens out of the billiard hall. The kitchen is supplied with the most modern appli- ances. Experienced men are in charge of the steward's depart- ments, while the cooks and the chef have no superiors in their art. Louis Sherry, the well known caterer of Sixth avenue, New York, has had charge of the restaurant since the Casino was opened. From the upper promenade or the stairway from the rotunda, access is had to the theatre building, which is fitted with a stage and handsome scenery. The theatre is also the ball-room, and was filled with many brilliantly costumed parties last year at the semi-weekly hops. Six large stores occupy the lower story, and a balcony overlooks the tennis courts in the rear. At the op- posite side of the lawns is a fine bowling alley and rifie gallery. The Casino embraces within its limits everything desirable in the way of recreation and comfort. A fine orchestra supplies concert music during the day, and also for dancing. The first president of the association was Howard Lapsley. The officers in 1887 were: President, George V. Cresson ; executive committee, R. G. Dun, R. G. Hazard, 2d, Dr. Charles Hitchcock, B. Lockwood and Walter S. Chapin ; treasurer, B. F. Robinson ; secretary, Charles E. Boon ; directors, George V. Cresson, J G. Burns, R. G. Hazard, 2d, B. F. Robinson, Elisha C. Clarke, Wil- liam' C. Clarke, R. G. Dun, Richard S. Ely, Dr. Charles Hitch- cock, B. Lockwood, Walter S. Chapin, James W. Cook, E. H. San- ford, Arthur M. Watson and A. C. Dunham. Cottages. — The first cottage erected for rental at the Pier was put up in 1870 by Mr. C. E. Boon of Providence, and rented to Mr. Sherman Rodgers the first season. North from the steamboat landing are a number of handsome little cottages nestled in among the hotels. These are mostly owned by residents at the Pier and leased from summer to sum- mer. South of the Mount Hope house is what is known as " Bonnie Bourne Park," where are located the twin cottages, built in 1886 by Reverend W. D. Buchanan of New York. They were occupied the first season by Hon. Alexander Cameron of Toronto, Canada, and by F. K. Agate of New York. "What Cheer Cottage " on Ocean avenue was occupied by Thomas P. C. Stokes of Phila- delphia. Between the Mount Hope and Continental hotels are 570 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the Whaley cottages ; one was occupied in 1886 by Doctor Har- vey Lindsley of Washington ; Mrs. Charles L. Strong of Cleve- land, Ohio, occupied one of the Caswell cottages, and Reverend W. D. Buchanan the other. St. Elmo cottage, belonging to the Re- vere House, has been occupied by I. Nevitt Steele of Baltimore. " Hopewell " is the beautiful little cottage of Doctor Charles Hitchcock of New York. The Pier Improvement Association, which takes upon itself the policing of the summer resort, look- ing out for the sidewalks, watering the streets, and the various little things that all go to render a stay at the Pier more pleasant if possible than the natural advantages would in themselves, was one of Doctor Hitchcock's projects. He is one of the leading spirits of the Casino Association, and through his efforts, as much as those of any one person, were its plans carried out. North of " Hopewell " is W. C. Clarke's cottage, which has been occupied for several years by Doctor Bache McE. Emmett of New York, who shares with Doctor Hitchcock an excellent practice among the summer guests here. On Mathewson street several cottagers have established their summer homes. The first adjoining the Casino grounds is the " Coates cottage," which has been occupied for several summers by H. C. Mortimer of New York ; adjoining its grounds is "Car- mot cottage," the pleasant summer home of John Earle of New York. On the opposite side, between the Delavan and Massasoif houses, is a cottage of handsome proportions, built for Wil- lard P. Ward of New York. Taylor's cottage, adjoining Mr. Earle's grounds, has been occupied for a number of years by Colonel John Cassels of Washington, D. C. /'Ninigret cottage," on the corner of Taylor street, was occupied by Mrs. W. P. Lemmon of Baltimore, Md. The second Taylor cottage was occupied in 1886 by S. R. Carter of Louisville, Ky. On the corner of Mathew- son and Central streets is the Fowler estate, which was purchased in the fall of 1886 by Henry DeCoppet of New York. The first cottage on Central street is "Idlewild," opposite Hotel Columbus, and occupied in 1886 by Charles E. Green of Trenton, N. J. This cottage was the first one built at the Pier by a summer guest for his own residence. It was finished in 1869, and used that summer by its owner, Mr. C. E. Boon of Providence. It was purchased in 1887 by the Davises of Providence, and it is rumored that a fine villa will soon ornameTit this location. Adjoining the Hotel Columbus grounds on the west is the "Willow " cottage, the seaside home HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 571 of B. Lock-wood of New York. Mr. Lockwood purchased the Boon cottage adjoining his grounds, and has now ample opportunity for a fine villa site. The Boon cottage was the first one erected at the Pier for rental. Adjoining Mr. Lockwood's property we come to four fine cottages of the colonial style of architecture, erected by Mrs. N. K. Bishop of Providence. The first, " Sea Croft," is now the property of George H. Coursen of Baltimore; a large cottage comes next, and the next is " Homeleigh," occu- pied in 1886 by the Misses Gwynne of New York ; Mrs. Bishop's own residence is the last of the quartette; situated on the corner of Central and Caswell streets, it is named "Tyn-y-coed," mean- ing literally, " cottage in a field." On the opposite side of Cen- tral street is the summer home of Mrs. E. B. Carver of New York, which is named " Kabyun ;" beside it is the pleasant rectory of St. Peter's, occupied by Reverend C. H. Tindell. Grinnell cottage occupies one corner of Caswell street. " Sea Side Shanty," is owned by Reverend J. Aspinwall Hodge, D.D., of Hartford, Conn. " The Wigwam " is owned by Edward Austen of New York, and its companion, "Sea Breeze," is the property of Samuel Colgate of New York, next below these is the fine villa " Rockhurst," owned by Howard Lapsley, a prominent broker of New York. Mr. Lapsley was among the first to appreciate the advantages and to see the possibilities of our resort, and with his family are among the first to come and the last to leave their summer home. Next comes the " Flat Rock " cottage, the prop- erty of Reverend Francis Wharton, D.D., LL.D., who was legal adviser to the state department at Washington. Mr. Wharton also owns the " Grove Cottage," situated on Ocean road, and a new cottage erected during the winter of 1886-7 for A. C. Dunham, Esq., of Hartford, Conn. These cottages are all abreast the " Flat Rock " cottage, so-called. Hazard avenue intersects with Ocean road and runs to the sea at this point. " Wyndcliffe " cottage owned by H. G. Grant of Providence, and " Bellevue," the handsome summer home of Thomas F. Pierce of Providence, are upon this avenue, the latter fronting upon the famous Indian Rock. Just below this last cottage is the " Indian Rock " cottage of William Babcock, D.D. Mr. Babcock is one of the earliest habitues of the Pier, and early established a cottage here. Mr. Charles H. Pope of New York, owns and occupies a handsome villa to the south of this, named " Over Cliff," while in the rear, fronting upon Ocean road, is the double cottage of Charles H. 672 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Pope and Jeffrey Davis, named " Fair Lawn." Next below this, on Ocean road, is " Cliffe Holme," the property of Miss E. Oliver of Baltimore. On the west side of Ocean road, upon a location that insures an unsurpassed view of both ocean and inland scenery is the handsome villa " Gillian Lodge," built in 1886 by Allan McLane, Esq., of Washington. Adjoining its grounds on the south is "Woodburn," erected in 1886 for A. M. Cunningham of New York, and occupied by H. C. Potter of Philadelphia. Opposite this, toward the sea, is the handsome " Sea Meadow " villa of James W. Cooke of PhiladelpHia; and below it, still closer to the ocean, is the handsome villa of George V. Cresson of Philadelphia; this cottage probably cost more than any other on Ocean road, and is a marvel of workmanship in its interior finish. "Stone Lea" is one of the most harmonizing summer residences on the coast. South off this, on Newton avenue, is the cottage of W. W. Newton, D. D., of Pittsfield, Mass., while south of this, and with its grounds occupying the entire space between Ocean road and the ocean, is a new villa, built in 1887 for Mrs. Samuel Welsh of Philadelphia. It is a handsome building of stone and wood with outlying chimneys, whose facades are panelled with mosaic work of pebbles and shells. A large stone stable, whose general design is similar to the house, stands near the artistic stone gateway to the entrance to the grounds. Passing on over Ocean road we next come to " Dunmere," the palatial summer home of R. G. Dun of New York. This has been justly called the show place of the Pier. It fronts the Bog Rock, and less than eight years ago was one of the most unpromising bits of property along the shore ; now through the taste of its owner and his architects, the site has been transformed into a scene of beauty. The villa is large and handsome, and the grounds elegantly adorned, picturesque summer pavillions dot the grounds, a tiny lake gives opportunity for boating, and a lovely bowling alley and billiard room are lo- cated but a short distance from the house. The interior adorn- ment of Dunmere is unique and handsome. An iron fishing stand projects out into the water, and Mr. Dun, who is an en- thusiastic fisherman, spends many an hour thereon. " Rock Ledge," the summer residence of Mr. E. Harrison Sanford of New York, adjoins Dunmere on the south. Here is another fine cottage, with broad, sweeping lawns on the west, the grounds ornamented by an old-fiashioned windmill, with sweep and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 573 wheel ; the villa is a modified Queen Anne style, the entrance being very attractive from the tinique effects produced by the masonry. Ocean road extends below these villas to Point Judith, and at Scarborough beach, about half a mile below Dunmere, there has been a number of building locations sold since 1866. E. W. Davis, of Providence, and Mrs. N. K. Bishop, of the same city, have cottages near here. Nearly opposite Dunmere is the old Anthony estate, which was purchased in 1886 by Sherman Rod- gers, of Buffalo, N. Y. During the fall of 1886 Edward Earle, a lawyer of New York city, purchased a tract of ten acres of land belonging to the Haz- ard property, and sitixated west of Ocean Road upon the high land in the vicinity of Gibson avenue, and only a few rods north of the " Hazard Castle." Mr. Earle had looked the ground over thoroughly before he bought, and was well satisfied with the result. The land was for the most part a rough, stony pasture, a part of which was heavily covered with brush. A large force of laborers was at once set at work clearing the ground. The tract was bounded by Gibson avenue on the west and Westmoreland street on the north. Mr. Earle at once proceeded to have the land platted into ten cottage lots, and also laid out a new avenue through the center, to run from Gibson avenue to Ocean road. This he calls " Earlscourt." Work was speedily pushed through the winter, it having been decided to build four cottages to be ready for occupancy for the season of 1887. And as a result of the labors of the winter and spring, four fine cottages were erected. The cottages are of fine architectural proportions, and would be ornaments to any summer resort. Three of these buildings were designed by the well-known firm of D. & J. Jar- dine, architects, of New York city, and the design of the fourth was from Constable Brothers, also of New York. The latter firm are also the designers of the ornamental water tower and wind- mill which is to ornament the center of the avenue through the grounds. A heavy stone wall will mark the eastern boundaries of the grounds, and there will be a handsome gateway at the western entrance on " Earlscourt," with massive stone posts, six feet square at base and nine feet in height, each surmounted with a bronze grifiin similar to the large one on the tower. On the other sides the grounds will be enclosed with a hedge of Califor- nia Privet, which will greatly enhance the park-like appearance. 574 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The " Hazard Castle " at Narraganseett Pier, an engraving of which is presented in this work, is a residence that presents pe- culiarities of plan and structure not only, but also felicity of de- sign and pleasing effects of its own, that render it an object of interest to a large portion of the multitude who visit the Pier dur- ing the summer season, especially the two granite towers (of which material this entire building is- made), one of which, the " Hex- agonal Tower, "is especially dedicated to the memory of the build- er's late mother ; and the other (that is a square tower) is dedi- cated to the memory of the direct line of ancestors of his own immediate branch of the Hazard family ; this entire structure being dedicated to the memory of the direct line of the ancestors of which he is one of the descendants, these specified sub-divis- ions, nevertheless. This entire structure was designed and built by Joseph Peace Hazard, who also laid all of the foundations thereof, excepting those of the square tower above mentioned. That was laid in conformity with his design and instructions, as above mentioned, and which is named the " Memorial Tower," and is 105 feet in, height. The western portion of "The Castle " was built in 1846^ and 1847, and its masonry was so carefully and solidly laid that it almost immediately became known as "The Castle," a title Mr. Hazard neither accepted nor countenanced until he had con- veyed this property to his relative and friend, Rowland N. Haz- ard, in the year 1882 ; Mr. Joseph P. Hazard having made it his summer residence during these thirty-two intervening years, ex- cepting during periods of absence in foreign countries. This entire structure at Narragansett Pier is dedicated to the memory of Mr. Hazard's ancestors, though only the walls of the square tower, the " Memorial Tower" above mentioned, bear in- scriptions. These are inserted not only on the outside of the walls thereof, but there is also a tablet of Italian marble inserted in the walls of the room that makes the third story of the tower. At the time Mr. Joseph P. Hazard inherited this seaside farm from his father, there was not a tree within half a mile of the site upon which " The Castle " now stands, and it was generally supposed, so notoriously inimical are sea winds to trees in this vicinity, that none could be made to grow there. Nevertheless Mr. Hazard determined upon an experiment, and upon a scale so wide that there are now about thirty acres of trees, in the midst of H D S < W (f) h fl: < a u h < h w m rr % n < w < o: Q < N < X HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 575 which " The Castle " stands, nearly all of them being evergreens, and some of them are at least sixty feet in height. These trees invite multitudes of birds, and many varieties here find shelter and protection, and pour forth their songs as if desirous to ex- press their thankfulness, while numerous red squirrels live inside of "The Castle." St. Peter's Chapel by the Sea.* — A short time prior to the year 1850 some persons while visiting this neighborhood were struck with the beauty of the beach and the excellent bathing which it afforded. Their impressions were imparted to others and the result was that in the following summer several families from Philadelphia came to the Pier, and were received as boarders by the neighboring farmers. The delicious summer climate and the good bathing soon attracted other visitors. Boarding houses began to be erected, among which the Elmwood and Narra- gansett were pioneers. Other and larger structures rapidly fol- lowed. Still later cottages were built, first in the village and then on the cliffs by those desiring a more quiet life than was prac- ticable at the hotels. Through such a process, continued through the last five and thirty years, Narragansett Pier has become the resort of many families who rarely think of spending their sum- mers elsewhere. Among this number were Christian men and women who brought their religious convictions and habits with them. Leaving the well ordered services of the consecrated church, their first care was to provide here an humbler equivalent for them. And so each successive Sunday found a devout little company gathered in hall or dining room, joining in the services of the prayer book and listening to a printed sermon read b}' one of the number. Very few of the present visitors can realize the healthful influence which these pioneers exercised over its earlier and later character. Finally among other summer guests came an Episcopal cler- gyman, and to him was thereafter delegated the charge of those services. After awhile the dining-hall became overcrowded with worshippers, and it became necessary to procure a larger Toom. The only available alternative was an unoccupied apart- ment in a planing mill standing near the beach. This was rented, was furnished with seats of plank laid on rough logs, with read- ing desk of equally rude construction, and with this primitive * Preiared for the Board of Trustees August 37th, 1883. 576 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'J' COUNTIES. outfit the old planing mill was during several summers the place of stated worship ; but this in time failed to accommodate the steadily increasing numbers. Not a few now began to think that the time had come for a vigorous and united movement towa;rd the erection of a church. Several years earlier a subscription paper had been started and several hundred dollars had been ob- tained ; but the effort had been allowed to languish, the money was placed m the hands of a trustee, and no decisive results fol- lowed. But in the month of August, 1868, a fresh and more suc- cessful effort was made. A printed circular was issued by the Reverend Samuel P. Kelly, an Episcopal clergyman then resid- ing at Wakefield and dividing his services between that place and the Pier. To this paper was appended the endorsement of the bishop of the diocese, and in response to this appeal quite a large sum was pledged toward the erection of an Episcopal church, and to this was subsequently added the amount of the forenamed subscription. A building committee was promptly appointed with power to procure plans and make contracts for the proposed church. Two months later, in October, 1868, a building lot was bought, and a deed of conveyance of the same was made to the bishop of the diocese as trustee. In February, 1869, an act of incorporation was obtained from the legislature of Rhode Island for a body known as " Trustees of St. Peter's Chapel in South Kingstown, Rhode Island," for the purpose of maintaining free public worship at Narragansett Pier according to the rites of the Episcopal church in the United States of America. During the early months of 1869 the new wooden structure was raised and covered, and in the following summer was used as a place of worship. On the 8th day of Sep- tember a gale of short duration but of unusual severity swept over the coast, and the new church was hurled to the ground and converted into an almost worthless wreck. But the feeling of disappointment caused by this unlooked-for blow was not mor- bidly nursed. On the contrary, it seemed to be the starting point of a fresh courage and energy. Scarcely had the fury of the gale abated when the friends of the church, standing around its ruins, decided to sell the mass of broken timbers for whatever price could be obtained, and on the spot opened a new and generous subscription for the erection of another church, no more to be built of wood, but of solid stone. As most of the summer visitors had already returned to their HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 577 homes, all further action was necessarily deferred to the follow- ing year. At this juncture an earnest friend of the church (and one of the trustees) offered for a moderate rental to erect a hall large enough to accommodate the summer congregations, and to give the church the exclusive use of it on Sundays and at such other times as it might be needed for fairs, concerts, lectures and whatever methods might be devised to aid in the erection of the church. When not thus needed it was to be at the disposal of the owner for such secular uses as should be approved by the board of trustees. This proposal was accepted, Canonchet Hall was built, and during the next three summers (1870, 1871 and 1872) it was rented and used by the society under the above named conditions. In October, 1869, a deed of conveyance of the building lot was made by the bishop of the diocese as trustee, to the board of trustees of St. Peter's chapel, their successors and assigns forever. In August, 1870, the corner stone of the present church was laid by the bishop with appropriate services. During the next four years, in the face of discouragements and obstacles not a few in number, the church moved on steadil}'- toward its completion. The two months of summer were the brief harvest time upon which depended the work of the following year. But large col- lections in church, generous personal offerings, energetic devices in the way of garden parties, fairs, concerts and lectures con- tinued to yield the needed resources until the present church was completed, at a cost of seventeen thousand dollars. During the summer of 1873, though in an unfinished condition, it was used as a place of worship. In August, 1874, just four years after the laying of the corner stone, it was consecrated to the service of Almighty God by the bishop of the diocese, to be henceforward known by the name and title of " St. Peter's Chapel by the Sea," and in that solemn service the anxieties of the past were all forgotten in the one feeling of all hearts — that of gratitude to God for his crowning blessing on their labors. Shortly after the consecration of the church a petition was sent by the board of trustees to the bishop and standing com- mittee of the diocese praying that St. Peter's Chapel by the Sea and the board of trustees of the same be recognized as an inde- pendent chapel, congregation and parish. The prayer of the the petitioners was granted, and this is now , recognized as one 3T 578 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of the parishes, in union with the diocesan convention. In August, 1879, the Reverend Charles H. Bixby, then having charge of St. Peter's, was unable to procure a residence for his family. As the only means of retaining him the trustees decided to build a rectory. A committee was appointed with power to act, and at the first meeting of the board in the following year, June, 1880, that committee reported that the rectory had been com- pleted at a cost of about three thousand dollars, and with a debt against the trustees of seventeen hundred dollars. The ministers in charge of St. Peter's have been as follows : Reverends Samuel P. Kelly, Charles H; Bixby, Warren E. Clark and Charles H. Tindell, the present incumbent, who succeeded Mr. Clark in March, 1885. The trustees of " St. Peter's by the Sea " are as follows : Wil- liam R. Babcock, D. D., Newport ; Charles Hitchcock, M. D., New York ; Howard Lapsley, New York ; George V. Cresson, Philadelphia ; Charles E. Boon, Providence ; Ebson S. Taylor, Narragansett Pier ; Freeman Tefft ; and Mr. Chapin, Albany, N. Y. Presbyterian Church. — The Presbyterian church at Narra- gansett Pier was erected in 1875, at a cost of nearly $13,000. Its first pastor was the Reverend C. H. Morrill. The church is most flourishing during the summer months, and is generally presided over by the different ministers who sojourn at the Pier during the summer vacations. Baptist Church.— The Narragansett Baptist church was or- ganized July 28th, 1850. A charter was obtained in October fol- lowing, and a house of worship was erected. January 23d, 1851, it was dedicated. Reverend Robert Dennis was the first pastor ; John Tourgee, deacon ; and Joseph Eaton, clerk. Subsequently this society became extinct, and on December 22d, 1857, a new society organized, and under this covenant Reverend Pardon Tillinghast became first pastor. The society is flourishing. CHAPTER XIV. TOWN OF SOUTH KINGSTOWN (concluded). Wakefield.— Wakefield Mills. — Banks. — Hotels.— Episcopal Churches.— Baptists. — Catholics. — Riverside Cemetery. — Peace Dale. — Oil Mill. — Congregational Church. — Rocky Brook. — Church at Rocky Brook. — Little Rest. — Banks. — Kingston Church. — The Congregational Church. — Glen Rock. — Queen River Baptist Church. — Kingston Station. — Burnside. — Perryville. — Fort Tucker. — Curtis Corner. — South Ferry. — Greene Hill. — Mooresfield. — Life Saving Station. — Light House. — Point Judith Pond. — George W. Sheldon. — Daniel Sherman. — Stephen A. Wright. THE village of Wakefield is situated in the southern part of South Kingstown, pn both sides of the Saugatucket river, and contains a population of about twelve hundred souls. The first record we have of any transaction at this place is in 1696, when John Pole of Boston, Mass., son-in-law to Wil- liam Brenton, sells his share of his father-in-law's land to Na- thaniel Niles, being a part of the Pettaquamscutt purchase, for two hundred and fifty pounds. This is what is now called the Mill estate in Wakefield, or is included in that estate. Nathaniel Niles owned nearly all if not all the land now included in Wake- field. In 1717 Nathaniel Niles deeded to his son, Ebenezer Niles, two hundred acres of land, with appurtenances, houses and mills, etc. In 1718 Ebenezer Niles by deed to his son, Ebenezer, Jr., also makes mention of this mill property. In 1738 Ebenezer Niles sells to Daniel McCoon thirty acres of this land with dwelling house, grist mill and saw mill. The deed reads " that McCoon shall have the privilege of raising the dam from time to time and all times." In 1734 Daniel McCoon's daughter Thankful married Thomas Williams. In 1807 Daniel Williams, Sr., of Rome, Oneida county, N.Y., Thomas and Daniel "ye sons of said Daniel, sen., of South Kingstown, and Robert, son of Daniel, sen., for seven thousand one hundred dollars sell to Rowland Hazard a certain tract of land with dwelling house, grist mill, saw mill, devised by their grandfather, Daniel Mc- 580 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Coon." In 1820 Hazard sold part of this land, including " dwell- ing house, grist mill and carding mill," to William Congdon,and the next year Congdon sold this property to James Robinson for eight thousand eight hundred dollars. John Dockray bought property in Wakefield in 1769. He pur- chased of David Stedman, paying him two hundred and fifty pounds for eighty-five acres. Before the year 1800 John B. Dock- ray built a store at Dockray Corners, and Wakefield from this time had a commercial center for the beginning of a village. Mr. Dockray died in 1817. In the meantime, aside from the ex- tensive business carried on by him in a commercial way, others came in and vigorously pushed forward their interests. Coon Williams built a saw mill, and soon afterward David Mumford erected a grist mill. The inimitable Thomas B. Hazard (Nailor Tom), the blacksmith, had his shop and residence in the place as early as 1780, but the place was not named until about 1820, when the Hon. R. G. Hazard named it after a relative of his. In 1822 Sylvester Robinson built a store, and at that time laid the foun- dation of the prosperous business that has been conducted by the family since that time, and now covering a period of sixty-six years. In 1845 Mr. Sylvester Robinson took his son B. F. Rob- inson into partnership, and from the time of the death of the former, in 1867, the latter has had charge. The store has al- ways been a prominent one in the town, and in former years a very extensive business was carried on in the manufacturing of clothing, there having been as many as twenty tailors at a time employed by the elder Robinson. The pioneer store of the Robinsons, above referred to, was built in 1822. This building is now used as a dwelling house, and is occupied by Samuel Phil- lips. In 1846 the present structure was erected. In 1823 Wakefield had nine houses, including farm houses, be- tweeen Armstrong's Corner and Sugar Loaf hill ; one store, one grist mill, one saw mill, one blacksmith shop, one small factory, and about sixty inhabitants. The town of South Kingstown at that time contained a population of about three thousand. In the spring of 1826 Mr. J. Wilson established himself in business at Tower Hill, and Colonel Willard Hazard did the same at Wakefield. This was the year when the great au- tumn storm took place which continued four days, with thun- der and lightning. At that time the chief articles sold were rum, gin, brandy, molasses, codfish, tobacco and a little flour. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 581 The wants of the common classes were few ; new mm and hard work were about all they got. At this time, when a child was born the first things that were put into its mouth were gin and molasses. Brandy and gin were preferred to new milk. The farmers husked their corn on the strength of new rum. At marriages liquor was served, and every new-born babe had its head bathed and washed with liquor, and every one who came to see the child was offered gin-sling. Mr. Wilson says he sold from ten to thirty gallons of rum to every family during the year. Every year he would sell eight or more hogs- heads of New England rum, one of St. Croix,, sundry barrels of gin, wine and brandy, and three hogsheads of cider, and withal carried on a profitable business. As late as 1837 Wakefield did a thriving business in the whiskey traffic. Teams were on the road nearly every day bringing liquor from Wickford to this place. At this time, however, a great revival occurred in the Baptist church, under the ministrations of Reverend Mr. Hull, a Seventh Day Baptist. The people became so alarmed about their souls' welfare that all business was stopped for a period of about ten days, and every one who was able went to hear the gospel preached, and a revolution on the temperance question took place, and a total abstinence association was organized. In 1841 the Washingtonian movement made its appearance in town. John Hawkins came to Wakefield, a temperance champion from Balti- more. He was right from the gutters in the streets of that city, where he and several others had been gutter drunkards. The inhabitants of the village and the town, in consequence of this movement, became somewhat revolutionized. Teetotalers or total abstinence societies were formed, and hundreds signed the pledge. In 1850 or 1851 the Sons of Temperance organized. They made a move in the right direction, and men of respecta- bility joined the order. In the meantime various other parties came into the place and carried on trading, manufacturing and other industries. Jona- than Eddy was here a long time before the late war. He was succeeded by Porter & Loveland. This firm after a few years' stay sold out in 1853 toG. W. Sheldon, the senior member of the present firm of G. W. Sheldon & Co., and founder of an extensive business in house furnishing goods. Mr. Sheldon's new store was built in 1879. It is one of the largest in the town. In 1859 Mr. Daniel Sherman, wood and coal merchant at the Pier, built 582 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. his store on the hill, and for about thirty years carried on a flour- ishing trade in the grocery line. His son Calvin succeeded his father some two years ago. About the time of the building of the Wakefield and Narragansett Pier Railroad W. C. Caswell es- tablished himself in trade where J. C. Tucker, Jr., is now. He was succeeded by Tucker & Partelow in 1879, who continued there until 1882, when Mr. Partelow erected his present building at the Corners and moved his interests. Tucker remaining at the old stand. The handsome block occupied by Kenyon Brothers for so many years, prior to March 1st, 1888, when the firm was dis- solved, was erected by Mr. Robinson soon after the close of the war. Mr. O. P. Kenyon, the successor to the Kenyon Brothers, erected the building now occupied by Cross & Clarke in 1885. This last-named firm deals in all kinds of men's furnishing goods. They also have the post office in their building. O. P. Kenyon carries staple and fancy dry goods. His store is a large one and is kept well stocked. E. A. & E. J. Knowles, dealers in wall pa- per and upholstery goods, erected their building in 1886. E. J. Knowles is the present owner. Other traders that have lately come in are : B. W. Palmer, ready-made clothing, 1880 ; Charles Jacobs, same, 1888 ; C. C. Pollock, groceries, 1885 ; Stedman Brothers, groceries, 1887 ; and T. F. Holland, same, 1888. The drug business proper, with all its ramifications in the trade of all kinds of medicines and chemicals, druggists' sun- dries and fancy articles, was begun by Wright & Clarke in 1868. Wakefield had been by some people prior to this time called Wrightville, in honor of Stephen A. Wright, who went to California in 1843, and upon his return purchased large amounts of property in the place. W. G Wright was the son of Stephen A. He has been in the drug trade since the above date. He built what is known as Wright's Hall in 1883. In 1885 D. B. Griffin, after a course in practical pharmacy in Brooklyn, N. Y., of two years, returned to the village and commenced business in the old store of William C. Clarke, where he continued one year. In 1886 he erected a model store of its kind, which he now occu- pies. The manufacture of carriages in Wakefield was begun in 1861 by N. C. Armstrong. At this time Mr. Armstrong built a small shop, but continued the business not over three years, when he sold to Stephen C. & William K. Armstrong. The HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 583 business of this firm was continued till 1871, when Charles H. Armstrong came into possession, the firm name now being Charles H. Armstrong & Sons. The firm employs twelve hands. Wood & Curtis, carriage manufacturers, also built their shop at Columbia Corners in 1874. In 1880 their property burned, and it was immediately rebuilt and on a larger scale. They employ six hands. Before the year 1800 William Coon built a saw mill in Wake- field. The Narragansett mill, however, was before this time and beyond the recollection of the oldest inhabitants. The dam of this mill was some little distance above the present one. Da- vid Mumford built a grist mill soon after this. In 1824 James Rodman bought the mill property, and he was succeeded by William Edward and Attmore Robinson. W. A. Robinson bought the property in 1841, but becoming embarrassed he moved to Providence, and the interests were managed by Daniel Burdick till about the year 1850, when Stephen A. Wright, a former blacksmith in the place returned from California and took charge. He had charge from 1850 to 1854 or 1855. It then passed into the hands of Samuel Rodman, who bought the prop- erty in 1857, and held possession until 1861. B. F. Robinson at this time owned a quarter interest in the mills. In 1862 or 1863 Gideon Reynolds purchased the property, and at this time the name was changed to " Wakefield Manufacturing Com- pany." In 1866 he sold to Robert Rodman, the present owner. Under the management of Mr. Rodman the business of manu- facturing Kentucky jeans and doeskins has been successfully carried on these many years, giving a new impetus and life to the village. Mr. Rodman employs about seventy hands in the Wakefield mills, and in addition to his interests here owns three other large mills in other towns. Banks. — At the August session of the general assembly, held at Newport in 1850 Sylvester Robinson, Samuel Rodman, Elisha Watson, William B. Robinson, Isaac P. Rodman, Carder Hazard, Benjamin F. Robinson, Thomas P. Wells, John Wistar, Stephen C. Fisk, Daniel Burdick, James P. Peckham, Attmore Robinson, Hezekiah Babcock, Rowland G. Hazard and Edward W. Hazard were created a body corporate by the name of the " Wakefield In- stitution for Savings," and they and such others as might there- after be elected members of the corporation should be and re- main a body corporate, with perpetual succession. Samuel 584 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Rodman was appointed its first president. The first directors were as follows : Sylvester Robinson, Daniel Burdick, William B. Robinson, Elisha Watson, Isaac P. Rodman, Hezekiah Bab- cock, Benjamin F. Robinson and Edward W. Hazard. The pres- ident and board of directors constituted the board of trustees. Thomas P. Wells was the first secretary and treasurer. In 1860 he was succeeded by Daniel M. C. Stedman. In 1886, on the 26th of October, John E. Babcock was elected assistant treasurer, and March 17th, 1887, treasurer. Following are the names of the presidents : Samuel Rodman, 1850 to March, 1863 ; Stephen C. Fisk, 1863 to April, 1870 ; John Babcock, April 19th, 1870, holds the office at the present time. The general assembly, by an act passed March 24th, 1886, allows the institution to receive on deposit an amount not exceeding one million dollars. The Wakefield Bank was organized in the east room of the present residence of Benjamin F. Robinson, then occupied by Sylvester Robinson. Thomas P. Wells was the first cash- ier, and he served in that capacity until he succeeded his father as cashier of the Kingston bank. About 1851 the South County bank was organized, with D. M. C. Stedman as cashier. The bank suspended in 1859, and after settling up Mr. Sted- man succeeded Mr. Wells as cashier of the Wakefield Bank. William A. Robinson was the first president of the Wake- field bank, succeeded by Sylvester Robinson in 1841. April 27th, 1865, the Wakefield National Bank was organized, with Sylvester Robinson as president, and D. M. C. Stedman as cashier. Sylvester Robinson died in January, 1867, and John Babcock was elected. He resigned April 19th, 1870, and was succeeded by Benjamin F. Robinson. The directors of Wakefield National Bank elected at its or- ganization were : Sylvester Robinson, William C. Watson, Wil- liam A. Robinson, John Babcock, Rowland F. Gardner, Daniel Sherman. The following gentlemen were unanimously elected directors for the year 1887 : John Babcock, B. F. Robinson, Daniel Sherman, John N. Hazard, John A. Brown, John P. Sherman, B. F. Robinson, Jr. At the directors' meeting, held subse- quently to the annual meeting, B. F. Robinson was unanimously elected president, and John E. Babcock cashier for the ensuing year. The cashier made a few remarks as to the growth of the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 585 bank in the past seven years. The total business done for 1886 was $2,771,000, or twice that done in years ago. The total de- posits for 1886 were $1,231,000, or two and one-half times the amount in 1879. The average deposits for 1886 were $82,869.81. The new cashier is a son of Mr. John Babcock of this town, and has been in the bank for a number of years. Several months ago he was elected assistant cashier, and now he succeeds Mr. Stedman, who has been cashier for so many years. Hotels.— The village of Wakefield has two hotels. The Wakefield is the oldest one in the place. The building was formerly owned and managed as a boarding house by Mrs. Thomas Rodman. In 1878 the property was purchased by Doc- tor Wilcox and opened as a hotel. Subsequently Doctor Wilcox employed Edward Rodman as manager of the business. Mr. Rod- man was succeeded by Mr. Phillips, and finally Doctor Wilcox assumed control himself ; but the duties of his profession interfer- ing, he first rented it to Clarke Sheldon. Following Mr. Shel- don came A. W. Britton, George Holland, Lewis Anthony, and Jeremiah Briggs, the present manager. The Columbia House has been recently established. It is un- der the proprietorship of George I. Holland, and receives its quota of patronage from the traveling public. The Episcopal Church of South Kingstown. — A number of families attached to the worship of the Church of England had previous to the year 1700 settled in the Narragansett country. Reverend Christopher Bridge became their regular pastor in 1706, but previous to this time they worshipped in private houses. Reverend Samuel Niles, a native of Block Island, was settled over the Presbyterian or Congregational society in South Kings- town. He had been called, as he says, " by an invitation of sun- dry well disposed persons in said town, which was in the year 1702, or thereabouts." The Reverend Mr. Bridge, a professor of the Church of England, continued in the north part of Kingstown, as it was then called, at the same time that Mr. Niles preached in the south part. Mr. Niles removed from Narragansett to Brain- tree, in Massachusetts, in 1710. The Reverend Mr. Bridge was appointed by the bishop of Lon- don assistant minister to the Reverend Mr. Niles, the rector of King's chapel, Boston. He arrived in March, 1699. In 1703, at the request of the vestry, Mr. Bridge proceeded to England in order to 586 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'J' COUNTIES. solicit subscriptions for the enlargement of the chapel, a measure made necessary by the increase of the congregation. A misun- derstanding about this time arose between Mr. Niles and Mr. Bridge, which grew into a serious division and threatened the peace and prosperity of the church. The bishop of London (Compton) condemned the course of Mr. Bridge, and in his letter to the church says, " therefore I shall not be so earnest for his re- moval otherwise than I am convinced it is impossible for him and Mr. Niles to live together in peace. I know his spirit is too high to submit to that subordination which is absolutely neces- sary he should comply with while he stays at Boston ; so that I would by all means advise him to go to Narragansett, where he may have an hundred pounds per annum sterling, besides what perquisites he may make upon the place, and then he will be his own master." About the 1st of October, 1706, Mr. Bridge came to Narragan- sett. The wardens of King's chapel spoke of him with regard and respect, and the bishop promised him the continuance of his favor. It, however, appears that Mr. Bridge, after his settlement in Narragansett, created a new difficulty, as we learn from the bishop's letter to the officers of the King's chapel, dated in May, 1708. He says : " not being fully informed to what degree and upon what grounds Mr. Bridge had committed that in.solent riot upon the church of Rhode Island." Mr. Bridge did not remain long in Narragansett, but removed to Rye, in New York, where he was again settled in the ministry and where he died in May, 1719. He was a religious and worthy man, a very good scholar and a fine, grave preacher ; his performances in the pulpit were solid, judicious and profitable ; his conversation was agreeable and improving. He was educated at the University of Cam- bridge in England, and was about forty-eight years of age when he died, very much lamented. In 1722 the town of Kingstown was divided, and the church of the parish, built in 1707, fell on the north side of the Kingstown line. In 1717 the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts appointed the Reverend Mr. Guy a missionary over the Narragansett parish. In 1719, at his own request, he was removed to South Carolina. The first entry in the records of the Episcopal church in Kingstown, is the following: HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 587 " Kingstown, in Narragansett, April 14, 1718. " At a meeting of the pari.shoners aforesaid the following per- sons were elected for church wardens and vestry for the year ensuing, viz.: Mr. Samuel Phillips ] Mr. Samuel Albro [ ^^^^^^ Wardens. Mr. Charles Dickinson Mr. Gabriel Bernon Mr. George Balfour Mr. Thomas Lillibridge } Vestrymen.' Mr. John Koltredge Mr. Thomas Phillips Mr. John Albro On the same day Messrs. Dickinson, Bernon, Koltredge and Phillips were sworn into their offices as were also the wardens ; and Messrs. Charles- Dickinson, Gabriel Bernon, Samuel Albro, Samuel Phillips and George Balfour were appointed to go to Boston with a letter from the vestry in order to obtain a bene- faction or contribution toward finishing the church of Narra- gansett. Messrs. Phillips and Albro were also appointed to wait upon the gentlemen of Newport in order to obtain the like benefaction. In relation to Mr. Bernon 's family we find the following entry in the records at a subsequent period. July 11th, 1721, four chil- dren were baptized at Providence, viz.: Mary Bernon, Eve Ber- non, Anna Donnison and Elizabeth Donnison, by Reverend Mr. McSparran. This Gabriel Bernon was a Protestant merchant of an ancient and honorable family of Rochelle, where he was born April 6th, 1644. His zeal in the Protestant cause had rendered him obnoxious to the authorities for some time previous to the revocation of the edict of Nantes, and he was two years im- prisoned. While thus confined a fellow prisoner presented him an edition of the Psalms which, being printed in a minute form, its persecuted owner could readily secrete it in his bosom when surprised at his simple devotion*. Before the massacre of St. Bartholomew the pulpits propagated the maxims that faith need not be kept with heretics, and that to massacre them was just, pious and useful to salvation, Gabriel Bernon. left his native city and took refuge in England, where he remained some time. He came to America soon after, to Providence in 1698 and then 588 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to Narragansett. He was elected one of the vestry of St. Paul's in 1718. The last entry made in the church records by Mr. Guy is dated September 28th, 1718. From that date to April, 1721, the Rev- erend Mr. Honeyman, of Newport, occasionally performed divine services in the Narragansett church and administered the rights of baptism and the Lord's supper. On the 15th of June, 1720, the society of St. Paul's, in order to procure the services of a missionary, sent three letters to Great Britain, one to the Lord Bishop of London, one to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts and one to the Honorable Francis Nicholson. General Nicholson com- manded the expedition that reduced Port Royal and Nova Scotia in 1710. In 1711 he commanded the land expedition to reduce Canada. He was the friend and patron of the Reverend Mr. McSparran. Pursuant to the request before mentioned the Reverend James McSparran was sent as a missionary to Narragansett. He ar- rived on the 28th of April, 1721. At a meeting of the vestry in May, 1721, it was voted "that whereas April 14th, 1718, in the incumbency of the Reverend Mr. Guy, a vestry meeting was held in the church of St. Paul's in Kingstown in Narragansett, when and where Mr. Samuel Phillips and Mr. Samuel Albro were chosen church wardens for that year, and Mr. Charles Dickinson, Mr. Gabriel Bernon and others were chosen vestrymen ; and now whereas by the removal of the said Mr. Guy there hath been a vacancy ever since until April, when the Reverend James Mc- Sparran, the society's missionary, took possession of said church and commenced his ministerial office, there hath been no vestry or church meeting here. It is therefore agreed and unanimously voted by the members of the vestry present at an appointed meeting for regulating and bringing into better order the affairs of the church in the aforesaid parish of St. Paul's, that the afore- said Wardens and Vestry be continued in their respective offices and places until the next and more immediate proper season for entering upon a new choice." The McSparrans emigrated from Kintore, in Scotland, to Ire- land at different periods. The principal branch of them settled at the village of Dungiven, in the county of Derry, in the north of Ireland. Archibald McSparran, grandfather of Reverend James McSparran, was brought to Dungiven by his uncle, the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 589 Reverend Archibald McSparran. The McSparrans were the first that invented grist mills in that neighborhood. From this place some emigrated to America. Reverend James McSparran received a classical education and studied for the ministry, and was sent on a mission to Narra- gansett about the year 1720. He married a lady at the place where he settled. The following are the exemplifications of canonical authority by the meeting of the society : " By these presents, we John by divine permission Bishop of London do make known unto all men that on Sunday, to wit, the twenty-first day of August, A.D., 1720, in the chapel within our palace of Fulham in the County of Middlesex, we the afore- said John, Bishop as aforesaid, solemnizing by the protection of Almighty God the sacred rites of ordination, have admitted and advanced James McSparran, master of arts, at Glasgow, beloved by us in Christ, many ways to us commended for his praiseworthy life, and the gifts of his character and virtues and in the study and knowledge of good letters learned and sufSciently entitled and by our examiners examined and approved to the sacred order of Deacons according to the usages and rites of the Anglican church in this behalf, wholesomely made and provided and him have then and there duly and canonically ordained Deacon. " In testimony whereof we have caused our Episcopal seal to be set to these presents. Given on the day and year aforesaid, and in the year of our translation the seventh. "John, London." [seal]. Tower Hill Church and Church of the Ascension. — The original St. Paul's church in Narragansett was erected some time prior to the year 1722. Upon the division of the old town of Kingstown into North and South Kingstown the church fell about one mile over the North Kingstown side of the line. In 1791 it was incorporated by the name of St. Paul's in North Kingstown, and the purchases and donations both in real and personal estate were made to St. Paul's church in North Kings- town in its corporate name. Its first incorporation was in Octo- ber, 1791, and upon their petition the old charter was repealed, and a new one granted in February, 1794. The location of the building having become inconvenient for both parishes, it was in the year 1800 removed to Wickford, at that time a large village, and the parish divided. Services were 590 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. performed by the same rector in both parishes ; on alternate Sundays at the Wickf ord church and at the Glebe house in South Kingstown. Through the exertions and enterprise of the Rev- erend Mr. Burge, a church was erected on Tower Hill for the accommodation of the South Kingstown parish, and consecrated by Bishop Griswold in November, 1818. This parish, in June, 1834, was incorporated by the name of St. Luke's church ; after- ward, in October, 1838, the corporate name was changed to St. Paul's, and services were performed in the new church instead of the Glebe. In 1833 the church at Tower Hill obtained an ap- propriation from the Rhode Island Convocation for a missionary to preach regularly in the Tower Hill church. The Reverend Erastus De Wolf, one of the missionaries of the Convocation, accepted their call, and performed services in the Tower Hill church for about eight months. He was sent as a missionary to Westerly. As soon as the two churches were supplied with separate services the lands that had been given to St. Paul's in North Kingstown (the property having been obtained originally by joint contributions of both parishes), were satisfactorily di- vided, and from that time alternate services by the same rector ceased. In the autumn of 1834 the parish of Tower Hill again called the Reverend Mr. De Wolf to become their rector, and he con- tinued until 1838. The Reverend Francis Vinton succeeded Mr, De Wolf. In 1840, the Church of the Ascension having been erected and consecrated, the members of the church at Tower Hill joined the Wakefield church, and since there have been but occasional services at Tower Hill by the rector of the Wakefield church. Reverend Francis Vinton organized the Clmrch of the Ascension at Wakefield on the 28th of February, 1839, with six communi- cants. Mr. Vinton offered to procure $1,000, provided the same amount should be raised in South Kingstown. This proposition was readily acceded to by Mr. Elisha Watson and others. Through the liberality of Mr. Watson suitable lots for the church and par- sonage house were obtained, and in a few weeks the required amount for the erection of a church, and a considerable amount for building the parsonage were raised. The building of the church was commenced in the summer of 1839. It was conse- crated on the 3d of June, 1840. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 591 The Reverend William H. Newman was the first rector, the Reverend Mr. Vinton having accepted the rectorship of St. Stephen's in Providence before the church was completed. Mr. Newman divided his labors between the Tower Hill and Wakefield parishes until the consecration. He continued the rector of the Church of the Ascension until Easter, 1841, when he accepted a call to Christ church, Westerly. The rectorship of the Wake- field church was vacant, except occasional ministrations, until February, 1842, when the Reverend James H. Earns was elected minister of the united parishes of Tower Hill and Wakefield. Mr. Eams continued until January, 1846, when he was chosen rector of St. Stephen's, Providence. In March, 1846, Reverend James H. Carpenter became rector of the churches of Wakefield and Tower Hill and held that position until 1849. Mr. Carpenter was born February 14th, 1810. He did not enter the ministry until thirty-five years of age. He died February 8th, 1881. Suc- ceeding him came Reverend James J. Warren till 1852 ; William A. Leach till 1853 ; occasional supplies for a number of years ; J. F. Winkley remained three years till 1867 ; S. P. Kelly till 1870 ; Rufus Clark till 1871 : C. H. Bixby from 1876 to 1881 ; Ed- ward W. Clark, 1881 to 1883 ; Phineas Duryea is the present pastor. Baptist Churches, Wakefield. — The first Baptist church or- ganized in Washington county was in North Kingstown. It was organized about the year 1710. Richard Sweet was pastor for many years, and lived till after 1740. The first church in South Kingstown must, therefore, have been organized subsequently to 1710. It was in existence in 1725, and was represented in the Six-Principle Baptist Association in the year 1729. Daniel Ever- ett was pastor for many years, probably as long as the church existed. In those days the state of religion was very low throughout the country. There were many unconverted ministers, while for- mality and hypocrisy prevailed. In 1733-35 arose the great re- vival of religion in New England, in which Jonathan Edwards, of Northampton, acted an important part. In the years 1739-41 Whitefield was in this country. This great awakening affected the churches in this part of the country, and dissensions and di- visions afflicted the church in South Kingstown, as well as those in North Kingstown, Warwick, Greenwich and other places. Whitefield, differing from Wesley, accepted the doctrine of par- 592 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ticular redemption, and placed great importance upon it. This view was accepted by those who were influenced by his preach- ing, and the doctrine became a subject of contention. The ag- itation lasted a number of years. Elder David Sprague became converted to this view, and brought some Separatist ministers to the Narragansett country to preach. The majority of the church at North Kingstown, where he was ordained, were opposed, and shut him out of the meetinghouse in the year 1750. He gained influence, however, in the South Kingstown church, and it be- came divided on the subject. It was about this time that the pastor, Daniel Everett, died. The church never recovered from its division, but finally became extinct. In the fall of 1750 a Separatist church was formed in the town. As this was at the time of the divisions in the Everett church, which from this date disappears, there seems little doubt that the new church was composed of those who separated under Elder Sprague 's influence from that church. The old church, if thus left with those who had only a name to live but were dead, could scarcely be expected to survive long. We may, therefore, with much probability, assume that the new church was the vital part of the old one continuing its existence, while the dead part was sloughed off and perished. But the vitality of this surviving part seems to have been very feeble. Their pastor was a Mr. James Rodgers. Mr. Backus says of him that, " He had en- tangled himself so much in the affairs of this life, and was in- volved so deeply in debt, that he went off into the State of New York." His pastorate had lasted about twenty years. The church did not long survive such a ministry, but was "divided and dissolved." The church was organized on the policy of in- tercommunion of Baptists and Congregationalists. It seems to have been upon this subject, in part at least, that division arose. The scattered fragments, however, still had life enough to pre- vent entire dissolution. They gradually centralized in three sep- arate portions, resulting in three distinct churches. The first of these was organized in the year 1774. This took the name of the First Baptist Church of South Kingstown, or at least was so known. It was located in the western part of the town, near Richmond, and afterward held its meetings regularly in Richmond, and was known as the First Baptist church of Richmond. This church never possessed a meeting house. It died out after the year 1813, having been in existence not far from forty-five years. Q • C *C N < X a. „ w < u < a H (.) W n () h <: u w < H u 2 I a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 593 Twenty years after the organization of this church, in the year 1794, a number who still held to mixed communion, had a revival among them, and, others joining them, they organized a church, Mr. Elliot Locke becoming their minister. He used to preach in the old meeting house at Weight Corner, which a few years later went to decay. Mr. Locke had a powerful voice, and used it without stint. Colonel Moses Barber, who recently died at an advanced age, told the following incident : " He, then a young man, used to attend the Elder's preaching at the old meet- ing house. At one time the land had been suffering from drought. Young Barber went to church and took his seat in the gallery. The elder in his prayer remembered the parched ground and suffering crops, and poured forth with his full and powerful voice earnest petitions for rain. As the young man heard these appeals rolling forth with such energy, it seemed to him, unconverted though he was, that such a call must reach the heavens. Before the close of the service faint, distant rum- blings of thunder were heard. He began to be an:Jfous to reach home before the answer of the prayer should come, which he now fully expected. The service closed, he hastened for his horse, and mounting rode away at full speed ; but before he had gone far the heavy rain overtook him, and he was obliged to take shelter on the way." Elder Locke retired from the ministry in the year 1805, and his church afterward disappeared. It seems to have been in exist- ence not much over ten or eleven years. Thus two of the three branches of the old stock died out. The remaining one con- tinues to the present day. The formal organization of the church did not take place until April 12th, 1781. . The church was recog- nized by a council of the neighboring churches on the 14th of May of this year. The history of the church falls into two periods of nearly equal length and quite distinct in character. The first, extending over forty-nine years, from 1781 to 1830, was characterized by long pastorates and along interval. The second period, from 1830 to the present time, has been marked by short pastorates and short intervals. During the first period the church had no meeting house, while during the second it has never been without one. Doctor Benjamin Weight, a physician, was the first pastor. It was under his preaching that the church had been gathered. His ordination was delayed for two months after the recognition, 38 594 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and took place on the 28th of July. The services were held in an orchard near the present residence of Nicholas Northup, on the south road from Kingston, about three miles from that vil- lage. The identical tree under which he stood was long remem- bered. He continued as pastor for twenty-seven years, and nominally until his death, three years later, in 1811. No special revival took place during his pastorate. He was a good man and much respected. He is remembered as being in his latter years a white haired gentleman of respectable appearance, and some- what corpulent. He was slightly below the medium height. He rode a " black pacer," carriages having not yet been introduced into the town, and had a habit of humming as he rode. He wore a pair of high-topped boots, projecting above his knees, and pre- senting a striking appearance when he sat down. He was fond of children. He was fond of' fishing, and kept a boat at Bass Rock. He invented a wooden seine to resist the ravages of the horse mackerel, which were very numerous and very destructive, but on trial it proved too buoyant to be of practical use. He also invented a contrivance for drawing up his boat out of the water by means of rollers. During his last years he was dis- abled by paralysis. One day near the close of his last sickuess his strength returned to him, and he was seized with a desire to preach again. He called together his household and farm hands, was propped up in bed, and discoursed to them from the text Psalm XLVI:4. — " There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God." It has been said concerning this effort, which was his last, that he preached his own funeral sermon. Perhaps this was his intention. When his funeral occurred, however. Elder Gershom Palmer, then lately settled at Exeter, conducted the services and preached. On the farm which he owned are now to be seen two nameless and mound - less graves, marked by rough stones. Beneath the sod at this spot are understood to rest the remains of Doctor Weight and his wife. They had no children. After Elder Weight became helpless about three years before his death, Enoch Stedman, a member of the church, and then about thirty years of age, was ordained, not as an elder, but as an Evangelist. The church evidently did not believe in a plurality of elders. The ordination took place in the court house at Kingston in 1808, probably in January. Elder Sted- man's pastorate is celebrated for a remarkable revival of re- .\ '. f\u The HOME of the LATE ROWLAND GIBSON HAZARD. LL, D. PEACE DALE, R L AfiTOTYPL, E. atensTAur, n y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 595 ligion which extended from Escoheag Hill, in West Greenwich, to Point Judith. Elder Gershom Palmer of Exeter, preached and labored through the town with him, and both of them bap- tized converts, Elder Palmer into his church, and Elder Stedman into the South Kingstown church. This was the origin of the South Kingstown branch of Elder Palmer's church, of which a small remnant still remains. Elder Stedman, during his pastorate, began making visits to Block Island for preaching and gospel work, and finally resigned and removed there per- manently, becoming pastor of that church. The historical sketch of the Block Island church dates his connection with them as early as 1814. But this must be based on his visits there, for the South Kingstown church reported his name to the association as pastor in the years 1814-15-16. His relation to the church is understood to have terminated about the year 1817. He died on Block Island August 24th, 1867, eighty-nine years of age. Though lacking a liberal education, he was a good preacher for the times, and was much esteemed. His connection with the church continued about nine years. An interval of thirteen years followed the removal of Elder Stedman, during which the flock was left without a shepherd. It became very weak. During some time in the earlier part of the interval Elder John Hammond, from one of the neighboring towns, preached. He came in his wagon, which, on his return, the people sometimes loaded up with farm produce, in acknowl- edgment of his services. He was a cripple. For some time in the latter part of the interval Elder Gershom Palmer preached periodically. Both churches used to hold meetings together. The Palmer church was the stronger. The spiritual dullness of this period was broken in the winter of 1828-29 by a revival which commenced in the Peace Dale woolen mills. One of the girls had a strange and impressive dream. She seemed to be in company with a number of the girls with whom she associated in the mill, when the Lord came to her, bringing in his hand a beautiful cup, which shone with a lovely golden light. With winning and condescending grace he offered the cup to her and bade her drink from it. The dream very deeply affected her, and remained impressed on her mind, and on the next day she gathered the girls together in the mill and told it to them. Some of the boys gathered near and heard the recital. Some of the little group were affected to tears, and deep and anxious feelings 596 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. followed and continiied. As a result, one after another turned to the Lord to receive from him the proffered grace, and the re- vival spread. Some of the converts joined one church and some the other, according to choice or the influence of friends. This event put fresh life into the church, and efforts were now made to secure a preacher. As a result, the services of the Reverend Jonathan Wilson were obtained in May, 1829. He made it his special aim to secure the erection of a meeting house. In this he was entirely successful, and the house was dedicated Novem- ber 29th of the same year. A "local habitation" having been obtained, a "name" also was now formally adopted, and the church henceforth became the " First Baptist Church of South Kingstown." Mr. Wilson having accomplished the purpose for which he came, went elsewhere, and the church fixed upon Jonathan Oat- ley to be ordained as their pastor. His pastorate continued for about three years. He subsequently labored in a number of dif- ferent places, and died in Killingly, Conn., August 11th, 1878. The pulpit was next supplied permanently by Reverend Erastus Denison, of Mystic, Conn., and afterward by Reverend Flavel Shurtleff , who took up his residence in Wakefield. In the winter of 1835-36 Reverend John Read commenced preaching to the church and became its pastor. His pastorate is famous for the celebrated " Hull Revival," which took place in the fall of 1837. Reverend N. V. Hull, of Alfred, N. Y., being providentially in town, was invited to preach. A revival of great power com- menced, which resulted in the addition of about eighty persons to the church. Mr. Read was a shoemaker by trade, and worked at his bench for the support of his family. The sudden and large increase in numbers opened the way for a pastoral change, and Mr. Read resigned early in the year 1838. He died in his nine- tieth year, on the 18th, of October, 1875. Nathan A. Reed, a young student of Brown University, was next called, and was ordained in Wakefield September 19th, 1838. In the fall of this year Mr. Hull again preached in a ser- ies of meetings, and another revival followed of somewhat less power than the previous one. Mr. Reed was a popular pastor, but remained less than a year. He was followed by Reverend Silas Leonard for about a year. Mr. Leonard, on leaving the church, preached for a time in the vicinity of Curtis Corner. The next pastor was Reverend Cyrus Miner, who continued about Q < < X ~ M Q IE Q Z - o <: u O t < w a w D a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 597 eight months, and was followed by the Reverend Wilson Cogs- well for six and a half years, from 1842 to 1849, thus passing the longest pastorate of the second period. Two considerable re- vivals were enjoyed, one in 1843, the other in 1846-47. Mr. Cogswell's health failed, and he was compelled after leaving this field to relinquish preaching. He afterward resumed it in the West, but finally died at Springfield, Ark., September 5th, 1871, at the age of sixty-one years. His widow and family are now residents of Wakefield. The next pastor was Reverend H. C. Coombs, who continued about a year and six months, closing in September, 1850. In the years 1851-2 Reverend Arthur A. Rose served as pastor about ten months. At this time Second Advent doctrines caused some excitement. In 1852 the present house of worship was completed. The pro- gress of the building was somewhat complicated on account of the original builder abandoning his work. The house was erected immediately beside the old one, which afterward was moved across the road a short distance to the southwest, where it now stands, converted into a dwelling. A considerable debt remained until the year 1864, when it was entirely removed. The first pastor in the new house was Reverend Isaac M. Church, who continued for one year, to April 1st, 1854. Another church ed- ifice with free seats was then erected across the river, by Mr. Stephen Wright, and in this Mr. Church preached for a number of months. This new enterprise, however, did not prove a suc- cess. The building was sold a few years later to the Roman Catholics, who now occupy it. Mr. Church continued to reside in the village. He died at Davisville, R. I., October 28th, 1874, at the age of sixty-seven years. Reverend Nathan A. Reed commenced a second pastorate with the church in August, 1854, and remained a little over two years. His labors were blessed with a revival in which about sixty persons were baptized Mr. Reed is still engaged in the ministry, being now settled at Amboy, 111. The pastorate of Reverend Albert G. Palmer commenced Octo- ber 1st, 1857, and continued three and a half years. During a revival in 1858 about forty persons were added to the church. Doctor Palmer was afterward pastor of the church in Stoning- ton. Reverend Thomas Atwood and Mr. Henry A. Cooke, the latter not then ordained, each served the church about four months in 598 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the years 1862-63. Mr.'' Cooke afterward became a successful pastor of the Seamen's Bethel church in Boston. Reverend Christopher Rhodes became pastor June 1st, 1864. He remained about one year and a half, and then moved to Brooklyn, N. Y. During the subsequent interval and in the winter season, in the early part of the year 186.7, a revival unex- pectedly commenced. The interest was great and the house was crowded, at one time causing the floor slightly to give way. Reverend Isaac M. Church engaged in the preaching and the services of the Reverend Alfred B. Burdick, a Seventh-Day Bap- tist minister of Westerly, were also obtained. Over i^iinety per- sons united with the church. On the first of November next following this revival Reverend Edwin S. Wheeler was welcomed to the pastorate and remained two and a half years. He was followed by Reverend Lyman Partridge, who continued for a year and nine months. Next was the pastorate of William H. King, which continued until August 1st, 1875, two years and seven months. Reverend E. K. Fuller of Providence and Reverend Joseph W. Carpenter of the Exeter church, each supplied the church for a few months during the succeeding interval until November, 1876, when Reverend S. F. Hancock entered upon the position and continued for three years. He was followed about November 1st, 1879, by Reverend William H. Pendleton and he in turn by the present pastor, Theodore S. Snow. Catholic Church in South Kingstov^'n. — Before the year 1852 very few members of the Catholic church were known to settle within the bounds of South Kingstown. About that date, however, it is ascertained that the first visit of a Catholic priest to that locality took place. His name was Father Tucker. In the house then known as the Walker House at Peace Dale he as- sembled the few Catholic families residing in the neighborhood to be present at the first mass ever celebrated in the town. By the efforts of Mr. John O'Reilly, a well known Catholic resident, regular visits were made subsequently to the place by Father Lenehen, who resided at East Greenwich. Occasionally services were held at Mr. O'Reilly's house, and at other times in the building known as Willard's Hall, near Sugar Loaf hill, Wake- field. Several other priests from neighboring parishes paid visits to the place at long intervals without having any fixed place for holding worship until the year 1854, when, by the Z K O o <; w h Q Z w <; J J < ^ w K ^ AHTOTYPE, E, BIERSTADT, N. Y. W N H " 2 K B H > 31 D B 3) 13 r I— I < HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 685 years old, found a home with his father's brother, John T., above mentioned, and from then until now has lived at the Gardner homestead in Exeter, a part of which he inherited on the death of this uncle in 1878. As representing this old family — its only male survivor in the town — his portrait accompanies this sketch. From his uncle's home he had such meagre chances for an ed- ucation as the small rural school might give until old enough to attend the seminary at East Greenwich, after which he was in Bryant & Stratton's school at Providence, and later in 1868, he graduated at Schofield's Commercial College in that city. In 1879 he was married to Martha A. Crandall of Phenix, R. I. They have three boys : John T., born in August, 1882 ; Z. Her- bert, Jr., born in February, 1884; and Thomas C, born in Feb- ruary, 1887. On political questions Mr. Gardner has always acted with the republican party, and as representing the principles of that party he has been frequently chosen to fill places of trust, and has served several years as chairman of the town republican com- mittee. Besides filling several minor offices, he was three years commissioner of the town asylum, and in 1879, 1880 and 1881 he represented Exeter in the lower house of the state, legis- lature. After an interval of one year he was promoted by his fellow townsmen to a seat in the state senate, and re-elected in 1884. For three of these five terms he was chosen without oppo- sition. During his last year as senator he was a delegate to the republican national convention at Chicago. He is an officer in Exeter Grange, P. of H., and a director in the Landholders' Na- tional Bank of Kingston, R. I. In agricultural methods he has usually preferred to operate in tested rather than in experimental lines, and has found himself fairly successful ; and while engaging exclusively in the arts -of tilling as a business he finds, as do scores of the farmers of to- day, that the duties of the husbandman are entirely consistent with a style of living in the home, which in the earlier days would have been regarded as the height of extravagance. Music, painting and much of literary cultivation are finding their way to rural homes, where in the sterner days — the formative period — they were, even to people of as ainple means, unknown as a luxury, and undreamed of as a possibility for their suc- cessors. 686 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Clarke S. Greene. — Since the honorable public service of General Nathanael Greene as an officer with Washington aug- mented the prestige of the family name, well established in the colony of Rhode Island by its deputy governor, John Greene, the blood and the fair fame of this old family have been transmitted through residents of nearly every town in the state. The subject of this sketch, Clarke Sisson Greene, of Exeter, traces his descent from Peter Greene, who before the revolution was a resident of Warwick, being himself, as the family tradi- tion has it, a descendant of the deputy governor. This Peter Greene died about 1765, and left at least two sons. The older, who bore his name, inherited by the English law his landed property ; hence we find William, the younger son, the only other of which there is record, left at an early age to his own re- sources and to the care of the widowed mother. By her he was apprenticed to a blacksmith to learn that trade, but before he was seventeen his master had joined the continental army, and before the close of 1776 the young apprentice, against the pro- tests of his mother, had enlisted for six months. Before the ex- piration of that period his knowledge of blacksmithing had ren- dered his services valuable, and he was persuaded to re-enlist for the remainder of the struggle, and served until the declaration of peace, when he was royally rewarded in his country's currency, of which thirty dollars served to secure a breakfast. He shortly after settled in Exeter, where he bought a small place of seven acres and began business at his trade, with which he was by that time familiar. Many of the houses of that day were built with nails from his anvil at the Hollow, and here he married his wife Marcy, a daughter of Pardon Tillinghast, a wealthy man of West Greenwich, whose lucrative business in rum and molasses gave him not only a fair estate, but a sobriquet which proved as last- ing, and to his death he was known as " Molasses Pardon." To William and Marcy (Tillinghast) Greene were born four children: William, who died young; Pardon T., Ruth, who be- came Mrs. Benjamin Reynolds, and died in Ohio ; and Christo- pher C, who resided many years in Exeter, where he was mem- ber of the general assembly and a long time president of the Ex- eter Bank. Pardon T. Greene was born in November, 1792, and spent most of his minority with his grandfather Tillinghast, whose name he bore. He became an influential man, married Deb- 'fj^ y ^ otA^i^ ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 687 orah, daughter of Clarke Sisson, of Richmond, R. I., raised a large family, and died in May, 1858, widely known and greatly respected. The eldest of his children, Clarke S.,is the only male survivor of the ten residing in the town. The younger of his generation were ; Elizabeth, now Mrs. Benjamin Arnold ; Marcy T., Ruth S., Mary Antoinette, William, Ascenath, and John T., besides two still younger, who died in infancy. Clarke S. Greene was born January 21st, 1821. His early years were passed at his father's home until about 1842, when began a period of fifteen years during which he was away, and within which occurred his marriage to Mary T. Whitford, daughter of Amos Whitford, a wealthy farmer of Exeter. In 1859, after the death of his father, Mr. Greene succeeded to the homestead, and purchasing the interests of the other heirs, he has since made it his residence. His political views are embodied largely in the tenets of the democratic party. In the Dorr controversy of 1842 he was a second lieutenant in the militia which was called out. Later he ranked as first lieutenant, and finally held a major's commission. His political career maybe dated from 1854, at about which time he took a seat in the town council, and has served in that body some thirty years. In 1861-63, during the most trying days of the civil war, he was sent to represent Exeter in the general as- sembly. He is now president of the town council for the twen- tieth term. Notwithstanding his remarkably long career in pub- lic office, he has also since June, 1870, been town treasurer, and has frequently been called upon to settle estates in this and ad- joining towns. He has given his lifetime in a business way to agricultural pursuits, which he has found at once congenial and profitable, and is enjoying with his good wife the fruits of their common toil near the place of his birth, surrounded by the fast friends which his public and private life have won. Reverend Daniel R. Knight was born in Scituate, R. I., August 15th, 1805. He was the son of George and Mercy (Stone) Knight and grandson of Colonel Joseph Knight. Among his ancestors may be found the names of some of the most prominent of the early settlers of Rhode Island, viz.: Ezekiel HoUiman, Thomas Angell, Stukeley Westcott and Reverend Chad Brown of Providence and Samuel Gorton of Warwick. He possessed in 688 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. a large degree the sterling traits of character for which his ancestors were noted. His opportunities for gaining an educa- tion were limited to the common schools of his native town, yet he gave himself with a rare devotion for many years, without pecuniary reward, to the performance of his duties as a minister of the gospel, laboring upon his farm during the week and preaching and exhorting upon the Sabbath. A brief summary of his life is given in the following extract from an obituary no- tice published in the annual report of the Rhode Island and Massachusetts General Six Principle Baptist Association for 1877, of which body he was a member. " He embraced religion and was baptized by Elder Thomas Tillinghast March 23d, 1828, in Scituate, but became a member of the Coventry Maple Root church. He was ordained Deacon about 1833, and when the Scituate Union church was organized in 1841, he was one of its members, and continued in connection with said church until August 2d, 1859, when he united with the General Six Principle Baptist church of North Kingstown. Brother Knight was ordained to the ministry in Scituate, October 18th, 1849, and was a very earnest worker in the cause of the Master. He left Scituate in the spring of 1844, and moved into the town of Exeter, where he resided until his death, which took place April 27th, 1877, in the 72d year of his age. He was stead- fast in the faith, of industrious habits, of good character, and much beloved and respected by those Avho knew him. His last words, ' I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith,' were a fitting expression of his earnest and blameless life." He married first, in March, 1825, Susan Colvin, daughter of Moses and Olive Colvin. She died July 2d, 1858, and he married second Mrs. Ruth E. Johnson of Exeter, R. I. His children, all by the first marriage, are : Alvin Lloyd, Cynthia Ann, Daniel Bradford, Jane Frances and Sheldon Tillinghast. The Lewis Family.— This family, for fully two hundred years identified with the slow and tedious growth of agricultural inter- ests in Exeter, traces its descent from John Lewis', of Westerly, R. L, where he was, October 29th, 1668, admitted a freeman and where he died prior to 1690. The fourth child in his family of seven was James Lewis'. He was born in the same town and there married Sarah Babcock, daughter of James and Sarah (Brown) Babcock, with whom he HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 689 removed to Exeter, where he died in 1745. He probably passed most of his life in Exeter, where his eight children were born. The eldest of the eight was James Lewis'. He was married Feb- ruary 27th, 1742, to Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Kenyon, of Charlestown, R. I., and died in 1776. The eldest of his seven children took the name James also, and on December 2d, 1766, at the age of twenty-one, was admitted a freeman of Exeter, where he was born. This James Lewis' married Nathan Barber's daughter. Thank- ful, of Westerly, and at his death in 1825 left fourteen children, each of whom reached maturity. The eighth child in this large family was given the name of his mother's father and is still re- membered in Exeter as Nathan Barber Lewis. He was born March 5th, 1790, and died June 5th, 1830. With his descendants, constituting the sixth, seventh and eighth generations of the family in Rhode Island, the remainder of this sketch will have mainly to do. His wife was Sally Richmond, a daughter of Stephen Rich- mond, of Exeter. She was two years his senior and survived his early death for nearly forty-two years. To them were born six children : James, Lucy, Thankful (deceased), Esther, Nathan Barber and Sally Ann, five of whom are still living. We have noticed the early death of the father of this generation. Out of that calamity came a great blessing in the development of the life and character of James, the eldest son, to whom fell the bur- dens and the responsibilities of the household. He was born on the 11th of October, 1810, and had not seen twenty years when, with a widowed mother and five younger children largely de- pendent upon his industry and prudent management, he was driven to the development of those rugged qualities of mind which have since become the great mainsprings of his success in life. He still lives, at a ripe old age, in the full enjoyment of mental and physical vigor, the wealthiest man in Exeter whose fortune, developed by a single generation, has been wrung entire- ly from the unfriendly face of the earth. His early days were contemporary with the primitive schools of the rural town in which three months in the winter for a few years was all a poor farmer's son might hope to enjoy. His early religious training was under Methodistic influences and he be- came a member of the Methodist Episcopal church at Rockville, where his first wife Mary Sisson, also belonged. This society 44 690 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. subsequently removed its church building to Locustville, and Mr. Lewis found it more convenient to worship nearer home with the Baptist Society at Woody Hill. Although this change in his church associations did not indicate any change>of faith or creed on his part, 3'et he was made a deacon in the Baptist church and maintained that relation for fifteen years or more. When the Woody Hill church was disbanded Deacon Lewis and his second wife, Fanny M. Hall, became members of the Method- ist Episcopal church at Locustville where he now worships. Deacon Lewis was first married September 2d, 1838, to a daughter of Lodowick Sisson, of Hopkinton, R. I. This union was blessed in the birth of seven children : James Harrison, who died young ; Nathan Barber, now known in the state as Judge Lewis, of Wickford ; James Cortland, who died young ; Mary Frances, now Mrs. George F. Barber of Exeter ; John Nelson, Peleg and Saunders. Judge Nathan B. Lewis was born at the homestead, February 26th, 1842. The deacon, with habits of ceaseless industry firmly anchored in his nature, bent all the forces at his command to the acquisition of wealth, and thus his boys, so long as they remained at the farm, were safely shielded from forming idle habits, and a brief interval in winter was the natural limit of their school advantages at first. On the intellectual development of Judge Lewis the private select school and the seminary at East Green- wich exerted positive and permanent influences, and when seven- teen years old he taught his first term at Griswold, Conn., where his father's brother, N. B. Lewis, a prominent and wealthy farmer, resided. On August 15th, 1862, Judge Lewis enlisted as a private in the Seventh Rhode Island Regiment, and without a day's ab- sence for any reason he shared the fortunes of the Seventh until mustered out with the regiment, June 9th, 1865. At the battle of Cold Harbor, where Greeley says ten thousand men were cut down in twenty minutes, Sergeant Lewis was one of only seven men in Company F, who came out of the fight unhurt. After the war he completed a mathematical and commercial course at East Greenwich, and was variously engaged until the spring of 1860, when he began three years of farm life near his birthplace, in Exeter. That spring he was elected to the legis- lature, and held the seat three successive terms. In May, 1872, he purchased a farm at Pine Hill, near 'the cen- ter of Exeter, where he resided until the summer of 1888. In ^Ml$^ -^ ? V(f ^ g ^^^^BkT''^' ■'-, - 9@ 4 1 ^ A 1 B ,' H H ■ 1 1 •fW^ y j v*^^*^j 1 m ^^^^^^1 1 1 I cv-yyttJ' tXy^ ARTOTYPE, L. UiEHSrAI HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 691 these sixteen years the course of public affairs in the town was modified and moulded very largely by the acts and influence of this young man, who held many of the town offices during that period, and it is safe to record it here that at the end of his six- teenth year as town clerk of Exeter that town had not another man so popular as he. His services as superintendent of schools, assessor of taxes, postmaster, coroner and trial justice at -^-arious times made him intimately acquainted with the people, and he has very often been named in wills or otherwise to settle private estates. In May, 1886, on the establishment of the district court system in Rhode Island, he was elected by the general assembly to pre- side over the Second Judicial district of the state. Judge Lewis has cultivated his social tastes through member- ship with the orders of Odd Fellows, Masons and Patrons of Husbandry, and in the Charles C. Baker Post, G. A. R., he has been quartermaster since its organization. He has been twice married. His present wife is Nettie, daughter of O. B. Chester, of Westerly, R. I. They were married August 15th, 1880. Mrs. Lewis (deceased), was Rowena K. Lillibridge, of Exeter, who died July 5th, 1879, after being married but little more than ten years. Only her oldest son, Aubrey Clifford, survives, the three younger — Agnes Mabel, Howard and Nathan Richmond — having died in infancy. Aubrey Cli^ord Lewis thus represents the eighth generation included in this sketch. He was born in Ex- eter, April 7th, 1870, and is now a student in the classical course at the Westerly High School, with the class of '90. John Nelson Lewis, the Judge's only brother living, five years his junior, was educated in public and private schools, and took a commercial course at Schofield's Business College at Providence. Since 1872 he has been bookkeeper at Voluntown, Conn., for Ira G. Briggs & Co., manufacturers. There he was married some two years later to Nettie Lee of that place. He was postmaster under Grant and Arthur, has held several local offices there, and in the last election was elected .by a very flattering majority to the Connecticut house of representatives. Of the two youngest of Deacon Lewis' children, Peleg, who died at twenty years of age, had just entered upon a career as teacher, and Saunders, who died three years later at the age of twenty- three, had established a medical practice at Usquepaug, after graduating in medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. 692 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The mother of this seventh generation was an estimable woman of remarkable good sense and to the close of her life, May 3d, 1849, she bore her part in the plans and purposes of her husband, whose schemes for accumulating property were then beginning to be realized. To her family of young children in February of the following year another mother came, under whose care they were reared to manhood and womanhood. She died in April, 1888. Mr. George F. Barber, who married the only daughter of Dea- con Lewis, is a man in the prime of life, has been constable and member of the town council for several years, and has held other responsible positions. He is engaged in farming and lumbering. Their marriage has resulted in eight bright, intelligent children — four boys and four girls. The home of Deacon Lewis is in the western part of the town where his ancestors have lived and died for two centuries. Here by the most persistent industry, untiring vigilance and careful financial management he acquired a competence almost exclu- sively by farming on the sterile soil of Exeter. A man of remark- able individuality, strong religious convictions and unswerving honesty, he enjoys the respect and confidence of the communi- ty in a high degree. Never having time and perhaps little in- clination to social enjoyment and for the formation of a large ac- quaintance with men, in the circle where he is known he is nev- ertheless regarded as a man of marked financial ability and moral worth. Philip A. Money. — In the records and the traditions of the early residents of Exeter we find the name of Samuel Money, from whom descended all who are known to have borne this family name — a name never widely represented in New England, and now nearly extinct in Exeter. Some of his posterity are among the substantial residents of New York, in the upper val- ley of the Hudson river, and one was recently in Congress from a western state. Robert Money was a son of Samuel, and at one time time re- sided near Pine Hill, in Exeter, where his son Samuel was born, he being of the third generation of the family of which definite data is obtainable. The next generation is represented in Exeter to-day by Daniel Lyman Money, who was born in 1813. His first wife, who died within a year of their marriage, left no issue, and in 1842 he was again married to Mehitable J. Smith, a lady ten ^'^^'-^/ AUTOTYPE, E. BIERSTACiT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 693 years his junior. Her parents were Norris and Waity (Locke) Smith, of Exeter. Her father, who died when she was but three years of age, was a son of James Smith of Exeter, some of whose collateral relatives of the same family name are among the pres- ent residents of Newport. To Mr. and Mrs. Money, both still living at the homestead in Exeter, have been born two sons and three daughters : Norris C, born November 27th, 1842, died at twelve years of age ; Pris- cilla A., born in 1845, died in 1850 ; Deborah, born in 1850, and lived to see her twenty-second year; Philip A., born April 28th, 1852, the only survivor of the five, his sister Ellen, six years younger, having died in 1872. The year Philip A. was born his father represented Exeter in the general assembl5^ where he became an ardent admirer of the then Governor Philip Allen, and indicated his faith in the sturdy old democrat by giving his entire name to his infant son. The next year Mr. Daniel L. Money was again chosen to the legisla- ture; for he has always been esteemed by his fellow townsmen as a fair minded, substantial citizen, and several times before and since he has been able to serve his town in the discharge of lesser public duties. In 1876 he was again called to take the Exeter seat as representing the democratic party, to which he has always adhered. The almost complete extinction of the Money family in Exeter has been noticed. Joseph Money, a cousin of Daniel L-., was a captain of militia here after the revolution, and is represented here now by one grandson, George E. Money, a promising lad of fourteen. The homestead where the subject of this sketch saw his first April morning is one of the few old structures of pre-revolution- ary days, which in their original form serve well the purposes of modern times. Its huge stone chimney, standing on a hundred square feet in the center of the building, bears no testimony to the names of its sturdy builders who thought only to chisel its date — 1753. The half dozen fire places, the spacious cellar, overlaid with smooth-hewn white oak, the roomy apartments, all cased with cleanest pine, held fast well into their second century by the hand made nails of that period, all serve to give the old manse a historic air, which is duly appreciated and highly prized by its present occupants. The well worn flax spinning wheel in the garret is a record of a custom and a branch of farming, 694 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. both of which have passed away with the generation which, practiced them. In this home the usual round of rural sports and toil filled up the boyhood days of the young man, and the impulses he re- ceived at the district school contributed their share toward the intellectual force which by careful observation and reading he has since developed. One of the teachers whom he pleasantly remembers as teaching the first and also the last of the terms he attended school, is Albert B. Richmond, now a prominent resi- dent of Richmond, R. I. In 1873, at the age of twenty-one, Mr. Money found himself, as the only survivor of his father's children, invested with the care and responsibilities of the farm and the family. On the 23d of June of that year he was married to Ellen L. Sweet, whose father Albert is mentioned elsewhere as the only survivor of the children of Deacon Daniel Sweet. Her mother, Clarrissa D., is a daughter of Asaph and Elsie (Whitman) Vaughn. To Mr. and ^Irs. Philip A. ]\loney have been born a son, Allen, now living, and a daughter who died in infancy. Their son was born June 8th, 1876, and his development of mind and character at the school and at the farm gives promise that in him of the sixth generation, under the broader opportunities now to be obtained, the best characteristics in both the families are to be developed. He keeps with strictest care the trusty old fire-lock, an heir- loom in the ^Nloney family, which his grandfather's grandfather carried on the shores of the Narragansett in 1776, and which also saw service in the old French war. In his religious views the subject of this sketch is in accord with the great Baptist denomination, and both he and his wife are members of the First Baptist church of Exeter. In its Sun- day school work Mr. Money is deeply interested, and has been the superintendent for the past eleven years. In ISSl he was one of the five charter members of Exeter Lodge, I. O. of O. F., and six years later took the same relation to the establishing of the Exeter Grange, P. of H., which is now in successful operation. His political ties are with the democratic party. In his public as in his private life he has steadily kept the confidence of his townsmen, and is not regarded as a radical party man. His first term in the legislature was in 1882 as state senator. This was followed by two terms in the lower house, to the latter of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 695 ■which he was elected without opposition. He is now a member of the democratic state central committee. In 1874 he became a member of the Washington County Agri- cultural Society, and the following year was put on its executive committee, and by annual elections still fills that position. The diversified farming interests of the people of Exeter are each represented on Mr. Money's farm, but he has found sheep and wool growing the most satisfactory. In securing for themselves and for their posterity better churches, school houses and places for public meeting, the peo- ple of Exeter have sacrificed much of their labor and their means, and in this respect as well Mr. Money has gladly and fully borne his part. John T. G. Sweet, — The Sweet family of western Rhode Is- land, for many years numerous in North Kingstown, Exeter and adjacent towns, are understood to be of English extraction. The Exeter branch of this old family are descended from John Sweet, who with his father John, came to the Narragansett country be- fore the American revolution, when but two years of age. The name John had descended to them from direct male ancestors, and has been transmitted with various initials to every genera- tion since. This John Sweet, who came to Exeter when a child, had a de- scendant, either son or grandson, who bore his name and served in the colonial army in 1776. One of the sons of John Sweet of the revolution was Daniel, who afterward was known, and is now remembered in Exeter, as Deacon Sweet. The homestead in Exeter had descended to the oldest son in each generation under the English rule of primogeniture until after the war, when it was passed to Deacon Daniel Sweet. He had six children, of whom only Albert, the youngest, survives. The home place passed to the Deacon's son John G., who became a man of prop- erty, married Hannah, daughter of Robert Gardiner, and raised a family of three, all of whom are living. He was a plain, sub- stantial farmer in his time, and twice represented Exeter in the state senate as a member of the American or Know Nothing party. His children are John T. G., Daniel and Mercy Ann. She married Jeremiah Fenner, of Providence, who died leaving one daughter, Lena S. Fenner. Daniel Sweet, twice married to two daughters of Isaac Arnold (Betsey and Phebe), has four children : Mercy O., Daniel R., John G., and Mary H. 696 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The oldest of these three is John Tillinghast Gardiner Sweet, the subject of this sketch. He was born July 12th, 1828, in Ex- eter, at the farm mentioned as the Sweet homestead, a portion of which he now owns, whereon is the original Sweet home, much remodelled. His early days were passed in the routine ways of a farmer's boy, and when he was nine years of age his parents removed to the Robert Gardiner place, which Mr. Sweet now owns and occupies, and during the ten following winters and two in- tervening summers he obtained whatever he could in rudimen- tary education from the public school. This was supplemented with a few months at Wickford Academy, and how the chances were improved may best appear when we find the young man teaching for three succeeding winters in his native town. On the 22d of November, 1852, at the age of twenty-four, he married Patience M., daughter of Samuel Whitman, of East Greenwich. She has three brothers, James, Horace and Albert, and two sisters, Emeline and Hannah, still living, herself the youngest of the six. To Mr. and Mrs. Sweet have been born six children : Mary Addie, August 7th, 1856; Hannah E., August 28th, 1859; Annie W., September 27th, 1862; Emma P., September 9th, 1866; John T. G., Jr., November 17th, 1870, died January 27th, 1875 ; and Stephen A., November 24th, 1873. Of this number Mary A. is Mrs. Z. A. Swan, of Providence, and has one child — Bertha A. Swan. Annie W. is Mrs. Bradford D. Kenyon, and has two chil- dren — Cora B. and Willis B. Soon after his marriage in 1852, Mr. Sweet rented a farm of his father and began that system of mixed husbandry which he has found both agreeable and profitable. Later he was two years on the Hammond farm in North Kingstown, after having been one year in Cranston, and finally returned to Exeter and bought the farm where he now resides, which had been the home of his grandfather, Robert Gardiner. This he leased to others for twelve years while he operated the Jenks farm in South Kingstown six years, and resided an equal time in Provi- dence. Though never a politician in the modern acceptation of the term Mr. Sweet has always acted with the republican party and has been for several years and still is, a member of the Exeter town council. In religious matters he is a Baptist, and with his wife and two PHOTO BV SCH0F1ELD Bl WESTERLY, R y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 697 daughters, is a member of the Liberty Baptist church. He is a member of the Exeter Grange, P. of H., and as an Odd Fellow is a member of Exeter Lodge, Uncas Encampment, and Orilla Lodge, D. of R. He was first lieutenant in Company D, of the Thirteenth Rhode Island Militia, a company composed mainly of Exeter men in 1861-65, who were not called into active service. In his chosen avocation Mr. Sweet has generally been content to follow well-tried and approved methods, but in a few respects he has chanced to be the pioneer of progress. In 1861 he brought to Exeter the first mowing machine ever owned in the town, and by practice has demonstrated the profitable utility of commer- cial fertilizers for the soil peculiar to some parts of Exeter. To- day, at the ripe age of sixty, he is in the enjoyment of a reasona- ble competence, the fruits largely of his having practiced the gospel which he has always preached — of industry and economy. CHAPTER XVII. TOWN OF RICHMOND. General Featux-es of the Town and Places of Note. — Early Legislation. — Promi- nent Settlers. — Thomas Clarke, the Surveyor. — Disposition of Lands. — Town Records. — Town Officers. — Early Mills. — Wagons, when First Used. — Schools. — Hope Valley. — Arcadia. — Wyoming. — Carolina Mills. — Shannock. — Clark's Mills. — Kenyon's Mills. — Woodville. — Woodville Seventh Day Bap- tist Church. — Plainville. — Wood River Chapel. — Hillsdale. — Tug Hollow Mills. — Usquepaug. — Queen's River Baptist Church. — Richmond Church. — Biographical Sketches. THE town of Richmond is centrally situated in Washington county, distant from the city of Providence some thirty- five miles. It is bounded on the north by the town of Exeter, on the west by Wood river, on the east by Exeter and .South Kingstown, and on the south by the Pawcatuck river, which separates it from Charlestown. The town comprises an area of about forty-two square miles, having an average breadth from north to south of about seven miles, and from east to west of about six miles. The soil is a gravelly loam, and the surface consists of rolling upland and level plain. The forests furnish some valuable timber. The agriciiltural products consist of hay, corn, oats, some rye, potatoes, butter, cheese and some others. It is believed by persons who have made diligent research that the town of Richmond was named in honor of Edward Richmond, who was attorney general of the colony in 1677-80, and who took an active part in the settlement of the town of Westerly. Edward Richmond and John Richmond, Jr., were settlers, and John Richmond, Sr., owned a house lot in Westerly. The following is a list of the noted places of interest in the town : Villages. — Wyoming, Hope Valley, Woodville, Wood River Mills, Carolina, Shannock, Clark's j\lills, Kenyonville, Usquepaug, Arcadia, Barberville (all the above are partially in adjoining towns), Richmond Switch, Willow Valley, Hillsdale. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 699 Hills.— Vine, Mountain, Wilbur, Bailey, TefPt, Shannock, Wild Cat, White Brook, Isaacan, Roger, Old Chimney. Ponds.— BQa-ver, No Bottom, Conob, Lamb, Tefft, Long, Beaver Dam, Goshen, Wells, Larkin. Sioamps.— Moonshine, Buck, Reed, Pine, Coward's Hole, Lake, Great, Moose. Rivers. — Beaver, Indian Ashuniunk, Queen's, Wood, Charles. i?rw/fej.— Meadow, White, Moonshine, Tony, Barber's, Roaring, Conob. Rocks.— Cat, Goat, Pine, "Black Linn" Ledges. Plains. — vScotch, Collins. Miscellaneous. — Great Woods, Buttonwood Corner, Great Mead- ows, Red Dirt, Quarrelsome Corners, Mooretown, Black Ground, Feather Bed Lane, Devil's Punch Bowl. In May, 1669, Westerly was organized by the general assem- bly as the fifth town in the colony ; it embraced the present towns of Westerly, Charlestown, Richmond and Hopkinton. On the fourth Tuesday of August, 1738, a town was set off, bearing the name Charlestown. The line of division commences where Wood river emerges from Exeter, and follows the course of this river to where it empties into the Pawcatuck. It then follows the course of the Pawcatuck three miles ; thence it runs directly south to the open sea. On the third Tuesday of August (18th), 1747, Richmond was by an act of the general assembly set off as a separate town. The act authorizing the separation reads as follows : " Be it enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority thereof, it is enacted : That the town of Charlestown, in the County of King's county, in the Province of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, be divided into two towns, by a river that runs across said town, by the name of Pawcatuck river. All the lands to the southward of said river, shall retain the name of Charlestown ; and that all the land to the northward of said river, be, and hereby is incorporated into a township, by the name of Richmond, and to have and enjoy the like privileges as the other towns in this colony." The history of this town during its settlement, and for a period of sixty-nine years is the same as that of Westerly, this territory then being included within the limits of that town. As our family traditions pass it down to us, the first settlement here made was by heroic lovers, who, despite the opposition of 700 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. forbidding parents, committed themselves to each other, and the providence of God, and tried the fortunes of the ■wilderness. Landing on the east side of Pawcatuck river, at the mouth of Massatuxet brook, they built themselves a wigwam. There they lived in friendly intercourse with the natives and reared their family. This couple were John Babcock and Mary Lawton. Their first child, James Babcock, was said to be the first male white child born in the Narragansett territory. From these sprang the numerous family of Babcocks in Westerly and vicinity. When their place of retreat was communicated, by the natives, to settlers at Newport, others came and settled around them. About the same time, 1642, a colony from Connecticut, and others from Massachusetts, settled at Wickford. The first definite history at hand of the branch of this family that settled in Richmond was in the person of George Babcock, who, in 1709, was one of the recipients of the Shannock pur- chase. His portion took the south end of Shannock hill and, on the west side, extended to the Pawcatuck river. He died May 1st, 1756, in his eighty-third year. His wife, Elizabeth, died May 1st, 1762, aged ninety years. Elisha Babcock, son of the above, was born May 18th, 1718. Simeon, his son, was born May 31st, 1745, and died September 21st, 1806. Mary Babcock, his widow, died in Richmond, July 20th, 1847, aged ninety-seven years. Simeon, his son, lived on the west side of Shannock hill, where he built and operated a tannery, etc. He was drowned at the Charlestown breach. Members of his family still reside in the vicinity. Joseph H. Babcock, of Carolina, and Edmund S. Babcock of Wakefield, belong to branches of the same family. Samuel Barber came from England and settled in what is now Richmond about 1714. His son, Caleb Barber, was ten years old at that time. He lived where Deacon J. C. Baker now lives, and died in 1816, aged ninety-two years. Elder Benjamin Barber, son of Samuel, lived near the school house on Tefft hill. Moses Barber, another son, lived on Bald hill. Alanson Barber, of Arcadia, was grandson, and Archibald Barber, of Carolina, a son of Caleb Barber. The Clarke family, 'now so very numerous in Richmond and vicinity, can be traced back to 1559, as follows : William Clarke, one of the first settlers in what is now Richmond, was the son of Joseph Clarke, who died at Westerly, January 11th, 1726, aged HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 701 eighty-three years. This Joseph was the son of Joseph Clarke, who was born December 9th, 1618, and died June 1st, 1694. He was named an assistant in the charter of 1663, and was brother to Doctor John Clarke of Newport,who procured the charter from the Crown. Doctor Clarke was a man of wealth and renowned for integrity and patriotism. The last named Joseph Clark was the son of Thomas Clarke, who was born on All Saints' Day, November, 1570. He died July 27th, 1627. His father, John Clarke, was born February, 1514, and was buried April 7th, 1598. He was the son of John Clarke, of whom all that is known is, that he was buried March 3d, A. D. 1559. We will now return to the record of William Clarke. He was born in Newport in 1670 and died in Richmond February 28th, 1767, aged ninety-seven years. He had four brothers, Samuel, Thomas, Joseph and John. His son William was born at New- port in 1702, and died at Richmond, March 28th, 1786. He had five other sons : Thomas, Jonathan, Caleb, Robert and Elisha. The sons of the last named William were : James, William, Gideon, Joshua, Peter and Weeden. Gideon was the grandfather of John G. Clarke of South Kingstown. Jonathan was the grand- father of Halsey P. Clarke. Weeden lived and died at Shannock hill, in Richmond, leaving four sons : Weeden, Peleg, (Doctor) Pardon and William. The children of Jonathan Clarke, above named, were : Jona- than, Abraham, Josiah, Nathaniel, Tabitha, Sarah, Benjamin, Hannah and David. David was born October 14th, 1756, and married Mary Cross. Their children were ; Sarah, Ann and David. This David Clarke married Susannah, daughter of George Perry, and their only living child is Halsey P. Clarke. Thomas Lillibridge came from England and was admitted a freeman in Newport May 6th, 1701. He purchased land in West- erly, now Richmond, in 1711, and moved there in 1720. His es- tate included the farm now owned by Wanton Lillibridge, one of his descendants ; also the farm owned by N. K. Church, and perhaps more besides. He died August 29th, 1727, leaving a widow and eleven children. His widow, Sarah, died in January, 1761. Their children were : Thomas, Robert, Elizabeth, Cath- arine, Sarah, Mary, Esther, Benjamin, Edward, John and Pa- tience. Thomas, Jr., died February 8th, 1757, in his fifty-fifth year, intestate. His children were Thomas, Edward and Eliza- beth. Thomas, under the English laws, inherited the estate. 702 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Robert had the farm now owned by Wanton Lillibridge, which he sold to Edward, brother of Thomas 3d, in whose line it is now held. Branches of this family settled in Newport, South Kings- town and Exeter. Henry Collins embarked in the ship " Abigail " on the 30th of of the 6th month, 1635. In 1639 he was a member of the Salem court. He was a starch manufacturer on Essex street, in Lynn, Mass. He had a grant of eighty acres of land. His four chil- dren, Henry, John, Mary and Joseph, were born in England ; the last the year they embarked for America. This John and his wife dwelt in Lynn, where they had eighteen children. The oldest was named John, who, with his father, was drowned. Af- ter this the mother called the youngest John, who had been named William This John married Susannah Dagget. This Susannah Dagget, when a small girl, wandered into the woods and lost her wa}^ Near night she was found by the wife of an Indian chief, who took her to her wigwam and promised to re- store her to her home in the morning. .She made her a bed of bear skins. At a late hour the chief came home and told his wife that a council of war had been held, and a plan was arranged to exterminate the pale faces. The wife hushed him, saying there was a little pale face in the wigwam. The chief then said she must die ; but the squaw said she had pledged her faith, and the child must be spared. To this the chief assented, provided it appeared that the little pale face proved to be asleep. So, tak- ing a fire-brand, he passed it over her head, and finding she did not wink, spared her. In the morning she was conducted to her home. She gave the alarm, and when the Indians came to ex- ecute their plan they found the colonists prepared, and their purpose was foiled. The little pale face had done it ! John and Susannah had ten children. Their son John was born in the town then called AVesterly the 21st of the twelfth month, 1716, old style. He was married to Mehitabel Brown. They had nine children. Amos, their third child, was born in 1749, and in 1767 married Thankful Clarke. Their children were : Timothy, Abel, Isaac, Amos, Susan, Ruth, Hannah and John. This Abel was the father of Amos, the " Rural Bard," recently deceased, and of Abel, now residing in North Ston. ington. Conn. Isaac married Mary Collins, his second cousin, daughter of Joseph Collins. Their children were : William, Nancy, Thankful, Amos, Mary, Isaac, Catharine, Joseph, Eph- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 703 raim C, Bathsheba, John W., Charles W., and Thomas J. Isaac, senior, lived in North Stonington till after the birth of his son Isaac. He then moved into Richmond and lived eighteen years, when he moved into Hopkinton, where he died. Isaac, Jr., lived at Usqtiepaug. John Moore came from England and settled in the east part of Richmond. His sons were David, John and George. This Da- vid was the father of Silas Moore, deceased. David, the son of Silas, lived where his father lived and died. His wife was the granddaughter of Joseph James, who came from England in company with John Moore. Thomas Clarke, the surveyor, was a citizen of this town. For his services the proprietors gave him a tract of land consisting of three hundred acres, of his own selection. His house stood some distance from the road, and the people greatly marveled at his taking one of the most rocky portions of the town for his share. His house is marked by the remains of a chimney only ; a short distance west of this spot the old pioneer lies buried in the center of a brush pasture, and his grave is overgrown with briers and brush. It is a mile or more east of Arcadia, and near it a new house has been built closer to the road. The following are the names of heads of families in the town of Richmond in 1774, two years previous to the declaration of in- dependence. They are arranged alphabetically, and the number of members in each family is given. Some have the representatives of their names in town at the present time. Mary Adams, 2 ; Stephen Adams, 5 ; Joseph Austin, 10. James Brown, 9 ; Elisha Babcock, Jr., 4; Ezekiel Barber, 8; Caleb Barber, 10 ; Nicholas Barber, 8 ; Benjamin Baker, Jr., 2 ; Edmund Burdick, 5 ; Clark Bailey, 5 ; Elisha Babcock, 13 ; Thomas Barber, 14; Samuel Barber, 6; Benjamin Barber, 11 ; Benjamin Baker, 11 ; Solomon Baker, 5 ; Samuel Bailey, 4 ; Richard Bailey, 11 ; John Bentley, 9 ; Ezekiel Bentley, 6 ; Eunice Brownell, 4 ; Jonathan Boss, 4 ; William Bentley, 10 ; John Baggs, 9 ; Jeremiah Boss, 7 ; Peter Boss, 9 ; Joseph Boss, 8. Oliver Colgrove, 11 ; Arnold Clarke, 3 ; Joshua Clarke, 8 ; Wal- ter Clarke, 7 ; Joshua Clarke, 7 ; Isaac Clarke, 8 ; Thomas Clarke, 4 ; William Clarke, Jr., 6 ; Jedediah Collins, 7 ; John Cory, 2 ; Jer- emiah Colgrove, 6; John Clarke, 8; Oliver Clarke, 4; William Clarke, 7; James Clarke, 9; Joseph Clarke, 10; Simeon Clarke, 11 ; Samuel Clarke, 5; Benjamin Card, 7; Samuel Cory, 6. 704 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Hannah Dake, 4 ; Daniel Dyer, 6 ; Elizabeth Dyer, 2 ; John Dyer, 7. John Enos, 4; Benjamin Enos, 11; Joseph Ellsworth, 4. John Frazer, 6 ; John Foster, 3. Joshua Griffin, 2; James Griffin, 5; John Griffin, 4; Philip Griffin, 5. Ruth Hall, 6 ; Elisha Hall, 11 ; George HoUoway, 6 ; Paul Hern- ington, 8; Stephen Hoxsie, 9; Solomon Hoxsie, 7; Joseph Hox- sie, 12 ; Ebenezer Hall, 6 ; Nicholas Holloway, 1 ; Samuel Hollo- way, 7; William Hernington, 4 ; Barnabas Hoxsie, 8; Job Hox- sie, 5; Joseph Hoxsie, Jr., 11. Sarah Irish, 4. Joseph James, 3 ; Jonathan James, 5 ; Benjamin James, 7 ; Jon- athan James, Jr., 7 ; James James, 16 ; Patience James, 7 ; Thomas James, 3; Ezekiel Johnson, 12. Elizabeth Knowles, 6 ; Mary Kinyon, 2 ; William Kinyon, 10 ; Benedict Kinyon, 9 ; Thomas Kinyon, Jr., 6 ; Sylvester Kinyon, 5; Robert Knowles, 8; John Kinyon, 7; Nathan Kinyon, 10; Thomas Kinyon, 6 ; Thomas Kinyon (T. D.), 11 ; Sylvester Kin- yon, Jr., 7; John Kinyon, 7. Nicholas Larkin, 5 ; Elisha Larkin, 2 ; David Larkin, 2 ; George Lewis, 8 ; Thomas Lillibridge, 13 ; Edward Larkin, 7 ; Stephen Larkin, 4 ; Isaac Lewis, 3 ; Nathan Lewis, 9 ; Edward Lillibridge, 9 ; Lasonlet Larkum, 9. John Moon, 3 ; Robert Moore, 8 ; Jonathan Maxson, 8 ; Job Moon, 7; David Moore, 8; Nicholas Mosher, 15; Gideon Mosher, 7. George Niles, 5 ; David Nicholas, 5 ; George Ney, 6 ; Andrew Nicholas, 3. Robert Pettis, 1 ; Thomas Potter, 9 ; William Potter, 3 ; Wil- liam Potter, 3d, 7 ; David Potter, 8 ; Aounnor Pierce, 3 ; Jane Philips, 4 ; Nathaniel Pullman, 3 ; Jonathan Potter, 13 ; Smitern Potter, 6 ; William Potter, Jr., 6 ;- Robert Potter, 4; Incomb Pot- ter, 3 ; Ichabod Peter.son, 8; Bartholomew Philips, 8; Edward Perry, 12 ; John Pendleton, 6. William Reynolds, 6 ; James Reynolds, 4 ; David Remington, 5 ; Weight Rogers, 1 ; William Reynolds, Jr., 3 ; Robert Roger, 3; Samuel Rogers, 6; Thomas Rogers, 7; Thomas Rogers, Jr., 10. William Sheldon, 4 ; Samuel Staunton, 5 ; Rodman Sisson, 7 ; Robert Stanton, 10. Joseph Tifft, 12 ; Benjamin Tifft, 8 ; Samuel Tifft, Jr., 4 ; Ezekiel Tifft, 8 ; Joseph Tifft, Jr., 10 ; Samuel Tifft, 9 ; Jeremiah Tifft, 6 ; HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. TOiJ William Tifft, 12 ; George Tanner, 9 ; Peleg Thomas, 9 ; Jon- athan Tindon, 9. Jeremiah Vallitt, 9. Samuel Wording, 4 ; Thomas Weaver, 5 ; James Webster, 10 ; John Webster, Jr., 11 ; John Woodmansie, 5 ; James Woodman- sie, 3 ; Sheffield Wilcox, 3 ; Stephen Wilcox, Jr., 6 ; John Wil- bour, 8; Samuel Wilbour, Jr., 7; William Watson, 4; John Webb, 5 ; John Wording, 4 ; John Wright, 6 ; John Webster, 9 ; Joseph Woodmansie, 7; Joseph Woodmansie, Jr., 4; Edward Wilcox, 7 ; Stephen Wilcox, 7 ; Robert Wilcox, 3 ; Samuel Wil- bour, 2; Peter Wilbour, 7; George Webb, 10; Maccoon Williams, 9. The whole number of families in town at date as above, 185 ; highest number in one family (James James'), 16 ; there were three numbering one only, each a male ; the whole number of persons in town at that date, 1,234; whole number of legal voters four years later, 77 ; one Indian family of nine persons ; parent, Jonathan Tindon. Besides these there were twelve In- dians and fourteen blacks living with, and numbered above, in the families of whites. The population of the town at various dates has been as fol- lows : 1748, 508 ; 1755, 829 ; 1774, 1,257 ; 1776, 1,204 ; 1782, 1,094 1790,1,760; 1800, 1,368; 1810, 1,330; 1820, ],423; 1830, 1,368 1840, 1,361 ; 1850, 1,784 ; 1860, 1,964 ; 1865, 1,830 ; 1870, 2,064 1875, 1,739 ; 1880, 1,949 ; 1885, 1,744. The disposition of lands in the town of Richmond seems to have been a difficult matter for years, and the general assembly appointed a committee to dispose of vacant lands held by au- thority of the colony. This committee sold a large tract June 28th, 1709, known in the records as the Shannock purchase. This tract extended from Exeter line on the north to Pawcatuck river on the south ; on the east it was bounded by Beaver river, and on the west, by a meridian passing at the east end of the cemetery at the Wood River church. The purchasers of this tract were twenty-seven in number, among whom were : James Adams, John TefiEt, Daniel Wilcox, Thomas Utter, Peter Parker, Eber Crandall, Daniel Tennant, William Utter, Samuel Lewis,'John Enos, Nicholas Utter, Jr., Daniel Brown, William Gibson, Weston Clarke, William Clarke, George Babcock, George Foster, Samuel Perry, Joseph Brown, John Witter, Nicholas Utter, Francis Col- grove, Jeremiah Crandall. How many of these purchasers be- came actual settlers on these lands is not now known, but many 45 706 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of the family names appear in the subsequent history of the town. Nicholas HoUey is reported as one of the earliest settlers in town. He had his estate near Glen Rock. Richard Chappell is one of his descendants. Joshua Clarke was quite an early resident on the east side of Beaver river. Benjamin Perry bought, in 1747, the farm where Honorable H. P. Clarke now lives. Part of the house now standing there was then on the place. This was afterward the home of his son Edward, and after him his grandson George Perry, the grand- father of the present owner. Town Records. — It has already been noted that Richmond was made a town in 1747. The first town meeting was held Au- gust 28th, ten days after the act of incorporation. " Captain Richard Bailey was chosen Moderator. James Adams and Stephen Richmond were chosen to receive the votes put in at this town meeting. John Webster was chosen Town Clerk for the rem.ain- der of the year, and engaged. " Voted, That John Webster, Capt. Richard Bailey, Joseph Hoxsie, James Adams, William Potter and Joseph Clarke are chosen the six Town Councilmen for the remainder of the year, and engaged. " Voted, That Joseph Enos be chosen Treasurer for the re- mainder of the year." The minor officers for the town were elected much in the same order as at the present day. Captain Richard Bailey and John Webster were chosen depu- ties to attend the general assembly to be held in King's county on the last Wednesday in October. Whether the town council were disposed to make their office unnecessarily burdensome to the town, or whether a penurious jealousy sprang up among the the freemen, it is difficult to say now. The action of a town iheeting, only a few years after or- ganization, shows that political servants were disposed to be fed at the public crib more than the people were willing to ratify. The following was passed as an act of the town meeting : " Whereas, The Town Council of this town has been at con- siderable charge to the town for their meeting together on the business of said town, for a remedy whereof for the future : " Be it enacted by said Town, That from and after the first Tuesday in June next ensuing. That said Town Council bear their own expenses for the future." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 707 The French and Indian war soon followed. The manner in which the town met the exigency will appear from their action in town meeting, held on the 3d day of November, 1756, as fol- lows : " Be it enacted in the Town of Richmond, by the freemen and freeholders thereof. That if any man or men be pressed as above said, and is unwilling to go in His Majesty's service. That then the inhabitants of the town shall forthwith hire some able-bodied man, or men, to go in his or their room, or rooms, or pay the ransom for the impressed man, or men ; and the ransom or hired man or men shall be paid by a public town rate, to be assessed on the inhabitants of this town of Richmond in proportion ac- cording to their ratable estates now stated by the colony afore- said, except the poll money. " And be it further enacted by the freemen and freeholders of this town of Richmond, that all the money raised and promised to pay the volunteers, and those pressed, or drawn, or raised in this town of Richmond by a special act of the General Assembly of the colony aforesaid, to be raised on the 21st day of October last past, the said money shall be repaid unto every man or men, that has paid or lent money unto the above said soldiers as a bounty or encouragement to enlist. "And be it further enacted. That the aforesaid money shall be repaid by a public town rate to be assessed on the inhabitants of this town of Richmond, in proportion according to their ratable estates now stated by an act of the colony. " And be it further enacted by the freemen and freeholders of the town of Richmond, That all the officers that are or shall be elected as ratemakers, or assessors, or collectors, treasurers, or other officers, in executing any part, or parts, of the aforesaid act or acts, shall have no fee or pay for their labor or trouble, but shall do it for nothing. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid. That every person that shall be rated for the charge aforesaid, shall bring in his proportion of said rate to the Town Treasurer of said Richmond at or before the 7th day of December next. And if any person, or persons, shall neglect to bring in his or their rate, as above said. That the Town Treasurer of said Richmond grant forth his warrant to distrain so much of his or their goods and chattels as will pay their respective rates." The patriotism thus displayed in relation to the French and 708 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Indian war was but a prelude to a readier and more self-sacrific- ing consecration in the war of the revolution, as will be seen by the record. At the last town meeting under colonial authority, held June 4th, 1776, one month previous to the declaration of in- dependence, we find the first record of war-like measures made by this town toward the war of the revolution. That record says : " Joseph Woodmancy, Jonathan Maxson, John Clarke, Samuel Clarke, Samuel Staunton, William Kenyon, Thos. Lilli- bridge, Richard Bailey, Jr., Joseph Woodmancy, Jr., and Nicholas Mosher, have agreed to give one day each toward making the town's lead and powder into cartouches." " Voted, That Caleb Barber have an order to the Treasurer for three shillings, it being for a box of cartouches." The next town meeting was held August 27th, 1776, when the town enrolled itself as Richraond in King's county, state of Rhode Island, thus indorsing the declaration of independence made July 4th, previous. This meeting ordered that their " old sched- ules made before the revisal of the late laws, be used to the mak- ing of cartouches." It was also " Voted, That Capt. Joseph TefEt, Jr., and Capt. David Potter be a committee to receive of the State the town's proportion of salt, and bring it into town." At a town meeting held September 16th, 1776, it was "Voted, That the soldiers ordered to be raised in this town, by the committee appointed to act during the recess of the Gen- eral Assembly, have their wages advanced to three shillings per day, including what is paid them by the government, which shall enlist into the service. " Voted, That captains of the companies in this town be, and are hereby directed to call their respective companies together according to the alarm list, at one or more places on the 19th instant, in order to raise the above mentioned troops. " Voted, On the 20th of September, That Major Richard Bailey and Samuel Clarke be appointed a committee to receive of Wm. Tefft, Esq., twenty-one guns, bayonets and cartouch boxes, and deliver them to the soldiers raised in this town, and that the same be branded with the letter R before delivery. " And that they also be directed to receive of the said William Tefft the remainder of the guns, &c., when finished, giving their receipts for the same, * * * and that said committee fur- nish the ensign and each soldier with a blanket and ' snapsack ;' HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 709 * * * and that every soldier furnishing himself with a blanket and ' snapsack ' shall be allowed six shillings therefor. " Voted, That if there is not a sufficient sum of money in the treasury to procure the above blankets, &c., the treasurer be au- thorized to hire a sufficient sum for that purpose. " Voted, That Captain Maxson be allowed one shilling per day for three months if not discharged sooner." At a town meeting held November 29th, 1776, it was " Voted, That this town give each soldier, now to be raised, one shilling per day over and above the State's pay, as an en- couragement for their enlistment, during the time they are in service. " That William Tefft, Esq., be a committee to act in conjunc- tion with the Committee of Safety in the equipping of the sold- iers now to be raised." December 3d, 1776, in town meeting : " Voted, That the treas- urer be directed to hire sixty-three pounds to pay the soldiers now at Rhode Island the town's advance money to them by their return. Voted, That Richard Bailey have an order of seven pounds, four shillings, it being for blankets for the soldiers." While the freemen and freeholders showed their readiness to tax themselves to meet the demands of their country in the hour of its trial, the young men and the patriots of middle life entered the ranks of the militia, as mintite men, to answer any call that a new phase of danger might demand ; or, with still greater sacri- fice, thrust themselves away from home and its endearments, to endure the fatigue and sufferings of camp life in the field forces of the revolution. Camp life then was no holiday sport, as pic- tured by the historians of these days. They endured long and fatiguing marches with scanty food, and still more scant cloth- ing ; sometimes marching over the snow and frozen ground, which they trod with the blood trickling from their chilled and wounded feet. This they endured while the wages were low and often uncertain, from which to forward supplies to their needy families. Nor were our mothers and daughters wanting of faith, and the true spirit of consecration in those times. They gave their sons, brothers and lovers words of blessing and words of cheer as they sent them forth to stand in the gap of their coun- try's peril. They stood not in passive idleness to await the result, or to depend on the strong arm of their sons and brothers for support. In the eloquent lanuguage of Reverend F. Denison : 710 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. "While the men were in camp and in battle, the women managed the home affairs. They not only turned their earnest hands to the distaff and loom and needle. They rose up to do all home duties. They conducted the dairy, they managed the horses, cat- tle and flocks. They even grasped the plow and the sickle." The foregoing extracts from the records give a clear cut view of the spirit with which our progenitors met the exigencies of the war of the revolution. More such might be made, but these are sufficient for the purpose for which they are made, viz.: by the examples of the past, to prompt us to noble endeavors in the present, that shall live to cheer and quicken their and our suc- cessors in the interests of the future. The war having, after years of toil and hardship, been brought to a successftil issue, and our independence having been acknowl- edged, a delicate and difficult task was committed to our sages and patriots ; the duty of giving to the people a constitution that should bind the people of the states in a union, wise, safe, per- manent and successful. After four months of earnest delibera- tion the convention adopted a constitution which they had framed, and submitted it to the people of the states for their approval, through their conventions. A more determined opposition to this constitution was mani- fested in Rhode Island than in the other states, so that this state was the last to accept it as the law of the land, and to enter into the Union. But as in duty bound, by an act of the legislature, this constitution was submitted to the action of the freemen of the several towns in town meeting. The vote of this town, after much discussion, was taken March 24th, 1787. The vote taken shows the conservative tendencies that then prevailed, and the slowness of the people to adopt new and untried principles in important public matters. There were at the time : Legal voters in the town, 77; present and voted, 69 ; voted against adopting the constitution, 68; voted /or its adoption, 1. As these votes were taken yea and nay, the names of the voters remain on the record. The name of the man who could dare to stand alone was Jonathan Maxson. The town clerks of Richmond have been : John Webster, from August 28th, 1747, to June, 1749 ; William Clarke, to June, 1750; John Webster, to June, 1751 ; Simeon Perry, to August, 1754 ; Stephen Hoxsie, to June, 1755 ; John Tefft, to June, 1762; Thomas Lillibridge, to June, 1777; Thomas Tefft, to June, 1812 ; Rey- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 711 nolds Hoxsie, to June, 1853 ; Halsey P. Clarke, present incum- bent. The town officers in 1888 were : Senator — Charles J. Greene ; representative — Alvin H. Ecclestone ; school committee — Charles J. Greene, elected in 1886 ; Charles L. Frost, elected in 1887, re- signed in 1888, and George A. Perkins elected; Edward W. Shedd, elected in 1888 ; moderator — Henry F. Woodmansee ; town clerk — Halsey P. Clarke ; town council — 1. Henry F. Woodmansee ; 2. Edward W. Shedd ; 3. Charles D. Chase ; 4. George P. Farley; 5. Alvin H. Ecclestone ; town treasurer — Charles J. Greene ; town sergeant — William W. Lillibridge ; justices of the peace — Abel Tanner, Othenial F. Collins, George P. Farley, George G. Palmer, Edward Lillibridge, Charles D. Chase, Reynolds C. Phillips ; as- sessors — George H. Clark, Ellison Tinkham, David P. Kenyon, Joseph E. Lanphear, Charles Dobbrow; overseers of poor — David P. Kenyon,William P. Richmond; auditors — Robert B. Richmond, Herbert L. Barber, John W. Saunders; auctioneers — David R. Kenyon, George G. Palmer, Warren Dawley, W. C. Lanphear, Jr., W. W. Lillibridge, Charles A. Hoxsie, Herbert L. Barber, Henry G. Kenyon, Reynolds C. Phillips, Edward Lillibridge; collector of taxes — Alfred B. Phillips, Jr.; sealer of weights and measures — Nelson K. Church; sealer of leather — Jeremiah Blan- chard ; packer of fish — Amos J. Dawley ; corder of wood — Wil- liam W. Lillibridge ; pound keepers — Nelson K. Church, Stephen A. Field ; constables — William W. Lillibridge, Henry C. Barber, John H. Flier, Noah W. Wilcox, David R. Kenyon, George W. Aldrich ; ganger of casks — Amos J. Dawley ; land surveyor — Edward W. Shedd; surveyor of lumber — Thomas H. Barber; viewers of freehold — Andrew B. Moore, Clark Barber ; field drivers — William C. Woodmansee, Paul G. Ennis, John Wells ; special constables under liquor law — John F. Kenyon, Albert R. Greene ; health officer — Alvin H. Ecclestone, M.D.; truant con- stable — William W. Lillibridge ; appraisers of damage done by dogs — Elijah Hoxsie, Abial T. Kenyon, William C. Gardner. Early Mills. — Reverend James R. Irish, in his centennial sketch of the town of Richmond, gives a complete history of the earlier mills, which we here insert : " Grist and saw mills were a necessity to the early settlers, and happy for them the power to operate them was found in the streams that formed a part of their domain. How early, and where the first mills in town were built, no known record shows. 712 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The small streams were larger and nearer perennial when the hills were covered with forests than now. " Probably their first mills were built along these, as dams were more cheaply constructed than on the larger streams. In the memory of some now living, many of the streams now not occupied as mill forces had there saw mills, grist mills and forgingsmith shops. For similar purposes, the stream passing south of Reverend G. Tillinghast's was used just east on the Caleb Barber property, where also, early in the present century, Archibald Barber and Gardner Nichols had a wagon shop, doing much of their work by water power. White brook long ago car- ried a trip hammer for the manufacture of axes, hoes, etc. " At Arcadia, just on the line between Exeter and Rich- mond, there was a saw mill. The evidences are still manifest there. "At Wyoming mills were early built, and on the Hopkinton side were located the famous Brand's iron works. "At Hope Valley, where the cotton factory now stands, there was a grist mill, having for one side of the flume a perpendicular rock. "Where now is the village of Clark's Mills, on December 1st, 1759, Jeffrey Wilcox gave by will to his son, Abraham Wilcox, one acre of land. This was deeded by said Wilcox to Jeremiah Browning, March 8th, 1762, with a saw mill and grist mill in good running order. " No mention is made of the sawmill in any subsequent trans- fer. The price paid by Browning for these mills and privilege was ;^3,000 current money of New England. We should judge that New England money must have had a «/rr««? value that had run to a low, ebb. This property was deeded by several trans- fers, till on January 16, 1771, it was deeded to Joshua Clarke, in the line of whose family it is still owned, and where a grist mill still runs for the mutual benefit of the proprietor and the com- munity. " As early as 1772 a saw mill and an iron manufactory existed where Kenyon's mills are now located. The establishment was then deeded by Samuel Stuart to Christopher Clarke. " Mills existed at Usquepaug, early known as Mumford's Mills, but I believe these were always situated on the east side of the stream, in South Kingstown. " Some more than one hundred and twenty years ago Wm. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 713 Sweet owned a saw mill near where David Moore now lives. A mill still exists on the site. " At Tug Hollow and Bellville there early existed saw and grist mills. " Other similar mills may have existed elsewhere, but we omit any further details of them and turn to notice the progress in the manufacture of woolen and cotton yarn and cloths." First Wagons. — The first one horse wagon introduced into town was said to have been imported from Connecticut by George Perry, the grandfather of Halsey P. Clarke. It was a primitive wagon without elliptical steel springs, but with a long wooden spring extending the entire length of the body. Before the in- troduction of one horse wagons marketing was done by carrying light burdens on horseback in bags or baskets. "The venerable Simon Lillibridge informed me," says Rev- erend Mr. Irish, "that one of his father's neighbors contracted to deliver a dressed hog at Wickford, which weighed about three hundred pounds. He did not wish to drive his oxen so far, and as there was not a one horse wagon within eight or ten miles, he loaded his hog upon the back of his horse, and walked by his side to the market, some fourteen miles. " Country stores were not then in the habit of receiving farm produce in exchange for merchandise, and each man marketed his own. If not wanted near home, it was carried usually to Newport or to Wickford. Mr. Lillibridge says the first wagon he ever saw was at Plainfield at a schoolbreak. The first he ever owned was made by Rowse Clarke. This Rowse Clarke had a wagon shop a little west of Shannock hill, near where Remington Clarke had a trip-hammer, blacksmith shop on Tony brook, a small stream a little west of Richard Chappell's. I have been thus minute both to give a proper idea of the facts as then existing, and also that those enjoying the facilities of the present day may more fully realize the great advantages they possess, and the consequent increase of obligation." Schools. — There were no school houses and but few private schools in the early history of this town. The children were mainly instructed by their parents at home. Sometimes several families would unite and establish a school. The schools were usually kept in some large room, having a fire place from six to ten feet in length and from four to six feet in height. Round the walls of the room on three sides wide boards were fastened 714 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. at a suitable height and inclination for writing desks, in front of which seats, usually made of slabs or plank, were placed. The rooms were rarely or ever plastered. " The first school house erected in this town was about the year 1806, in District No. 7, on the highway near the burying ground a little west of H. P. Clarke's. This house was built by Amos Lillibridge, George Perry, David Kenyon and Sprague Kenyon. In this house schools of more or less note were kept until about 1825, when it was burned down. The same year in District No. 8 a building partly of stone was erected by Caleb Barber near his house. It was called Barber's Academy. In this build- ing schools were kept for several years. " A few years after these houses were built, Judge James built a house near where Silas James lately lived, in District No. 8. This house was afterward moved up on Tefft's hill and used for a school house for a number of years, until 1838, when the new district school house was erected. " About 1818 two houses were erected ; one, called Clarke's school house, near Stanton's Corners, in District No. 15, built by Judge Samuel Clarke ; the other, called Kenyon school house, erected near the residence of the Reverend Gilbert Tillinghast, in District No. 13. This house was built by the Kenyons, five brothers, namely, Samuel, John, Silas, Benedict and Cory. In these houses schools were kept for a number of years. "In 1826 a school house was erected in District No. 9. This house was called the Bell school house, and was built by Jesse Reynolds, Robert Reynolds Wells Reynolds, Reynolds Hoxsie, Clark Sisson, Job Hoxsie, Rouse Hoxsie, Varnum Hoxsie and others. It was considered at the time a very nice house, and readily shows their enterprise and interest in the cause of edu- cation. A few years after the passage of the free school act (1828) this house was received as a district school house. It has since been repaired and furnished with new seats, and is now far from being the poorest school house in the town." "Some years before the establishment of Free Schools," says Mr. Church, " an eccentric individual, giving his name as A. B., came into what is now District No. 9, and established a free school. Having taught the school during the winter term, he hired a lady to teach in the same school during the summer term. He paid his own board and all the expenses of the schools. The history of his life he never told to any of the people, nor HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 715 was it, SO far as I know, ever known. He was considered to be a man of fine education and good moral character. He gave as his reason for teaching that he thought the children ought to have a chance to obtain an education. His discipline was mild but efficient. The condition upon which the children could at- tend his school seemed to be that they should behave well and mind their studies. Great benefit was derived from the school, and much interest awakened in the cause of education." District No. 1. — The school house in this district was built in 1839. It was a small, cheap affair, located in a field near pine woods, and at considerable distance from the public highway. It was abandoned in 1859, and a neat, substantial house, with mod- ern improvements was erected on the highway. In 1865, the vil- lage of Plainville having been recently built up in the southwest corner of the district, it was thought laest to divide the district, which was done, and District No. 1 was moved farther north to its present location, and a new house was erected. District No. 2. — A school house was built in this district in 1836. The house was of rather meagre proportions, and was located on the north side of the highway north of the village. In 1845 Row- land G. Hazard erected a nice stone building near his village of Carolina, in which the school has been kept since. In ] 871 the dis- trict bought this property. In 1850 this district became joint with a portion of No. 5, of Charlestown, but in 1871 the Charles- town portion was withdrawn. District No. 3. — The school house in this district was not erected till 1844. When the villages of Shannock Mills, Clark's Mills and Kenyon's Mills were built up, it was found that the house was in- adequate, and in the year 1867 the district was divided and Dis- trict No. 15 was formed from this. Soon after this a house was built near Kenyon's Mills, and in 1868_ the old house was aban- doned. District No. J^ became joint with No. 17 of South Kingstown in 1838. The school house is located in that town. Districts Nos. 5 and 6. — Small houses were erected in these dis- tricts in 1836. District No. 7. — A school house was erected in this district in 1837. It was burned down in 1862 and anew one erected in 1864. In 1838 a portion of District No. 9, of Hopkinton became joint with this district. In 1870 a new and independent district was formed in Hopkinton, and became joint with this district. 716 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. District No. 8. — In 1837 a house was erected in this district. Districts Nos. 9, 10 and 11. — No. 9 has been alluded to. Houses were erected in 10 and 11 in 1836. The houses are both small. District No. 1%. — A house was erected in this district in 1837. In 1869 it was abandoned and a new house built on the site. District No. 13. — A house was erected in this district in 1842. In 1851 it was moved to its present location and enlarged, at which time it was made joint with portions of Nos. 3 and 4 of Exeter. There seems to be a commendable interest upon the part of the inhabitants of the town to support the schools ; not only the day schools receive attention, but evening schools, also, have been established at Carolina and at Wyoming. Hope Valley. — During the early years of Richmond's history, manufactories for wool and cotton were unknown in the country. The clothing of the inhabitants was manufactured by hand. Every farmer devoted a plat of ground to the raising of flax, and in his pastures grazed the sheep whose fleeces furnished mate- rial for the garments that were to protect their persons from the piercing blasts of wintry winds. The flax was broken and swingled by the swain himself, or some neighbor more skilled in the art. The mother hatcheled the flax, and early taught her daughters to card and spin the coarser parts known as tow. The finer parts, she wound on the distafl: and spun it on a wheel pro- pelled by the foot. This part formed the warp, and the tow the woof which the mother, or older girls, wove for the work-day wear of summer pants. In process of time cotton was introduced as a supplement to the tow and linen, or to take the place of the pure linen for those who coiild afford to keep a separate suit for Sabbath-day wear. The first cotton factory in town was built on the site of the old grist mill at Hope Valley. The articles of agreement between the partners were dated May 9th, 1810. The persons signing this agreement were : Joseph Arnold, Godfrey Arnold, John Godfrey, Joseph Tefft, Gordon W. Arnold, Weeden Clarke, Jr. and Slocum Godfrey. June 10th, 1811, George Perry, Benjamin Perry and John Manchester became subscribers to the agreement. Gard- ner Barber also became a subscriber December 12th, 1812. This mill was run for the purpose only of making yarn. It was built two stories high and was thirty -four feet wide and forty-eight feet long. It has changed owners several times and has been en- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 717 larged. It is now three stories high, fifty-two feet wide and one hundred and sixty-three feet long, At first it run four hundred dead spindles and made about three hundred pounds of yarn per week. It now runs over four thousand spindles and turns off ten thousand pounds per week. Its dam is regarded as a model one, curving toward the pond in the center, and is based on a rock which receives the falling water. Nichols & Langworthy are joint proprietors of this water power. This party operated these mills until about 1843, then it passed through the hands of various parties until in 1853 it came into the possession of David L. Aldrich, the present proprietor, who enlarged the plant to three times its original size, and manufac- tured warps and negro cloth until 1861, when he manufactured army blankets for the United vStates government. Since the war the mills have been used in manufacturing carpet yarns. A store is connected with these mills on the same side of Wood river in the town of Richmond. It is owned and managed by W. E. Browning, but both mills and store have become an im- portant part of the village of Hope Valley. Arcadia. — The original Arcadia mill was built in Richmond about the year 1836 by the Spragues and Harrises, and operated by them under the superintendence of James T. Harris until 1842, when it was destroyed by lightning. The water privilege in this place was long ago used to run a saw mill, and this site was deeded May 23d, 1836, by Samuel Barber to the parties above named. The mill was soon rebuilt by the Spragues and No. 2 mill was built and run by them until 1865. The production was fine wide sheeting. At the last-mentioned date the property was purchased by Mr. David L. Aldrich, the present owner, who en- larged the plant one half and is running on print cloths, operat- ing about 175 looms, with William B. Tillinghast superintendent. The Millville mill is a small yarn mill built by Job Reynolds, Esq., about 1840 and run by him some years, then a few years by William R. Greene & Co., and then by the Spragues. In 1865 it was purchased by David L. Aldrich, the present owner and has since been run on coarse yarns. The first store in Arcadia was built about the time of the build- ing of the mills there in 1845, and was the property of the mill owners until 1865, when it passed from the Spragues into the hands of D. L. Aldrich. The old store is now changed into a tenement house. The new store was built in 1872. It is under the superintendence of Anson Greene. 718 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. November 24th, 1872, a hall erected by D. L. Aldrich & Co., over the store, was dedicated to public worship and social im- provement. Religious services and a Sunday school have been maintained there most of the time since on Sundays, and at such other times as the interests of the people seemed to demand. No church has been organized here but churches in this vicinity have a patronage from the inhabitants of this place. Wyoming. — This little village is situated on the Richmond side of the river and on the former site of the Brand Iron Works, built by Samuel Brand, who resided in an old house west of W. F. Segar's store, and gave name to the place. There was also a grist mill in the place. Mr. Brand then owned the land now occupied by the village of Wyoming. June 1st, 1814, a company was organized here for the purpose of erecting a factory, the name being The Brothers' Cotton Manu- facturing Company, consisting of Ezekiel Tefft, Samuel Tefft, Nathan Lillibridge, Stephen Tefft and Nathan Tefft. The fac- tory erected by the Brothers' Manufacturing Company was burned about 1862. It was then owned by Pardon Olney and Lewis C. Kenyon. The fire caught from the whipper. The factory had a capacity for, and was running, thirty-six looms. Mr. Olney also had a factory on the other side of the stream, which was burned December 10th, 1875. The first factory erected where the Tyler Batting and Warp Company's factory now is, was built by John and Pardon Olney in 1837. This was operated for a time by the brothers. Pardon, however, sold his interest to his brother John, who owned and occupied it till about 1844, when it was burned. This is supposed to have been set on fire by a boy who was dis- satisfied that he was compelled to work in the mill. He is sup- posed to have perished in the mill, as he was not heard of afterward. A second mill was soon after built by John Olney, afterward owned by J. T. Sheldon, who renovated it, making some addi- tions and replacing the old machinery by that which is of the most approved modern structure. It run five thousand spindles employing about forty operatives, and produced from seven thousand to ten thousand pounds of yarn per week. Mr. Sheldon operated this mill until 1887, when it was sold to the " Tyler Batting and Warp Manufacturing Company " by the Hopkihton Savings Bank. This firm, under the superintendence of Henry HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 719 Phillips, who has had an experience of eighteen years in the mills, is carrying on an extensive business. The company is an incorporated one, having for president, C. C. Tyler ; vice-presi- dent, J. L. Field ; secretary and treasurer, M. R. Meyers. The company employs sixty hands and manufactures bats, warps, wicks, twines and yarns. The first store of any prominence in the place was operated as early as 1837 by Olney & Richmond, who continued to trade there a number of years. N. & A. Fenner, owners of the mill, took the store finally. They sold to Potter & James, who car- ried on the mercantile trade till 1880, then John T. Sheldon and lastly J. P. Clarke, who trades there now and has the post office. Francis B. Segar came to the village in 1850 and in 1851 suc- ceeded W. R. Greene in the post office. In 1850 W. F. Segar built the store he now owns and occupies, where he has contin- ued to trade in a general way for the past thirty-nine years. The postmasters have been : W. R. Greene, F. B. Segar, Luther A. Palmer, Brightman Tucker, F. B. Segar, W. F. Segar and J. P. Clarke. Blacksmithing was carried on in the village by Daniel Kenyon as early as 1830 and afterward by his son John L. Kenyon, who is now in business. Carriage making as early as 1850 and since has been conducted by George Niles, and later by A. L. & C. L. Niles. Francis Brown, who was a son-in-law of Samuel Brand, is sup- posed to have built the tavern where now stands the hotel of A. J. Dawley. That building was subsequently burned and the present building erected in its place. Mr. Brown also kept a jewelry shop and manufactured shoe and knee buckles, employ- ing several men, among them being Tertius Bailey, his foreman, who was the father of Reverend S. B. Bailey, well known throughout this section. Joseph Irish, who died in 1818, owned and occupied it, and then Mrs. Fields. Both Mr. Irish and Mrs. Fields made a typical old fashioned tavern stand out of their business, but it did not pay. Mr. Mathew G. Wilbur next came into possession and kept a temperance house for ten or fifteen years. Following him came Silas R. Kenyon for about ten years, when he left deeply in debt. A. J. Dawley, the present occu- pant, took the house over forty years ago and still has posses- sion. 720 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Richmond Bank was organized in 1856 and continued its ex- istence until 1866. The officers were : President, Francis B. Se- gar; cashier, J. B. Potter; directors, F. B. Segar, D. L. Aldrich, H. P. Clarice, Jesse Potter, A. G. Nichols, E. Barber, T. T. Hox- sie and C. A. Crandall. Capital, $,'50,000. Mr. F. B. Segar filled the office of president until May, 1862, when he was succeeded by Mr. A. G. Nichols, who continued in office until the closing of the bank. Carolina. — In 1802, Joseph Nichols built a grist mill near the present location of Carolina Mills. His dam was a wooden struc- ture, utilizing only a small portion of the head and fall of the stream as at present obtained. There was then only one house in the vicinity. In 1834, this, with nearly three hundred acres of land, was sold to Aaron and Sands Kenyon, who in 1836 sold it G. H. P. Wilcox. The present dam was built by Mr. Wilcox in 1837, he having in contemplation the building of a machine shop and factory. In consequence of the financial pressure of 1837 the work was suspended. Rowland G. Hazard purchased the property in 1841 and built most of the present buildings there now for the manufacture of cotton cloth, running about one hundred looms. In September, 1863, the Peace Dale Manufacturing Company purchased the property, and on December 1st, 1863, they sold it to Theophilus Hyde. His right was sold by virtue of a mortgage September 5th, 1868, to R. G. Hazard, who in turn deeded the same to Mes- srs. Tinkham, Metcalf & Co., February 1st, 1869. The Carolina Mills Company, who now own and operate the mills for the man- ufacture of fancy cassimeres, purchased the property of Tink- ham, Metcalf & Co., February 1st, 1872. This company employ a hundred hands and more constantly, and operate forty-four broad looms. About the year 1837 a store was established here. E. A. Ken- yon & Co. now own the store and post office. This village is mostly on the Charlestown side. In 1845 Row- land G. Hazard erected a school house in Richmond, northwest of the village, and in 1871 the property, consisting of a house and lot, was sold to the district for $700. January 27th, 1872, District No. 8 of Charlestown, and District No. 2 of Richmond were consolidated, and this school became a part of the Carolina Joint District. Samoset Hall at Carolina Mills was built in 1872. In this hall HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 721 the Richmond and Charlestown Teachers' Institute, which was organized in December, 1874, always assembles. The Carolina Free Baptist Church is located at this point, but on the Charlestown side. It is, however, composed largely of mem- bers from the town of Richmond. The pastors of this society have been as follows : J. Burnham Davis, 1866 to 1867 ; J. M. Rich, from 1867 to 1873 ; L. W. Manning, from 1873 to 1875 ; M. W. Burlingame, from 1875 to 1876 ; B. D. Peck, from 1877 to 1879; H. W. Waldron, from 1879 to 1881 ; F. H. Peckham, from 1882 to 1884 ; J. Herbert Yeomans, from 1884 to 1887 ; Arthur E. Cox, from 1887 to the present time. Shannock. — Jesse Babcock had a grist mill here at an early date. It was in one part of his dwelling. It was an old mill as early as 1828, but it is not known when it was built. John T. Knowles purchased the site and built a small wooden mill, mostly for custom work. This was subsequently enlarged and run by George Weeden, and still later by Alexander Carmichael & Co., and was burned down in January, 1885. On the Richmond side Joshua Clarke of Block Island came here and purchased the water privilege and a large tract of land in 1771. He married Elizabeth Dodge February 26th, 1769, and died in Richmond in 1796. His son. Perry Clark, built the grist mill, with an ol-d-fashioned overshot wheel, which was run for many years. He would go to Providence with his products once a week with his team. He also owned and operated a store, now used as a storage room. He carried on considera- ble business here as early as 1815. Lodowick Hoxsie then owned a saw mill in the place; and a cotton factory was erected in 1838 by Samuel Hoxsie, which in some way became in part the property of Perry Clark. The cotton factory operated about one thousand spindles. This property was purchased by Charles and Simeon P. Clark in 1864, and is now included in the present mills. The present mill was erected in 1849. The first cotton mill, built in 1834, passed into the hands of Greene & Daniels, in 1855, and in 1856 Charles and Simeon P. Clark bought it. In 1870 Simeon P. Clark took it alone, and in 1876 George H. Clark became a partner. In 1884 the property passed into the hands of George H. Clark, who now operates 3,000 spindles, and is manufacturing yarns. The first store was the one long used by Perry Clark in an early day. The next one was erected in 1848, and managed for 46 722 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. years by Simeon P. Clark, an old trader, and since 1888 by A. P. Allen, a most estimable gentleman, who has recently died. W. C. Lanphear came to Shannock in 1858. At that time Henry Hoxsie had a store in the place, which he kept for twenty years. He was succeeded by James Collins a few years ago, and Collins was succeeded by C. E. Sullivan & Co., a very en- terprising business firm of the place, who also keep the post office. Mr. Lanphear traded from 1858 to 1878, when he closed up. He took the railroad station in 1857, and has been one of the faithful railroad employees in that position ever since. Clark's iliLLS. — William Clark, Jr., one of the early settlers of the town, lived on the east side of Shannock, on a tract of land he owned, bounded on the east by Beaver river, north by the highway, west by Babcock's land, and south by what is now called Clark's Mills. His homestead was on the same farm now owned and occupied by his daughter, Airs. Henry Kenyon. Thomas Clark located in the northern part of the town. In 1848 Charles Clark and his brother Simeon P. built the mill at this place, and in 1850 a Mr. Greene commenced operations, ilr. Simeon P. Clark eventually purchased his brother's interests and run the mills alone. The estate is now owned b}- George H. Clark. At Clark's j\Iills an Advent society or church was organized about 1855, with members from the adjacent towns as well as Richmond. Its meetings, which were at first held in this town, have been transferred to a hall on the Charlestown side of the stream. Kenyon's Mills. — This place is situated on the main line of the New York, Providence & Boston railroad, and as early as 1772 a saw mill and an iron manufactory existed where the mills are now located. The property was then deeded by Samuel Stu- art to Christopher Clark. The factory when first built was for the purpose of carding wool into rolls to be spun by hand. Con- nected with this was a fulling mill and cloth dressing apparatus. A man by the name of " Mallard " built a factory of this kind here, which was subsequently known as Holburton's Mills. In 1820 Lewis Kenyon purchased the estate of Thomas Holburton, and continued the business as a dresser of cloth until his death. A copartnership was then formed by his sons, Abial S. and Eli- jah Kenyon, who operated the mill. They continued the cloth dressing for a short time, but soon put in spinning and weaving HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 723 macliines and commenced to manufacture cloth. In 1844 they erected a new mill, more complete and with better facilities. This they operated until Elijah Kenyon bought his brother's in- terest in the property. In 1862 he erected a spacious building near the mill, for the purpose of carrying on a general store busi- ness in connection with the manufacturing. In 1863 C. B. Coon was admitted as a partner, and business was conducted under the firm name of Kenyon & Coon. In 1864 new tenement houses were built for the operatives, and in 1866 a cotton mill was built for the manufacture of cotton yarns, to be used in the goods that were being manufactured, they hereto- fore having purchased yarns needed in the manufacture of their goods, of other parties. A new dye house was also built at this time, with increased fa- cilities for dyeing and scouring wool. The water power being insufficient after the new mill was built, an engine was put in capable of giving sufficient power to run all the works, if neces- sary, independent of the power derived from the water-wheel. The style of the firm was changed in 1881 from Kenyon & Coon to E. Kenyon & Son, John S. Kenyon being admitted to an interest in the business. The mills now have a capac- ity of eight sets, and have been operated since the death of Mr. Kenyon in 1881, by his son John S. Kenyon. A post office has recently been established at this place, and the postmaster is Levi J. Cornell, who is also worthy master of Grange No. 6. In January, 1889, a railroad station was established here, which has been named Kenyon Station. WOODVILLE. — Captain Nicholas Larkin originally owned a grist mill and the water privilege situated higher up the stream than where the dam is now. Larkin joined with Simeon Perry and built the Woodville dam. He built the grist mill on the Richmond side and Perry commenced the manufacture of iron on the Hopkinton side, and hence the village was first called Perry's Iron Works. Black sand was obtained from Point Judith beach and mixed with scrap and cast iron in the manufacture of wrought iron, which was esteemed a good article. When then this power be- gan to be used for factory purposes the village took the name of Woodville. On the Richmond side a stone factory, erected some twenty- 724 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. five years since by J. F. Harris, was later run by the Rhode Island Hosiery Company. C. Larned was the superintendent, and the company employed twenty-five hands. They sent out about seventy dozen pairs of socks per day. The mill had five jacks, with one thousand spindles. The socks manufactured here were not disfigured with those unpleasant seams so annoy- ing in socks manufactured in many mills. They made socks of all wool, all cotton, or a mixture of the two, to meet the exigen- cies of the trade. The Wood River Mills Company now own the property. The Woodville Seventh Day Baptist Church is located just out of the village of Woodville near the Wood River Branch railroad. The house now in use was erected in 1847. The society was or- ganized in 1843, in a school house near Shannock mills. At that time an appropriate address was made by Elder Coon, who gave the right hand of fellowship to Elder Solomon Carpenter in be- half of the little band of brethren thus set apart as a church. This society, never large, is now almost extinct. It has been largely influenced by the manufacturing interests at Woodville. Since the organization the following persons have been its pas- tors, viz.: Reverend Solomon Carpenter, A. M. State, missionary of the Seventh Day Baptist church. Reverends John Greene, S. S. Griswold, Henry Clarke, J. W. Morton, L. M. Cottrell, Forbes Beebee, Herbert Babcock and Reverend Horace Stillman, the present pastor. Plainville. — N. Sheffield Wilbur owned extensive landed property here at one time. To Mr. D. L. Aldrich he made the offer of a mill privilege and the right of fiowage, with four acres of ground for village purposes, as a free donation, on condition that he (Mr. Aldrich) should erect a factory there. This was about the year 1862. Mr. Aldrich built the factory and the village. The mill was an excellent one, built for eight sets of woolen ma- chinery, all gotten up in the most approved style, and superior cassimeres were manufactured. Thirty-two tenements and a store evidence the growth of the place. The Wood River Chapel was incorporated by the Rhode Is- land state legislature for the perpetual use of all Christians, irre- spective of denomination. It was erected on rising ground just outside the village on the road running from Plainville to Wood River Junction and formally dedicated July 14th, 1878. The land on which the building stands was given by Messrs. Aldrich HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 725 & Milner, the owners of the Plainville mill and village, who also contributed some five hundred dollars toward its erection. Two New York commission houses gave fifty dollars each, and friends elsewhere gave liberally. Mr. William A. Burdick, of Westerly, contributed the stone work. Mr. J. P. Palmer, of Rockville, was the builder. Hillsdale.— There was an old grist mill at Hillsdale, said to have been built by Jonathan Potter. This was sold to George James. December 10th, 1827, William Jenks purchased it of George James, and March 20th, 1828, deeded three-sixteenths to Ebenezer Carpenter. They together, erected a factory and card- ed wool for customers, as report has it. Between 1830 and 1836, Whitman Kenyon and Wanton Lilli- bridge engaged at this place in the manufacture of coarse mixed cloth, popularly known as " negro cloth." Their sons continued to carry on a similar business at this place subsequently. Tug Hollow Mills.— In 1811 Robert Reynolds erected a fac- tory here and first used it as a woolen mill, and engaged in cus- tom carding. Subsequently it was enlarged and machinery add- ed for the spinning and weaving of cotton. It continued to be used for this purpose until 1836, when the property came into the possession of Sheldon & Hoxsie, who changed the manufacture to that of warps- for satinets. The old mill formerly here was burned down and has not been rebuilt. This factory was erected by Wells Reynolds. UsQUEPAUG. — This place is situated on both sides of Queen's river, and is partly in the town of South Kingstown. The place was formerly called Mumford, from the fact of the Mumford family having been among the first settlers and owners of a large estate here. Silas Mumford erected a grist mill here about the year 1807. Subsequently he built a carding mill, and used to card wool into rolls. In 1817 or thereabouts he invented a ma- chine for cleaning wool of burrs, which was the first machine ever used for that purpose in those early times. In 1836 a mill was erected for the manufacture of Kentucky jeans by J. B. M. Potter. It was called Independence mill, from the fact that it was raised on the 4th of July. It retained this name until the government changed the name of the post office to Usquepaug, when the mill took the latter name. Mr. Potter continued to operate the mill with success until the breaking out of the rebel- lion, when he went into the government service, and the prop- 726 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. erty passed into other hands. The mill was burned in 1866, and has not been rebuilt. Oueen's River Baptist Church, Usquepaug* — Perhaps no better or more conclusive account of the origin of this church can be given than to copy from its records verbatim, which, though very meagre, is the best we have been able to obtain : "South Kingstown, Oct. 24th, 1819. " At a convention of a number of brethren in the above said town, at the dwelling house of bro. Henry Hubbard, elder Wil- liam Northup and brethren for the examination of a branch of the North Kingstown church to see whether there be a church, and if so to set them apart as a church or give them fellowship in behalf of the church, as a church of our Lord Jesus Christ. After hearing the brethren of the branch go through declaring what the Lord had done for them, and their views of a church in that place, saw the union among them, and we the representa- tives of the church, that is elder William Northup, Samuel Til- linghast, William Sweet, James Hendrick, with others, agree that the Lord had placed a candlestick there, and the brethren repre- sentatives of the church gave them fellowship in the Lord and fear of God. " Signed in behalf of the convention. "Elder Wm. Northup." Immediately after the foregoing, the records show the follow- ing : " Names of brethren and sisters that were set off as mem- bers of the Queen's River church at the time of the foregoing convention, Elijah Wilcox, Henry C. Hubbard, James Smith, Noah Wilcox, David Sherman, jr., Thomas B. Tanner, Peleg Slocum, Ira Boss, Joseph Belcher, Mary Hubbard, Hannah Tan- ner, Sibil Dawley, Mary James, Sarah Belcher, Hannah Sherman, Joanna Smith, Elsie Durfee, ^Nlary Babcock, Amy Mory and Abigal Sweet." The foregoing record would indicate that the church was rec- ognized by and received the right hand of fellowship from the North Kingstown, or parent church, as none other is mentioned as being represented at the convention. It would also appear that the twenty names set off to form the new church were mem- bers of the First North Kingstown, although at a recent exami- nation of their records only ten of the names were found, viz.: Elijah Wilcox, James Smith, Noah Wilcox, David Sherman, jr., *Prepai-ed by T. T. Locke, Clerk, for the Narragansett Association. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 727 Thomas B. Tanner, Peleg Sloctim, Joseph Belcher, Hannah Tan- ner, Hannah Sherman and Abigal Sweet. Nothing in relation to articles of faith or church covenant is on or attached to the book of records, though it is quite certain that the church had both, for there are lying in the book of records loose leaflets of paper, unlike those of which the book is composed, on which are to be found articles of faith and a church covenant, which its oldest members claim were adopted by the church at its organi- zation. The house of Henry C. Hubbard, in which the conven- tion and recognition services were held, having since undergone repairs, is now occupied by John Hoxsie, Esq. The infant church, without pastor or sanctuary, held its first meeting for business December 4th, 1819, at the house of Elijah Wilcox, now owned by a descendant of his, Mr. John T. Wilcox. Its second meeting for business was held April 1st, 1820, at the Nazareth school house, situated in the town of South Kingstown, near the Dugway bridge, which renders it quite certain the house was completed during the winter months of that year. It is known, however, that when built it was for both church and school purposes, and owned in shares, chiefly by church mem- bers, of whom Henry C. Hubbard held the largest number, hence it was their peculiar privilege or right to use it, which they did, making it a permanent place of worship for the church until October 24th, 1840, a period of twenty-one years. It was also familiarly known as the Dugway school house. On the 30th day of November, 1841, its stockholders, in consideration of $112.50, sold their entire interest in the property to District No. 18, of South Kingstown. Although this was its house of worship in the earlier part of its history especially, it not unfrequently held religious services and even meetings for business at private houses of the brethren, viz.: Elijah Wilcox, Henry C. Hubbard, Noah Wilcox, Joseph Belcher and others. October 24th, 1840, the church changed its place of worship to the Washingtonville school house, at Mumford's Mills (now Usquepaug), situated on the plat of ground now owned and occupied by joint school dis- trict Nos. 4, of Richmond, and 18 of South Kingstown. Here it continued to worship until the autumn of 1848, at which time the house was burned, when the church was kindly permitted to return to the Dugway school house. Here it remained until the fall of 1849, when it removed to its new house of worship, which had been in process of erection nearly six years, but now com- 728 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pleted at cost of $1,051. It is situated on a highway one-fourth of a mile east from the village of Usquepaug, and is still occu- pied by the church. As before stated, the church had no pastor until 1822, a period of about three years, when the ordination of Henry C. Hubbard to the gospel ministry took place at the Nazareth school house, and he at once entered upon the pastoral charge of the little flock, whom he faithfully served with honor to himself and fidelity to God and the cause. It is to be regretted that a more detailed account of his early history and Christian life cannot be given, as circumstances and the testimony of those who knew him give unmistakable evidence that he was eminently exemplary, perse- vering and self-sacrificing in his efforts to do good. Only one was added to the church during the first nine years of its exist- ence and the first six years of his pastorate. This was in the year 1823. The same year there were two excluded and two dis- missed by letter, and, in 1826, another was dismissed by letter, all of which had reduced its membership to sixteen, being only three-fourths of its original number. Thus with thinned ranks, it struggled on yet three years more with neither addition nor diminution of numbers. In the year 1829 sixteen were added to the church, thus increasing its membership one hundred per cent. During the next ten years which brings us to 1840, the aggre- gate amount of accessions number fifteen. The year 1840, be- ing the last full year of this pastorate, was marked by deeper spiritual interest and larger accessions to the church than any previous, which must have been a matter of great rejoicing, es- pecially to its faithful pastor (Reverend Henry C. Hubbard), who had these many years gone in and out before the little flock, watching over and caring for them. During his pastorate fort}^- eight were added to the church by baptism, three by letter, and one by experience. His occupation was that of a blacksmith, a trade by which he obtained much celebrity in the manufacture of excellent hoes, axes, edged tools, etc. He was regarded by many as possessing supernatural power through the medium of prayer and the laying on of hands to heal the sick. On May 9th, 1841, his pastorate of nearl}- nineteen years was suddenly closed by death in this wise: while preaching that morning in the Washingtonville school house from Matthew v : 13, with more than usual earnestness, and for the moment dwelling on the sixth HISTORY OF WASHINGTON jVND KENT COUNTIES. 729 verse of the same chapter, he faltered, and but for the timely aid of one who sat near, would have fallen. He was at once taken from the house, placed in his carriage and taken home to his fam- ily, where he survived only a few hours. Shortly before death, as if admonished that his approaching dissolution was at hand, he made known to two intimate friends of his a request that when dead, his remains should be interred in the Tanner family burial ground, so called (situated on the farm then owned and oc- cupied by Thomas B. Tanner), with the head lying to the north and feet to the south, and that common round stones of granite be placed at the grave to mark his last resting place on earth. This request was fully granted and adhered to by his friends, un- til after the lapse of nearly twenty years, when the round stones were removed from his grave and slabs of marble placed in their stead. The church being now destitute of a pastor, soon turned its at- tention to one of its own number, Brother Ezekiel J. Locke (who though young in the cause exhibited a marked talent and strong Christian zeal), as the Moses who should lead them. Consequent- ly at a business meeting of the church held at the Washington- ville school house September 4th, 1841, it was voted to give Mr. Locke a license to preach for the term of three months, at the ex- piration of which (December 4th of the same year), the church met again at the same place and were unanimous in the belief that Brother Locke showed unmistakable evidence that he was called of God to the work of the ministry; consequently then and there the church arranged to convene an ecclesiastical council on the 23d day of the same month to sit at the house of John Hop- 'kins, to consider the propriety of his ordination. At the time and place appointed, this council assembled, six churches being rep- resented, when, after listening at length to remarks from the can- didate, it expressed perfect confidence in the brother's religious experience and Christian sincerity, and recommended that the church encourage him in the improvement of his gift, and at the end of four months call another council, again to consider the propriety of his ordination. Nearly one year, however, passed by, when on November 19th, 1842, the church again assembled at the Washingtonville school house and voted to call a second council to meet at the house of John Hopkins January 5th, 1843, to consider again the propriety of ordaining Mr. Locke. This council was duly convened but adjourned for want of numbers. 730 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The church again met on the 11th day of the same month at the house of the candidate and voted unanimously to call still another council for the same purpose to be held at the house of John Hopkins on the 19th day of that month ; which according to ap- pointment duly assembled, four churches being represented, and as a result, voted unanimously to set him apart to the gospel ministry by ordination and appointed the 26th day of that month, at the Washingtonville school house, as the time and place for its consummation. In accordance with this arrangement, brethren, representatives of Queen's River and other churches, met and pro- ceeded to the ordination of the candidate. The transaction seems to have been of divine arrangement, as the combined efforts of pastor and church under God during the year were signally blessed beyond precedent in the history of the church; its acces- sions numbering forty-four. On the 4th day of November in the same year (1843) the church for the first time elected deacons, viz.: Benjamin Locke and Isaac Hopkins. The latter served the church in that capacity from the date of his election faithfully and well until September 28th, 1878, a period of nearly thirty-five years, when he passed to his reward, the church losing in him an example of patience and perseverance of rare merit. The years 1849-50 were years of much spiritual growth and activity in the church, its list of mem- bership being increased by twenty-four additional names. The year 1854 was one of revivals generally, which in their onward course visited this church, gathering sixteen within its fold. The year of 1858 was one marked with spirituality in the church, while its accessions, which were fifty-seven, outnumbered that of any year in its history. Smaller accessions were variously interspersed throughout the next ten years, which bring us to 1868, the closing year of this, the second pastorate, a period of nearly twenty-six years. During this pastorate one hundred and forty-seven were added to the church by baptism, fourteen by letter and six by experience ; total, one hundred and sixty -seven. On December 12th, 1868, their much beloved pastor closed his labors with them, resigned his pastorate and severed his connec- tion with the church by taking a letter of admission with which to unite elsewhere. He used it uniting with a church in Stoning- ton, Illinois, February 15th, 1869. In the spring of 1869 the church called to its pastorate the Reverend George K. Clarke, who remained with them on small HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 731 salary until the spring of 1871, when he resigned. From 1871 to 1872 the church had only occasional supplies. From 1872 to 1876 it was variously and partially supplied with preaching by Rev- erend Justus Aldrich, brother Orin S. Gardiner, of Providence, Reverend Joseph W. Carpenter and others. The year of 1873 was especially marked by a deep religious interest when revival services were conducted by state missionary Reverend Justus Aldrich, resulting in an addition of sixteen names to its mem- bership. From the year 1875 to the present time the Reverend Joseph W. Carpenter has, with a few exceptions, supplied the pulpit and administered the sacrament on second Sabbaths, re- ceiving for such services annually a small salary or donation obtained chiefly by subscription ; the larger part of the remain- ing Sabbaths have been variously supplied by Reverends Al- drich, Durfee, Prior, Locke, Conant, Jones, Weaver, Bartlett, Chesebrough, and brethren Gardner, Baker, Wood, Marsh, Bates and others. The years 1877-78 deserve more than a passing no- tice, as they were years of more than usual prosperity and Chris- tian zeal in the church. In the early part of 1877 meetings were held, in private houses in the neighborhood, which soon evinced a revival spirit, when they were removed to the church where they were conducted chiefly by the state missionary when, as a result, on the 29th of April following he baptized eleven persons who thus united with the church. The church united with the Warren Association September 8th, 1841, with which it remained nineteen years, when its con- nection with that body was severed for the purpose of uniting in the formation of the Narragansett Association, which was organ- ized October 2d, 1860, and held its nineteenth annual gathering with this church September 4th and 5th, 1877, which proved to be one of pleasure and profit to both church and people. On De- cember 8th of the same year the church adopted as its own, with little alteration, the entire contents of the Baptist Church Manual, containing the declaration of faith covenant, rules of order and brief forms of church letters, by J. Newton Brown, D. D., which is commonly called the "New Hampshire Confession." The zeal and enthusiasm of the church engendered by the last revival did not lose its vitality during the remainder of the year, but another series of meetings under the management of the state mission- ary, were cosimenced in the early part of 1878, which continued throughout the winter, resulting in addition of twenty-six names 732 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to its roll of membership. The office of deacon made vacant by the death of Deacon Isaac T. Hopkins, was supplied by the elec- tion of Brother Robert J. Donnelly November 9th, 1878. A Sabbath school has been connected with the church sixty years. It was organized in the year 1828, with Miss Elvira Spear as superintendent. In its earlier years the school was usually discontinued through the winter months and resumed again at the approach of spring, which later has been conducted throughout the year. The clerks of the church have been : Joseph Belcher, from De- cember 4th, 1819, to August 5th, 1826 ; Clark Lawton, 2d, from August 31st, 1833, to December 5th, 1840; Benjamin Locke, from December 5th, 1840, to March 4th, 1843 ; Isaac T. Hopkins, from March 4th, 1843, to September 12th, 1863 ; Benjamin Locke, from September 12th, 1863, to July 1st, 1876; Thomas Locke, from July 1st, 1876, to the present time. During the seven years in- tervening between the clerkship of Joseph Belcher and that of Clark Lawton, the records show that only two meetings for busi- ness were held, one on December 13th, 1828, and the other on May 1st, 1830, the doings of which have no signature attached to them, which renders it probable the church was without a clerk during that period. Two of its members have been licensed to preach, namely : Brother Robert Wilcox for a term of three months from March 4th, 1843, and Brother Ezekiel J. Locke for a term of three months from September 4th, 1841. The church, although in limited circumstances financially, has never as a body deemed it advisable to solicit conventional or pecuniary aid, other than by subscription or donation by its own field ; although we find by the minutes of the Rhode Island Bap- tist Anniversaries of 1881 and 1882, that a total of fifty-six dollars and twenty-five cents was paid, by the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention to the Queen's River church ; yet in this specific trans- action, intervening agencies acted without the advice, consent or approbation of the church. Second Baptist Church, Richmond. — The old records which have been tolerably well preserved give the following item of interest as to the beginning of a church in this place, viz.: " It being a time of declension, iniquity abounding, and the love of many waxing cold in this part of the land, and churches dividing and subdividing until the public worship of God is all most gen- erally neglected at the places of worship in the separate Baptist HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 733 profession ; whereupon the Lord put it into the minds of some of us to meet once in four weeks at the house of our brother, Wil- liam Tafft, in Richmondtown, the same were continued some time." At length on the evening after public worship on the 14th day of November, 1773, there being present seven brethren, the mo- tion was made " whether or no it would be most for the glory of God and our own happiness to endeavor to take labor to inquire into one another's minds to see if we were so agreed in points of principle and practice that we could freely associate and assemble together and keep up weekly meetings, and endeavor to get united in some order ; and all present unanimously agreed to meet on the 20th day of said November, in order to enter the labor." This meeting was held according to appointment with in- creased numbers present. The following question was proposed, viz.: " Why may we not unite together to build the cause of God?" and to give time for consideration of so important a meas- ure, the meeting adjourned to the 11th day of December. At this meeting, which was fully attended, it was concluded " to give each other the means of fellowship by giving a relation of the dealings of God with them in moving them forward to this work," and the meeting was adjourned to the 13th day of the same month. Two other meetings were held during this month with the same hearty interest in the object of church building. Principles and practices were freely discussed, and the standing of those who proposed to unite in fellowship was carefully and prayerfully considered. The numbers increased who showed their desire for building the cause of God. Meetings were held from time to time, as it appears from the records, and on the 26th day of March, 1774, the persons named considered themselves to have gone to the end of labor so as to lay themselves down in the cause of God, one with another, and accordingly as enabled gave themselves up to the Lord, and one to another by the will of God as the begin- ning of a church of Christ in this place. Only eight of the twenty- one names previously given in appear on this first enrollment of members, and, owing to some dissatisfaction with the standing of one of these persons, there were several adjourned meetings without special agreement. This small body received into its fellowship three members on the 18th day of June following 734 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. their organization. At this time we have the record of the first covenant meeting "held on the third seventh day in the month." The following record appears in connection with this meeting of June 18th, viz.: " On account of some of us not having gone through the ordinance of baptism and laying of hands, and on account of the difficulty in the number," they concluded at this meeting to write to " Elder Solomon Sprague, Simeon Brown and Eliezer Brown, together with their churches, to come and behold our order and do as the Lord might direct on the 1st day of Au- gust, 1774." This meeting was held at the appointed time, but found some difficulty with the standing of three of the members, and ad- journed after giving friendly advice to them, and the church as then constituted. The advice was cordially accepted. During the three months following this conference of ministers and mes- sengers from neighboring churches, the church received eight persons into its fellowship, which showed a growing interest in the new enterprise. Their numbers being now sufficient in their judgment to be regularly constituted a church of Christ, they proceeded to send a second time for the sister churches for fel- lowship and help in ordinances. Accordingly their request was answered, "and on the last Monday in November, 1774, met at Brother William Tafft's in Richmondtown, Elders Solomon Sprague, Simeon Brown, with messengers, and a member of Eliezer Brown's church, and being in conference convened pro- ceeded to inquire into our order, and iinding satisfaction, gave us fellowship as a church and entered in special covenant with us accordingly." The names of the members appear on our rec- ord of this time, nine males and ten females, nineteen in all. A meeting was appointed by Elder Solomon Sprague, to be held the third Sabbath in December following the recognition services, " in order for the administration of ordinances, at which time he attended, and ten of the members submitted to baptism, and the ordinance was administered." At a church meeting held on the 11th day of this month, a few days previous to the baptism, the brethren made provision for the communion table by providing tu'o flatters and tivo beaker glasses for the use of the church, and also a book for records and appointed Nathaniel Perkins to be clerk of the church. Imme- diately following, articles of faith and practice were adopted, which set forth the strong doctrines of the gospel in seventeen HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 735 numbers. Two of these are evidently of the Six Principle Bap- tist faith and practice, though a degree of liberty is given in one of them as follows : " We believe the imposition or the laying on of hands with prayer is a gospel doctrine and ought to be ob- served and practiced by all them that are true believers in Jesus Christ, but we charitably believing there be many sincere Christ- ians that be full in the faith and practice of five of our principles, yet not holding this doctrine so extensive as we do, but holding it as an ordinance to be observed in the church, we do not make such neglect a bar to our communion, but mean to bear the same." The church united with the general conference, afterward the Stonington Union Association of Eastern Connecticut, October 1st, 1776. The delegates attended according to their appointment and were accepted in covenant without presenting any form of church constitution. This shows the liberal views of that body at that time. At a meeting of the church held in December, 1776, the sub- ject of building a public meeting house was discussed and plans were agreed upon, and a committee of five was appointed to purchase land to build it on as soon as they could conveniently have the work done. But for some reason not stated in the rec- ords no action was taken by the committee, and the matter was suffered to go by default. The church continued to hold meetings, resolve, receive and dismiss members without the aid of a pastor until April, 1781, a period of six and a half years. During this time thirty-three were added to the church and eight were dismissed or died. An interesting item is on record bearing date July 11th, 1778, viz.: " Suspended from our communion our brother, a negro for leav- ing his master and going to the British troops, enemies to our state then lying in Newport harbor." At a church meeting held April 19th, 1781, after prayer, the first question proposed was " who hath got a special call to Brother Charles Boss as a watchman ? " Answer was made by twenty brothers and sisters. At a meeting held on the 12th day of May, at which a number more of the members were present, they united most heartily in a call to Brother Boss to become their pastor, and the day was fixed for his examination and or- dination. At the time appointed, June 14th, 1781, a council con- vened, consisting of Elders Simeon Brown, Eliezer Brown, Sol- 736 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. omon Sprague, Elisha Green, with messengers from the several churches, and by appropriate religious service set apart the brother to the work of the gospel ministry. This brother was one of the constituent members of the new organization, and had evidently taken a leading part in the work of building the cause of God from the first. He served the church as its pastor seven years and one month from his ordination. This was an eventful period in the history of the church and deserves more than a passing notice. The year following the ordination of Brother Boss the question of his support as a pastor took the form of a disturbing element. The question was raised as to the duty of each member bearing an equitable proportion of expense in the support of the gospel and assistance to their minister in special manner. A vote was passed by a small ma- jority to such an effect. The basis of raising funds as proposed was the taxable property of each member, which should be given to the committee and the proportion assessed be called for by vote of the church from time to time as he needed. But no re- gard to this vote was had, and only voluntary aid was received and this was in the products of the soil, to pay the last year's rent for Elder Boss. At a subsequent meeting it was voted that each member should contribute an equal sum upon every hun- dred dollars as he should think himself to be worth, and that the rule be established of nine pence on the hundred dollars. Soon after this method for raising money for necessary ex- penses was adopted and put in force we find the following record, viz.: "The church is now under great trials." Public worship was kept up, however, from June, 1783, the date of these troubles, till the following December, when it was decided that the union was broken and government was lost. Thus matters of church interest seemed indeed deplorable, giving the pastor occasion for extreme anxiety and the practice of great wisdom ; and on the 16th of June, 1784, he in his own name called a con- ference of seven churches to give advice to the troubled body or to the members not willing to give up the organization . Th e first meeting was a failure. The second, a month afterward.was little less than a failure, and amid the confusion which resulted from the free expression of divergent doctrinal views, the meeting closed by a vote that "it is not for the honor of the cause of Christ to meet any more as a church under the denomination of the Church of Christ in Richmond binder the care of Elder HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 737 Boss." Thus the church appeared to lose its visible existence and by its own vote was extinct. Such was the condition of affairs until September following, when the organization was renewed and " Articles of Travail," so called, were adopted, and fellowship renewed with joy and thanksgiving. These "articles of travail" are worthy of being adopted and practiced in all our churches at the present day. At a subsequent date other articles were adopted which were intend- ed to regulate the conduct of members one toward another in promoting purity of character'and becoming behavior before the world. These, too, are full of practical good sense and worthy of present regard. A large proportion of the previous membership of the church returned in what is called the revival of order and discipline, and renewed their covenant, and sought to adhere to the prac- tice of an equitable assessment for the support of the institution of the gospel. And now the matter of building a meeting house was revived, said house when built to be under the direction of and for the use of the said society of the Baptist church professing the six principles, in union and fellowship with the Stonington Associa- tion, to be held in trust forever, by seven male members of said church. The dimensions of the house were to be 36 by 28 feet, of the usual height. The names of the subscribers to the enter- prise are given on the records together with the amount of sub- scription in money or its value in material. The members of the church subscribed to the amount of twenty-two pounds, the in- habitants not members forty pounds, making sixty-two pounds, or three hundred and ten dollars. Whether this was the entire cost of the building besides the personal labor of the members interested in the enterprise, we have no means of knowing. The house was built under the management of the committee of seven of the members, but we have no account of its formal dedication. The church prospered during this period and a goodly num- ber were received into its membership. But a sad affliction awaited the church. On the 27th of July, 1788, their pastor. Rev- erend Charles Boss, departed this life. He died in the forty-iirst year of his age, after a long and tedious illness. He was a man of uncommon piety, and he persevered in a well ordered life and conversation. His remains were removed to the meeting house on the 29th, when Elder Eliezer Brown delivered an excellent 47 738 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. discourse. The funeral services were attended by a vast throng of people of all denominations. Meetings were continued after this by pulpit supplies only for a long time. For fourteen years there was no pastor to lead the struggling flock, and during this period of declension the num- ber was reduced and no record was kept of worship or business. In January, 1803, the church called Elder Oliver Knight, of Coventry, to be their pastor. In April following William Brown- ing was chosen to be their deacon, the first record of such an of- ficer in the church since its organization. There were added to the church from April 23d, 1803, to September 10th, 1804, fifty members. One was excluded in that time, leaving forty-nine new and thirty-six old members. But there arose some difficulty between the pastor and a few of the members, which was diffi- cult of settlement, and a council was called to advise with the church, which met August 28th, 1805. The council found blame in both parties and so rendered their decision. The church, af- ter holding several meetings to consider the matter and hear the story of the aggrieved parties, finally reached a decision and passed a vote withdrawing the hand of fellowship from Oliver Knight as a disorderly walker. This closed the second pastorate. Ten years from this date the number of members was reduced to sixty, without having had pastoral ministrations. This brings us to September, 1815. At a conference meeting May 18th, 1816, Elder Sawyer was among the number present. He was only a temporary supply. He baptized six persons into fellowship and the number of members reported at this time was sixty-six. In April, 1818, a committee was appointed to superintend the mov- ing and settlement of Elder John Hammond. His labors ceased in September, 1823. From this time until July, 1828, there is no record of any meet- ing save one ; by the united voice of the church, Brother Joshua Card, for his repeatedly dealing in spirituous liquors on the first day of the week, together with his neglect of the church, was ex- cluded. Elder Benjamin Barnes served the church from the spring of 1827, to the date of his death July 28th, 1830. There were quite a number of conversions during his pastorate, but af- ter his decease there was no pastor to administer to the people again for a period of about eight years. The church at a meeting held May 28th, 1836, took into con- sideration the settlement of Reverend David Bennet to preach HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 739 at the meeting house one half of the time, and the other half to operate as a missionary near by. At this meeting it was decided to withdraw from the Stonington Union Association and seek ad- mission in the Warren Association. Delegates were appointed accordingly, new articles of faith were adopted, much the same in substance as those of 1774, with the declaration of six princi- ples left out. Reverend David Bennet resigned February 27th, 1837, and at the same meeting Reverend John H. Baker was called to fill the vacancy. During the succeeding five and a half years of this suc- cessful pastorate there were eighty-two additions. August 26th, 1843, the church gave Brother Leander E. Wake- field a call. He came from Hamilton Seminary, a recent gradu- ate, and brought to his work a studious mind and a devout heart. He was ordained September 30th, 1843. On July 27th, 1844, it was voted to adopt new articles of faith and practice. Brother Wakefield's pastorate continued only about nine months, but it is remembered with pleasure by those who were associated with him at that time. The church next called Reverend Joseph P. Burbank from Plattsburgh, N. Y. His settlement occurred August 24th, 1844, and his resignation March 9th, 1848. He was beloved by his people, and retired with the good will and prayers of the church. May 26th, 1849, Brother George K. Clark was invited to become pastor, and accepted the call, and was ordained by appropriate service June 13th the same year. He was dismissed by letter March 25th, 1855. A few valuable members were received into the church during his ministry. October 8th, 1855, at a meeting presided over by Reverend Henry Jackson, D.D., of Newport, it was decided to build a new church. A committee, with Reverend J. H. Baker as chairman, was appointed, with full powers to arrange for the building of the new house. A lot was chosen near Clark's mill, in the ex- treme north part of Charlestown, which was donated to the church by Mr. Joseph Hoxie. The building was dedicated with appropriate ceremonies in October, 1856. The sermon was preached by Reverend Henry Jackson, D.D. In the evening Reverend N. A. Read, of Wakefield, preached an appropriate sermon. The entire cost of the building was about $2,500. March 22d previous to the dedication the church called Rever- 740 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. end John H. Baker to the pastorate a second time. During his successful ministry of the four years following fifty-two were added to the church, forty of them by baptism. The Reverend S. B. Bailey succeeded Brother Baker in April, 1860, and continued until October, 1862. He never lived with the people here, but did pastoral work from time to time, as he found it convenient. In the years 1864^5 Reverend J. H. Sherwin was acting pastor. He left to found a school for the education of colored students in the neighboring village of Carolina. December 1st, 1867, Reverend W. Hurst was called to the pastorate, and continued to serve the church satisfactorily until released from his obligations, January 1st, 1871. April 1st, 1871, Reverend J. H. Holman was settled, and con. tinned until February, 1872. His pastorate was also a successful one, the church numbering at the time of his departure seventy- seven. The following three years the church was without a pastor, and left to keep aflame the lamp of spiritual life by various min- isters not always of this denomination. In June, 1875, Reverend C-. S. Weaver was invited to take pastoral charge of the church. His pastorate continued six years. A parsonage was built during his ministry by subscrip- tion. A religious awakening was experienced during the year 1878, and a goodly number were added to the church. At the close of this pastorate, however, many of the new members, with a few of the older standing members, withdrew from all partici- pation in church privileges and church obligations, and this withdrawal had the effect to weaken and discourage those who were left in charge of the interests depending. For six months after the removal of Brother Weaver the pulpit was supplied by Reverend L. W. Manning, of the Free Baptist faith. In October, 1881, Reverend Isaac Chesebrough began his labors of patient waiting and seed sowing. During his pastorate there was much exhibited of a future growth, but the numbers were few, many of them living at a distance, and some non-attendants, but with God's blessing resting upon them it numbered in Sep- tember, 1884, eighty-four. In 1886 the members of this church decided to have their meeting house thoroughly repaired and placed in a better con- 1 "f;^' [h -^W K'lP ARIOTYPE, t. BItRSTADT, I HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 741 dition for worship, and in conformity with their wishes, John S. Kenyon, one of tlie leading manufacturers of Richmond, engaged Elisha S. Card of Charlestown to do the wood work. The build- ing was repaired, painted, reseated, cushioned and finished about the 1st of January, 1887, at a cost of $3,000. The bell, costing $135, was a donation to the church by Martin G. Parks, Esq., of Shannock. Reverend Joseph R. Verry, who was then a young, earnest and faithful minister of the gospel, preached to this congregation, and devoted his time and talent to the completion of the edifice, to the increase of membership, and to the salvation of the church. On the 5th of October, 1888, William C. Lanphear, being then clerk, reported one hundred and nineteen members. Reverend Thomas C. Crocker is the present pastor, and his good works have placed the church in a prosperous condition. The church has had a varied history since its organization. For forty-two years the church had no pastor, but it has had its regular officers from its organization. The deacons have been : William Browning, John Stanton, Wait R. Clark, Gardner Moore, Whipple King, John Murray, Paul Mumford, George W. Cross and John W. Briggs. The clerks have been : Nathaniel Perkins, appointed Decem- ber 11th, 1774 ; Gideon J. Babcock, February 23d, 1799 ; William Perkins, March 10th, 1804 ; Joshua Card, March 9th, 1805; James C. Baker, June 1st, 1833; William Marchant, June 23d, 1838; Joshua Card, January 1st, 1841 ; John S. Clark, March 23d, 1844 ; A. S. Kenyon, October 8th, 1855 ; William H. Perry, August 21st, 1858 ; William Marchant, June 23d, 1867 ; John W. Briggs, Octo- ber 25th, 1882. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. The Clark Family. — Perry Clark, a successful merchant at Clark's Mills, in Richmond, married Penelope Perry. The chil- dren of this union were : Perry, Charles, Simeon P., Mary and Penelope. Charles, the second son in order of birth, was a native of Richmond, where he was born January 22d, 1818. He re- ceived such an education as was obtainable in the schools of the town at that early day, and when a youth entered the store kept by his father at Clark's Mills. He very soon acquainted himself with the methods of business, and became so useful in the pur- 742 HISTORV OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. chase and sale of goods that the management of the store was left almost entirely in his hands. On the death of his father he, with his younger brother Simeon, succeeded to the interest, and continued without interruption until a short time previous to his death. Desiring a wider field for his energies and capital than was afforded in the keeping of a country store, he in 1849, in com- pany with his brother Simeon, built the cotton mill at this point, operated by them from the year 1856 until his death. He also owned a grist mill, and was the proprietor of an exten- sive farm, which he cultivated. Mr. Clark with these varied business connections was much occupied, and the successful and profitable manner in which they were conducted but emphasizes the judgment and quick perception of the senior partner, who is the subject of this biography. Mr. Clark was in his political associations a strong republican, and while believing in the prin- ciples of his party and lending his influence and means to pro- mote their success, cared little for the honors of office. He was interested in matters pertaining to the town,' and occasionally permitted his name to be used as a candidate for membership to the town council. Both Mr. and Mrs. Clark were members of the Second Baptist church of Richmond. In his business rela- tions Mr. Clark was upright, honorable and just. His opinions, formed not hastily, but with calmness and reflection, were gen- erally correct and received with respect. He was fond of his home, where the genial and kindly nature of the man found an ample field for development. He was on the 9th of January, 1839, married to Miss Mary, daughter of Bradford Clark, of Richmond. Their children were: Charles P., born November 17th, 1839; and Martha E., born June 29th, 1843, and married to Charles D. Chase. Both these children are now deceased. Charles P. died December 2.'5th, 1870, and Mrs. Chase September 24th, 1886. The death of Ur. Clark oc- curred on the 9th of May, 1870. Simeon P. Clark, the third son of Perry Clark, and his wife, Penelope Perry, was born at Clark's Mills on the 19th of Febru- ary, 1820. His education was received at the Colchester Academy, located at Colchester, Conn., and at the age of sixteen he, with his brother Charles, succeeded to the business of his father at Clark's Mills, the latter having established and for many years conducted a country store at that place. Simeon P. also filled AnTOTYPE, t OltRSTAOT, ■HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 743 the office of bookkeeper and managed the store for R. G. Hazard, who operated the mills at that date. In 1849, in company with his brother, he built a mill, and in 1856 embarked with him in the manufacture of cotton yarn, which partnership was continued until 1870. He then secured the entire interest and was owner of the mill until 1885, when his son, George H., purchased and succeeded to the business. Mr. Clark also did much to build and improve the hamlet of Clark's Mills, which was in a large degree dependent upon the manufacturing interest he conducted. Though possessing strong anti-slavery convictions, he took no part in the political discus- sions of the day, and felt a decided aversion to politics, his time and attention being chiefly given to business. He was early drawn to habits of reflection on religious subjects, and was for a brief period a member of the Baptist church. His views under- went a change and caused him later to affiliate with the Advent Christians, whose belief he adopted and with whom he wor- shipped until his death, December 4th, 1887. Mr. Clark possessed equally with his brother rare business talent, and a character for integrity and virtue that commanded respect and made him a consistent and energetic advocate of all measures for the advance- ment of morality in the community. Simeon P. Clark was married November 8th, 1843, to Miss Catherine, daughter of Walter Perry of South Kingstown. They had eleven children, five of whom grew to mature years. Of this number Hattie S. and Katie P. have since died. George H. Clark, the only surviving son, was married December 26th, 1877, to Miss Celia E., daughter of Peleg C. Carr of Jamestown, R. I. Their children are : George Perry, Hattie Sumner, Henry Gar- field and Florence, all of whom are living. Charles Perry Clark, the dates of whose birth and death are above given, was the grandson of Perry and Penelope Clark, and the son of Charles and Mary Bradford Clark. He was born at Clark's Mills in Richmond, and after a study of the elementary branches in the school nearest his home, became a student of the East Greenwich Academy. Here he acquired a thorough aca- demic education, and prepared more thoroughly for business by a course at Schofield's Commercial College in Providence. De- siring a less circumscribed field than was open to him at his home, he chose Providence as a business center and became a member of the firm of James A. Potter & Co., lumber dealers. 744 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Here he soon identified himself with the progressive business ele- ment of the city, and established a reputation for industry, ability and the most absolute integrity. He was much respected in com- mercial circles, though younger than many with whom he came in daily contact, and was in 1868 made a member of the Provi- dence Board of Trade. While in the midst of prosperity and usefulness his career was suddenly ended by death. He was not active in the arena of politics, but advocated with earnestness and vigor the principles of the republican party. Mr. Clark worshipped with the con- gregation of the Baptist church, and although not connected with it by membership, was in all the essentials a devout Chris- tian. One of his friends thus speaks of him : " The writer of this paragraph has known Mr. Clark for many years, and found him a noble and genial-hearted man, to know whom is conducive not only of pleasure but of the great benefits that accrue from association with men of intelligence and culture. His early death is a loss which will be felt by the community at large, quite as much as by his family and personal friends, and those who read this will recall his pleasant voice and words, with their accompanying smile, and feel aggrieved that his earthly mission is ended." George N. Ennis.— Paul Ennis, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, resided in Charlestown, though a native of the town of Richmond. He married a Miss Webster, whose children were six sons — John, Paul, Dennis, Thomas, Varnum and Joseph — and three daughters. Dennis of this number was born in Charlestown, and spent much of his life on farms in various parts of the county and vicinity, either leased or cultivated on shares. He was located successively in North Stonington, Hopkinton, South Kingstown and his native town, where his death occurred. He married Mary, daughter of Oliver Crandall, of Charlestown, and had eleven children: Albert, George N., Varnum, Dennis, Oliver, Frank, Samuel P., Mary, Sally, Jane E. and Martha E.; of whom Albert, Dennis, Oliver, Mary and Sally are deceased. George N. Ennis was born November 21st, 1821, in the town of Charlestown, on a farm situated one mile from his present home. Here his boyhood was passed, the district school afford- ing him a common English education, and the work of the farm absorbing all his time when released from study, until 1839. He then, in his ninteenth year, entered the Cranston Print Works at PHOTO. BY SCHOFrELO BROS' _^ .^ <£ ARTOTYPE, E. BIEHSTADT, 'n^-o^-i/^^'^ t/i^e^^^^i^u^c^ ARrOTVPE, 6. BIERSTADT. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 745 Cranston, R. L, and remained two years in the employ of this company. In 1843 he removed to Richmond Switch and opened a general store for the sale of country supplies. Mr. Ennis has since resided at this point and gradually extended ' his business interests. In 1848, having purchased a tract of land embracing two hundred acres, he engaged in farming. In 1855 two hun- dred acres were added to this, and a tract of three hundred acres finely timbered, and lying in the same town, was secured with a view to supplying the Providence and Stonington Railroad with wood. In 1858 another wooded farm was purchased and devoted to the same uses. He continued proprietor of the store until 1887, when the stock was sold to R. F. Hoxie, the present owner, who is also postmas- ter of the hamlet. Mr. Ennis did not, however, relinquish his hold on the active business of the locality. In 1858 he built a dam, grist mill, shingle mill and bone mill. All these he still manages, as also the farm to which he gives his personal atten- tion. The purchase of a wood farm largely stocked with cedar in 1886, affords a supply of timber fully equal to the demands of the shingle mill. Mr. Ennis has taken an active part in the po- litical movements of his locality, and has been for three years a member of the town council. He served for two years in the state senate, and was elected for one term to the house of repre- sentatives. His vote and influence are given to the democracy. George N. Ennis was married April 3d, 1846, to Louisa, daughter of Arnold Clark, of Charlestown. Their children are : Mary Frances, widow of Jesse Hoxie ; Josephine, wife of Giles P. Kenyon, and George Byron, deceased. Anson Greene. — Judge Benjamin Greene, the grandfather of Anson Greene, was a farmer in the town of Coventry. He was twice married, his first wife having been a Miss Brayton, whose children were two sons, Caleb and Isaac, and one daughter, Han- nah. Isaac Greene, born in Coventry September 24th, 1796, set- tled in Exeter, Washington county, as a farmer and merchant. He was prominently connected with local affairs as a member of the state legislature, justice of the peace, and as the incumbent of many lesser offices in the town. His death occurred October 4th. 1864. Mr. Greene married Eliza, daughter of Job Kenyon, of Exeter, and had three children : Phebe (Mrs. Christopher P. Lillibridge, deceased), Anson and Benjamin, a leading physician of Portsmouth. R. I. 746 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Anson Greene was born in Exeter on the 17th of March, 1829, and until his twenty-first year, remained with his parents on the farm, receiving meanwhile a public school education, with a period at the Smithville Seminary at Scituate. Continuing his studies, he also for three years engaged in teaching, and in 1853 entered the counting room of the Allen Print Works in Provi- dence. For eight years he was employed in the office of this es- tablishment, until failing health, as a result of the sedentary life he led, compelled a retirement from active business. Mr. Greene spent two years on the farm, derived great benefit from this pe- riod of rest, and in 1863 located in Arcadia, where he assumed charge of the store and accounts of ISIessrs. A. & W. Sprague, who were large mill owners at this point. In 1866 he became proprietor of the store to which he has since given his attention, in connection with the accounts of Mr. D. L. Aldrich, the present owner of the mills. He also for many years held the commis- sion as postmaster of the hamlet. Mr. Greene has as a republican taken an active part in the po- litical movements in his county, and for five years represented his district in the Rhode Island senate, serving as chairman of the committee on accounts, and on other important committees. He has recently given his support to the prohibition party, and is a firm believer in temperance as one of the leading political issues of the day. He was a delegate to the national prohibition convention convened at Indianapolis in 1888, and has been the party nominee for congressional honors, as well as for presi- dential elector. He is a director of the First National Bank of Hopkinton, as also of the Hopkinton Savings Bank, and has been for many years vice-president of the former institution. He is also a director of the Wood River Branch railroad. Mr. Greene is an active mason, and member of Charity Lodge, No. 23, of Hope Valley, of Franklin Chapter, No. 7, of Providence Council, and of Calvary Commandery, No. 13, of Providence. He is past master of the lodge, high priest of the chapter, and has held various important offices in the grand lodge and grand chapter of the state. , Charles J. Greene.— Amos Greene, the great-grandfather of Charles J. Greene, was a prosperous farmer in the town of Charlestown. To his wife, formerly Miss Amy Knowles, were born several children. Their son, Jeffrey Greene, continued the AHTOTYPE, E, BIEHSTADT, N, lIIhTORV OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 747 pursuits of his father in the same town and in South Kingstown. He married Frances Congdon, whose children were: Sarah, born in 1793 ; John C, in 1794 ; Nathaniel, in 1796 ; Catherine, in 1798; Mary, in 1800; James C, March 22d, 1803; Eliza, in 1805; Martha, in 1809, and Francis, in 1818, James C. spent the greater part of his life as a farmer in South Kingstown. He married Susan, daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Nichols) Hull, of the same town. Their children are a son, Charles J., the subject of this biography, born December 16th, 1848, and a daughter, S. Fannie, wife of George R. Clarke. Benjamin Hull, the father of Mrs. Greene, won some reputation in his day as a successful teacher of the English branches, navigation and surveying. Charles J. Greene, whose birth occurred in South Kingstown, received his early education at the district school near his home, and completed his studies at the East Greenwich Academy. Re- turning to the farm his services were given to his father, with such variety as was afforded by teaching during the winter months. In the spring of 1870 James C. Greene purchased the farm in Richmond which is the present home of his son. Here he continued to reside, and was actively employed in the varied duties pertaining to a farmer's life until his death, when the prop- erty passed into the hands of his only son. Charles J. Greene, though much interested in the cultivation of his land, retains his early love for teaching, and has been for years engaged in the work of instruction. His legislative duties, have, however, absorbed much of his time for several years. As a republican he was the representative from Richmond to the Rhode Island house of representatives from 1881 to 1884, and since that date has filled the office of senator from his town. In both houses he has been identified with the committees on edu- cation. With the exception of an interval of two years he has held the position of superintendent of public schools since 1881, and was for twelve years a member of the school committee. He is one of the directors of the National Landholders' Bank, and a member of the board of managers of the State Agricultural School and Experiment Station. In 1884 he was elected treasurer of the town, and is the present incumbent of that office. Mr. Greene as a legislator, by his clear comprehension of questions daily arising, and conservative course, has won a creditable record, while his knowledge of educational matters especially fits him for service in that direction. 748 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. John W. Hoxie. — Lodowick Hawksie, as the name was early spelled, was the first member of the family to emigrate to this country, and came either from Scotland or Wales. He at once engaged to work for one John Dexter, of Sandwich, Mass., his object being to repay by his earnings the money advanced for his- passage to this country. He learned the trade of a hatter, and afterward established himself in business in the same town. In October, 1664, he married Mary Presbary, to whom were born the following children: Bathsheba, in 1665; Joseph, in 1667; Gideon, in 1672 ; Hezekiah, in 1675 ; John, in 1677; Solomon, in 1679 ; and Content, in 1681. Joseph and John came to Rhode Is- land about the year 1700, the former locating in North Kings- town, and John in Westerly. From one of these brothers is de- scended Stephen Hoxie, of Hopkinton, whose son Thomas W. Hoxie, the father of the subject of this biography, was born Sep- tember 18th, 1793, and followed his trade of blacksmith in the town of Richmond. He was a man of great industry and of the strictest integrity and honor, fully exemplifying in his daily life the high moral qualities and simplicity of character of the Quaker faith, to which he belonged. He was twice married, his second wife being Tabitha, daughter of Jonathan Tucker. Their chil- dren were fourteen in number, of whom Lydia T., Mary N., John W., Thomas C, Charles A., Martha A., and George T. are the survivors. John W. Hoxie was born February 16th, 1828, in the town of Richmond, and received at the schools in his neighborhood such an education as enabled him to master the English branches and transact business understandingly. At the age of eighteen, having developed a decided mechanical taste, he removed to Providence for the purpose of learning a trade, and chose that of a machinist. He followed this trade successfully in Providence, 'New York and Newark, N. J., and some years later accepted and continued for five years superintendent of the Florence Sewing Machine Works located at Florence, Mass. He then for two years oper- ated a foundry in Illinois, and on returning to the East located in his native town. Here Mr. Hoxie determined to engage on an extensive scale in the propagation of brook trout, and for the purpose leased of the Hon. Rowland Hazard for a period of ten years, the proper- ty since favorably known to lovers of piscatorial sport as the " Clearwater Trout Farm." He had from early youth been familiar AHTOTYPE, E, BIER8TADT, N. Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 749 with the crystal stream of pure water running through this land and could readily measure the possibilities of success, while thus embarking in a novel and somewhat doubtful enterprise. Mr. Hoxie made a thorough study of the nature and habits of brook trout, and of the most successful methods of propagation. He then began the erection of the various buildings necessary to the hatching and subsequent care of the fish, stocking ponds the first year with 40,000 eggs, which number has since been increased to 2,000,000 annually produced by him. Ten thousand pounds of trout are each season shipped to the New York markets, while the eggs are sold to propagators of fish in all parts of the country. With the exception of a farm requiring more or less attention his time is chiefly given to this enterprise, in which he is great- ly aided by his son. Mr. Hoxie is an ardent republican and ac- tively interested in the local work of the party, but has always refused office. He was married October 7th, 1849, to Joanna T., daughter of Archibald Barber, of Charlestown. Their children are : Emily J., deceased ; Anna A., deceased ; Thomas J., Emma A., deceased; John B., deceased, and Dexter W. Thomas J., who was born January 5th, 1856, married December 20th, 1888, Fannie, daughter of Beriah C. Kenyon, of North Kingstown. The birth of Dex- ter W. occtirred October 23d, 1864, in Providence. Elijah Kenyon, born in Hopkinton, R. I., February 24th. 1815, was the son of Lewis and Ann Kenyon, and the grandson of Elijah and Penelope Kenyon. He had four brothers : Abial S., Charles H., Thomas R. and Isaac D.; and five sisters : Lucy S., Parmelia C, Mary A., Hannah G., Sarah P. and Susan E. The subject of this biography attended the school connected with the district in which he lived until 1832, when he became a pupil of the academy at Kingstown. Obtaining thus a substantial edu- cation, he was prepared for the active duties of life, and began as an assistant to his father in the dressing of cloth. This he continued until the death of the latter, on the 17th of February, 1839, when a copartnership was formed with his brother, Abial S. Kenyon, and the old mill so long devoted to cloth finishing was used for carding and spinning. They first introduced six looms, and began the weaving of cloth in this mill. Meeting with much success, they erected in 1844 a new mill near the site of the old structure, larger, more complete in its appoint- 750 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ments, and with increased facilities for manufacturing. Mr. Kenyon continued the interest with his brother, and meanwhile built in North Stonington the Laurel Glen mill, which he oper- ated for five years. Charles H. Kenyon, his brother, was then admitted as a partner, and in 1863 purchased the property, thus becoming sole owner of the Laurel Glen mill, which he later sold to Francis Burdick. In 1857 Elijah Kenyon returned to Richmond and purchased the interest of his brother, Abial S., in the mill owned jointly by them, which he operated until 1863, when C. B. Coon was ad- mitted as a partner. In 1862 a spacious store was opened for the convenience of the mill operatives, in 1866 a cotton mill was erected for the manufacture of yarns, and in 1872 Mr. Kenyon designed and had constructed one of the most attractive resi- dences in the town, equipped with modern and luxurious appli- ances, which his family now occupy. In 1881 the partnership existing between Messrs. Kenyon & Coon was dissolved, and John S. Kenyon was admitted to an interest in the business, under the firm name of Messrs. E. Kenyon & Son. On the death of Mr. Kenyon, on the 3d of December, 1881, his son succeeded to the business, and has since operated the mills. Elijah Kenyon, on the 25th of April, 1859, married Mary A., daughter of General Arnold Lewis, of Exeter. Th'ey had five children, as follows: John S., Isaac D., Fred. E., Mary L. and Leonora P. Isaac D. died December 12th, 1870, in his fourth year, and Fred. E. February 9th, 1876, in his infancy. The fol- lowing tribute to the memory of Mr. Kenyon is taken from a county journal : "As a citizen he was universally esteemed. He was noble, generous hearted and truthful in all his dealings, and withal ex- ceedingly modest, never aspiring to any public honor. Gifted with rare business qualifications, his advice was frequently sought on matters of business import, and always willingly given. His social and open hearted nature won many friends, who will deeply feel his loss. Not being fond of travel, his pleasures were found chiefly within the compass of his attractive home, and the affairs pertaining to his office. We shall miss his genial counten- ance and friendly greeting, and mourn with his family over the grave of him whom in life we have loved and honored, and who in death will not be forgotten."' y^'W.FrBStan .^ 7^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 751 Francis Bravton and William Francis Segar.— The Segar family are of Dutch origin and distinguished English descent, arms having been granted in 1612 to William Segar, time of Charles I., and to Thomas Segar, " Blue Mantle," time of Charles II. William died in 1633 and Thomas in 1670, in England. The progenitor of the branch of the family now resident in Wash- ington county was John of Newport, who is first spoken of as a taxpayer in 1680, and whose death occurred in 1737 in South Kingstown. He bought of the " Pettaquamscutt Purchasers" a large tract of land adjoining Point Judith pond on the west, which for four generations remained in the family. Among his children was a son, John, born in Newport May 3d, 1684, who died in South Kingstown in October, 1753, on the homestead farm. He married in 1708, Alice, daughter of Joseph Hull and his wife, Experience Harper. Their children were three sons and eleven daughters, among whom was Joseph, born September 6th, 1723, in South Kingstown, who died March 3d, 1788. He married in 1750 Mary, daughter of Joseph and Mary Taylor, of the same town, to whom were born six sons and five daughters. Their son John, whose birth occurred in South Kingstown May 28th, 1757, was a prosperous farmer, justice of the peace, and sheriff of the county. He died February 18th, 1819. In 1785 he married Abigail, daughter of Francis Brayton, of Portsmouth, R. I. Their children were four sons and five daughters. Their son, Francis Brayton, was born February 24th, 1794, at South Kingstown. His early years were passed on the farm, his education having been acquired at the public and private schools of the town. He learned the then lucrative trade of a tanner and currier, and for twenty years conducted the business in Charlestown and Hopkinton, finally selling the tannery and farm owned by him in the latter town, and removing to the Segar homestead in South Kingstown. Here he resided until 1850, when Wyoming, in Richmond, became his home. In company with his son, William F. Segar, he here embarked in mercantile pursuits, and continued this business relation until his death, October 16th, 1862. Mr. Segar was prominently identified with the affairs of his town and county.' He was a soldier in the war of 1812, captain of the Washington artillery company in 1823, colonel of militia from 1824 to 1829, justice of the peace for seven years, postmas- ter, and sheriff of the county. He affiliated at an early day with 752 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the whig party in politics, and later endorsed the republican platform, while his avowed temperance sentiments led to active sympath}!' with the cause of prohibition. From the date of its organization until his death, ^Ir. Segar was president of the Richmond Bank. He possessed strong common sense, good judgment, a tenacious memor}^ and a versatile mind. Of Qua- ker antecedents, he naturally inclined to that faith, and desired his children to worship with the Friends' meeting. He was a student of the scriptures, and held their Christian teachings in the most profound respect. This in a great degree promoted the genial, kindly and benevolent nature which won the affec- tionate regard of his friends. Mr. Segar married October 11th, 1821, Susan Stanton, daugh- ter of Judge William Peckham, of South Kingstown, whose vir- tues still live in the memory of the older residents of the county. Their children were : Mary Peckham, Jane Ann, Wil- liam Francis, John Dockrey, Abigail Brayton, Abby Brayton, Charles Victor, Susan Elizabeth and David Anthony. William Francis, the eldest son, was born October 4th, 1826, in Hopkinton, and after a preliminary education in the public schools of Hopkinton and South Kingstown, became a pupil of the East Greenwich Academy. The earliest years of his active life were spent on the farm, and varied by the role of teacher, which he filled successfully in the public schools near his home. Then engaging in the business of a merchant in Hope Valley, two years later he removed to Wyoming, and has since con- ducted at this point a mercantile interest that, in its steady growth and magnitude, is among the most important of its char- acter in the county. With the exception of an interval of seven years spent in Providence for the better education of his chil- dren, he has resided at Wyoming. Mv. Segar has, since the cast- ing of his first ballot, been either a whig or republican, and, although not an aspirant for office, has manifested a lively inter- est in political matters affecting his town, the state and the na- tion. His strong sympathy with the cause of temperance has borne good fruit, and the republican party in Richmond, through his efforts, aided by others holding similar views, has been placed, as a result, on a platform of temperance and prohibition. He has filled the position of town treasui-er for several years, and held for twenty-three years the commission as postmaster of Wyoming. He is an earnest advocate of temperance in all V "''^'.''r-^st^nisC'NY HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 753 things, and total abstinence from the use of all intoxicants. In this course he , is actuated not by policy but principle, and the rigid line drawn with reference to the sale of such merchandise, proves him. to be a man who has the courage of his convictions. Possessing a well-balanced mind, excellent judgment and a self- reliant nature, these qualities have formed the basis of his busi- ness success. His well-known integrity commanded in no less a degree the confidence and respect of the public, and in a large measure contributed to his commercial prosperity. Mr. Segar, on the 20th of August, 1848, married Mary A., daughter of Hon. William Tripp Browning, of South Kings- town. Their children are: Martha Jane, born May 5th, 185], who died September 22d, 1851; Helen Browning, whose birth occurred September 2d, 1852, wife of George O. Lathrop, of Fall River, Mass.; William Tripp, born March 8th, 1855, who died March 2d, 1856 ; Jessie Fremont, born December 2d, 1866, wife of Walter H. Durfee, of Providence ; and Francis Brayton, whose birth occurred January 22q, 1859, and his death, in Providence, May, 1879, while a student of Brown University. William A. Walton. — John Walton, the grandfather of Wil- liam A. Walton, with his wife, Mary Marsden, resided in York- shire, England. Their son, John Walton, married Nancy Brace- well, and settled in the same county. Their children were : Wil- liam A., Mary, Jane, Hannah, Bracewell, Hartley, Thomas and Samuel. William A. Walton was born September 20th, 1831, in Salterforth, Yorkshire, England, and in early youth removed to Bingley in the same shire. His parents were weavers and early trained their son to become a skillful worker at the same trade, his first task having been the making of bobbins. He was taught to read in the Sabbath school and received more thorough instruction between the age of eight and eleven years, when the half of each day on being released from his work, was spent in school. At the age of eleven years he entered a cotton mill in Bingley, and was placed in charge of a loom. Three years later he removed to Bradford and labored assidu- ously for one year with the purpose in view of earning sufficient money to pay his passage to America. This he accomplished in 1853, and was soon after his arrival employed as a spinner in Lawrence, Mass. From that point he removed to Moosup, Conn., and was first engaged in weaving. His services were ere long required in adjusting the looms of which he had a thorough un- 48 754 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. derstanding, and later given to the supervision of a section of looms. Mr. Walton next accepted an offer from the Merrimac Woolen ]\Iills at Lowell, ]\Iass., to act as assistant overseer in the weaving shop. Two years later he assumed charge of the weav- ing department of a woolen mill in Brookdale in the same state, from there he was tendered an engagement as assistant overseer of a mill at Millville, Mass., and later spent two and a half years as weaver and designer at Blackstone, Mass. In 1865 Mr. Walton assumed charge of the Weybosset Mills in Providence, where his successful management very soon secured for him an interest and brought a corresponding share of the profits. This inspired a desire to become the owner of a woolen mill and led in 1879 to the purchase of the Wood River Mills lo- cated at Richmond Switch, in connection with Mr. William Blakeley. The latter gentleman four years later retired from the firm, having sold his interest to Mr. Walton, who has greatly improved the property, increased its capacity, erected comforta- ble homes for the operatives and inspired a spirit of thrift and ambition throughout the hamlet. The general atmosphere of refinement and contentment that pervades the locality is largely due to his generosity, and his personal interest in the welfare of his employees. One hundred and eighty men and women are employed, and cassimeres valued at $325,000 annually produced at this. mill. Mr. Walton is a firm republican in his political views and a strong advocate of a tariff which affords protection to home in- dustry. He has never held, nor desired to hold office. He is a director of the Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Provi- dence, and identified with Adelphi Lodge and St. John's Chapter of Free and Accepted Masons of Providence. He is a member of the Society of the Pilgrim Congregational church of Provi- dence. Mr. Walton was in 1860 married to Mary, daughter of Isaac and Sarah Wynn, of Pascoag, R. I. Their children are : Clara W., wife of Clifton P. Brown, of Providence ; AVilliam H., who is interested with his father in the business, and John Mortimer, who is pursuing his studies in Providence. J h a z s o CHAPTER XVIII. TOWN OF HOPKINTON. General Features of the Town. — Early Legislation. — Civil Officers. — Tomaquag Valley. — The Lewis Family. — The Langworthy Family. — The Babcock Family. — The Wells Family. — Early Amusements. — Horse Insurance Com- pany. — Schools. — Libraries. — Ashaway and its Mills, Stores and Banks. — The First Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Bethel. — Laureldale. — Hopkinton City, its Stores, Hotels, Manufactories and Churches. — Hope Valley. — Man- ufacturing. — Stores. — Banks. — Hotels. — Library. — Churches. — Locustville. — Barberville.— "Wyoming. — Rockville. — Centerville. — Rookville Manufacturing Company. — Moscow. — Rockville Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Biographical Sketches. THE town of Hopkinton was taken from Westerly and incor- porated March 19th, 1757. It was named in honor of Stephen Hopkins, who presented to the town record books for the town officers and a case to keep them in, which is still preserved. The town lies southwest from the city of Providence, and dis- tant about thirty or thirty-five miles. It is bounded on the north by Exeter ; on the east by Wood river, which separates it from the town of Richmond, on the south by Pawcatuck river, which separates it from the town of Westerly, and on the west by Stonington, in Connecticut. The town has an average length from north to south of about eight miles, and an average breadth from east to west of about four miles. The northern section of the town is somewhat rough and broken, while the southern section is more uniform and better adapted to agricultural purposes. The soil, like that of all sec- tions round about it, is a gravelly loam and the products consist of corn, grass or hay, oats, potatoes, butter, cheese and some others. The timber has been largely cleared away. The principal streams are the Wood river on the east, which flows south and empties into the Pawcatuck river in the south- eastern part of the town. These two streams furnish many valuable water privileges, some of which are occupied and used 756 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. as the sites of cotton or woolen factories, and other manufactur- ing and mechanical trades. Ashaway, Indian, Ashawog, Toma- quag, Palmer's, Neshunganset and Canonchet (named after the fourth and last great Narragansett chief sachem), are smaller streams. The Villages are Hope Valley, Ashaway, Rockville, Canonchet, Hopkinton city, Woodville, Potter Hill and Niantic (both partly in Westerly), Burdickville, Moscow, Bethel, Barberville, Center- ville and Locustville. Ponds. — Grassy, Yawcoog, Wincheck, Ell, Long, Blue, Locust- ville, Ashville, Saw Mill, Spectacle, Fiddle, Frying Pan. Hills. — Huckleberry, Chasing, Maxson, Diamond, Pork, Grav- elly, Brightman's, Woody. An " Act for dividing the town of Westerly, and thereof mak- ing two distinct townships ; one to retain the name of Westerly and the other to be designated and known by the name of Hop- kinton," and other matter is here copied from the town " History of Hopkinton," by Reverend S. S. Griswold. " Whereas a great number of the inhabitants of the northern part of the town of Westerly, preferred a petition, and represent- ed unto this Assembly, that the said town being upwards of twenty miles in length, they are much aggrieved by reason many of them are obliged to travel some fifteen or sixteen miles, to get an instrument recorded ; others, eighteen or twenty miles, when business calls them before the Town Council, or to attend at a Court of Justices, the greater part of the public business being at this day transacted and done in the southern parts of said town ; and thereupon prayed that the same may be divided ; nature hav- ing cut it into two parts, by the large river, called and known by the name of Pawcatuck ; and that they may be entitled to equal privileges with the other towns in this colony ; on consideration whereof : — "Be it enacted by this General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted, that the said town of Westerly be, and the same is hereby, made and divided into two distinct and separate towns ; and that such part thereof, as lieth to the southward of the aforesaid Pawcatuck river, shall still be, and remain a town, holding its ancient name of Westerly ; and all the lands lying to the northward of said river, shall also be, and hereby is erected into and made a town, to be distinguished, called and known by the name of Hopkinton ; and the inhabitants thereof shall have. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 757 hold and enjoy all and singular, the liberties, privileges and im- munities that the other towns in this colony are entitled to ; New Shoreham and Jamestown excepted. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the money due unto the town of Westerly, aforesaid, for the Cedar Swamp, shall be legally deemed, both principal and interest, unto those that live on the south side of the aforesaid Pawcatuck river; and they, in return, shall wholly and solely be at the expense of defending said swamp ; and the town of Hopkinton shall not be subject to any costs and charges on that account ; that all the town debts (except such as may have lately accrued on account of the swamp), shall be equally paid by the towns of Westerly and Hopkinton ; and all such monies as were due to what, before this act, was the town of Westerly, shall be applied towards pay- ing off said town's debts, except such as are due on account of the swamp. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that all and every of the justices of the peace, that were chosen and ap- pointed such for the town of Westerly, and who live in that part thereof, that is now made Hopkinton, be, and they hereby are, continued in their offices, with full power and ample authority, in every respect as they had, in consequence of their being chosen into and commissionated for said office ; and that the eldest of them issue his warrant to call the freemen of said town of Hop- kinton to meet together at some convenient place within the same, in order to choose and appoint officers necessary for man- aging and conducting the prudential affairs of said town." Pursuant to the above act of incorporation, the freemen of said town were convened at the dwelling house of Joshua Clarke, on the 4th day of April, 1757, for the purpose of choosing and ap- pointing officers necessary for managing and conducting the pru- dential affairs of the new town of Hopkinton. The names of seventy freemen living on the north side of Pau- guituck river, were transferred from the town records of Wester- ly, to be entered on the about to be records of the new town — Hopkinton. These seventy freemen were legalized voters, and they constituted the first town meeting of this town. Their names are as follows : George Babcock, Hubbard Bur- dick, John Maxson, Nathan Burdick, Samuel Hill, John Lewis, Hezekiah Collins, John McCoon, Jr., Edward Wells, Jr., John Maxson, Joseph Witter, Edward Robinson, John Witter, Jr., Josiah 758 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Hill, Jr., Samuel Maxson, John Burdick, Daniel McCoon, Jr., Jonathan Wells, John Weaver, Christopher Willbor, Nathan Mc- Coon, Timothy Porter, George Potter, Oliver Babcock, Joshua Clark, John Lewis, Thomas Wells, Jr., George Thurston, John Hall, John Hall, Jr., Zaccheus Reynolds, Ezekiel Burdick, Hub- bard Burdick, Benjamin Hall, Jedediah Davis, John Hill, Parsa- val Allen, Zaccheus Pooler, Samuel Brand, John Robinson, Joshua Lanphere, William Maxson, Samuel Larkin, Elisha McCoon, David Hall, Benjamin Wilbor, Benjamin Randal, Daniel McCoon, Thomas Potter, Peter Crandal, Joseph Lawton, Elisha Lewis, Thomas Wells, Edward Wells, Joseph Reynolds, Captain Hub- bard Burdick, Thomas Foster, John Cottrell, Roger White, Ebenezer Burdick, Ebenezer Hill, William Hadfall, Benjamin Barber, Peter Kinyon, Ezekiel Hall, Daniel Butler, Samuel But- ton, Jr., Simeon Perry, John Larkin, Jr. The following taken from the first record book of the town, shows the doings of the first town meeting. " At a town meeting held in Hopkinton this fourth day of April in the thirtieth year of his Alajesties reign George ye Sec- ond King of Great Britain Atmoguc Domini, 1757. " At the dwelling house of Joshua Clarke in pursuance to an Act of the General Assembly of the Colony of Rhode Island. "Voted, that Mr. George Babcock be Moderator of this town meeting. "Voted, that Simeon Perry be Town Clerk and is engaged. "Voted, that the men whose names are next after written be admitted Freemen of this town and are allowed to give their votes for town officers who have taken the oath against the bribery and corruption prescribed by law (viz.) Samuel Brown, Dan Bowen, Nathaniel Wells, Walter Worden, William Thurs- ton, Joseph Wells, Joseph ]McCoon, Elnathan AVells, Benjamin Wilbour, Cyrus Button, Jonathan Lankford, John Brown, Jun. " Voted, that Cap'n John Maxson be 1st ; j\Ir. Crcorge Babcock, 2d; Esq, Daniel IMcCoon, 3d; Cap'n Zaccheus Reynolds, 4th; Mr. Flezekiah Collins, 5th ; and Simeon Perry, the 6th ; Town Coun- cilmen, all engaged. "Voted, that Maj. Joshua Clarke be Town Treasurer, en- gaged. "Voted, that Mr. Nathan Burdick be Town Sargent, en- gaged. "Voted, that Daniel McCoon Jun. & Ebenezer Burdick be h e Constables, engaged. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 759 " Voted, that Hezekiah Collins & Edward Robinson be chosen Oversears of the poor and are engaged. "Voted, that John Maxson Jun. Joshua Clarke and Lawton Palmer be Ratemaker, all engaged. "Voted, that Mr. Edward Wells be Sealer of Weights and Measures, Packer, &c. and is engaged. " Voted, that Cap'n John Maxson, Esq. Daniel McCoon, and Benj. Willbour be Viewers of freehold Estates and all engaged but Willbour. "Voted, that Mr. Nathan Burdick, Mr. John Burdick, Mr. Wil- liam Maxson, Mr. Joshua Lanphere, Mr. John Weaver, and Mr. William Burdick, be chosen Supervisors of Highway and fence Viewers and all engaged, but William Burdick. "Voted, that Mr. Benjamin Barber be Pound Keeper and en- gaged. "Voted, that John Maxson Jun. and Simeon Perry be survey- ors, and are engaged. "Voted, that Edward Wells and Samuel Maxson be chosen Viewers of lumber, only Wells is engaged, Maxson not en- gaged. "Voted, that the next town meeting shall be held at the dwell- ing house of Jedediah Davises. "Voted, that Mr. George Babcock, Mr. Joshua Clarke and Mr. Hezekiah Collins be appointed a committee to treat with the town of Westerly, respecting the town debts before divided, and settle the same according to the Act of the General Assembly, and make return as soon as conveniently they can. "Voted, that this town meeting be adjourned to the twentieth day of April, instant, to the dwelling house of Jedediah Da- vises, at 10 of the clock in the forenoon, in order to choose their Deputies and put in their proxy votes for general officers. "Propounded in order to be made free of the town, &c., (viz.) Timothy Peckham, Daniel Butler, Jun., John Stanberry, Eba Crandall, Jun., David Tanner, Izrael Brumbley, Benjamin Aus- tin, Elias Lewis, Caleb Wells and Nathan Kinyon." " At a town meeting held in Hopkinton, in Kings county, in the Colony of Rhode Island, the twentieth day of April in the thirtieth year of he Majesties reign, Annoque Domini, 1757, by adjournment at the dwelling house of Mr. Jedediah Davises. "Voted, that Benjamin Randal, Jun., Joshua Maxson and 760 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Ephraim Hall be admitted, free of this town, who have taken the oath against bribery prescribed by law. " A^oted, that Edward Wells be appointed at the expense of the town to make two jury boxes. " Voted, that Thos. Wait be admitted free of this town. " Voted, that Mr. Joshua Clarke, Mr. Hezekiah Collins be the Deputies and Representatives for this town to sitt in the General Assembly, and Election at Newport of the First Wednesday in May, next. " Voted, that Mr. Joshua Clarke the first Deputy, be appointed to carry their town's proxy votes and deliver them to the Gov- ernor in open assembly, the first Wednesday in May, next. "Voted, that Ebenezer Burdick have an order to the Town Treasurer for the sum of six pounds, old tenor, for his service in warning- in the town the fourth of April, 1757. "The following men desire to be propounded, (viz.) Rowland Robinson, AVilliam McCoon, Richmond Reynolds, Joseph Rey- nolds, Jun., Joseph Greene, Benj. Robbins, Stephen Allen, Charles Bowen, William Steward, Jun., John Latham. "Voted, that this town meeting be dissolved. "John Burdick desires to be propounded." The above is a true copy of the minutes of the first and sec- ond town meetings held in this town. At the next town meet- ing, which occurred on the 7th day of June following, a vote was passed somewhat significant of an economy which might not be inapplicable to the present day. "Voted that Thomas Potter the Town Treasurer be appointed to hire as much money as he thinks necessary for to pay the towns present necessities as cheap as he can at the town's ex- pense." For the first five years the name of the town clerk was not signed to the records ; the first time it appears as attesting the recorded minutes was in August 31st, 1762, as follows: " Pr Joshua Clarke, Town Clarke." The loyalty and bravery of the sons of Hopkinton were de- veloped during the first year of its existence ; the following vote taken from the minutes of a town meeting held June 7th, 1757, shows that Hopkinton bore a part in the French and In- dian war: " Voted, that Nathan Burdick and Simeon Perry be appointed a committee to settle the affair with Cap'n John Coon with re- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 761 spect to the fines where he hath impressed or drawn men to go in the expedition against Crown Point, and report at the next town meeting." From a minute found in a town record under date of July 14th, Anno Domini, 1757, we learn that the town was not unmindful, of its taxpaying citizens who were unfortunate, or in ill health- "Voted, that David Lewis shall not be rated either in the col- ony rate or town rate so long as he remains in a poor state of health as he seems to be now in." Town Clerks.— 1757, Simeon Perry; 1760, Joshua Clarke; 1768, John Maxson ; 1774, Abel Tanner; 1787, Caleb Potter; 1818, Christopher C. Lewis; 1858, Henry Whipple; 1867, Edwin R. Allen. Deputies. — The town of Hopkinton was first represented in the general assembly held at Newport the first Wednesday in May, 1757, and the first deputies in that body from this town were Major Joshua Clarke and Mr. Hezekiah Collins. The Hon. Stephen Hopkins was governor, and the Hon. John Gardner was deputy governor. List of the names of deputies, senators and representatives to the general assembly from 1757 to 1888 : 1757_Major Joshua Clarke, Mr. Hezekiah Collins. 1758— Maj. Joshua Clarke, Capt. Edward Wells, Jr. 1759— Maj. Joshua Clarke, Capt. Edward Wells, Jr. 1760 — Maj. Joshua Clarke, Capt. Edward Wells, Jr. 1761 — Maj. Joshua Clarke, Capt. Edward Wells, Jr. 1762 — Maj. Joshua Clarke, Mr. John Maxson. 1763— Maj. Joshua Clarke, Mr. John Maxson, Jr. 1764 — Maj. Joshua Clarke, Mr. John Maxson. 1765— Maj. Joshua Clarke, Mr. John Maxson. 1766— Maj. Joshua Clarke, Mr. John Maxson. 1767— Capt. Edward Wells, Mr. James Rhodes. 1768 — Capt. Edward Wells, Mr. Lawton Palmer. 1769_Mr. Thomas Wells, Jr., Mr. Abel Tanner. 1770 — Mr. Thomas Wells, Jr., Capt. Abel Tanner. 1771— Mr. Thomas Wells, Jr., Capt. Abel Tanner. 1772— Mr. Thomas V/ells, Jr., Capt. Abel Tanner. 1773 — Mr. Zaccheus Reynolds, Mr. Jesse Maxson. 1774_Mr. Thomas Wells, Jr., Mr. Jesse Maxson. 1775— Capt. Abel Tanner, Mr. Thomas Wells, 3d. 1776 Mr. John Larkin, Mr. Thomas Wells. 762 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1777— Thomas Wells, Esq., Mr. Edward Wells. 1778 — Thomas Wells, Esq., George Thurston, Esq. 1779 — ilr. Abel Tanner, Esq., Jesse Maxson, Esq. 1780— Abel Tanner, Esq., Mr. William Coon. 1781 — George Thurston, Esq., Mr. wSamuel Babcock. 1782— Abel Tanner, Esq., George Thur.ston, Esq. 1783— Abel Tanner, Esq., George Thurston, Esq. 1784— Mr. Oliver Davis, Mr. John Brown. 1785— Mr. Oliver Davis, Mr. Thomas Wells, 2d. 1786— Abel Tanner, Esq., Thomas Wells, Esq. 1787— Abel Tanner, Esq., Thomas Wells, 2d. 1788— David Nichols, Esq., Mr. Ross Coon. 1789 — David Nichols, Esq., George Thurston, Esq. 1790 — George Thurston, Esq., Mr. Oliver Davis. 1791 — George Thurston, Esq., Mr. Oliver Davis. 1792 — George Thurston, Esq., Moses Barber, Esq. 1793 — George Thurston, Esq., Moses Barber, Esq. 1794 — George Thurston, Esq., Moses Barber, Esq. 1795 — George Thurston, Esq., Moses Barber, Esq. 1796 — George Thurston, Oliver Davis. 1797 — James Wells, Jr., Hezekiah Babcock. 1798 — Capt. James Wells, Hezekiah Babcock, Jr. 1799 — Capt. James Wells, Maj. Jeremiah Thurston. 1800— Capt. James Wells, Col. Jeremiah Thurston. 1801 — Hezekiah Babcock, Jeremiah Thurston, 2d. 1802 — Hezekiah Babcock, Col. Jeremiah Thurston. 1803 — Samuel Peckham, Esq., Dr. Amos Collins. 1804 — Samuel Peckham, Esq., Dr. Amos Collins. 1805 — Dr. iVmos Collins, Daniel Babcock, Esq. 1806— Amos Collins, Esq., Randall Wells, Esq. 1807— Dr. Amos Collins, Randall Wells, Esq. 1808 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Capt. James Wells, Jr. 1809 — Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Deacon Alpheus Burdick. 1810— Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Capt. James Wells. 1811— Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Capt. James Wells. 1812 — Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Capt. James Wells. 1813 — Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Capt. James Wells. 1814 — Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Capt. James Wells. 1815 — Col. Jeremiah Thurston, Hezekiah Babcock. 1816— Capt. James Wells, Col. Edward Barber. 1817 — Gov. Jeremiah Thurston, Col. Edward Barber. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COX>NTIES. 763 1818 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Coh Edward Barber. 1819 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Col. Edward Barber. 1820 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Col. Edward Barber. 1821 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Col. Edward Barber. 1822 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Col. Edward Barber. 1823 — Jeremiah Thurston, Edward Barber. 1824 — Jeremiah Thurston, Edward Barber. 1825 — Daniel Babcock, Esq., Edward Barber. 1826— Edward Barber, Esq., Elnathan W. Babcock. 1827— Edward Barber, Elnathan W. Babcock. 1828— Edward Barber, Jonathan N. Hazard. 1829 — Jeremiah Thurston, Esq., Elnathan W. Babcock. 1830— Elnathan W. Babcock, Josiah Witter. 1831— Gorton W. Arnold, Benjamin B. Thurston. 1832 — Benjamin B. Thurston, Elnathan W. Babcock. 1833 — Benjamin B. Thurston, Elnathan W. Babcock. 1834 — Benjamin B. Thurston, Gorton W. Arnold. 1835 — Benjamin B. Thurston, Gorton W. Arnold. 1836 — Benjamin B. Thurston, Dr. James D. Kenyon. 1837— Henry M. Wells, Edward Barber. ' 1838— Henry M. Wells, Edward Barber. 1839— Henry M. Wells, Edward Barber. ' 1840 — Edward Barber, Joseph T. Barber. 1841 — Horace Thurston, Edward Barber. 1842— Elnathan W. Babcock, Joseph T. Barber. In 1841 Benjamin B. Thurston and Edward Barber were elected delegates to attend a convention to be holden at Providence, on the first Monday in November, next, to frame a new constitution for this state, pursuant to a resolution of the general assembly, passed at their January session, 1841. Edward Barber and John H. Wells were elected delegates to attend the above convention, which was adjourned to meet at Newport on the second Monday of September, next. The new constitution of the state having been adopted (1843), the town now elects a senator and representative as follows, the first named being the senator : 1843 — Josiah W. Langworthy, Joseph T. Barber. 1844 — George Irish, Joseph T. Barber. 1845— George Irish, Joseph T. Barber. 1846— George W. Holdredge, Gorton W. Arnold. 1847— George W. Holdredge, Joseph T. Barber. 764 HISTORY 01-- WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1848— George W. Holdredge, Joseph T. Barber. 1849— Isaac Cundall, John M. Barber. 1850 — John S. Chaniplin, Welcome Collins. 1851 — John S. Champlin, Welcome Collins. 1852 — John S. Champlin, George W. Holdredge. 1853— John S. Champlin, Jonathan R. Wells. 1854 — John S. Champlin, Harris Lanphear. 1855 — Lester Crandall, Daniel L. Hall. 1856 — Lester Crandall, Harris Lanphear. 1857 — Daniel G. Sherman, Jonathan Larkin. 1858 — Benjamin Thurston, Jonathan Larkin. 1859— Samuel N. Richmond, Thomas M. Clarke. 1860— Samuel N. Richmond, Thomas M. Clarke. 1861 — Thomas T. Barber, Jonathan Larkin. 1862— Thomas T. Barber, Sands C. Carr. 1863 — Thomas T. Barber, Sands C. Carr. 1864— Thomas T. Barber, Thomas M. Clarke. 1865— William R. Greene, William L. Clarke. 1866— William R. Greene, William L. Clarke. 1867 — Charles Noyes, Samuel N. Richmond. 1868 — Charles Noyes, Samuel N. Richmond. 1869— George W. Taylor, George H. Olney. 1870— George W. Taylor, George H. Olney. 1871 — Edward Barber, Alanson Crandall. 1872 — Edward Barber, Alanson Crandall. 1873 — Edward Barber, Alanson Crandall. 1874 — William L. Clarke, Benjamin Kenj'on. • 1875— No election. 1876 — Oliver Langworthy, Thomas H. Greene. 1877 — Oliver Langworthy, Thomas H. Greene. 1878— Elisha P. Clark, George B. Carpenter. 1879— Elisha P. Clark, George B. Carpenter. 1880 — Jesse B. Crandall, George B. Carpenter, 1881 — Jesse B. Crandall, George B. Carpenter. 1882 — Jesse B. Crandall, Georgo B. Carpenter. 1883 — Horace L. Crandall, Josiah P. Palmer. 1884 — Horace L. Crandall, Josiah P. Palmer. 1885— George H. Olney, Asa S. Briggs. 1886— George H. Olney, Asa S. Briggs. 1887— Alva A. Crandall, Alexander B. Briggs. 1888— Alva A. Crandall, Alexander B. Briggs. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 765 Town Officers in 1888.— Moderator, George B. Carpenter; town clerk— Edwin R. Allen; town treasurer— Silas R. Rich- mond ; town council— P. M. Barber, H. R. Gates, C. S. Nichols, B. P. Langworthy, 2d, N. H. Lanphear ; justices of the peace — N. L. Richmond, George H. Olney, P. M. Barber ; town sergeant — J. C. Langworthy ; school committee — P. M. Barber, Reverend E. P. Mathewson, Reverend J. R. Irish ; superintendent of pub- lic schools — P. M. Barber ; auctioneers— H. F. True, B. F. Smith, T. T. Larkin, J. N. Barber; overseer of the poor — George B. Carpenter; constables — George H. Barber, William H. Burdick, John A. Barber, John N. Barber, Benjamin F. Smith ; collector of taxes — Abel B. Kenyon. ToMAQUAG Valley represents a section of country in the southwestern part of the town of Hopkinton. The Tomaquag river flows through this valley and empties into the Pawcatuck river about one mile west of Niantic village. Among those who settled here at an early day we find the names of Barney Cran- dall, Zebulon Weaver, Amos Langworthy and his sons, Amos, Josiah W. and Joseph, Thomas Langworthy, Caleb Potter, Jo- seph and Peter Collins, Joseph Witter and his sons, Joseph, Jo- siah and William, Joshua Clarke, Thomas Clarke, Jedediah Davis, Oliver Davis and his son Joseph, John Thurston, Joseph Lawton and his son, Joseph, Jr., Daniel Lewis and his sons, Daniel and Lewis, with their families, Peleg and Elnathan W. Babcock, James Wells and his son, James, Jr., vSamuel and Isaac Coon, Hon. George W. Holdredge, Doctor James Noyes, Doctor Joseph D. Kenyon and others. Under date of 1757 we find the names of thirteen of the above persons, showing they were among the founders of the town. The first meeting of the town was held at the house of Joshua Clarke, in Tomaquag village. The general occupation of the people of this section has been farming. Several small mills, however, have been built on the Tomaquag river. Many years ago one was erected by Joseph Witter, Sr., on the river, where it crosses the road running from Hopkinton City to Woodville. If was afterward run by Barney Crandall. This old structure finally went down, and a new building, now owned and run by N. Barker Palmer, was erected on its site. Mr. Jedediah Davis erected the next early mill, which is still farther south. Mr. Davis built up and carried on quite an extensive business. Around the Davis water privilege there were a tannery, grist 766 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. mill, blacksmith shop, a saw mill and several dwelling houses. Mr. Davis and his son Oliver, who succeeded him, were at one time important factors in this community. Their large and val- uable tract of land is still owned by some of their descendants. At one time a tavern was kept at this place. A little further south still we reach what was formerly known as the Lewis mills. Daniel Lewis erected and run a fulling mill ; his oldest son, Elias Lewis, built and operated a grist mill. A part of this old dam and one of the old mill-stones may now be seen on the farm, which has since been owned by Elias Lewis, Jr., Pardon Lewis, his son, and is now owned and occupied by Alfred A. Langworthy, a great-great-grandson of Daniel Lewis, who erected the fulling mill. About the year 1776 there was considerable travel through Tomaquag Valley from Connecticut to Charlestown, but the building of the New London and Providence turnpike subse- quently diverted the traveling public to another route. In the spring of 1887 the town council authorized a road laid out across the northern part of the valley, and a road was also laid out across the southern portion of it by private subscription amount- ing to about $400. The valley people have always suffered great inconvenience from want of highways, and the same want has been a hindrance to the prosperity of this section of the town. There are two school districts embraced within this section of the town, namely, Nos. 1 and 3. The old building in No. 1 was replaced by a new one in 1845. No. 3, formerly called the Witter district, now known as the Tomaquag, erected a building about 1821 for educational purposes. This house was deeded to the district by Amos Langworthy, Peter Collins, Thomas Lang- worthy, Jedediah Davis and Josiah Witter for $79. In April, 1888, the town voted to build a new house, an acre of land on the old site having been given by Amos Langworthy, the oldest and nearly a life long inhabitant of the district. The Lewis Family.— The Lewis family were early settlers in Hopkinton. John Lewis, an original member of this family, signed his name to some papers relative to the purchase of Mis- quamicut March 22d, 1661. In 1668 he was admitted a freeman. It is said he understood the Indian language well enough to con- verse in same fluently. He owned a farm and lived in a house just below the village of Westerly on land now owned by J. Ho- bart Cross, east of the road running from Westerly to Lottery HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 767 Village. He died about 1690. He was the father of seven sons and one daughter, namely : Jonathan, John, Daniel, James, David, Israel, Samuel and Dorcas. From this family originated the Lewises of Southern Rhode Island and vicinity. John retained the homestead in Westerly but afterward sold it to his brother Daniel. He died in 1735. James married Sarah Babcock and raised a family of eight chil- dren. From this source sprung the Exeter branch of the Lewis family, among the descendants of whom is Judge Nathan B. Lewis, now of Wickford. David married Elizabeth, sister of Sarah Babcock above named, both being daughters of James and Jane (Brown) Babcock ; Israel married Jane, another sister ; Samuel settled in Westerly, and Dorcas married Robert Burdick, son of Robert and Ruth (Hubbard) Burdick. Daniel Lewis, third son of John', in addition to the homestead, with others purchased 5,300 acres of land which included the southwestern part of the town of Hopkinton, including Asha- way and Tomaquag Valley as far north as Hopkinton city. He erected a fulling mill near where the mill and lime works of Ashaway now stand. His house stood a few rods southwest of where now stands the First Seventh Day Baptist church. He was the father of six children : John, Jonathan, Mary, Dorcas, Daniel and Hannah. He died in 1718. His son John inhabited the homestead property. Daniel settled on the Tomaquag farm, where he built a fulling mill. His wife, Martha Prosper, lived till 1804, and was one hundred years and fourteen days old when she died. She was a native of Somersetshire, England. The children of this couple were four sons and two daughters : Elias, Jonathan, Daniel, Maxson, Martha and Hannah. His widow af- terward married John Maxson, by whom she had two children. Of the children of the last named Daniel Lewis Elias married Susannah Reynolds. Their children were Elias, Jr., Lois and Eunice. It is beyond the province of a work of this character to enter into the 'genealogical history of families, and we cannot extend this sketch more than to speak of a few of the many descendants who have been identified with the people of Hopkinton. It is said that Dorcas Lewis, the daughter of Maxson and Dorcas Rath- bone Lewis (who always lived in Hopkinton), devoted herself to her invalid mother for thirty successive years without ever re- maining absent from home a single night. Mr. Lewis was the 768 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. great-grandfather of Reverend Joshua Clarke, an eminent minis- ter of the gospel, now of Alfred, New York. Daniel Lewis, 3d, settled in Tomaquag Valley, where he loca- ted the Lewis Mills on the farm now owned by Deacon Alfred A. Langworthy. His name, probably carved by himself, is inscribed on a solid stone near the Lewis Mills and bears date 1794. He was the father of quite a family, among whom was the wife of Hon. Thomas M. Clark, of Ashaway ; also the wife of Reverend A. B. Burdick, of Westerly. Mr. Lewis was among the representa- tive men of the times. While rearing his children he took into his care a poor, friendless boy, who was so cast down that he felt himself beneath associating with the family. But being recog- nized by Mr. Lewis he began to feel that there was something for him in after life, and soon put forth efforts to improve him- self, and afterward became president of Alfred University, Alle- ghany county, N. Y., and was heard to say that Deacon Daniel Lewis was the first one who made him feel that he was really a human being. His son, Christopher Clark Lewis, was another representative man of the town. He was a successful teacher in public school work and was clerk of the town of Hopkinton forty successive years. James N. Lewis, M.D., is of this family. He received his de- gree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, in the class of 1874, and at present is practicing medicine in Ashaway, R. I. He married Lois Clark, of Richmond, R. I. Edwin Ransome Lewis, M.D., was a teacher in early life also. In 1851 he graduated from the University of Castleton, Vt., and practiced medicine at Niantic, R. I., and Westerly. It is said that to know Doctor Lewis was to trust him implicitly, and he won the name of the " beloved physician." He died January 13th, 1887, much lamented. His son, Edwin R. Lewis, Jr., grad- uated from the medical department of Harvard University, and is now practicing in Westerly. The Langworthy Family.— This family is very numerous. They originally came from England, the name being found here in the colonial records as early as 1655. Andrew Lang- worthy and wife Rachel (Hubbard) Langworthy, from whom de- scended a numerous line, were residents of Newport, R. I., and members of the Seventh Day Baptist church of that place, which was the first church of that persuasion organized (December 23d, 1671), in America. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 769 In 1680 a Mr. Samuel Langworthy (son of Andrew), married Rachel . He had seven children : Ann, John, Thomas, Joseph, Samuel, Robert and Mary. Samuel Langworthy, Sr., in company with thirty-three others, bought 5,300 acres of vacant lands in Narragansett, which the assembly ordered sold, October 2d, 1711. He died at Pettaquamscutt in 1716. His daughter Ann married Joseph Crandall ; Joseph married Elizabeth Bur- dick, and Thomas married Content Sanford. The Hopkinton branch of the Langworthy family are descend- ants of Robert Langworthy, who was probably born between 1675 and 1690. He married Miss Mary Brownell, by whom he had four children : Thomas, Robert, Joseph and Mary. Joseph mar- ried Elizabeth Burdick. Their children were : Joseph, Andrew, Elizabeth, Comfort and Mary. Content (Sanford) Langworthy is said to have been the first person baptized in Ashaway river. The children of Thomas and Content (Sanford) Langworthy were: Thomas, Mary, Anna, Amos, Sanford and John. The descendants of these children are numerous, many of them living in the town of Hopkinton and vicinity, and many are scattered throughout the West. A number of them became prominently identified with the Seventh Day Baptist church, several having filled the office of deacon, others that of minister, and now and then one politically identified with his town and state. One Content Langworthy, born February 2d, 1788, married Deacon Daniel Lewis ; and her daughter Sarah married Rever- end A. B. Burdick. A Mr. John Langworthy, born April 1st, 1776, married Sarah Pendleton, by whom he had eleven children. He was a deacon of the First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hop- kinton. His son, Isaac P., became a minister of the gospel, and settled in Chelsea, Mass. Benjamin F. and Charles D. moved West, and both became deacons in the church. Nathan is" now a deacon of the Second Seventh Day Baptist church of Westerly, and is a man of considerable prominence in that place. He mar- ried Elizabeth Carr. His son, Albert H. Langworthy, a promi- nent grocer, lives in Westerly also. His daughter Sarah married Reverend A. G. Palmer, D.D., of Stonington, Conn. Amos Langworthy, son of Thomas and Content vSanford, mar- ried Sarah Babcock, of South Kingstown, February 15tli, 1758. Their home was near Hopkinton City. They had fourteen chil- dren. Oliver Langworthy, a descendant, is a deacon of the First Seventh Day Baptist church, Hopkinton, ordained in August, 49 770 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1871. In 1876 he represented his town as senator in the state legislature. He was a manufacturer of cotton and woolen goods. Albert B., a farmer, settled at Noyes Neck, Westerly. John Davis Langworthy married Miss Sallie Nichols for his first wife, and twelve children were born to them. It would be impossible, in so short a space allotted us, to follow out the various branches of this family. Of these descendants, however, we should mention Charles H. Langworthy, a prominent farmer, and Deacon Benjamin Peckham Langworthy, 2d, whose portrait and biography may be found in another part of this chapter. Joseph Langworthy, of Hope Valley, became engaged in me- chanical pursuits, and became a partner in the firm of which his brother-in-law, Nichols, and brother, Josiah W. Langworthy, were members. Mr. Langworthy made several large donations to the church, and established the Langworthy Public Library. Deacon Alfred Amos Langworthy, born April 23d, 1841, mar- ried Jane ]\Iunroe, daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Aldrich) Mun- roe, December 29th, 1866. He has been a lover of literature, and occasionally furnished articles and addresses for the public. He has been a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton since 1866, has served that society in Westerly since 1881 as missionary deacon, and it resulted in his being ordained to the office of deacon in both churches. Besides extensive work done in Bible classes he has served the church in various capac- ities and very efficiently. Deacon Langworthy is engaged in agriculture, and is a very public spirited citizen of the town. The following sketches of early families are from Griswold's History : The Babcocks.— Daniel Babcock was the son of Oliver, of North Stonington, Conn., and was born in that town August 31st, 1762. His father died when he was nine years of age, and he was left to the care of his eldest brother, Joshua. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed for seven years to Elder, also called Doctor Henry Clarke, then operating Ferry's Iron Works, now Wood- ville. During his apprenticeship the war of the revolution broke out, and at the age of fourteen he enlisted as a recruit to serve when wanted. When Fort Griswold, in Groton, was beseiged, Mr. Babcock and his company started to assist the garrison, "but on arriving at Mystic, and having been told that the garrison had, after a dreadful slaughter, surrendered, he and his comrades HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 771 "wept like children " at not being able to render assistance. Not being further called into active service, he returned and served out his apprenticeship. At the age of nineteen he commenced a Christian life, and connected himself with the First Seventh Day Baptist church, in Hopkinton. When in his twenty-second year he married Constant Potter, daughter of George, of Potter Hill. Early in 1784 he established a shop where the Potter Hill stone mill now stands. Here he worked at his trade for about five years. In 1790 he bought the " Polly " Thomas Wells place, the red house corner, and moved there. In 1793 he hired Spauld- ing's Iron Works and operated them about two years. In 1795 lie returned to his hom.e in Hopkinton, and worked his farm in connection with his trade. In that red house on the corner, known as Babcock's corner, he continued to reside until his death, in September, 1846, aged eighty-four years. Few men are better remembered than Daniel Babcock, and few, if any, deserve more honorable mention as a manly citizen and a Christian. He served his generation faithfully. For many years he filled the most important offices, conferred upon him by the gift of the people ; all of which duties he performed conscien- tiously and to the satisfaction of his constituency. For more than sixty years he served as deacon. His life was one continual round of service to the people, and his house, like his heart, open to all. Mr. Babcock was the father of Daniel, Jr., born Decem- ber 16th, 1784; Betsey, 1786 or 1787; Jacob D., January 20th, 1789; Nancy, May 9th, 1791 ; George F., 1795. Jacob D. Babcock was born January 20th, 1789. During his childhood and early manhood he was in poor health and not able to do much labor, but was occupied in school and music teaching from his sixteenth year until he became of age in 1810, when he went to learn a trade, for four years, at Coventry, as machinist. In 1812 he went to Massachusetts to set up some machines made at the Coventry shop. There he fell in with a Mr. Pert, who en- gaged him to go to Schenectady, N. Y., and establish a shop for the manufacture of machinery. Shortly after establishing there the war of 1812 broke out, and business becoming very poor, he enlisted in Captain Harding's company, "to go when called," but was never called into the field. He remained at Schenectady until 1820, meanwhile conducting his affairs as the depression of the times would admit. He made acquaintance with the promi- nent men of the town and vicinity, among whom was the ven- 772 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. erable Doctor Eliphalet Nott, president of Union College, who was a warm personal friend of his. He constructed the first town clock in the city, which remained in use on the old Dutch Reformed church until about 1860, when the old edifice fell be- fore the march of improvement. In 1820, having built machinery for a cotton mill in Cornwall, Orange county, he went there to erect and start it, and was induced to remain as superintendent of the mill. The mill was enlarged to double its original capac- ity, and was tolerably successful under his care. April 19th, 1824, he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Captain Peleg Almy, of Portsmouth, this state, and returned to Cornwall and remained till 1828 (Harriet E., born March 2d, 1826), when he purchased half the property now called the Ashaway mill, and returned to his native state, and in company with Mr. Isaac Cun- dall, commenced custom carding ; also running a grist mill until 1831, when they divided the property, each taking one-half. Soon after he bought the property now called Bethel, and con- verted it into a woolen factory. Now commenced a series of great trials. The temperance and anti-slavery movements began to gain attention. In Boston and some other places the subjects were being agitated, and societies opposed to the use of alcoholic drinks and slavery had been or- ganized. Captain Lester Crandall and Mr. I. Cundall, both tee- totalers, suggested that an address be given upon the subject of temperance by Reverend Phineas Crandall. This was like the throwing of a bombshell, and great excitement prevailed. Mr. Jairus Crandall and Mr. Benjamin Potter, being at work in the wheel-pit of Mr. J. Babcock's mill, had a warm discussion stand- ing up to their knees in cold water, and but for the cooling effects of the cold water, the discussion must have burst into a flame. According to the universal practice of the day, Mr. Babcock had furnished the "grog," on the occasion of a working gather- ing. At dinner, just as they were taking an appetizing horn, Jairus inquired of Jacob : " What do you think of this new tem- perance question ? " Jacob replied that it was a good notion and ought to go forward ; and that rum was a curse and evil. Jairus immediately said : "AVhat say you Jacob? Let's go down and join." Jacob replied that if he was serious in the proposal, and the subject ought to be looked upon seriously, he would agree to do so. " What say you, Ben ? " was the next inquiry. Ben, with his hand on the glass of rum that had been furnished him, re- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 773 plied, somewliat hesitatingly, "he'd agree to it." "Let's com- mence right here now," said Jacob, to which Jairus assented; but Ben said : " Oh ! let's drink up what's in the decanter, first ; " which was agreed to with the understanding that they should never drink any more from that time. Thus was made, probab- ly, the first temperance compact in that place, which soon took the name of "Temperance Valley." The three worthies, Jacob Babcock, Jairus Crandall and Benjamin Potter deserve to be held in honored remembrance for their zeal and courage. Though these men made a pledge between them, they were not the first teetotalers. Mr. Cundall had not used liquor since at- taining his majority, and had never in his house fostered the custom pf society of "setting it on," as it was called. Lester Crandall likewise had been a teetotaler for years, and like Mr. Cundall, consistent. There were others, perhaps two or three, conscientiously opposed to the use of liquors as a beverage ; but all three were held by the mass of society as odd, stingy and fa- natical, while they were often assailed for preaching heresies. But that commenced the temperance reform in this place. The three worthies had not passed light judgment upon the evil, and they were not the men to turn back. A temperance speaker was engaged and a search was commenced for a place in which to give the lecture. The church doors were closed against the " fanatics," as they were called. Acrimony and bitter vituperation were in- dulged in. Taxpayers objected to the school house being used for a temperance lecture. To such a feeling was the excitement carried, that it was thought the church would act in a body against any of its members giving aid to the new movement. At last Mr. Cundall, of Quaker origin, opened his house for the lec- ture. Quite a number signed the pledge, that evening. Among the number were Isaac Cundall, Lester Crandall, Maxson John- son, Benjamin Potter, Jacob D. Babcock and Jairus Crandall. About this time Mr. Babcock and Sally Knowles commenced a Sabbath school, much against the judgment of the church and its pastor. In close connection with the temperance excitement, another, of equal if not greater magnitude, was begun — the anti-slavery agitation. Mr. Babcock was among the first to enlist in the cause of freedom. He became an abolitionist, embracing that heresy of heresies. Mr. Babcock was not only ostracized by his friends (even by many of those who were with him in the temper 774 HISTOKV OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ance reform) but most terrible opposition and threatened violence surrounded liim. In 1834, he was nearly as much occupied with the discussion of anti-slavery matters as with his business ; he bore the standard of liberty often when he knew no followers, and, persistently too, when he expected the ride to Skimminton and the coat of tar and feathers. Often he passed sleepless nights in fear for his personal safety or for the security and sanctity of his property. One night he left his home late, after hearing threats against him, and went up to his father's house, and called him from his sleep, to counsel with him upon the matter, hardly daring to return to his own house when his interview was ended. When he separated from his father that night, he said he wanted almost to bid him and his family farewell, for he didn't know that he felt sure of seeing him again. If there was no real dan- ger the excitement and threats he heard certainly justified his fears. Through the zeal and influence of Mr. Babcock the anti- slavery cause gained a strong hold in the vicinity. An under- ground railroad was laid out through the place and a depot was established at the house of Mr. Babcock, which did a thriving business; and the "Depot Master," "Uncle Jacob," became widely known as a friend of humanity. For seven years in suc- cession he accepted the nomination for lieutenant-governor from the Liberty and Free Soil party, not expecting, however, to be elected, but solely to aid the cause. In 1856 he was a member of the state republican convention under the first national call, and by it was made chairman of the state's delegation to the first republican national convention in Philadelphia, June 17th, 1866. He supported Fremont, after some hesitation, in the convention and at the polls. But his principles carried this town though victory came not. Hopkinton was the banner town for " Free- mont and Freedom." Then when in 1860, amid the mutterings of the oligarchy, the people, convinced of the mighty power and gross wrong of slavery, and in spite of the threats from beyond " Mason and Dixon's line '' triumphantly placed Lincoln in the way of the advance of that evil, he believed that victory was near, he said : " If I can only live to see slavery abolished, I shall feel as if I had not lived in vain." When Lincoln issued the emancipation proclamation he felt that in that instrument the great desire of his life had been accomplished, and his work done. On the memorable night of January 1st, 1863, a crowd HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 775 assembled around the residence of Mr. Babcock to congratulate him in connection with the triumph that had ensued. Awakened, he arose, dressed hastily, and in response said : " Hear ye ! Hear ye ! Hear ye ! Proclaim liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof. Thou shalt loose the bonds of theni that labor under heavy burdens. Break every yoke and let the op- pressed go forth. My joy is that I have lived to see the end of slavery. It is a surprise to me. I never until lately have ex- pected to see it, and now I am almost amazed at the reality of it. I can leave the rest to you younger men." He died of apoplexy June 17th, 1867, at the age of seventy-eight years, fully credited with the glory he won in the days when it was worth one's life to speak in favor of the reforms he fostered. His house had long been known as the home of charity and the gathering place of good men. Those who knew him will remember him as a good man ; keen of appreciation, of fine sensibilities, of good judgment and of broad intelligence, a friend of progress, a lover of republican institutions and a worthy son of his worthy father. Wells Family. — In a pamphlet written by Albert Wells, of New York, may be found the following history of the Wells family : The name of Welles was first obtained in England, during the reign of William the Conqueror, who gave to one of his knights the name of Richardus de Welles, whose business was to see that the king's household was supplied with bread. From this source was derived the name of Welles. The first mention made of the name in this country was in the seventeenth century. According to this historical record, the family of Wells trace their lineal descent from one Nathaniel Wells, a wealthy ship- builder of London, who left England to save his property from confiscation and himself from imprisonment on account of his Puritanic opinions. From this ancestry we can trace the de- scendants of Thomas V. Wells and Edward Wells to the sixth generation. They purchased a tract of over 400 acres of land of the Narragansett Indians,and made a settlement in the wilderness, which they called Wellstown, situated about a mile from Bethel, crossing over the Ashaway river, on the little bridge known as Wellstown bridge. There are many incidents connected with the various members of this family. Among them recorded is one of Mrs. Sylvia Wells, sister of Mrs. Russell Wells, whose 776 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. family had moved to Ohio. She returned to this country on horseback to visit her relatives, and as she was about to return to her home in Ohio, and wishing to carry back something as a memento of her old homestead, she selected the family looking glass, taking it with her on horseback; such a feat would be among the impossibilities of the present day. Another incident con- nected with this renowned family is worthy of record as show- ing the power of that tender passion which is so much the main- spring of all human conduct. The females of this family of that day are said to have been very beautiful, which may account for their having so many suitors. Mr. Thompson Wells had two daughters, named after his sisters, Sally and Lois. Sally Wells was courted b}^ Mr. Beriah Wells, of Lenox, Mass., a young man of splendid address and good manners. His attachment for her at first was very ardent, and was fully reciprocated by Sally. As time sped on, a year passed without his visiting her.. Not hear- ing anything from him, she received a proposal from another lover, Mr. Linden Fuller, a teacher in the Pawcatuck Academy, from Woodstock, Conn. The result of their short courtship was an engagement of marriage, the time was fixed for its solemni- zation, and the wedding garments were prepared. After all this arrangement had been made, and the time drew near when they should be made one, who should make his appearance in Wells- town but Beriah Wells, who had come down for the express pur- pose of renewing his engagement with his loving Sally and taking her to Massachusetts as Mrs. Beriah Wells. Here was a dilemma, Sally engaged to Fuller, wedding day near at hand, while the fact was that she really loved Wells best ; how was this matter to be settled ? Sally's father consulted with his friends, and after much deliberation it was thought best that these young men should be informed as to how matters and things stood ; and it was finally agreed among the several parties that the lady should meet the young men with several witnesses, and there decide which should have her for a wife. They met. Sheffield Wells asked Sally, in the presence of all, what her choice was. With- out hesitation she replied : " Beriah Wells." He repeated the question three times, and she as many times answered as at the first. Mr. Fuller's appearance betrayed the deep agitation under which he was laboring in hearing her decision rendered ; and tradition says that he fainted, but his bearing toward her and all present was that of a nature which told well, that Linden was a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 777 true gentleman. After a short interval Mr. Beriah Wells came forward and stated that, under all circumstances, he could not marry Miss Wells ; he admitted that it was his fault in not visit- ing or communicating with her during the year that had passed, and as they had the time fixed for her marriage with Mr. Fuller he feared the circumstances of the case would render his mar- riage with her an unhappy life for each of them. Here was a worse dilemma. Sally's feelings may be better imagined than described. Fuller could not now feel like marrying her. vSo they all parted. Fuller at once dismissed his school at Pawcatuck, and went to his home in Woodstock. Two weeks passed away, and Sally's father sent one of his neighbors to Connecticut with in- structions that he must not return without bringing Linden Fuller. The messenger obeyed the instructions, returning the next day. Mr. Wells spent a long time with him, and finally convinced him that it would be for his daughter's happiness, as well as that of the family, that they should be married. Beriah Wells was sent for. Upon his arrival he consented at once that he and Lois, Sally's sister, should stand up with them at the wed- ding, and that very evening Linden and Sally were made one. The wedding passed off finely, Fuller and Wells treating each other in the kindest manner. A few more weeks rolled away, and there was another wedding at Wellstown. The same company assembled again, the only difference being in the fact that now Beriah Wells was bride- groom and Lois the bride ; Linden Fuller groomsman and his charming wife, Sally, his bridesmaid. " And in fact," Beriah would often say afterward, " that Lois was always his choice." Early Amusements. — The .first settlers of Hopkinton, Puri- tanical though they were in many things, had their amusements. Muster and training days were special seasons of amusement and recreation, at which business was generally suspended, and both old and young went to see the trainers, to hear the fife and drum, and to feast on molasses candy and gingerbread. General or regimental and brigade trainings would call together a large portion of the population for miles around. Stated holidays were special seasons of merry making. In addition to these, the young people would have huskings, bush cuts, quiltings, spinning bees and apple cuts. At all these there was some work and a good deal of fun, much of story telling, of love making, singing and 778 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. joking ; usually closing with fiddling and dancing. Courting, wooing and marrying were made special occasions for mirthful- ness and hilarity. Running around the chimney to kiss or be kissed as you passed the threshold of every door was common to all household entertainments. The Horse Insurance Company. — To prevent horse-stealing, also to better enable the authorities in catching horse-thieves, an insurance company was organized in the year 1818. Doctor George H. Perry took a great interest in establishing the com- pany. He drew the charter and by-laws, and, singular as it may appear, there never was a horse stolen after the company was organized. The Hon. B. B. Thurston thus accounts for the his- tory of the company : "The General Assembly, at their October session, A. D. 1818, granted the petition of George Thurston, Thomas Wells, Ran- dall Wells, James Wells, Daniel Babcock, Job B. Clark, and Jo- seph Potter, for an act of incorporation of an insurance company to insure against horse-stealing. " The first meeting held under the charter, for organization, was holden at Hopkinton City, Nov. 10, 1818. The following is the record : — " ' At a meeting of the Hopkinton Horse Insurance Company, convened at Hopkinton City, Nov. 10, A. D. 1818, proceeded to business, and elected James Wells, Esq., chairman, and Joseph Potter, clerk, for the day. " ' ]^otcd, That the word respectability, in Article II, should be erased, and the word responsibility substituted. " ' looted. That Jeremiah Thurston, Joseph Potter, Ichabod Bur- dick, Abram Coon, George H. Perry, be directors for the ensu- ing year. " ' Voted, That Thomas Wells be treasurer, and George Thurs- ton, Jr., be secretary, for the ensuing year. "'Voted, That John T. Thurston, Russel Maxson, Fornes Palmer, Thomas Lewis, Elnathan W, Babcock, Harris Wells, Peleg Clarke, Clark Burdick, be riders or runners for the ensu- ing year. '"Voted, That the Company brand shall be the letters H. I. C, placed on the outside of the left thigh of each horse received into this company.' " The company held their annual meetings for some time, and received something near one hundred horses into the society. HISTORY Ol'- WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 779 "The company was something on the mutual plan. The horses were prized by the directors, and by them branded. The owners were required to pay into the treasury one cent on a dol- lar, and pay for recording. If the horse should be stolen, the owner was to receive two-thirds of the appraised value thereof, and the money to be raised by an assessment on the appraised value of the horses insured." The last meeting held by this company was November 19th, 1849, and then— " Dr. George H. Perry was elected president, and B. B. Thurs- ton, secretary and treasurer for the ensuing year. " And also, Dr. Geo. H. Perry, B. B. Thurston, Joseph Spicer, John S. Champlin, S. S. Griswold, be directors for the ensuing year. "And also, George W. Holdridge, Peleg Clarke, Noyes W. Kenyon, Gideon Palmer, Joseph Spicer, John ,S. Champlin, be the riders or runners for the ensuing year." Schools. — At first private schools were kept in unoccupied rooms of dwelling houses for the children of the town of Hop- kinton. This plan continued some years. Before the establish- ment of the public schools in 1828, however, there were five school houses built, but up to the year named the town had not been divided into districts. The following is a record of the meeting held July 7th, 1828: " At a meeting of the school committee holden within and for the town of Hopkinton on the 7th day of July, 1828 — " Members present, (viz) : Elder MathewStillman, James Wells, Edward Barber, Isaac Collins, Jesse Brown, Nathan Lillibridge, Peleg Maxson, Jonathan N. Hazard, Daniel L. Langworthy, George H. Perry and Christopher C. Lewis (Engaged). " Voted That Elder Mathew Stillman be and is hereby ap- pointed President of the Committee for. the year ensuing. " Voted that this Committee proceed to divide the town into suitable school districts without reference to the school houses which are now built. " Voted that this meeting be and the same is hereby adjourned to the third Monday in September next at this place, (Joseph Spicer's Inn) at 10 o'clock A. M. " Witness " Chris'r C. Lewis Secretary." 780 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. At the adjourned meeting September 15th, 1828, the com- mittee proceeded to divide the town into eleven districts, which number was subsequently increased to thirteen. Elder Amos Wells, Christopher C. Lewis and Jesse Brown were the first com- mittee appointed to examine candidates for teaching in the public schools. Reverend S. S. Griswold, superintendent of the public schools of Hopkinton in 1875, furnishes the names of the teachers who taught in those public schools in the winter of 1828-29. The list is as follows: Nathan York, Jr., 1st school district ; Joseph Crandall, 2d school district ; David Stillman, Jr., 3d school district ; John T. Paine, 4th school district ; Latham Hull, Jr., 5th school dis- trict ; Arnold R. Wells, 6th school district ; Harriet Wise, 7th school district ; George Newton, 8th school djstrict ; Amos W. Collins, 9th school district ; Thomas R. Holden, 10th school dis- trict ; Christopher Brown, 11th school district. In 1828 the money from the state appropriated for this town was $329.80. "The memories of Elder Mathew Stillman, Elder Amos R. Wells," says Mr. Griswold, "are yet fragrant with the rich per- fume of the gospel ministry ; that of Cristopher Lewis as the honored town clerk for over forty years, that of Jesse Brown as a worthy citizen, magistrate and postmaster, that of George H.Perry as a skillful physician and worthy deacon of the Seventh-Day Baptist church in Hopkinton City." The first academical building in the town of Hopkinton was erected in 1858 by enterprising citizens of Potter Plill and Ash- away. The school was opened December 1st, 1858, under the supervision of the Reverend J.W. Morton, as principal, and Mrs. L. E. Coon as preceptress, with other teachers as the school might require. In 1862 Professor INIorton resigned his position and was succeeded by Professor H. C. Coon. Professor Coon was assisted by his wife, and they were succeeded in 1864 by Pro- fessor A. A. Palmiter, who, in 1866, resigned and was succeeded by Professor Amos C. Lewis, and he tendered his resignation in 1869 on account of ill health. Thus closed the school work in this academy after a struggle of ten years against financial em- barrassments and some want of experience in managing such institutions. With no endowment fund and no aid from the public treasury it had to succumb to an inevitable fate, yet in its time it did a noble work, and its influence has been felt for good. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 781 Among the names of those who attended this school and who deserve honorable mention is that of Julia Crouch. In 1873 Districts Nos. 2 and 4 of Hopkinton and 8 of Westerly resolved themselves into a joint school district for the purpose of establishing a graded school, and in the fall of 1873 the school was opened in this joint district, under the instruction of Pro- fessor S. S. Scammel as principal and Miss Sarah E. Chester in the grammar department, and Miss Emma E. Kenyon in the primary department. There is a graded school at Hope Valley and also one at Rockville, all of which give proof that the cause of edu- cation in this town is making progress in the right direction. Libraries. — There are two libraries in the town of Hopkinton, viz.: The Manton Union Library of nearly 1,000 volumes, at Hope Valley, an^ the Ash away Library and Reading Room As- sociation, located at Ashaway. The latter was organized by the adoption of the constitution, November 5th, 1871. This library contains about 700 volumes of the latest standard works. The association also provides for an annual course of lectures. Ashaway. — This is a thriving little village situated in the southwestern part of the town, near the border of Connecticut, and on both sides of the river, from which it derives its name. Ashaway was the Indian name of the river ; asha, meaning cold; waugh, spring — cold spring. Previous to the building of the res- ervoirs that flow into this spring the waters were very cold in summer time. Shad used to visit the waters of the Pawcatuck far above the mouth of the Ashaway, but were scarcely ever known to enter the cold waters of the latter. The place was formerly called Cundall's Mills, after Isaac Cun- dall, who came to America in 1816, and for many years operated a little mill at this place. The Valley is an old name. At the time of the first temperance movement in the state Isaac Cundall and Jacob D. Babcock, both living at the valley, became con- verts, and so radical were they that the place became known as Temperance Valley. The name Ashaway was given about the year 1850. The history of the village proper begins with the purchase of this tract of land in 1701, when a company of men purchased 5,300 acres of land in this part of the town. In a few years this company dissolved, and Daniel Lewis took 500 acres, locating in this vicinity, and the land now improved is occupied by the village. 782 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Daniel Lewis built a house here in 1704, where the school building now stands. He had a son, Daniel, who located in Hop- kinton and followed the trade of a fuller, and carried on the business near where the Laurel Dale mill now stands. He erected the first dam here, and for many years carried on a thriving busi- ness in the place. His estate was divided among his children, his son John taking the mill at Laurel Dale, and Daniel a farm in Tomaquag Valley. This Daniel cultivated his farm and also built a dam and erected a mill for fulling cloth. Some parts of this dam are still visible. Among the first trades engaged in at Ashaway was the black- smith business, conducted by a man by the name of Simpson. He located here about the year 1750, and his establishment was for a long time the only one near the present .village. About the year 1800 ^Ir. Daniel Babcock erected a shop on the east side of the river, and commenced the business of black- smithing, which he continued for thirty years. He was a skill- ful workman, and did excellent work. About this time his sons, Daniel, Jr., and Oliver Babcock, purchased a shop that had been previously occupied by Mr. Nathan Potter, situated on the Hop- kinton side of the river, at Potter Hill. They worked in this shop about forty years, making use of water power to do their forging, and by their skill and industry acquired for themselves a good name and abundant fortunes. Since the time that Daniel Babcock, Sr., gave up the business a shop has been kept open on the west side of the river, at Ashaway, by William C. Burdick for general job work. The industrial interests of Ashaway vil- lage and its adjuncts are invested largely in manufacturing. The precise date when the first factory was built has not been defi- nitely ascertained. ]\lr. Isaac Cundall came there in 1816. At that time there was a factory 30 by 36 feet, two stories high, standing near where the present one is located, at the west end of the- bridge. It was owned by Ira Reynolds and the heirs of Sheffield Wells and used for the manufacture of narrow woolen goods ; the carding being done by water power, while the spin- ning and weaving were done by hand. The whole water power was only for the driving of one pair of single cards in the manu- facture of those goods. Such was the incipient state of manu- facturing in 1816, but which has expanded into the large, capacious building now occupying the place of that little factory. In 1819 Peleg Almy of Portsmouth, bought at public auction HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 783 Reynolds' part of the mill and his house for fourteen hundred dollars. In 1828 Mr. Almy sold his half of the property to Jacob D. Babcock, his son-in-law. The dwelling house was the one now owned by the heirs of Mr. Babcock. In 1821 this was the only house in the village. Not long after the property was divided, Mr. Babcock taking the east part of the mill, grist mill and the east dam ; while to Mr. Cundall was left the west dam, half the factory, and the largest part of the machinery. In 1846 the mill was destroyed by fire. In June of the same year the present structure, 34 by 82 feet, 3-J- stories high, was erected. Campbell & Co., of Westerly, occupied one-half of it for the man- ufacture of woolen goods, and S. & D. Smith the other part for several years, when T. R. Wells & Co. hired the whole. This mill was operated by the Ashaway Manufacturing Company, then by Taylor & Crandall. In 1882 Asa S. Briggs bought of Mr. Wells his business, and operated the mills two or three years, and purchased the estate of Jacob D. Babcock and Isaac Cundall. Mr. Briggs employs from sixty to seventy hands, operates twenty-two broad looms, and manufactures fine cassimeres. The old grist mill above mentioned was rebuilt in 1792, and was run until 1884, when a freshet washed it away. It was then rebuilt by Mr. Briggs for custom grinding, more for the accommodation of the community than for personal profit to the owner. About 182.5 Lester Crandall, being captain and part owner in a smack engaged in the fishing business for the New York market, conceived the idea of making his own fishing lines during that part of the season not actually engaged in his trade. With some- what crude machinery and hand power he was able in a short time to make much better lines than he had formerly purchased, and other fishermen learning of their superiority created a de- mand which in 1827 led him to give up the fishing business and engage in that of manufacturing lines. The undertaking was of slow growth for a time, but was considered well established in 1835. However, up to this time only hand power had been used. Now he built a dam across Ashaway river, at what has since been known as Laurel Dale, creating a power which has been utilized up to the present time. About 1855 his son, H. L. Crandall, was associated with him as a partner under the firm name of Lester Crandall & Co., and during the next few years the business grew 784 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. far beyond their expectations, and was rightfully considered as firmly established as any in Ashaway. In 1877 Lester Crandall retired from the company and it was now known as H. L. Cran- dall & Co., and so contintied until 1883, when it was reorganized under a charter from the state and is now the " A shaway Line and Twine Manufacturing Company ." Its officers are : President, "Sands C. Carr ; treasurer and manager, George B. Carpenter. About 1817 William Reynolds and David Almy opened a store in the basement to what is now known as the Jacob Babcock house. Just how long they continued the business is not known, but in 1837 Jacob Babcock started in business in the same place, keeping a common country store. His business gradually in- creased until in 1856, being pressed for room, he built what has since been the main store, the old part being used to keep heavy groceries in. In 1858 he sold out to Oliver Irish and Jonathan Larkin. After two years Mr. Larkin sold out to Mr. Irish, who continued the business until in 1866 he sold out to George B. Carpenter and John Stanton. After about a year Stanton sold his interest to Carpenter, who, in February, 1869, sold out to Thomas A. Barber. At this time changes were made in the store to make it convenient for the business Mr. Barber was to em- bark in. April 1st the store was opened with one side devoted to the drug business (Mr. Barber being a pharmacist), the other side to dry goods and the rear to wall papers and boots and shoes. In 1877, his business having outgrown these quarters, he erected the building known as Ashaway Hall, in which he fitted for his own use a large and commodious store where he continued to keep the same line of goods as formerly until in 1885 he closed out his dry goods department, dividing the room occupied by it between the shoe and wall paper departments and a jew- elry and silverware department, which had grown up in the meantime. Mr. Barber still continues in this business, and has a wide spread patronage. For the last three years Miss L. A. Brown has occupied a store in this building as millinery and dressmaking rooms. The old store left vacant by Mr. Barber's removal remained so until the spring of 1883, since which time it has been occupied by G. B. Langworthy as a general country store. In 1870 Oliver Langworthy erected what is known as the Lang- worthy Block, arranged for a store in the central part. O. Lang- worthy & Co. commenced a dry goods and grocery business in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 785 this Store May 1st, 1872, where they have continued to this date. For a number of years previous to 1878, O. B. Chester kept a grocery store in what is known as the Chester building. Later this store was altered over into a tenement. The building known as the Ashaway Union store was erected and occupied by Pierce Handall and Clark Potter, in 1848. After about a year, Mr. Potter stepped out of the firm, and after four or five years alone, Mr. Handall wound up his business with a failure. The store was occupied after this by a Mr. Webb, and after him by Mr. Jonathan Larkin. About 1860 a stock company was formed and run in a mutual way, the company hiring Mr. Lyman Kenyon to do their business. This continued until 1870, when the business not being as prosperous as had been antici- pated, they closed it up, and the store was next occupied by Clarence Merritt and Charles Puffer, and after them by Mr. P. F. Johnson. About twelve years ago Mr. Samuel P. Ennis hired the store, and has since occupied it as a general country store, this being the character of the business with all the different proprietors. Other spasmodic efforts at storekeeping . have been made by other parties at different times in various places in this village, but so short was their experience, no mention is made of them here. The Ashaway Savings Bank was organized July 3d, 1871. O. Langworthy was chosen president, and G. N. Langworthy treas- urer. The deposits steadily increased until 1878, when the bank found itself embarrassed by the depreciation of certain railroad bonds. It was finally deemed best to charge off twenty per cent, of the deposits and allow the bank to continue business. In 1881 the condition of the bank had so improved that the twenty per cent, charged off in 1878 was again paid back to the depositors, but the deposits continued to decrease until 1885, since which time they have steadily increased. May 21st, 1883, H. L. Cran- dall was elected president to fill the vacancy caused by the death of John S. Champlin. June 1st, 1885, O. Langworthy was chosen cashier to fill the vacancy caused by the death of G. N. Lang- worthy, and July 1st, 1885, Frank Hill succeeded O. Langworthy as cashier. In July, 1885, Frank Hill was chosen treasurer, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of G. N. Langworthy. Trustees : O. Langworthy, J. A. Crandall, H. L. Crandall, Wil- liam L. Clarke, E. G..Cundall, L. A. Briggs, A. B. Briggs. Resources, $70,296.52. 50 786 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. First Seventh Day Baptist Church. — Sabbatarian senti- ments were first brought from England to this country by Ste- phen Mumford in 1665, and introduced to the First Baptist church in Newport, from which seven persons seceded in December, 1671, and organized in tliat place the first Sabbatarian church in America. A few members of this church soon joined the first freemen of Westerly, but this town was by no means a Sabbata- rian colony, for it was purchased before Sabbatarianism reached this country. The organization of the church was formed in 1768, and serv- ices held in a meeting house built about the year 1680, located on a lot given by Peter Crandall, near the bridge between Shat- tuck's Weir and Potter Hill. The last edifice owned b}' the church was moved some years ago to Ashaway, Hopkinton. Another meeting house was erected on the old site, but this was also taken down subsequently and moved to Shattuck's Weir, or Dorrville. A second or upper meeting house was erected near Rockville, not far from 1771. List of pastors or " leading elders " of the First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton, formerly " The Westerly Seventh Day Baptist church: " John Maxson, from July, 1708, to Decem- ber 17th, 1720 ; John IVlaxson 2d, 1720 to 1747; Joseph Maxson, 1747 to 1750 ; Thomas Hiscox, 1750 to 1773 ; Joshua Clarke, 1773 to 1793; John Burdick, 1793 to 1802 ; Abram Coon, 1802 to 1813; Matthew Stillman, 1813 to 1838 ; Daniel Coon, 1838 to 1851 ; Lu- cius Crandall, 1851 to 1852 ; Charles M. Lewis, 1852 to 1857 ; desk supplied six months of the years 1857 and 1858 by Sherman S. Griswold; Joshua Clarke, 1858 to 1864; Alfred B. Burdick, 1864 to 1871 ; A. E. Main, 1871 to January 1st, 1881 ; W. C. Tits- worth, 1881 to 1883 ; Ira L. Cottrell, 1883, still pastor, September, 1888. Reverend John Maxson, first, was born in 1639, and is said to have been the first white child born on the island of Rhode Island. His father was killed by the Pequots before he was born. In 1661 he became one of the purchasers of Misquami- cut. In 1708 he was ordained to the office of an elder, being about seventy years of age. He died December 17th, 1720. Reverend John Maxson, son of the first pastor, was born in 1666. In 1687 he married Judith Clarke. He died in July, 1747. The third pastor was born in 1672, and died in 1750. He was son of the first and brother of the second pastor. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 787 Reverend Thomas Hiscox became a freeman in Westerly in 1709, and town clerk in 1716, and afterward was town treasurer for the long term of sixty years. He died November 26th, 1767, aged eighty-two years. Reverend Joshua Clarke, second son of Thomas Clarke, was for a number of years a member of the legislature of the state, and one of the first trustees of Brown University. He died March 8th, 1793, in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Reverend John Burdick is described as " a pious, fervent, faithful, eloquent and argumentative preacher." He was inces- sant in his labors, and assisted in the organization of several churches. He died March 27th, 1802, in the seventy-first year of his age. Reverend Abram Coon was a brother to Reverend Asa Coon. He was tall and spare in person, had blue eyes and brown hair ; always wore a low-crowned hat and a coat with a straight collar, and was so venerable in appearance that he was usually called "Old Elder Coon." He was an eloquent preacher, sound in his doctrinal views, wise in council, sober, vigilant, kind and faith- ful in all his relations in life. Reverend Matthew Stillman, the next pastor, died of apoplexy while sitting at the table March 9th, 1838, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and thirty-fourth of his ministry. He had preached a funeral sermon on the day previous to his death, and was expecting to preach another on the day following. In the services of the preceding Sabbath he read the hymn commenc- ing thus : " And let this feeble body fail. And let it faint or die." Reverend Daniel Coon, son of Reverend Abram Coon, the next pastor, had a strong, muscular frame and a stentorian voice. He spoke with ease and fluency, and often with vehe- mence, and was not only sound in his doctrinal views, but was one of the worthiest men of his denomination. Reverend Charles M. Lewis, as a missionary or a revivalist, was a success. He died February 17th, 1883, worn out by over- work, after forty-four years active ministerial work. Reverend Sherman S. Griswold was born in Guilford, Conn., March 26th, 1805, and died November 2d, 1882. He was form- erly for twenty-five years a member of the Congregational church. He practiced medicine and taught school for several 788 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. years. He became a convert to Sabbatarianism and was licensed to preach for that society in February, 1841, and was ordained to the work in 1842. A gracious revival followed his work in Hopkinton. He took an active interest in educational and re- form work, and was widely and favorably known as a minister and educator. The Reverend Joshua Clarke is now pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist churches of Andover and Wellsville, N. Y. He was born in Brookfield, Madison county, N. Y., November 23d, 1822, and was the oldest of a family of eleven children. The winter after he was seventeen years of age he was quickened by the Holy Spirit ; in April, 1839, he was baptized, and shortly afterward united with the Seventh Day Baptist church of Adams, Jefferson county, N. Y. In 1844 he was ordained to the work of the gos- pel ministry in Otselic, Chenango county, N. Y., and since that time has been a successful minister in various places. Reverend Alfred B. Burdick was known as an eloquent public speaker. He was born in Westerly, R. I., February 1st, 1819, and died in the same town July 8d, 1887. He was ordained a gospel minister in May, 1844, and was afterward pastor of the Rockville church and subsequently a missionary in Wisconsin, Minnesota and Illinois. Reverend Arthur E. Main, D.D., was born in Adams township, N. Y., August 23d, 1846 ; graduated at Hungerford Collegiate Institute, Adams, N. Y., 1866; from University of Rochester, N. Y., 1869; from Rochester Theological Seminary in 1872; and received the degree of D. D. from Milton College, Wisconsin, in 1885. He filled the office of corresponding secretary of the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society from 1876 to 1881. Reverend W. C. Titsworth was born in Shiloh, N. Y., October 3d, 1848. He received his education in Alfred University, Al- fred, N. Y. ; in Amherst College, Amherst, iSIass., where he graduated in the class of 1870, and from the Union Theological Seminary, New York, in 1877. He is now pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist church at Alfred, N. Y., which position he has ac- ceptably filled since 1883. Reverend Ira Lee Cottrell, the present pastor of this church, was born in Wirt toAvnship, Alleghany county, N. Y., March 7th, 1846. He received his education from ^lilton Colleg-e, ]\lilton. Wis., and Alfred University, Alfred, N. Y., where he graduated in 1877. He attended Alfred Theological Seminary two years. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 789 and Union Theolog-ical Seminary one year and was graduated. He commenced his first pastorate with the church at Hartsville, N. Y., in 1877, and at Independence, N. Y., from 1880 to 1883, when he took charge here. The First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton now lias a membership of three hundred and seventy-six, two hundred and forty residents, one hundred and thirty-six non-residents. It has a Sabbath school of one hundred and seventy-two scholars under the superintendence of Hon. G. B. Carpenter, and a flour- ishing Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor of about one hundred members, with Miss Jessie T. Briggs as president. The influence of large revivals upon the life and growth of the church has been marked. We give the numerical results of some that have occurred in the last century or more. In 1769, with the addition of Governor &muel Ward and about fifteen others there seems to have begun a very healthy growth in mem- bership. In 1770 we note that forty-five were added to the church ; in 1779 sixty-five members ; in 1780 fifty-three ; in 1785 forty-one, and in 1786 one hundred and forty-six additions were made. During the eighteen years from 1769 to 1786 inclusive there were added four hundred and seventy-six members. The membership of the church after a revision of the roll in 1793 numbered four hundred and thirty-five members, although three churches, with a total membership of two hundred and four, had but lately been set off from the church. In 1798 there were revival meetings conducted b}^ Elder John Burdick assisted by Abram Coon and Asa Coon, which resulted in the addition of one hundred and forty-five members. In 1806 another revival conducted by Asa Coon assisted by Matthew Stillman added two hundred and thirty-four inembers. One in 1813 by the same persons added two hundred and twenty-one to the membership. In 1816 a revival conducted by Elder Mat- thew Stillman resulted in adding one hundred and six to the church. Another under Matthew Stillman and Thomas B. Wells in 1822 added eighty members. In 1834, under the pastorate of Matthew Stillman, assisted by Elder Nathan Hull, one hundred and forty-four were brought into the church. In 1837 Matthew Stillman, assisted by Elder John Greene, conducted meetings that resulted in adding one hundred and sixteen to the church. Dur- ing the last six revivals mentioned, in which Elder Matthew Stillman participated as pastor or assistant, nine hundred and 790 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. one had been received into the church, not to mention the many other additions made during the years intervening but not here enumerated. In 1816 the church membership numbered nearly one thousand. After this time several branches or outlying por- tions of the church were organized into separate churches, which again depleted the membership. In 1857-8 Reverend S. S. Griswold conducted meetings which resulted in forty-seven additions to the church. In 1866, during the pastorate of Reverend A. B. Burdick, forty-six were added. During 1873-4 the pastor, Reverend A. E.Main, assisted by Rev- erend Charles M. Lewis, held meetings which added one hun- dred and fifteen to the church membership, which was the last of what may be called great revivals, but refreshing seasons which have revived the membership and made new additions have continued. During Reverend W. C. Titsworth's pastorate, which began in 1881, forty-three members were added to the church, and during the present pastorate, which began in Oc- tober, 1883, fifty-six members have been added up to the date, September 25th, 1888. Bethel. — In 1816, a small building was put up at Bethel and occupied by Mr. William Arnold for the manufacture of scythes, who continued the business for several years. He used a trip hammer operated by water power. Mr. Zebulon Stillman came in possession of the property and used the building and power for making and repairing of wagons. In 1829 J. D. Babcock bought the property, enlarged the building and operated three turning lathes, etc., in the manufacturing of carding machines. After a few years Mr. Rowse Babcock and John Knowles rented the premises and manufactured yarn, putting the weaving out among the farmers' wives and daughters. In 1848 the mill was burned. The present factory was immediately built. It is 32 feet wide, 79 feet long, with basement, two stories and attic. This mill was rented by Messrs. Asher Babcock and Welcome Still- man, who filled it with machinery and manufactured woolen goods. It was afterward run by T. R. Wells & Co. At Laurel Dale there is another mill for the manufacturing of woolen or cotton goods. This mill stands on the east side of of the river. Directly opposite, on the west bank of the river, stand the extensive line works of H. L. Crandall & Co. The manu- facture of lines was commenced in 1827 by Mr. Lester Crandall, one of the honored citizens of this town, well known as an enter- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 791 prising business man ; also a temperance, anti-slavery and Chris- tian man. The mills are now owned and operated by the Asha- way Line and Twine Manufacturing Company. HOPKINTON City.— This is the oldest village in the town. It is situated near the center of the town and surrounded with a varied and picturesque scenery. In 1776 the outlines of what was then in anticipation to become the center of business were laid in the Tomaquag Valley. Griswold says : " This large tract of land be- longed to Oliver Davis, Esq., a judge of the court. Here was a grist mill, saw mill, tannery, blacksmith shop, distillery and tavern, what was then considered sufficient to constitute a vil- lage, and had it not been for accident perhaps the metropolis of the town would have risen in all its grandeur from the valley of the Tomaquag. The great thoroughfare from Connecticut to Charlestown and Newport, then lay through this valley. Ac- cording to legendary history, Hopkinton City dates its act of in- corporation so far back in the records of time that the memory of man runneth not to the contrary, its founders seem lost in the obscure, if not mythical. " In 1815, a turnpike, connecting New London and Providence, was laid out, running directly through Hopkinton City. This became the great thoroughfare of stage travel between New York and Boston. Mr. Spicer's hotel was the stopping place where passengers partook of refreshments, and relays of horses were provided. To accommodate the amount of travel a num- ber of daily stages were necessary. Hence Hopkinton City and Spicer's tavern became widely known. By the running of this turnpike through the metropolis both business and travel were drawn away from the anticipated city in Tomaquag Valley. But the introduction of travel by railroads and steamboats diverted the travel from this then flourishing village, and the day of travel by staging on turnpikes was ended. Yet Hopkinton City, holding within itself its own resources of prosperity and growth, has outlived the tremendous odds that were against it, and, by the indomitable energy, perseverance and industry of its men of business, has never known the word fail." The Post Office at Hopkinton City was probably established in the winter or spring of 1811. Jeremiah Thurston (first postmas- ter) rendered accounts July 1st, 1811. George Thurston was appointed postmaster June 30th, 1814 ; George Thurston, Jr., April 7th, 1819; Francis B. Segar, Fetru- 792 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ary 12th, 1828; Joseph Spear, Jr., August 14th, 1829; Jesse Brown, June 21st, 1841 ; Joseph Spicer, September 23d, 1864 ; Jesse Brown, December 12th, 1849 ; Henry Whipple, May 28th, 1850; John W. Foster, October 14th, 1857 ; Willard H.Brown, June 13th, 1873, the present incumbent. General George Thurston was an early trader in the village. He had two sons, Jeremiah and George, who succeeded him in business and became prosperous merchants. Subsequently Lieutenant-Governor Benjamin B. Thurston succeeded to the business of his father and afterward formed a partnership with Charles Noyes. In 1851 Mr. Thurston retired from business and Mr. Noyes continued until 1879, when Edwin R. Allen became owner of the property and continues still in trade. Mr. Allen enlisted as a soldier in the Seventh Rhode Island regiment, go- ing out as a private and returning home first lieutenant of his company in 1865. He has been town clerk since 1867. The identical cast iron box stove which was first used to warm the old store over a century ago, now owned by Mr. Allen, still radi- ates its heat, standing in the same place. On the opposite side of the street, !Mr. Thomas Wells also car- ried on the mercantile business quite extensively. He was suc- ceeded by his son, Henry M. Wells, who continued the business until his death, when John W. Foster purchased the goods and continued the business until 1874. The manufacture of saddles was quite extensively carried on at an early date by Captain J. Spicer ; and the saddle and har- ness-making business was continued bj- his son, Joseph Spicer, who was succeeded by his son-in-law, Henry Whipple. Hats, also, were quite extensively manufactured here by Isaac Cole. The tanning and currying of leather was early commenced and carried on by Abraham Coon, followed by Frank B. Segar and John S. Champlin. In the old building north of the post office the cabinet-making business was carried on by Abraham Utter, who was succeeded by Amos Green. At a later period the prop- erty was purchased by Reuben Brown, now deceased. About the year 1796 a tremendous -sensation was produced in Hopkinton City by the appearance among them of a nondescript vehicle. It was noised abroad that a gentleman and lady from the island of Rhode Island would soon arrive at Hopkinton City on a visit in a chaise, but what a chaise was but few people knew, for up to this time no carriage or wagon had ever been HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 793 seen in the town. The announcement of such an arrival having created the tremendous sensation referred to above, people flocked from far and near to see the wonderful thing. They would get into it, draw it about, ask all manner of questions concerning it, and all such as were privileged and honored by having stepped into it, or sat in it, were looked upon as wonderfully smart. In 1846 Augustus L. Wells began to manufacture sleighs and carriages in Hopkinton City. In 1851 he took into partnership his brother Edward, forming the firm of A. L. Wells & Co. The firm has been very successful in business. From a small begin- ning it has expanded into that extensive manufacturing of car- riages of which the city may well be proud. In' 1867 Mr. George H. Spicer commenced the btisiness of making and repairing car- riages, occupying the stand where the saddle and harness mak- ing business had been formerly carried on by his father, Joseph Spicer. Mr. Spicer's business has become quite extensive both in the making of new and repairing of old vehicles. He also keeps a supply of new and second-hand carriages for sale or ex- change. The hotel at Hopkinton City was built by Captain Joseph Spicer about the year 1812. Captain Spicer married the daugh- ter of General George Thurston, and ran the hotel about forty years. At that time there were from ten to a dozen stages daily passing through the village going to and from New York and Boston, and business at the inn was lively. Every three miles and a half a relay of horses was furnished, and the wheels of the old stage coaches made the dust fly briskly. Following Captain Spicer came Sidney S. Tillinghast, John Burdick, Albert Witter, Henry Whipple, afterward sheriff of the county and now judge of the Westerly judicial district ; Jesse Brown, then John W. Spicer, who ran it until his death about 1878. It was burned April 21st, 1888. Second Seventh Day Baptist Church. — The following sketch of the Second Seventh Day Baptist Church of Christ in Hopkin- ton was contributed by Mr. Benjamin P. Langworthy, 2d. "Be it remembered that on the seventh (7th) day of January, 1835, That according to appointment a meeting was holden at the meeting-house at Hopkinton City ; and after due delibera- tion, and prayer and preaching by Elder Matthew Stillman, he proceeded to form a church of a number of brethren and sisters living in the vicinity of said meeting house, all of which were 794 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. members of the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Christ at Hop- kinton, and were formed into a distinct or separate church by their own request and not without consent of the parent church." " The names of the brethren and sisters that were set apart as the Second Seventh Day Baptist Church of Christ at Hopkinton were as followeth : John Langworthy, Sarah Langworthy, George H. Perry, Elizabeth Perry, Sarah A. Langworthy, Altana B. Langwortliy, James B. Langworthy, Benjamin F. Langworthy, Ichabod Burdick, Hannah Burdick, Hannah Burdick 2d, Isaac C. Burdick, Joseph Spicer, Jr., Content Spicer, Abigail Langworthy, Nathan Davis, Adam B. Champlin, Henrietta Champlin, John T. Edwards, Renewed Edwards, Green B. Allen, Lydia Tanner, Benjamin Green, Sarah Ann Green, Thomas M. Clarke, Matthew R. Potter, Desire Reynolds, Phebe Reynolds, Josiah W. Lang- worthy, Tacy Langworthy, John Tanner, Deborah Tanner, Scyntha Johnson, Susan Worden, Joseph Spicer, Sen., Mary Spicer, Barton G. Stillman, Hannah Collins, Thomas Clarke, Wealthy Clarke, Abba Spicer, Paul Green, Peleg L. Berry, Desire Larkin, Henry Clarke, Jerusha Clarke. (46.) At the formation of this church seventeen articles of faith were adopted, all of them in keeping with the views of the large family of Associate Baptists except the 15th, which reads as fol- lows : " We believe it is the duty of all men, and especially pro- fessed Christians, to observe religiously the seventh day of the week as commanded in the fourth precept of the decalogue, and that we have no scripture warrant for extending our external communion to those who do not observe this holy command- ment." The first church meeting for business was held February 6th, 1835, and John Langworthy was chosen moderator, Paul Green, clerk, and Joseph Spicer, Jr., treasurer. April 3d, 1835, Elder Amos R. Wells was received as a mem- ber of the church, and accepted the call of the church " to be their watchman," the church pledging sixty-five dollars to be " appropriated for the ministry the year ensuing." Elder Wells sustained his pastoral relation to the church until March 24th, 1837, when it was closed by reason of his having changed his views with reference to the Sabbath. March 11th, 1835, in business meeting, " Voted that Bro. John Langworthy serve this church as deacon." It is inferred that he had been formerly ordained to this office by the First Seventh HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 795 Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton, of which he was a member — thus he became the first deacon of this church. Under date of May 13th, 1836, we find the following: "Voted that it is a breach of covenant to let or hire out a child that is under age to labor on the Sabbath." George H. Perry, Benjamin F. Langworthy and Isaac C. Bur- dick were called to serve the church as deacons April 3d, 1835. They accepted the call of the church and were ordained during the coming autumn, for November 13th of the same year they are mentioned in the records as deacons. After the pastorate of Elder Wells closed Lucius Crandall preached for the church one year. March 11th, 1836, Brother Paul Green was released from the clerk's of&ce by his own request and Isaac C. Burdick was ap- pointed. Elder John Greene's name first appears in attendance at a church meeting August 17th, 1838, and he was received as a member of the church September 14th of the same year, and is first mentioned as pastor May 10th, 1839. The church seems to have enjoyed a good degree of prosperity in its early years, for the returns August 29th, 1838, show some over one hundred members. During the first year's existence of the church we find the following : " Voted that our sisters shall have an equal right with our brethren in receiving and expelling members into or from this church, and in the choice of officers." Josiah W. Langworthy and Nathan H. Langworthy were called to serve the church as deacons August 14th, 1840, and ordained to that office in February, 1841. Elder John Greene was an evangelist of great power. His early labors with the church were greatly blessed in its upbuild- ing, and extensive revivals followed him not only here, but wherever he went, as he had frequent calls for such work. Alay 19th, 1844, the membership of the church had increased to 154, but after this unhappy differences arose and the moral horizon in the church seemed shrouded in clouds and darkness. The influence was far reaching and disintegrating in its effects, but the church through divine aid outrode the storm and lived to bless the world. Sands C. Carr served the church as clerk one year from March 11th, 1845, then the position was filled five years by Benjamin F. Clarke. 796 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. John T. Edwards and Nathan F. Chipman were ordained as deacons May 1st, 1848. June 11th, 1847, Elder Sherman S. Gris- wold was received as a member of the church, and he served as pastor until 1850. He was succeeded by Elder Henry Clarke, and later, by Elder Daniel Coon. During this time of drotith and declension there came a bright spot in the history of the church. Elder Halsey H. Baker, moved, no doubt, by the good of souls and the spirit of the Lord, came to the help of the church, and, as the result of united effort, a gracious revival of religion followed. "The things that re- mained " that were almost dead were quickened, sinners were converted and added to the church, and a brightening prospect was hailed with delight by all the lovers of Zion. Christopher Brown was elected church clerk March 23d, 1851, and served in that capacity for nearly ten years. He was a faithful and effi- cient officer. A more than passing notice should be given to the services of Elders Henry Clarke and Daniel Coon. The first labored faith- fully and with but little remuneration ; the second was a great lover of music, an able expounder of the word of God and a most impressive man in prayer. His labors with the chtirch only closed when failing health compelled him to retire from service. He passed away loved and lamented by all, ]\Iay 21st, 1858. Deacon Peleg Babcock united with the church by letter, No- vember 6th, 1852, and served the church until ]\Iay 6th, 1858, the time of his death. December 23d, 1855, Josiah Langworthy (son of Deacon Josiah W. Langworthy, deceased) was ordained a dea- con of the church. For nearly twenty-six and one-half years he was a zealous worker in the cause of the jNlaster, and then with- out a moment's warning, he was called to his reward October 5th, 1882. After the death of Elder Coon, the church was supplied with preaching by a licentiate. Brother D. Forbes Beebe, who was subsequently called by the church and ordained to the work of the gospel ministry February 27th, 1859 ; also two brethren who had been previously called to the office of deacon were or- dained at the same time, viz., Elisha B. Palmer and Benjamin P. Langworthy 2d, both of them still filling the position at the present time. The first year of Mr. Beebe's labors was greatly blessed, the church enjoying a precious revival of religion, some thirty-five being added to their numbers. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 797 During his pastorate the church became incorporated by act of the state legislature, passed at the January session, 1861, by the name of the " Second Seventh Day Baptist Society in Hopkinton." Elder Beebe closed his labors with the church March 31st, 1864, and Brother Samuel R. Wheeler (who had formerly been licensed to preach by the First Seventh Day Baptist church at Alfred, N. Y., of which he was a member ; also his license having been approved by the First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkin- ton, February 21st, 1864, of which he was then a member) was employed to preach for the church one year from the first of April. Brother Wheeler's labors closed with the year. Febru- ary 26th, 1865, Brother Gardner S. Kenyon was received as a member with us, and it was voted unanimously that he serve this church as deacon, he having been previously set apart to that office by the Rockville Seventh Day Baptist church. Brother Christopher Brown was succeeded in the clerkship by Benjamin P. Langworthy 2d, March 3d, 1861, who has served continuously until the present time; April 1st, 1865, marked an important event in the history of the church, the commencement of the pastorate of a former pas- tor, the Reverend Sherman S. Griswold, which continued for nearly seventeen years in succession, and only closed when he laid down the weapons of his earthly warfare to receive an ever- lasting crown, November 2d, 1882, aged nearly 77 years. Per- haps no more appropriate eulogy on his life can be written than the resolutions adopted by the church after his decease. iThey are as follows : " Whereas, it has pleased Divine Providence in his wisdom, to remove by death, our beloved brother and pastor. Rev. S. S. Griswold, who has faithfully served us for nearly seventeen successive years ; therefore, " Resolved, 1st — That, while we feel it becomes us to bow in humble submission to the will of our Heavenly Father, who has spared him to such a ripe age, with such activities of body and mind to bless the cause of God and humanity, and to return de- vout thanks for the same, yet we feel that it is fitting that we should express the tender regard and love which we bore him, together with our deep and unfeigned sorrow for our great if not irreparable loss, and bear testimony to his Christian charac- ter and faithful labors among us as a gospel minister and pastor, to his deep, earnest and untiring search after the truths of the 798 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Gospel, and faithful effort to impart tlie same to those under his watch care. " 2d — That we should ever hold him and his labors among us in grateful remembrance and renewedly consecrate ourselves as a church to mature the work which he so ably prosecuted and has now left with us for completion. " 3d — That as a token of our fidelity to the cause and our ap- preciation of him and his labors we hereby pledge ourselves, by the help of God, to labor with united effort for the upbuilding and perpetuity of this church which he so loved, and for which he so long and earnestly labored and prayed. " 4th — That we tender our deepest sympathies to his companion and family in their bereavement, who so faithfully and kindly cared for him. " 5th — That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his com- panion, and each of his children, and to the Sabbath Recorder, with a request for publication." During the early part of the year 1866 there was a great awak- ening to the things of religion and about fifty were added to the church. The last deacon ordained by the church was Alfred A. Langworthy, May 14th, 1881. The meeting took place in the Seventh Day Baptist church at Niantic, Elder S. S. Griswold preached a sermon on the occasion and others assisted in the or- dination services. After the death of Elder 3. S. Griswold the pulpit was supplied temporarily until June 9th, 1883, at which time Reverend Lewis F. Randolph was installed pastor of the church, which relation he now sustains. Of the deacons the close of whose labors with the church have not already been mentioned, John Langworthy was dismissed to the church at Alfred Centre, N. Y., George H. Perry died August, 1854, Benjamin F. Langworthy was dismissed to Westerly Sev- enth Day Baptist church, from thence to Alfred Centre, N. Y., where he has been for many years the honored president of the board of trustees of Alfred University; Isaac C. Burdick, dis- missed to Westerly, deceased; Nathan H. Langworthy, dismissed to Westerly, now living; Josiah W. Langworthy, died suddenly March 3d, 1855, an earnest, active, Christian worker; John T. Edwards, dismissed, died April 2d, 1852; Peleg Babcock, dis- missed, died May 6th, 1858. This church has always esteemed it a privilege to be identified with all the reformatory movements of the day. In its early HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 799 history it was strongly anti-slavery and now it takes a deep in- terest in the temperance question, the cause of missions and the work of education. It has always maintained a Sabbath school part of the year, and for quite a number of years all the time. Many different questions at times have come up before the body for considera- tion, and one especially that has demanded careful attention is, the best way to raise funds for the support of the gospel, both at home and abroad. Various plans have been tried with varying success, but none has seemed to prove more satisfactory to all concerned than that by the plan called " systematic benevolence," raising the money on the " pledge card " and " envelope system." The history of this church is not unlike that of others. It has had times of adversity and times of prosperity, seasons of reviv- ing and seasons of declension, its ups and its downs. It has stood the tests of time for over fifty years, and we can but hope its influence has been for good on the surrounding community and the world. Its officers at the present time are as follows : Pastor, Lewis F. Randolph ; deacons, Elisha B. Palmer, Benja- min P. Langworthy, 2d, Gardner S. Kenyon, Alfred A. Lang- worthy: clerk, Benjamin P. Langworthy, 2d. First Baptist Church, Hopkinton.* — Prior to the organiza- tion of any church in what is known as Hopkinton City, a build- ing known as the Union Meeting House stood about an eighth of a mile northwest of where it now stands, which was subse- quently removed to its present site and enlarged by union efforts and is now the building occupied by the Seventh Day Baptists. Occasional services were held in this house by such clergymen as might choose or be chosen to hold them. In the winter of 1833-4 the Reverend Nathan V. Hull, a preacher of the Seventh Day Baptist denomination, and the Reverend Gideon B. Perry, a preacher of the First Day Baptist denomination, came to Hopkinton from Philadelphia, Pennsyl- vania, and held a series of revival meetings in the Union Meet- ing House of worship above mentioned. The result of these meetings was a rich ingathering of souls. Of those who were converted and revived, the portion who preferred to keep the seventh day for the . Sabbath united to form the Seventh Day Baptist church, and that portion who preferred to keep the first day united to form the First Baptist church of Hopkinton. We - By Rev. E. P. Mathevvson, 800 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. learn from the first letter this church sent to the Warren Asso- ciation that at the time this church was organized no public worship was held on the first day of the week in this place or even in this town, except by the Society of Friends. An ecclesiastical council composed of delegates from Stoning- ton Borough, First North Stonington, and Middletown con- vened October 26th, 1834, at the dwelling house of George H. Perry, M.D., and constituted twenty-three persons into a regular Baptist church, to be called the First Day Baptist Church of Hopkinton, Rhode Island. On the day this church was consti- tuted John B. Steadman, Benjamin B. Thurston and Henry M. Wells were elected to the office of deacon. Of the constituent members only one remains a member of the church, and she is a non-resident. One or two more, we think, are living, holding relation to other churches. At a church meeting held at the Union meeting house No- vember 10th, 1834, Henry M. Wells was chosen permanent clerk and Charles Noyes treasurer. A committee was appointed to obtain a minister, with authority to contract with such minister for the time he was to preach and the reward to be given him. The custom thus established has been followed to the present day, which will account for the entire absence from the records of any mention of the commencement or termination of the pas- torate of any minister who has served the church since its or- ganization. At the same meeting a committee was appointed to draft rules for the formation of a society, to be called the First Baptist Society of Hopkinton, R. I. Also an invitation of the church to her communion was directed to be given as fol- lows : " All baptized (i. e. immersed) trinitarian believers in good standing in their respective churches are invited to par- take with us." At a meeting of the church July 10th, 1835, Brother Henry ]\1. Wells, previously appointed a committee for the purpose, presented rules for church meetings, etc., which were approved and adopted. The meetings of the church appear to have been held for a time in the school house, but in 1836 a meeting house was com- pleted, and it was dedicated to the Avorship of God January Soth, 1837. This house still stands on the site where it was built, and is occupied by the church. Application was made by the church in 1836 for admission to the Warren Association, and in 1837 the association was invited to hold its next session with the young church, but the session was held at Newport. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 801 In 1834-6 the church was under the care of Reverend Gideon B. Perry, who had directed the deliberations of the church while effecting a complete organization. At this time the additions were mostly by letter. In the spring of 1836 the Reverend Levi Walker came to sup- ply the church, but served them only a part of a year in that capacity. In 1837 the Reverend Amos Russell Wells, having changed his views in regard to the day to be observed as the Sabbath, united with this church by letter from the Second Sev- enth Day Baptist church of Hopkinton, and at once assumed the pastorate of the church, which he appears to have retained till 1839. During this time we find that thirty persons were bap- tized into the church, which added very much to its strength and prosperity. In 1839 the Reverend Erastus Dennison supplied the pulpit half, and others the remainder of the time. From the spring of 1840 to the summer of 1841 the Reverend Cyrus Miner was pas- tor of the flock. During these years the additions were few, but the church was being trained to growth in grace and seed sowing. From 1841 to the fall of 1843 Reverend David Avery was pas- tor. The year 1842 was a memorable one in the history of the church. Twenty-nine were added by baptism and five by letter and experience. Brother Avery left his charge here to assume pastoral care of the new church at Hope Valley, known as the Second Hopkinton Baptist church, which he was instrumental in organizing. From the spring of 1845 to 1851 Reverend Thomas Varnum Wells was pastor, and nine were baptized. From 1850 to 1857 the record of the reception of one person by baptism is the only entry made in the records. From occasional reports to the asso- ciation we learn that they were supplied by the Reverend P. J. Williams, of the Second North Stonington Baptist church, and others; that they were hopeful, and looked for a pastor. In 1857, though still dependent on a supply, they take up the song of rejoicing at the sound of the voice of the young convert and report four baptisms. In 1858 the flock so long withotit an under-shepherd, secured the services of Brother J. L. Wightman, whom they proceeded to ordain to the pastorate January 11th, 1859, with the assistance and sanction of an ecclesiastical council composed of delegates 51 802 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. from Second Richmond, Second North Stonington and Niantic. The Reverend John H. Baker was chosen moderator of this council and Brother Solomon P. AVells clerk. The sermon was preached by Brother Baker. Brother Baker also gave the charge to the candidate. The Reverend Casson C. Lewis offered the or- daining prayer and gave the address to the church. The Rev- erend A. B. Teft extended the hand of fellowship. At the same time and place Brother Robert Palmer was ordained deacon of the church. This is the only ordination of a deacon of which we find mention in the records. Brother Wightman closed his pas- torate, which had been signally blessed of God, in the fall of 1860. Twenty-one had been baptized while he had charge of the church. The church was one of the number organizing the Narragansett Association. From this time until the summer of 1863, the church was supplied by different persons and had few additions. February 1st, 1862, steps were taken to secure a charter under the name of the First Baptist church of Hopkin- ton. At this time the letters of the church to the association expressed loyalty to the union and "no sympathy with rebels and traitors north or south." In the summer of 1863 Reverend I. B. Maryott took pastoral charge of the church. April 28th, 1866, thirteen were received by baptism, and a period of prosperity came after declension and discouragement. February 3d, 3866, steps were taken to secure a charter which were successful. The pastorate of Brother Mary- ott terminated in 1867. The Reverend S. S. Griswold, pastor of the Seventh Day Baptist church was seciired as pulpit supply and continued in that position till June 16th, 1879. In 1874 the house of worship was extensively repaired and ren- ovated. Brother Charles Noyes paid one dollar for every dol- lar raised by subscription. While these repairs were being made the church received' and accepted the offer of the use of the vSev- enth Day Baptist meeting house for divine service. Brother Griswold served two churches with marked impartiality. He ex- changed pulpits with ministers of the same faith in order that the ordinances might be regularly administered. He firmly es- tablished a union of feeling between the two churches which has never been broken. Several were added to the church during the period of his supply. A series of meetings was held in Lau- rel Glen in 1876 by the Reverend F. B. Dickinson. This is a part of the parish of this church in Connecticut. Eight baptized by him were received into this church. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 803 For a period of seven months in 1879 and 1880 the Reverend J. G. Noble, of Milltown, Conn., supplied the pulpit. In the year 1879 Deacon O. D. Cole and Charles Noyes died, and in their death the church met with a very severe loss. They had ever held dear the interests of the church, and as a proof of his ten- der remembrance to the last, the latter left the church a fund of $2,500, the income of $2,000 to be used for the support of preach- ing, and that of $500 for repairs on the meeting house. This fund the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention holds in trust for the church. In July, 1880, the Reverend E. P. Mathewson began to supply the pulpit. A year and nine months he was also pastor of the Second North Stonington Baptist church. At the close of this period he gave up the North Stonington pastorate, and ever since has served this church and labored in outlying fields. Since 1880 seventeen have joined the church by baptism. John Steadman, Benjamin B. Thurston, Henry M.Wells, Reu- ben S. Bennett, Jabez Palmer, B. W. P. Bennett, Oliver D. Cole, Robert Palmer, E. R. Allen, and E. Sterry Holdredge have served the church as deacons. Henry M. Wells was clerk for eighteen years ; Noyes D. Wheeler for five years ; and E. R. Allen for twenty-seven years. During the absence of E. R. Allen in the service of his country, Edward S. Wells served as clerk pro tern. for three years. Charles Noyes served as treasurer from the or- ganization of the church till his death in 1879, and paid all bills when they became due. John S. Cole and E. Sterry Holdredge have served the church as treasurer since his death. A Sunday school has been connected with the church since its establishment. The history of the church shows that its life has been a quiet one. Situated in a quiet community, which is unusually blessed with opportunities for attending public wor- ship, its growth has been nearly matched by its decrease by re- moval and death. It has been managed by pastors having deep convictions of duty and sterling piety. Most of them have laid down their armor and gone to their rest. In the early history of the church discipline was quite vigorously practiced. Two brethren, J. C. Johnson, Jr., and Nicholas V. Steadman, appear to have been licensed to preach the gospel by the church. Hope Valley. — Hezekiah Carpenter settled here in or before 1778, having purchased the lands in this section of the town about that time. Mr. Carpenter built the works at that place known as 804 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the Carpenter Mills, or Middle Iron Works, and also a dam near where the present one is located. His establishment consisted of a saw mill, grist mill, fulling mill and carding machine. He owned and lived on what was called the Ray farm, lying in a westerly direction from the village. In 1778 Carpenter gave to his daughter and her husband, Pardon Crandall, the tract of land now occupied by the village of Hope Valley and a portion of the village of Locustville. During the same year Mr. Crandall built the house now owned by the heirs of widow Sarah Arnold. In 1810 there were but two houses in this village. In that year John Godfrey, Godfrey Arnold, Gorton W. Arnold and others purchased the larger portion of this tract, together with the mills, and in the following year built the third house there, which is known as the "big house." In 1812 they built the Arnold mill, on the Richmond side of the river, from lumber sawed at their mill. The machinery of the Crandall mill, on the Hopkinton side of the river, was made from iron manufactured at Brand's Iron Works. The water privilege and mill upon the Hopkinton side, after changing hands several times, in March, 1824, became the prop- erty of Captain Gardner Nichols and Russel Thayer. The mill at this time was seventy feet long, sixteen feet wide, and two stories high. j\Ir. Thayer engaged in carding wool and fulling and finishing cloth, quite an extensive and lucrative business at that time. Captain Nichols commenced making tools for the man- ufacture of cotton and woolen machinery. Here was the com- mencement of that establishment which has been enlarged to the extensive machine shops of Nichols & Langworthy, the pride and ornament of the village. In 1824 there were but six houses in the place. It is but due to Mv. Gardner Nichols that we express our appreciation of his mechanical genius as well as that of his co-partners, and the firm's untiring industry and prudential man- agement of their business by which they secured success. It should be added that in the tower that rises from the top of this building is suspended a bell of such sweet and fine intonation that the ear is charmed with its music whenever it is rung. In connection with this bell there is a clock of such nice adjustment that it varies not a second in its measurement of time. The first looms ever built in this town (six in number) were commenced in the spring of 1826, and completed the same year by Captain Nichols, for William-A. & Edward Robinson, of AVakefield, and in ;^ cc o o o w z h > O g o < en J O o HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 805 this was the first order for machinery that the firm received. In 1835 Mr. Thayer sold out to Josiah W. & Joseph Lang- worthy, and the firm of Nichols & Langworthy was formed. In 1837 Nichols & Langworthy built the stone mill 70i by 35 feet and two stories high. The upper story was rented to Messrs. John Olney & J. P. Arnold for the manufacture of cotton cloth, and the lower story was used for a machine shop. The firm of Nichols & Langworthy continued the manufacture of cotton and woolen machinery until about the year 1858, when they engaged in the manufacture of printing presses. In 1869 they completed the present brick shop, 240 by 65 feet, with wing 40 by 90, which they filled with new and improved tools and machinery. Dur- ing this same year they commenced the building of steam en- gines and boilers, in which they were very successful. In May, 1876, the firm completed and shipped two steam yachts, one for the Centennial exhibition and the other for excursions on Sar- atoga Lake. The dimensions of these yachts were 52 by 8 by 3-^. The Nichols & Langworthy Machine Company was incorporated in 1884. In 1885 the company purchased the Locustville mills of W. R. Greene, where they are operating one hundred and four looms and employ fifty hands. Mr. A. G. Nichols is president of the company, and H. C. Nichols is secretary and treasurer. As early probably as the year 1803-4 the manufacture of iron at the Upper or Brand's Iron Works, also at the Middle Iron Works, and also at the Lower Iron Works was somewhat exten- sively carried on, and continued for quite a number of years more or less profitable to the manufacturers. About the year 1818 Joshua Godfrey built a tannery on the lot now occupied by the railroad depot, where tanning and cur- rying were first carried on by James Hazard. In 1832 Nathan F. Chipman moved into this vicinity, and, forming a co-partner- ship with Arnold Hiscox, commenced the manufacture of leather at the above-named place. After a few years this com- pany dissolved. Soon after, Mr. Chipman purchased a spot of land adjoining the present sash and blind factory afterward owned by Benjamin P. Langworthy, on which was a building, and also a water power and privilege. On this site he built a tannery, where he carried on the manufacture of leather until 1866, when, on account of a paralytic affection, he was obliged to discontinue the business. His decease took place in 1872. Mr. Chipman enjoyed the confidence of the community as a man 806 HISTORV OF WASHIXGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of business. The tanning and currying business was continued by his son, Nathan T. Chipman, until 1873, when it was discon- tinued altogether in the town. For several years this estab- lishment was the only tannery in operation in this state, outside of Providence. The principal store in this place is in the Odd Fellows' build- ing. It was formerly kept by C. H. Joslin, and since 1876 by Thomas B. Segar. William F. Joslin is also in charge of a store in the place. The post office at Hope Valley was established ]SIay 2d, 1864. The postmasters have been : John G. Arnold, Henry F. True and Thomas B. Segar, the present incumbent, who took charge October 20th, 1885. The First National Bank of Hopkinton was organized on February 13th, 1865 ; Directors : Amos G. Nichols, David L. Aldrich, Thomas T. Hoxsie, Edward Barber, Pardon K. Tefft, Samuel Phillips, George H. Olney, William R. Greene and Bar- ber Reynolds. Amos G. Nichols was elected president ; William R. Greene vice-president ; and Joseph B. Potter cashier. It com- menced the regular business of banking May 2d, 1865 ; capital . stock $100,000. Amos G. Nichols has held the office of president from the beginning. William R. Greene held the office of vice- president until May 17th, 1875, when he resigned, and Anson Greene was elected and still holds the office. Joseph B. Potter has been cashier from the first organization until now. Since the bank started, burglars have, at three different times, at- tempted to break open and rob the bank in the night-time, but without success. The Hopkinton Savings Bank was organized July 9th, 1870. Its first president was Harris Lanphear. The first secretary and treasurer was Joseph B. Potter. November 16th, 1885, Joseph B. Potter resigned and Silas R. Richmond was elected in his stead. June 8th, 1886, Edward Barber, the present executive, was elected president of the bank ; Charles Noyes first vice- president, and Elisha P. Clark second vice-president. The Waverly House is the only hotel in the village. It was formerly used for a private residence and was built by Mr. Gor- ton Arnold in 1851 and afterward occupied by Joseph Arnold as a tavern about the close of the late war. Prior to that time the Dawley House in AVyoniing was one of the great stations on the New York and Boston stage route, and all travel was directed to HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 807 that inn for lunch and lodging. In 1852, AVesley Barber came to the village, and his son George Barber, the present proprietor, purchased the property in 1876. The house contains twenty good lodging rooms. Mr. Barber also owns a livery stable. The Wood River Branch railroad connects this village with the main line of the Stonington & Providence railroad and has been of great benefit to the place. The first train began its regular trips July 1st, 1874, and since that time the steam whistle has been heard several times daily announcing the arrival and departure of trains. L. M. Barber is superintendent of the road, and F. A. Thompson is conductor. The village has now an incorporated library association. In 1887 Mr. Joseph Langworthy, moved by a spirit of generosity, being actuated solely for the moral and intellectual welfare for his fellow men, donated a sufficient sum for the establishment of a good public library in Hope Valley. This charitable act has been fully appreciated by the people, who have aided the enter- prise by their contributions and patronage. Second Baptist Church, Hopkinton.*— In 1841 Reverend David Avery, pastor of the First Baptist church of Hopkinton, held services each Sunday at 4 p. M. in the school house at Locust- ville. There was at that time in this village no church of any denomination. Residing in the place, however, there were sev- eral active Christians who held membership in Baptist churches. In their hearts for a long time had been the desire to see here the organization of a Baptist church. Under these circumstances all that was needed was a competent leader to induce them to arise and devote their energies to the fulfillment of their desire. The occasion was waiting for the man, and David Avery was the man. ^ These meetings were received with favor by the people and it was soon evident that the blessing of God was not with- held, Christians were revived, the impenitent were converted, the newly converted were asking baptism. Under such circumstances December 19th, 1841, a number of brethren and sisters belonging to the different Baptist churches in this vicinity (so the record reads) met in the school house above mentioned to take counsel and make plans for the advancement of the Redeemer's kingdom. Mr. Avery was present and pre- sided. The record tells us that after remarks and mature reflec- tion, this company resolved themselves into a Christian church * By Reverend E. B. Haskell. 808 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to be known by the name of the " Second Baptist Church of Hopkinton." The pastorate of Mr. Avery still continued with the First church so that he was not a member of the new organi- zation, but was present to assist by his counsel and doubtless with the understanding tha,t he was to continue to minister to their spiritual needs in the future as in the past. The church thus organized consisted of eighteen members. Prominent in that company were some whose names are of frequent recurrence in the after history of the church. The following five names, mentioned in the order in which they stand on the roll of mem- bership, perhaps occur as frequently as any : Luther A. Palmer, Gardner Nichols, James C. Baker, John Olney, William L. Rich- mond. Of the whole number there only are living James C. Baker, a deacon of the church at the present time ; W. L. Rich- mond, who served for many years as deacon and now resides in Holyoke, Mass., and Mrs. Ruth Crandall, whose present home is in East Greenwich, R. I. In effecting the organization James C. Baker was made clerk. For deacons choice fell on George Atwood and William L. Rich- mond. At this meeting also a committee was appointed to re- port at the next meeting a form of covenant and articles of faith. At a meeting held on the following day, the committee reported and the covenant and articles of faith agreeing in general with those in common use in Baptist churches, were then adopted. The council for recognition met December 21st, of which Rev- erend John Dowling, D.D., of Providence, was moderator, and Reverend John H. Baker, of Shannock, was clerk. By this council also the newly elected deacons were ordained, a prece- dence which in the years since has not in any case been fol- lowed. Four days later, December 25th, eight persons were baptized. Again an interval of four days, and two persons were baptized. Thus the church began the year 1842 with twenty-eight mem- bers, ten of whom had been baptized on the last week of the previous year. In the records under date of December 25th, the day when the first candidates for baptism were received, appears this action : " Voted that an article prohibiting the use of strong drink be annexed to those adopted." Under date of February 18th is the following: " A'oted also that the church hold a prayer meeting on the first Sabbath evening in each month for the con- version of the heathen." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 809 After the organization of the church, Mr. Avery continued his appointments at the school house as before. For his conveni- ence, while devoting a part of his time to another church, the Lord's Slipper was observed on the third Sunday of each month. This relic of the peculiar circumstances under which the church was organized continued unchanged until November, 1885. After a few months Mr. Avery came to Locustville to reside and continued to labor with this church until the spring of 1844. He organized a church of eighteen members. In a little more than two years he resigned the pastorate of a church of one hundred and five members, fifty-two of whom he baptized ; yet it is not high praise to measure a man's work wholly by statistics of membership or statements of the number of candidates bap- tized. The work of inferior men may be measured in that way, but the higher quality of a man's work, the greater the incapacity of figures to express it. Mr. Avery's work was of a high order. He was the right man in the right place. Those who remember him speak of him in terms of praise. Yet he did not induce in the people that peculiar and suspicious quality of affection which' only serves to hinder and embarrass the work of a successor. But while the rapid advance of the church is in a large degree due to the ability and Christian character of Mr. Avery, let us not forget that he had helpers of exceptional excellence. Any man worthy of success with two such fellow laborers as John Olney and Gardner Nichols would find it difficult to fail. If Mr. Avery was the right man in the right place, with no less em- phasis should a similar statement be made of the brethren and sisters who were the constituent members of the church. The Reverend William Flint was somewhat hastily, and as it afterward proved, unwisely chosen as the successor of Mr. Avery. Mr. Flint did not inspire the undertaking nor did he hinder it. Had there not been in the church men specially consecrated to the work of the master the house would hardly have been erect- ed at that time. It was begun under great difficulties. The peo- ple were poor ; they could only plan for a house small and ex- ceedingly plain. They planned, they toiled, they sacrificed, they prayed. Brother Gardner Nichols was authorized to circulate the supscription paper in Hopkinton and Westerly. Brethren John Olney and Braddock Davol were authorized to do the same work in Providence and Fall River. Thus they all used means. They had faith and mountains were removed. They sought a 810 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. house of worship and according to the promise to those who seek, they found. Thus we are prepared to understand how great a day with them was Alay 15th, 1845. The vestry was still unfinished but the audience room was completed. The hour for dedication had come. Reverend Mr. Hiscox offered the prayer ; Reverend Jabez Swan stood in their pulpit and they listened to their dedicatory sermon from 1st Kings, vill, 8, " Will God in- deed dwell on the earth." Mr. Flint's year of service expired before the house was dedi- cated. Reverend Casson C. Lewis was the first pastor to preach in the new house. His previous membership had been with the First Baptist church in Groton, Conn. He was called to the pas- torate of this church in May, 1845. Mr. Lewis in early life had been a sailor. The experience of those earlier years did not de- tract from his fitness for the pastoral office. He is remembered for two things: his social qualities and his knowledge of Scrip- ture. During his pastorate the Second Baptist Society was in- corporated. By the terms of the incorporation all male mem- bers of the church are members of the society. Mr. Lewis was the first president of the corporation. He labored as pastor until the spring of 1849. Nothing of special interest is recorded or remembered of those four years. Mr. Lewis filled the pastor- al office wisely. There was a fair degree of spiritual interest, a moderate but constant and healthful degree of activity, and twenty-one converts were baptized. We come now to the time which, judged bv visible results, is the most interesting in the history of the church. Reverend vSimeon B. Bailey was called to the pastorate and continued to fill that office for five years. Again, in 1858, he became pastor the second time and held the office nearly two years. His work with the church was constantly and largely blessed. In his first pastorate he baptized one hundred and forty-seven, in the sec- ond fifty-seven. Thus in two pastorates he baptized two hundred and four, more than one third of the whole number of baptisms in the history of the church. That he did not work simply for numbers is proven by the fact that under his direction the dis- ciplining power of the church was constantly, faithftilly and ju- diciously exercised. In the opinion of one perhaps as competent a judge as can be found, the discipline of the church was more effective at that time than it had ever been before or than it has been since. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 811 Reverend John H. Baker became pastor in 1854. Like Barna- bas, he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost. He greatly loved the work of the ministry, and his one fault was that in previous years he had given himself to that work with too great zeal, so that his health was well-nigh ruined. He was also a man of a good degree of natural ability. But such were the natural limitations of his diseased body, that he was able during his pas- torate to accomplish but little. His term of service was two years, and in that time he baptized two. Mr. Baker's successor was Reverend Lucius W. Wheeler. In one year of his pastorate seven were baptized. We naturally look for the explanation of so short a pastorate, but look in vain. It is probably one of those cases which we can only explain by the indefinite statement that he was not adapted to the field. In 1860 the sheep were again in search of a shepherd. As a result of the search, Reverend Charles S. Frost received and ac- cepted a call to become pastor. This pastorate contintied for a little less than seven years, and was the longest in the history of the church. Mr. Frost had a gratifying measure of success. The records reveal one fact which, rightly interpreted, gives most significant testimony to the character of the work performed by Mr. Frost. The greater number of baptisms were not near the beginning, but near the close of the pastorate. Mr. Frost had some difficulties of course to meet, but on the whole the years of his labor with the church were peaceful and happy. There were several years apparently fruitless ; then the church experienced powerful influences and seventy-three were baptized. In April, 1867, the leadership of the church was entrusted to the Reverend Daniel D. Lyon. For two years he performed these duties, and so far as appears, performed them faithfully. He held some special meetings at Centreville, a little more than two miles away, as a result of which there were some conver- sions, and twenty -six were added to the church by baptism. Otherwise there was no special increase of spiritual interest and activity during this pastorate. There was, however, a form of activity which, if not strictly spiritual, is often the antecedent of the highest spiritual results. This was the enlargement of the house of worship, at an expense of over three thousand dollars. From May, 1869, to December, 1870, the Reverend Samuel D. Ashley filled the pastoral office. There were during that time a goodly number of additions — twenty-seven by baptism. 812 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Newton Theological Institute furnished the next pastor in the person of Thomas M. Butler. He began work in September, 1871, and was ordained in the following month. He was with the church a little less than three years. This period was marked by no wide-spread religious interest, but by a healthful and har- monious condition of religious activity. Thirty-one were bap- tized. From 1875 to 1877 the pulpit was supplied by Reverend Samuel W. Field, D.D., of Providence. Though Doctor Field was with the people but a portion of the time, his preaching was greatly appreciated, and many recall that period with pleasure. In November, 1877, Reverend Moses B. Scribner was called to the pastorate. He filled that position about two years. This was a period of considerable religious activity. Fifty-nine persons were baptized. Reverend B. G. Boardman was called from Waverly,N.Y., and began work as pastor in March, 1880. In a four years' pastorate Mr. Boardman baptized thirty. During this time the church was unusually harmonious and a large degree of material pro- gress was made. Brother Gardner Nichols, one of the devoted members before mentioned, as a memorial to his wife, presented to the church a pipe organ. In order to make room for the organ and also to provide a suitable place for the infant department of the Sunday school, an addition was made to the house of worship at an expense of nearly one thousand dollars. A parsonage was also built and partially furnished at an expense of about three thousand dollars. At the same time the missionarj^ activity and interest of the church were greatly stimulated. Three missionary societies were formed and the amount of contributions for mis- sion purposes was largely increased. On account of sickness in his family, to the great regret of the church, Mv. Boardman closed his work in February, 1884. In the following April the present pastorate began. In the forty-five years of its existence (to 1886) the church had, including the two years of supply by Doctor Field, a little less than thirty-nine years of pastoral service by fifteen pastors, an average of less than two years and eight months for each pas- torate. In that time five hundred and forty-three had been baptized, an average of twelve a year. Seven hundred and sev- enty-eight persons had been included in its membership. One hundred and seventy-seven had been dismissed by letter. Of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 813 the remaining number one hundred and six are dead. Of sixty- three it is recorded that tliey were excluded. The words erased or dropped is opposite the names of two hundred. Two hundred and forty-two names were in 1886 on the roll of membership. The church has had seven deacons : George Atwood, William L. Richmond, Gardner Nichols, James C. Baker, William R. Greene, Alfred Slocum and Elias T. Burdick. There have been eight clerks, among whom Deacon William R. Greene, with his nineteen years of service, is most worthy of mention. The others are James C. Baker, Amos G. Nichols, Ray G. Allen, Al- bert H. Tucker, Walter Rogers, Job L. Vincent and Charles N. Richmond. Fourteen persons have filled the office of church treasurer. Silas R. Richmond is now performing the duties of that office, and has served longer than any other. The corpora- tion has had eight presidents, and in that office Edward Bar- ber has seen twenty-five years of service. As secretary of the corporation seven persons have served. The duties of this office William S. Rogers is now performing, and has the honor of a term of service longer than that of any other one. The Sabbath school has been for a long time one of the most interesting and successful features of the work of the church. There have been six superintendents : William L. Richmond, William R. Greene, Samuel N. Richmond, C. E. Tillinghast, Reverend Thomas N. Butler and Amos G. Nichols. Of these the last has served since 1872. Since 1869 the school has raised more than four thousand dollars. In 1878 the school was the largest in its history. At one time the church, by great effort, was freed from debt, and the resolution of the leaders was that there should be no more debt. But the good resolution was not kept. As it often happens the ladies of the church have been more than ready to bear their full share of the financial burdens. The Ladies Benevolent Society, the organization in which their effort has been made, has recently attained its majority. Since 1864, the date of the organization, the society has raised about four thousand dollars. Methodist Episcopal Church, Hope Valley. — Reverend Jesse Lee, the pioneer preacher of Methodism, in New England, came into Rhode Island in September, 1789, recording in his journal: "Thursday 3d, I passed through Stonington and crossed the Pawcatuck into Rhode Island state and went to Mr. 814 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Stanton's who kept the coffee house in Charlestown, Washington County." As far back as the thirties in the present century, a preacher by the name of Sturtevant, who taught school in the village of Hope Valley, organized a class at Gideon Palmer's. Reverend Moses Fifield, a member of the Providence Conference, preached occasionally. He was a very punctual man. At one time he had an appointment for 10:30, but his hearers delayed till 11 o'clock. After preaching he announced, " I will preach at 2 P. M., not af- ter." The people were there. These attempts at sowing Methodistic seed were later made successful by help from another quarter under the following cir- cumstances. The little branch of the Methodist Episcopal church which has flourished in the town of Hopkinton for more than forty years, was planted about the year 1845 in what is now Dis- trict No. 7, near Ashville. Meetings were held at the Gate school house, and were conducted by Reverend Warren Emerson, pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Voluntown, Conn., and Reverend Stanton Austin, at that time a licensed exhorter in the church and subsequently a pastor for over a third of a century. Of this reverend clergyman, Reverend Mr. Woodward, the present pastor of the church, saj^s: " Reverend Stanton Austin was born at Charlestown September 14th, 1812. He was converted at a camp meeting near Essex on the Connecticut River, joined a class connected with the Metho- dist Episcopal church at New London, Conn., and was baptized by its pastor. Reverend Abram HoUoway. When he came to Rhode Island, he found congenial church relations at Volun- town, the nearest church of the denomination, and received a license to exhort from the presiding elder, Reverend Ralph W. Allen. Subsequently he was granted a local preacher's license by Reverend Sanford Benton. Later he was ordained a local deacon by Bishop Baker at the annual conference which met at the Chestnut Street church, Providence, in April, 1856. At the conference held in the same city in the Matthewson Street church in April, 1861, he received the ordination of local elder from Bishop Matthew Simpson. " Elder Austin filled the pulpit of the church from 1846 to 1886, with the exception of the period between 1851 to 1855, when he was absent, residing in Warwick. Carrying on his farm during the week, he labored in the Lord's vineyard on the HISTORY or WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 815 Sabbath, seeing many souls born into the kingdom of God, and witnessing tlie triumpliant departure of not a few of his fiock to the great garner-house above. During his long and faithful ser- vice he baptized fifty-five persons on confession of faith, married three hundred and thirty-five couples, and attended one hundred and forty-seven funerals." The present church building was erected at Rockville, in the township of Hopkinton, about the year 1846, and was dedicated by Reverend Ebenezer Blake, then pastor at Voluntown, — text. Psalms 93:5, " Thy testimonies are very sure : holiness becometh thine house, oh Lord, forever." Mr. Austin was reappointed each successive year up to 1851, when he went away and was summoned again to take charge of the church at the end of four years. While he was away several pastors took charge, of whom Reverend J. Post remained the longest period. In 1851 the church was taken down and put up again in its present location in Hope Valley. It is pleasantly situated in that part of the village known as Locustville, not far from the Wyoming bridge. It fronts the Providence and New London turnpike. Among those who were early identified in promoting the welfare of the church may be mentioned such men as Gideon Palmer, Welcome Collins and Cortes Darling. All along, through the forty years of Mr. Austin's pastorate, helpers were found to carry on the work of the Lord. The church has never been strong in numbers. Sometimes consider- able numbers were added by conversion or the coming in of Methodist families. At other times the church was depleted by death and removals. In the winter of 1887, when the church had been closed about two years, the new and energetic presiding elder of the district, Reverend D. A. Jordan, resolved to resuscitate the old church. For pioneer work he sent Reverend O. W. Scott, formerly of New York state, and later principal of East Greenwich Academy, R. I. This gentleman succeeded in inspiring confidence in the few faithful ones who were left and reorganized the whole church, receiving several on probation and also laying the foun- dation for temporal improvements. At the conference held in Providence in April of that year, W. D, Woodward, the present pastor, was put in charge, and under his management the church building has been much im- proved and the society is flourishing. 816 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. LocuSTViLLE. — The first dam and mill at this place were built in the year 1814, on Brushy brook, by Gorton W. Arnold, and was superintended by John Batcheler. This mill, which was very small at first, was enlarged about the year 1820, by Jona- than Hazard. In 1844 or 1845 it was burned down, being then owned by the heirs of Charles Low, of Providence. It was soon replaced by a larger mill, which was destroyed by fire in October, 1865. In 1866 a large and commodious brick building was erected by Messrs. William R. Greene & Co., and was operated by that firm until purchased in 1888 by the Nichols & Langworthy Com- pany. The mill is used for the manufacture of woolen and other goods, and gives employment to a large force of hands. G. H. Nichols is superintendent. The Locustville store, now operated by F. L. Gardiner, is prob- ably the oldest one in the village. It was used for a place of trade by Charles Joslin about the time of the war, and afterward occupied by S. S. Fisher, who was succeeded in it by Mr. Gardi- ner in 1885. Among the principal merchants now in the place may be men- tioned G. E. Greene, the druggist, who has been trading in the village for twenty years, and S. N. Richmond, the furniture dealer and undertaker, who commenced his business in the place in 1849. He built his shop in 1858 and his residence in 1873. Russel Thayer, father of Mrs. S. N. Richmond, came to Hopkin- ton in 1819 and began the business of carding wool and finish- ing cloth, which he carried on till 1844. He had a brick-yard at one time and made brick for the mills. He died in 1851. Mrs. S. N. Richmond has a piece of negro cloth made on those looms in 1826. Mr. S. S. Fisher, dealer in dry goods and groceries, has been trading in Locustville for nearly twenty years. The hardware business was probably established in this village by John Allen. James Gowdy, his successor, is enjoying the benefits of a good patronage in this line of trade. Barberville. — Prior to the year 1829, Lillibridge Barber gave to his grandson, Joseph T. Barber, a tract of land, near the cen- ter of which, in 1829, Joseph T. Barber built a dam and saw mill, and thus commenced the village of Barberville. This mill was enlarged at different times, and at length was converted .into a carriage factory. Somewhere about the year 1834 or 1835, Ed- ward and Thomas T. Barber built the first top carriage made in the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 817 town. In 1840 the manufacture of cotton yarn was commenced here. The original mill was built in the pine woods, nearly half a mile from cleared land, and the story is told that Joseph Bar- ber once cut a favorite pine tree belonging to his grandfather without his consent, which so aroused the wrath of the old gen- tleman that in a voice of thunder he said : " If Joseph wants pine trees he shall have them ;" and immediately inflicted a summary punishment by deeding to him the whole tract. In 1856 Messrs. John T. Sheldon & Co. purchased Barberyille, made extensive repairs and continued the manufacture of cotton goods until the 30th of August, 1869, when the mill, while in full operation, was burned. Wyoming. — In 1845 Mr. Pardon Olney erected a mill at Brand's Iron Works, now known as Wyoming. This mill was first used for the manufacture of shingles. It was subsequently enlarged and converted into a cotton mill. In December, 1875, it was burned, and has not since been rebuilt. The original owner of the lands here was one Samuel Brand, who erected the iron works some time prior to 1814. His son-in-law, Francis Brown, is said to have built the first tavern on the site of the present one. He also kept a jewelry store and manufactured shoe and knee buckles. ROCKVILLE. — The manufacturing interests of Rockville are largely dependent on water power to run their machinery. The water is furnished principally by two ponds, known as Yawcoog and Wincheck, the latter receiving the water of the former, and also that of Grassy pond. The water of Grassy pond is carried by a conduit, turning it from its natural channel into Yawcoog. Further back than the memory of the oldest inhabitant runneth there was a saw mill at the outlet of Yawcoog pond, but the fall is now used for a reservoir for the accommodation of the Rock- ville Manufacturing Company, and the rock has been channeled so as to leave Yawcoog pond lower than the natural draught, while the dam has been raised higher, thus making a valuable storage of water against a dry season. Antedating any known records, mills for a variety of uses were erected near the outlet of Wincheck pond. Among them were two saw mills, a grist mill, an oil mill and shingle mill, and a carding and fulling mill. The last was owned by Elisha, father of Harris Lanphear. The oil mill was burned more than seventy-five years ago. Below the oil mill, and nearly in front 53 818 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of the present boarding house, was a factory built by a stock company, and first run by Lewis, father of Elijah Kenyon. Mr. Kenyon manufactured satinets, carded wool and dressed cloth, as custom work for the surrounding inhabitants. In the lower room of 'his factory, O. M. Stillman manufactured his celebrated temples and other machinery. The factory changed owners on several occasions, and was run at times on hire. Among the owners were Burlingame & Cross (who began manufacturing on power looms in 1880), Ezra Stillman and Asahel Lanphear. The latter was the inventor of the king spinner, while living in Rockville. Oliver Wells subsequently purchased the factory, and during his ownership it was burned. The upper stone fac- tory was commenced in 1844, and was opened for spinning in August, 1845. During the following autumn thirty-two looms were put in and run. The weave shop Avas built in 1851 for a dye house and beaming room, but was subsequently changed to a weave shop and dressing room. In the second story there are now ninety-six looms, and in the lower story are two sets of dressing apparatus and other machinery. The builder of the edifice was Henry Champlin, of Westerly. Centreville.— In 1846 T. T. & E. Barber erected a building 84 by 24 feet and three stories high. The building was subse- quently sold to James C. Baker and Alanson Barber, who stocked it with machinery. After the building of the mill a road was opened eastward, now crossing the pond lying on either side of it. That factory was struck by lightning and burned. The present factory was begun in 1865 by C. :Maxson & Co., Harris Lanphear and Alva A. Crandall, but before it was completed it was purchased by the Rockville Manufacturing Company in 1873, but is now owned by Harris Lanphear & Co., and is used for the manufacture of yarns. The Rockville Manufacturing Company was formed in 1866, with Charles Maxson, president ; S. F Perry, treasurer and sec- retary ; George B. Utter and Joseph H. Potter, managers. In due time, however, the stockholders of the Rockville estate bought up the mills, and in 1877 the company consisted of Thomas Perry, Simeon F. Perry, Joseph H. Potter, Benjamin W. Bentley, George B. Utter, Oliver Langworthy, William and Henry Langworthy and Orrin S. Spencer. Orrin S. Spencer sold out his interest to the other eight stockholders. The mills HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 819 are now leased to Ira G. Briggs, and are operated under the style of the Briggs Manufacturing Company. Albert S. Babcock keeps the store at this point. Moscow.— The factory here was built by William L. Rich- mond in 1847. After changing owners several times it was pur- chased by T. R. Wells, of Ashaway. In August, 1876, it was set on fire by an incendiary and entirely consumed. RocKViLLE Seventh Day Baptist Church.— This church, formerly known as the Third Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton, was originally a part of the First Seventh Day Bap- tist church of this town. The Rockville branch had a house of worship where they met for religious services and the trans- action of necessary business. The Rockville meeting house was nearly nine miles from the meeting house of the First Hopkin- ton church. At a meeting of the Rockville branch, held in their meeting house June 19th, 1835, the following resolution, signed by fifty- three members, was adopted : " We, the undersigned, members of the First Seventh Day Baptist church in Hopkinton, comprising that part of the church adjacent to the upper meeting house, at which place we usually meet for worship, &c., having taken into consideration the incon- veniences and difificulties attending the discipline and govern- ment of the church in its present scattered and widely extended location ; and also, the irregularities attending the present mode of government in having two places for business meetings and two records pertaining to one body, often causing irregularities and discordant resolutions, we are of the opinion that it would be productive of good consequences for us to become a separate church and conduct our discipline accordingly, yet retaining our fellowship and standing in the Seventh Day Baptist connection. We therefore request the church to set us apart and organize us into a church on the same principles and of the same faith and order as the present church, holding the scriptures contained in the Old and New Testaments as sufficient rule of faith and prac- tice, without creeds or articles of faith other than covenanting to keep the commands and precepts of the gospel as contained therein." In accordance with this request a meeting was called, and on July 24th, 1835, the Third Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton was constituted. Reverend Christopher Chester served the 820 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. church as pastor until May, 1845 ; from May, 1845, until March, 1849, Reverend Alfred B. Burdick; from March, 1849, until April, 1853, Reverend Charles M. Lewis ; until July, 1854, Rev- erend Joel Greene ; from August, 1854, until March, 1857, Rev- erend Phineas S. Crandall ; from vSeptember, 1857, until March, 1860, Reverend Stephen Burdick ; from April, 1860, until Febru- ary, 1866, Reverend Lebbeus ]\1. Cottrell ; from October, 1866, to July, 1867, Reverend Stillman Coon ; from September, 1867, until May, 1869, Reverend Charles A. Burdick ; from October, 1869, to June, 1881, Reverend James R. Irish, D.D. ; from June, 1881, to February, 1886, Reverend U. M. Babcock ; from April, 1886, to December 15th, 1887, Reverend Joshua Clarke. August 1st, 1887, Reverend Alexander McLearn, D.D., began labor as pastor and is at present the occupant of the pastorate. The present meeting house was built in 1846-7 ; was enlarged in 1887 and a belfry and bell added. The present membership is about two hundred and sixty. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. David L. Aldrich. — Noah Aldrich, a revolutionary soldier and a resident of Scituate, in Providence county, married Hul- dah Whittaker, who died in her one hundredth year. They raised a large family of sons and daughters, among whom was David, born in 1770, in Scituate, where his life was spent as a farmer. A public-spirited and influential citizen, he was for many years a member of the town council, director of the Citi- zens' Union Bank, since extinct, and a liberal contributor to the Smithville Seminary, now the Lapham Institute of Scituate. He married Hope Law, of Killingly, Conn., whose children were : George, William, John, and David L. The death of Mr. Aldrich occurred in 1853. His son, David L., was born April 27th, 1822, in Scituate, and educated at the Smithville Seminary, from which he graduated in 1845. Removing to Providence, he entered upon a mercantile career as a member of the firm of Aldrich & Bean, continuing this business relation until 1851, the date of his removal to Hop- kinton, where, in company with Barber Reynolds, he leased the Godfrey Arnold cotton mill, and two years later purchased the property. At the expiration of the seventh year of this partner- ship the firm was dissolved, ]\Ir. Aldrich continuing the business. In 1803 he erected a woolen mill at Plainville (now Richmond ^-V:i'r-e3tonSCC't!Y. HL.TO- BY 5CH0FIELD BROS' n£ST£RLV, A^ ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 821 Switch), which was in 1880 sold to William A. "Walton, its present owner. Mr. Aldrich, in company with Edwin Milner, then pur- chased the Moosup mill, located at Moosup, Conn., which they devote to the manufacture of fancy cassimeres. In 1865 he be- came the owner of the cotton mills at Arcadia, in which print cloths are manufactured. Mr. Aldrich's large business interests have not precluded par- ticipation in affairs connected with his town. He was one of the projectors of the Richmond Bank, afterward merged into the First National Bank of Hopkinton, of which he is a director. He was also prominently identified with the construction of the Wood River Branch railroad, of which he is president. A re- publican and a strong protectionist in his political sentiments, he was a delegate to the national republican convention held in Chicago in 1880, but has not aspired to higher political honors. Mr. Aldrich has been twice married. He was united May 12th, 1846, to Susan W., daughter of Hon. Joseph Sheldon, of Cranston. Their children are : Joseph S., who died in 1874, at the age of twenty-four ; Laura, who died in 1856, at the age of five ; and David L., Jr., whose death occurred in 1883, in his twenty -fourth year. Mrs. Aldrich died in 1870, and he was again married June 5th, 1872, to Mary M. Gray, widow of Ephraim Carpenter, of Providence. Mrs. Aldrich died in 1886, leaving two children, a son, William S., and a daughter, Mary A., aged respectively fif- teen and thirteen. Edwin R. Allen. — The earlier members of the Allen family were residents of Windham county, Connecticut. Amos D. Allen, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, married Sarah Tracy, whose children were seven in number. Their son Edwin, a native of Windham county, now resides in Norwich in the same state. He has given much attention to inventions of a practical character and won some distinction as an inventor. He is president of the Allen Spool and Printing Company, and the inventor of machinery for cutting wood type. He married Ruth B., daughter of Joseph Noyes and Elizabeth Babcock of Westerly, and has children : Edward T., of San Francisco, Edwin R., Charles N., and a daughter who died in infancy. Edwin R. Allen was born November 26th, 1840, in Windham, Connecticut, and received his earliest instruction at the select and public schools of the town, completing his studies at Eagle- wood, N. J. In September, 1856, he entered the store of his 822 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. uncle, Charles Noyes, at Hopkinton, as clerk, and continued in that capacity until September 2d, 1862, when he entered the army as a private in the Seventh Rhode Island Infantry. Mr. Allen advanced in the regular line of promotion until his dis- charge and return in June, 1865, as captain of the company in which he first enlisted. During this period he participated in some of the most eventful engagements of the war, including Fredericksburg, Fall of Vicksburg and Jackson, Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, ]Mechanicsville, Bethesda Church, Hatcher's Run and Petersburg. On receiving his discharge he at once resumed his duties under his uncle, and at the decease of the latter came into possession of the property by bequest. The management of the store and interests lying adjacent now keep him fully oc- cupied. Mr. Allen is a republican in politics but not a strong partisan. He was in 1866 elected clerk of the town and still holds that office, being also notary public. His knowledge of town affairs and conceded ability and integrity place him in confidential re- lations with many of his townsmen and cause his advice to be frequently sought in the transfer of estates and the drafting of important documents. He is connected with Hancock Post, No. 81, Grand Armj^ of the Republic, of Westerly, and has been since 1858 a member of the First Baptist church of Hopkinton. ;Mr. Allen was married January 1st, 1868, to Mary E., daughter of George K. Thayer and Martha E. Babcockof Hopkinton. Their children are two sons : George E., born August 1st, 1869, and Frederick C, whose birth occurred August 6th, 1871. Edayard Barber. — Colonel Edward Barber was born in Exeter July 17th, 1779, and on the 27th of November, 1800, married Phebe, daughter of Thomas Tillinghast, of West Greenwich. They had thirteen children as follows : Joseph Tillinghast, born January 2d, 1802, who in 1825 married Nancy James, and had seven children ; ^Nlary H., born ]\Iarch 19th, 1804, who married Whitman R. Kenyon in 1825, and had one son ; Susan, born January 17th, 1806, who married William H. Dye in 1830, and had two children ; Alice, born November 26th, 1807, who married Benoni ]\Iatteson in 1829, and had three children ; Ann J., born October 25th, 1809, who married Bradford Bliven in 1833 and had four children ; Rebecca, born September 21st, 1811, who married John Phillips in 1836 and had one son ; Thomas T., born July 20th, 1818, who married Angeline Richmond in 1843, and ^^^'Ct^yt^t/l ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, PHOTO. BY SCHOFIELD BROS C^w^^^<7. ARTOTYPE, E BIERSTADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. had two children ; Lillibridge, born August 31st, 1815, who in 1836 married Thankful Lillibridge and had five children ; Ed- ward, born August 3d, 1817, who married Susan Card in 1843 and had four children ; Happy Sally, born October 27th, 1819, who died in childhood ; Hannah, born March 2d, 1823, who married Peleg Matteson, Jr., in 1842 and had five children ; Welcome, born July 22d, 1825, who married Polly Matteson in 1847 and had seven children ; and Phebe C, born September 2d, 1830, who died at an early age. Of this number Thomas T., Edward, Ann and Hannah are residents of Washington county. Thomas Alvin Barber, son of Jared and Eliza Barber, born January 3d, 1843, was the youngest of ten children — seven boys and three girls ; his paternal grandparents being Hosea and Caty Barber, and his mother's parents, Henry and Martha Davis Stanton. The former were residents of Westerly, R. I., and the latter of the adjoining town of Stonington, Conn. At the time of his birth the family resided in the town of Westerly, but in his infancy moved to the town of Hopkinton, where he has re- sided much of his time, always claiming that as his home. His father was a ship carpenter by trade and owned and lived upon ■ a small farm. Thomas, in youth, worked upon the farm in sum- mer and attended school in winter. At the breaking out of the civil war in 1861, although only in his nineteenth year, he was inspired with a desire to do his part in the great strife for the preservation of the Union, and on the 25th of September, 1861, enlisted in Company I, Fourth Reg- iment, Rhode Island Volunteers, then being formed on " Camp Green," in Rhode Island, for three years or during the war. This regiment was with Burnside in his North Carolina Expedi- tion, and later with the Army of the Potomac. It participated actively in the battle on Roanoke Island, wading the swamp waist deep in water, making the flank movement which routed the enemy and closed the battle. Later, at the battle of New- bern, it also took a prominent part, leading the grand charge which gave the victory to the Union troops. Its action in the siege of Fort Macon, the battles of South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, and Petersburg, as well as in numerous smaller engagements and skirmishes, gave it the name which it justly earned of "The Fighting Fourth." So severely was this regi- ment used in the battle of Antietam that at the close of the eh- gagement the company to which Mr. Barber belonged was left 824 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. •with but seventeen active members, of which he was one. This regiment's history and record is his war record. He was con- stantly with it, participating in all its hardships, privations and dangers, steadily working his way up from private to third ser- geant of his company, which place he filled at the time of his discharge after more than three years of active service. On his return from the war he was not long idle. From May, 1865, to February, 1869, he was employed in the counting-room and store of C. Maxson & Co., Westerly, and there became familiar with business methods. November 18th, 1867, he was united in marriage to Miss Sarah Jane Kenyon, daughter of Doctor Joseph D. Kenyon, of Hopkinton. Two children were born to them — Joseph De Vere and Hattie Florine — the former of whom is at the present time a " Junior " in the Westerly High school. The latter, a child of unusual promise, was taken from them by death while in her twelfth year. On the 1st of April, 1869, Mr. Barber engaged in business in the " Jacob Babcock " store in the village of Ashaway. In 1873 he erected and moved into his present spacious residence. In 1877, the business having outgrown its limited quarters, he erected the building known as "Ashaway Hall," fitting for his own use a large and commodious store on the first floor, with a public hall above ; in the latter filling a long felt want in the communit}'. In 1885 he closed out the dry goods business and added a jewelry and silverware department. Mr. Barber is a member of the First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton, and at present one of its board of directors. He is also connected with the Masonic fraternit}-, being a mem- ber of Franklin Lodge and a Sir Knight in Narragansett Com- mandery, both of Westerly. In the public affairs of the town he has ever shown an interest and occupied many places of trust with credit to himself. Asa S. Briggs, a leading manufacturer of the town of Hopkin- ton, is the great-grandson of Ebenezer, who was a son of John Briggs of North Kingstown. The former (Ebenezer) married Eleanor Sweet, whose son, Sweet Briggs, married Martha Tan- ner, of North Kingstown. The children of this union were: Ebenezer, born in 1778 ; Daniel, in 1780 ; Sweet, in 1782 ; Eliza- beth, in 1784; William, in 1787; Gorton, in 1789; Palmer, in 1791 ; Bowen, in 179.3 ; Martha, in 1795, and Job, in 1801. Bowen Briggs, whose birth occurred in Warwick, in 1802 removed to /#■ €^. ^ "■'-'«- 7, V. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 825 South Kingstown, and from thence to Charlestown, where for the remainder of his life he was an energetic and successful farmer. His death occurred in 1883. He married Hannah, daughter of Isaac Sheldon, of North Kingstown. Their children are: Benjamin, Rebecca, Martha, Bowen, Asa S., Isaac, Martha, 2d, Elizabeth, Billings, Abby and Susan. Asa Sheldon Briggs was born May 28th, 1824, in Charlestown, Washington county. He was made familiar in early years with the work of the farm, but at the age of twenty, having no predi- lection for a country life, entered a woolen mill at Ashaway, his services being paid for at the rate of ten dollars per month and board. Four years later he became superintendent of the mill, and acted in that capacity for many years, supervising the rebuild- ing of the structure in which, in 1864, he acquired and held a one-eighth interest for a period of ten years, when a half inter- est was purchased, the property being known as the Clark Falls Mills, of which he is the present agent. Mr. Briggs, in connec- tion with a partner, in 1882 purchased the Ashaway mill, remod- . eled the structure, equipped it thoroughly with new and im- proved machinery, and now gives his personal attention to its management. His time is not, however, absorbed in business to the exclu- sion of matters of public interest. He has been for several years in the town council, and represented his constituents for two years in the state legislature, serving on the committees on man- ufactures, executive communications, etc. He is a director of the Ashaway National Bank, and otherwise identified with the town's business interests. Mr. Briggs was on the 11th of February, 1847, married to Mary C. Burdick, of Hopkinton. Their children are : Benjamin F., born January 13th, 1849 ; Alexander B., November 12th, 1850 ; Charles H., June 3d, 1853 ; Mary C, December 18th, 1855 ; Lev- erett A., June 6th, 1858 ; Carrie L., April 22d, 1860 ; Jesse F., March 31st, 1862, and Mary E., April 1st, 1865. Of this number Benjamin F., Mary C. and Charles H. are deceased. Ira G. Briggs. — Among the men of prominence born in Rhode Island is Ira G. Briggs, whose engraving occupies the opposite page. Mr. Briggs is the eldest son of Wanton Briggs, Esq., a farmer and a justice of the peace in the town of Coventry, Kent county. He was born at the Briggs homestead in that town April 29th, 1820. In 1832 Mr. Wanton Briggs with his family 826 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. moved to Harrisville, in this state, a village owned by Governor Elisha Harris. Ira worked in the different rooms of the cotton mill in that village for about six years, gaining a knowledge of cotton manufacturing from the raw cotton to the finished cloth. On attaining his eighteenth year he turned his attention to ma- chinery, engaging with Messrs. Lavalle, Lanphear & Co., of Phenix, who were manufacturers of cotton machinery. He la- bored here over two years, became conversant with the construc- tion and fitting of machines, and attended school the other part of the third year. The next year, at the age of twenty-one, he was again employed by Governor Harris, and for seven succeed- ing years had charge of the machinery repairs in the Harrisville mill. After the expiration of his labors with Governor Harris, David Whitman, having the supervision of a mill in process of construction for Brown & Ives at the Hope, two miles above on the same stream, employed him to arrange and direct the adjust- ment of the shafting and machinery in this new mill. His du- ties were so satisfactorily performed that Messrs. Brown & Ives contracted with him to continue the charge of machinery and- repairs, which he did until 1852, when appointed superintend- ent of the Rockville mills, Hopkinton, R. I. The financial con- dition of the company at Rockville was exceedingly unsatisfac- tory, with indebtedness increasing upon it, when Mr. Briggs assumed charge, and by his ability, tact and thoroughness diminished the sum, and inaugurated a more prosperous period in the four years of his management. In the spring of 1856 he with other gentlemen purchased the mill privilege and adjacent property of the Industry Manufac- turing Company in Voluntown, Conn., which belonged to the es- tate of James S. Treat. This property after its purchase was called Beachdale, a name it still retains. To Mr. Briggs was given the entire management of it. A Herculean task ensued under which many a man of less nerve would pale ; the repair- ing of flumes, the removal of worthless machinery, the taking down of shafting, put in, hung and attached in every conceiva- ble way, the floors all to be be leveled, new machinery to be ob- tained and adjusted, new lines of shafting to be purchased and hung, and the whole mill to be swept, washed, renovated and painted inside and out. This he did with indomitable will and untiring perseverance, carrying the enterprise through the ter- rible crisis which occurred in 1857 and finally landing it on a Veixl Slydi S: CoBostoR, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 827 stable basis. Mr. Briggs continued business manager, the com- pany prospered, and in 1861 purchased the mill and privilege one fourth of a mile below. In 1868 his younger brother Ezra became his only partner, Ira G. owning four fifths and Ezra one fifth, the firm being known as Ira G*. Briggs & Co. In 1870 Mr. Briggs purchased the Alice Branch property one fourth of a mile still down the Pachaug river, it having a fall it is said of twenty -four feet. The next year he made another purchase of the Doane property forty rods below on the same stream. By his quick perception and shrewdness he obtained the control of the waters of Beach Pond, was the projector of the great reser- voir afterward made there, and contributed more largely to its expense than any other individual. In 1873 he became a stock- holder and in 1874 a director and general manager in the mills at Rockville, R. I., and now leases two of them. He has also been more or less engaged in other establishments, purchasing stock, selling goods, etc. Not only has Mr. Briggs been thus employed and environqd in the multiplicity of his bus- iness projects, but he has found time to engage in political and legislative affairs. Being an ardent republican he was chosen delegate to many state conventions and also to a presidential nominating convention. He was nine years first selectman of the town of Voluntown, and its representative in 1864, 1866 and 1868 to the general assembly of the state, and in 1870 state sena- tor and chairman of the committee on banks and banking. He was also trustee of the East Greenwich Academy Association in Rhode Island for many years. He moved into the town of Gris- wold. Conn., in 1875, occupying the Doane mansion, which he purchased, repaired, remodelled and beautified, and where he still resides. Mr. Briggs was married to Miss Lydia Andrews, of Coventry, R. I., October 1st, 1846. They have had five children, three of whom are living: Lucy E., married the Hon. Thomas H. Pea- body, an attorney-at-law, living at Westerly, R. I. ; Emma F., married to George W. Carroll, of Norwich, Conn. ; and Ira Ev- erett, no-vCr twenty-three years of age, a young man of ability, brought up by his father to understand cotton manufacturing in its various phases, who is the superintendent of two of the upper mills now belonging to the Briggs Manufacturing Company, to which name the firm has been changed by the legislature ; none but the Briggs family owning therein. Mr. Briggs, now sixty- 828 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. nine years of age, is still the active manager of the firm and its president. All the mills under his care are in an improved and prosperous condition. He has a genial disposition, and his in- tercourse is pleasant with both rich and poor. His sympathies are easily enlisted, and his ptirse responds to the impulses of his heart, as many can testify. He has, like many other active busi- ness men, been the dupe of unprincipled, designing schemers, yet his prosperity being continued, he still has ample means. The three churches in his village. Baptist, Methodist and Cath- olic, have received substantial aid from his purse, especially the Methodist, where he is a constant giver and a regular attendant. With all his cares and perplexities, his family and his home are his delight. BE^7AMIN P. Langworthy, 2d. — The grandfather of Mr. Lang- worthy, Benjamin Langworthy, was born August 16th, 1781, and married Elizabeth Bentley, whose birth occurred May 29th, 1780. Their children were: Benjamin B., Elizabeth, Jeremiah, Lewis, George W., Albert B., Oliver, Nelson, and Clark F. Benjamin B., the eldest son, was born July 1st, 1804, and in 1830 married Mary, daughter of Thomas and Waity (Peckham) Langworthy. Their only son, Benjamin P., 2d, was born June 23d, 1832, in Hopkinton, and at the age of two years left the farm with his parents to reside in Westerly, their home until the death of his father, November 24th, 1835. With his mother, he then removed to the maternal homestead, where he has resided for a period of more than fifty years. The lad was carefully reared, and early taught lessons of truth- fulness, industry, and frugality, which later aided largely in forming the character of the man. He found in youth many opportunities for usefulness on the farm, meanwhile devoting the winter months to study at the district school near his home, and afterward at Hope Valley under the late Nathan K. Lewis, a thorough and painstaking instructor. A year later he became a pupil of the school at De Ruyter, New York, and the following summer resumed work upon the farm. The advantages at the latter school being of a superior character, he returned for two terms, and the winter after engaged in teaching. Meeting with success, he continued for sixteen successive winters to fill the role of an instructor, making vocal music, in which he is profi- cient, a branch of study. I\Ir. Langworthy has since that time made farming the business of his life. ,^^ -^-^^^ ^^ ARTOTVPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 829 A republican in politics, lie has never been politically ambi- tious, but has filled such offices as enabled him to be of increased usefulness to his town and neighborhood. He was a member of the board of assessors of Hopkinton, for twelve years one of its school committee, for several terms superintendent of public schools in the town, and later a member of the town council. He has been for ten years a director of the Ashaway National Bank, and for much of that time its vice-president. Mr. Langworthy has given thought and attention to matters of a religious character, and at the age of twenty-six made a public profession of religion. He has been for more than thirty years a member of the Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkin- ton, its clerk for nearly the same length of time, and for a long period one of its deacons, and its financial agent. He has also for many years been a member of the board of managers of the Seventh Day Baptist Missionary Society, and one of its finance committee. Mr. Langworthy was, on the 10th of April, 1860, married to Sarah F., daughter of Alfred Clarke, of North Stonington, a lady who heartily co-operates with him in every good work. Their children are a daughter, Mary Altana, and a son, Thomas Alfred, who is deceased. JosiAH W. Langworthy was descended from one of the pioneer families of his native state, the family name appearing in the records of Newport as early as the year 1655. His line of descent from Robert Langworthy, of Seaconnet, in the county of New- port, was as follows : Robert', Thomas", Amos^ Amos', Josiah W^ Thomas Langworthy, the eldest son of Robert, became the purchaser of a large tract of land lying partly in North Stoning- ton, Conn., and partly in that portion of Westerly, Washington county, R. I., now included in the limits of the town of Hopkin- ton, to which he removed with his family about the year 1730. Amos Langworthy, the second son of the above named Thomas, erected a house and settled upon that portion of his father's pur- chase lying in Hopkinton, about the middle of the last century, where he reared a large family. This farm is still held in the family name, being now owned and occupied by his descendants. Here Josiah W. Langworthy was born, June 24th, 1804, and here, engaged in tilling the soil, he spent his youthful days and grew up to manhood. In common with many who lived in retired 830 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. places his educational advantages were exceedingly limited, being confined to those provided by the common schools of that period. His opportunities were, however, so well improved that he obtained a fair, though not a liberal education. In 1835 he removed to what is known as the village of Hope A'^alley, where he entered into the business of building machinery with his brother, Joseph, and brother-in-law, Gardner Nichols, under the firm name of Nichols & Langworthy, in which he con- tinued to be engaged during the remainder of his life, and by his ability, energy, counsel and close attention, contributed in no small degree to establish the business of his firm upon that sound, substantial basis which has since resulted in the erection of the extensive works now operated by the Nichols & Langworthy Ma- chine Company, and which has now become one of the leading industries of the county. Mr. Langworthy enjoyed in a large degree the respect and confidence of his fellow townsmen, and was frequently honored by them in being called upon to fill various official positions. In the year 1843 he was elected to represent his town in the state senate, and thus became a member of the first legislature which assembled under the constitution, which had then been recently adopted to supersede the charter granted by Charles II. in 1666. The duties of all these public trusts, covering a period of many years were discharged with signal ability and fidelity to the interests of his town and state, and to the entire satisfaction of his constituents. In his religious views he was firm and decided, and strictly ad- hered to the creed in which he was reared, and which had been closely held to by his forefathers continuously for many genera- tions, that of the Seventh Day Baptists, and united himself with a church of that faith while yet a young man, of which he con- tinued an exemplary and consistent member to the end of his life. He soon took a prominent place in denominational affairs as an active, zealous and persistent laborer for the advancement of its spiritual and temporal interests. He also took a deep and active interest in whatever might tend to the elevation or add to the happiness of his fellow-citizens, and thus every cause of moral and intellectual reform enlisted his sympathies and sup- port. Temperance, the abolition of slavery and the improvement of educational facilities ever found in him a strong advocate and supporter, and his influence and means were ever ready to aid in their advancement. m JOSEPH LANGWORTHY. ARTOTYPE, E. BIEB8TADT, H. Y. ^^-^^--^^-'.^^^^ AHTOTYPE, E, BIERSTADT, H HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 831 Mr. Langworthy was married November 4th, 1828, to Miss Tacy Witter, daughter of Josiah and Dorcas (Lawton) Witter, who survived him for many years, she dying at Hope Valle}^ December 30th, 1884 His active life was suddenly brought to a close in the midst of his usefulness. Being stricken by appoplexy, he died March 3d, 1855, in the fifty-first year of his age. Of his five children but one, Mrs. Sarah D. Kenyon, is now living. Joseph Langworthy, the son of Amos and Susanna Witter Langworthy, was born February 19th, 1806, in Hopkinton. He enjoyed but limited advantages of education, and early devel- oped strong mechanical tastes. The years of his youth were spent on the farm in the performance of such duties as fall to the farmer's son. At nineteen he bound himself as an appren- tice to Messrs. Nichols & Thayer, of Hope Valley, then en- gaged in the manufacture of cotton machinery. So rapid was his progress in his phosen avocation, that in a few years he became foreman of the shop, and in the year 1835, in company with his brother, Mr. Langworthy purchased the interest of Mr. Thayer. The firm thus became Nichols & Langworthy, and so continued until his death, embracing a period of half a century. For many years he gave his personal attention to the details of the business, and found pleasure in the work of the shop, but with advancing years came a respite from labor, and much of the responsibility was thrown upon younger shoulders. Mr. Lang- worthy was a man of untiring industry and frugality, quiet and retiring in disposition, and much esteemed as a genial and kind- hearted citizen. Both he and his wife were honored members of the Second Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton. Mr. Langworthy in 1841 married Matilda, daughter of William and Betsey Tanner of Hopkinton. She was born May 27th, 1801. Their only child, Susan E., died September 25th, 1849, in her sixth year. The death of Joseph Langworthy occurred December 27th, 1884. Oliver Langworthy. — Captain Benjamin Langworthy, a man of some prominence in Hopkinton in his time, and active in local military affairs, was a farmer in that town. He was three times married, Benjamin, born in Hopkinton, where he died in his fortieth year, being a son by the first union. The latter married Elizabeth Bentley, of Westerly, whose children were : 832 HISTORY OF WASHIXGTOX AND KENT COUNTIES. Benjamin B., Elizabeth, George and Jeremiah, who died in early life ; Lewis, Albert, Oliver, Nelson and Clark. Oliver Langworthy was born January 23d, 1817, in Westerly, and at the age of eight years removed to Hopkinton, which town has since been his home. After acquiring at the public schools a knowledge of the English branches, he participated in the work of the farm until his twenty-third year, and then entering a woolen mill in the neighborhood, worked for several years at the looms. In company with partners, under the firm name of Brown & Co., he for seven years operated a mill at Ashaway, and subsequently for five years conducted a mill at Burdickville, first with a partner and later as sole owner. Mr. Langworthy had meanwhile established a store at Ashaway in Hopkinton, which, during the period of his career as a manufacturer, was managed through agents, but to which he now gives his personal attention. A director in the Ashaway National Baaik, and president of the Ashaway Savings Bank, he has been a fervent advocate of all measures tending to advance the prosperity of his town. A republican in politics, he has ever been a vigorous supporter of the principles of that party, which he represented for two suc- cessive terms in the state senate. He is a member of the First Seventh Day Baptist church of Hopkinton, and has been for sev- eral years treasurer of the society. Mr. Langworthy married September 22d, 1844, Phebe, daugh- ter of John Davis Langworthy, of Hopkinton. Their children are George N. and John D., a member of the firm of O. Lang- worthy & Co., of which his father is the senior partner. George N. was at the date of his decease, June 1st, 1885, treasurer of the Ashaway Savings Bank, and cashier of the Ashaway National Bank. Robert Henry Lan(.;worthy was the elder son of Robert and Lois Langworthy and was born in Hopkinton, R. I., on the 12th of October, 1819. He displayed an early desire for an education and availed himself of the best opportunities afforded at that time. In 1843 he, with his brother AVilliam A., entered into partnership with Peleg Clarke in Westerh-, R. I., as architects and builders. This firm proved unfortunate and was of short duration. Later he and his brother formed the firm of W. & H. Lang- worthy. This was about the year 1845. From that date till his 6^.;.. c/^ /^^c ^/U^^ %^^^^^ ^fi'^^«5ft.,^.-''jVl' ^^^-tH^^^^^^yl/^^- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 833 death this firm continued with increasing prosperity for more than thirty years. Many of the prominent buildings now seen in Westerly stand as memorials of their enterprise and success. They were also interested in manufacturing and various other business enterprises. In all business affairs Mr. Langworthy was a man of sound judgment, discreet, upright in purpose, courteous, unassuming, and loved his home and family with zealous affection. He was married in 1848, and died on the 12th of February, 1880. A daughter survives him who is the wife of George N. Burdick. After the death of Mr. Langworthy, Mr. Burdick succeeded the firm of W. & H. Langworthy and still continues the business established by them. William A. Langworthy, of New York city, is a native of the town of Hopkinton, where he was born November 7th, 1821. He is the son of Robert and Lois Langworthy, and was raised a farmer. At the age of twenty-one he decided to change his avo- cation to that of an architect and builder, and to consummate this purpose he began the study of architecture under Peleg Clarke, of Westerly, R. I., and subsequently for a short time was Mr. Clarke's partner in business, but later with his brother Rob- ert Henry, formed a company under the firm name of W. & H. Langworthy. The history of this firm in Westerly, beginning about the year 1845, is nearly identical with the history of the village from that date, the brothers having erected very many of the prominent buildings now seen in the place, which stand as monuments of their enterprise and success in the business. At the death of his brother in 1880, he retired from business, and in 1886 removed to New York city,where he now resides on West Forty-fifth street. In 1847, on the 23d of May, Mr. Langworthy was married to Julia, daughter of William and Susan Potter, of Potter Hill, R. I. William Potter, the father of Mrs. Langworthy, was superintend- ent of the mills at Potter Hill, and owner, for a period of nearly sixty years. He died in 1880, eighty years of age. Two children, a daughter and a son, were born to Mr. and Mrs. Langworthy. The daughter, Clara, married James M. Still- man, and died March 1st, 1869. The son, William P. Langwor- thy, is a graduate of New York City College, and of the College of Physicians and Surgeons, class of '76, and has since been a practicing physician in that city. 53 834 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. Harris Lanphear. — George Lanphear, the earliest represent- ative of the family of that name in Hopkinton, died in 1731. He had six children, as follows : Mary, Shadrach, John, Theodosius, Seth and Sarah. John, the eldest son, who died in 1757, married and had children : John, Daniel, Amos, Nathan, Anna, Ruth, Ex- perience, Mary, Patience and Keziah. Nathan, of this number, married Mary Langworthy. Their son Nathan married Amy Crandall, daughter of Simeon Crandall. Elisha, a son by this union, died August 23d, 1820, in his forty-seventh year. He married Betsey Potter, whose children were : Nathan, Betsey, Elisha, Thomas, Hannah, Elisha, 2d, Emma and Harris. The youngest of these children, Harris Lanphear, was born March 9th, 1815, in Hopkinton. When five years of age the lad lost his father and three years after left his home to begin life for himself. When eighteen years of age he removed to Phenix, Rhode Island, to learn the trade of a machinist, in the old shop located on or near the present site of the Lonsdale Company's mill, in which his brother, the late Thomas P. Lanphear, was a foreman. By his habits of perseverance and industry Mr. Lan- phear rose rapidly in the estimation of his employers, and soon after completing his apprenticeship entered a repair shop in one of the mills of the vicinity at the village now known as Harris. In a short time he was promoted to the office of superintendent in the employ of the late Governor Elisha Harris, by whom ]\Ir. Lanphear was highly esteemed. In the year 1844, with his family he removed from Phenix to Rockville in Washington county, and entered into partnership with Oliver D. Wells and John Clarke Harris in the manufacture of cotton fabrics. This business was continued until 1857, when on account of failing health he sold his interest and removed to a farm in Hopkinton. Returning to Rockville in 1864, he assumed the management of the mill then operated in the inter- est of the Washington National Bank of Westerly, until a new company was formed known as the Rockville ^Manufacturing Company, and controlling mills both at Rockville and Centre- ville, of which he remained superintendent until 1874. He later became interested in the cotton manufacturing company of Centreville as part owner and agent, and continued so until his death on the 16th of June, 1888. Mr. Lanphear held various town offices which he filled with ability and zeal. He served two terms in the state legislature '#% ^^lyotMHy^S S^ii4v4i.^-u^K. AarOTVPE, E. QIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 835 and was on the Greeley electoral ticket in the " Campaign of 1872.'" He was warmly interested in the political questions of the time and ever on the side he believed to be right. He was closely identified with the business interests of the county, and the first signer of a petition for the incorporation of the Hopkin- ton Savings Bank, of which he was the first president, and con- tinued thus to act for sixteen years. He was also in 1872 made president of the Wood River Branch railroad, which position he held until about one year previous to his death. He was much interested in the cause of temperance and in kindred reforms. The poor and needy also found in him an earnest friend and helper. He was well read and thoroughly informed on the cur- rent events of the day. Positive in character, self-reliant and independent in judgment, he conscientiously formed his opinions and then tenaciously held to them unless convinced of error. Mr. Lanphear in 1846 united with the Seventh Day Baptist church of Rockville, in which he was an earnest worker, gener- ously contributing to its support and often bearing heavy re- sponsibilities. He was on the 12th of October, 1837, married to Mary, daughter of Holden Andrew, of Coventry, who with their ■only son, N. Henry Lanphear, survives him. Mr. and Mrs. Lanphear celebrated, in 1887, the fiftieth anniversary of their marriage, on which rare occasion many kinsmen and friends assembled to do them honor. Gardner Nichols. — The subject of this memoir was descend- ed from Thomas Nichols, one of the early settlers of Newport, R. L, where he was made a freeman in 1664. In 1677 five thous- and acres of land were granted to him and others in what is now the town of East Greenwich, R. I., to which place he removed with his family about the year 1678, and where his descendants continued to reside for many years. His father, - William G. Nichols of the sixth generation, was born near the village of East Greenwich, R. L, in the year 1769 and married Lois Allen, daughter of William and Ruth (Taylor) Allen, a woman of rare ■excellence, great energy and decision of character, which traits were inherited in a large degree by the eldest son. William G. Nichols died in Smithfield, R. I., June 27th, 1850, at the advanced age of eighty-one years. His wife Lois died in Smithfield Octo- ber 5th, 1835, in her sixty-fifth year. Nine children were born to them : Diana, who married first 836 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. William Bicknell, and second Benjamin Tanner ; Gardner, Sarah, who married Mark Aldrich ; William A., Silas, Alexander H., Ruth T., who married William A. Steere ; Louisa, who died young, and Albert. The eldest son Gardner was born March 19th, 1795, in the town of North Kingstown, R. I., about two miles northeast from the court house on Kingston Hill. Like most boys of that pe- riod his early years were spent upon a farm, his father being then extensively engaged in agricultural pursuits. At that time he was in comfortable circumstances, but the breaking out of the war with England in 1812 proved destruc- tive to many branches of industry, and he did not escape the wide-spread ruin. Being deprived of the greater portion of his little fortune by his losses and the depreciation of his property, he was unable to continue his business with profit, and therefore gave up his farm, and about the year 1813 removed with his fam- ily to a small factory village in South Kingstown, where he ob- tained employment for himself and his elder children. In this secluded village young Gardner spent the remaining years of his minority, toiling in the mill from day to day, with little oppor- tunity for the cultivation of his mental powers, and it was only due to his persistent though almost unaided efforts, his love of study and his ambition to rise in the world, that he acquired even an ordinary education. On attaining his majority, following the bent of his mind he turned his attention to mechanical pursuits and learned the trade of a cabinet maker, at which he worked for several years in Providence, Richmond and other places in his native state. In March, 1824, he again changed his vocation and became part owner with Mr. Russel Thayer (under the firm name of Nichols & Thayer) of a mill building seventy feet long by sixteen feet wide, and the water privilege connected with it at what is now known as Hope Valley, where he commenced the business to which he purposed to devote his future energies, that of a mas- ter machinist, by making the tools necessary for the use of the firm in building cotton and woolen machinery, employing only four or five hands and thus becoming the pioneers in this branch of business in the county. The first order for machinery re- ceived by his firm was in 1826 and was for six looms for weaving woolen goods. These looms were the first ever built in the town if not in the county, and the thorough and substantial man- ^,>^c^ 1^>>=»K '■W.p-resixrL i- CiW ^^a<^--aC-ni^ ' HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 837 ner of their construction at once established the reputation of the firm for reliable work which has ever since been fully main- tained. From this humble beginning has arisen the extensive business of the Nichols & Langworthy Machine Company, and the num- erous and stately shops, foundries and other buildings, covering several acres, now owned and occupied by the company for the manufacture of steam engines, boilers and printing presses, which productions are sent to every section of our widely ex- tended country as well as to foreign lands. An accurate illustra- tion of the works of the company may be seen opposite page 804. In 1835 his partner, Mr. Thayer, having disposed of his inter- est and retired from the firm, Mr. Nichols associated with him in his business his brothers-in-law, Messrs. Josiah W. and Joseph Langworthy, and the firm name was changed to Nichols & Lang- worthy, which continued in active and successful operation until the autumn of 1884, a period of nearly fifty years, when the cor- poration of the Nichols & Langworthy Machine Company was organized, with a paid-up capital of $300,000, to which the busi- ness and property of the firm were conveyed, and which is now the largest establishment of the kind in the county. He was married to Miss Lois A. Langworthy, daughter of Amos and Susanna (Witter) Langworthy, of Hopkinton, Decem- ber 6th, 1827, who, after a connubial life of nearly fifty years, preceded him to the tomb, dying November 29th, 1876, in the sixty-ninth year of her age. Being of a quiet and retiring nature, while he always main- tained an active interest in the conduct of public affairs, political honors had no charms for him ; though frequently solicited by his friends to become a candidate for official positions, he inva- riably refused, choosing rather to perform his duties as a private citizen and to attend to the many details of an ever-expanding business, than to enter upon the arena of political strife. The only office he ever accepted was in the militia force of his state, where, when a young man, he held the command of a company for several years. A man of rare mechanical ability, prompt and reliable in his dealings, and of persistent industry and unquestioned integrity, he for a period of nearly sixty years occupied a high position among the men who were prominent in contributing, by their labors, to the development and growth of the manufacturing in- 838 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. terest of the town and county in which he lived. He was also a man of strong religious convictions, becoming a member of a Baptist church in his early manhood, and maintaining through his long life the characte; of an humble, devoted and consistent Christian man, and no measure tending to the elevation and im- provement of the moral and religious standing of the community in which he lived was introduced, which failed to receive from him a cheerful and hearty co-operation and support. After a long, active and useful life, this honored and esteemed citizen died at his home in Hope Valley, October 13th, 1881, at the great age of eighty-six years and six months, leaving two sons, Amos G. and Henry C. Nichols. George H. Olxe y. — Thomas Olney, the progenitor of the Olney family in America, was born at St. Albans, county of Hertford, Eng- land, and was there united in marriage to Mary Small. He sailed for New England in 1635, and settled in Providence, R. I., where he became a man of much prominence. His son, Epenetus, born in 1634, married Mary Whipple, among whose five children was a son, Epenetus, born in 1675, who married Mary, granddaughter of Roger Williams, thus making the subject of this biography a lineal descendant of that distinguished pioneer. They were the parents of nine children, of whom James married Hannah Windsor. Their son, Emor, born in 1741, was united in mar- riage to Amy Hopkins, who became the mother of thirteen chil- dren. The youngest child, Hopkins Olney, born in 1782, married Sarah Belknap, whose son John, born in 1804, died in Richmond in 1847. In 1833 he removed to Brand's Iron Work, now Wyom- ing, and embarked in the manufacture of cotton cloth. The fol- lowing year he built a mill, and continued the business on a larger scale with success. He was prominent in the public and com- mercial interests of the town, an important factor in the political movements of the day, and represented his district in the state legislature for four years. He was also active in the organization of the Second Baptist Church of Hopkinton. ]\Ir. Olney married Abigail R. Northup, born in 1801, daughter of David Northup of North Kingstown. Their children are : George H., Mary A., John P., who died in childhood, and John P., whose death occurred m 1885. George H. Olney was born December 23d, 1825, in Cumber- land, R. I., and at the age of ten years removed to Richmond, OTO BY SCHOFIELD BROS A^-^^ - ^^r AHTOTVPE, E. BlERSTADT, N. Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 839 where he attended the district school, and concluded his studies at the Connecticut Literary Institution at Suffield, Conn. He then accepted a clerkship, and in 1846 engaged in store keeping, and at a later date established a manufacturing interest at Locust- ville. Removing in 1854 to Hope Valley, he was employed in the ofhce of a cotton mill, but soon abandoned this for a more active and extended political and public career. Mr. Olney was in 1855 elected sheriff of Washington county, and held this office for a period of five years. In 1862 he was appointed deputy col- lector of internal revenue for the Second District of Rhode Island, and served in that capacity until 1871, when he was made collec- tor of the district. In November, 1873, on the consolidation of the two revenue districts of Rhode Island he was again made deputy collector, filling the position until 1884. His attention has since that date been chiefly given to a growing insurance busi- ness, and to conveyancing. Mr. Olney has been largely identified with the affairs of his town, its business, educational and social interests having found in him earnest support and co-operation. He is vice-president of the Langworthy Public Library, was for ten years a director of the First National Bank of Hopkinton, and for about the same length of time a trustee of the Hopkinton Savings Bank. He has been a director of the Wood River Branch Railroad Com- pany since its organization in 1872, and treasurer of that corpora- tion since 1874. He has been since 1852 justice of the peace and notary public, and has held various local offices of more or less irnportance. As a republican, with which party he has maintained affiliations since its organization, he represented his constituents for the years 1869-70 in the Rhode Island house of representatives, and for the years 1885-86 in the state senate. He is prominently identified with the Odd Fellows' fraternity, was a charter member of Mechanics' Lodge, No. 14, and Niantic Encampment, No. 7 ; has been grand master and grand patriarch of the state, and representative to the Sovereign Grand Lodge for three terms of two years each. Mr. Olney was in August, 1846, married to Emeline A., daughter of William and Diana (Nichols) Bicknell of North Kingstown. Their children are two daughters — Clara A. and Marion E., wife of Charles E. Barber, of Providence. 840 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Augustus L. Wells. — Edward S. Wells, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, lived and died in Hopkinton, where he for many years followed the trade of a cabinet-maker. He married Tacy Hubbard, of the same town, to whom were born sons, James, Edward S. and Daniel L., and one daughter, Betsey, who became the wife of Reverend John Green. All are now deceased. Edward S. Wells, whose birth occurred in 1797, in Westerly, in childhood removed to Hopkinton, from whence he repaired to Newport, and there, under Jonathan Maxson, was apprenticed to the trade of a carpenter. This he followed until, in company with his sons, he embarked in the business of carriage building. He was united in marriage to Deborah H., daughter of Augus- tus J. Lewis, of Charlestown, Washington county. Their chil- dren are: Augustus L., Edward S., Solomon P. and Betsey, de- ceased, wife of Samuel B. Hoxie, of Charlestown. The death of Mr. Wells occurred in 1874. Augustus L. Wells was born November 7th, 1820, in Charles- town, where he resided with his parents until the age of twelve years, when his sight became so much impaired as to preclude study. At the age of sixteen, having to some extent recovered from this malady, he began farming, and continued this occu- pation until 1851. He then, in company with his brother, Edward S., under the firm name of A. L. Wells & Co., established a car- riage manufactory at Hopkinton City. This grew from small beginnings to large proportions, until, in the excellence of its work and its capacity, the establishment, with steam power and all the modern improvements for expediting labor, was second to none in the state. On the 21st of April, 1888, this factory was consumed by fire, much valuable property destroyed, and the structure has never been rebuilt. Mr. Wells and his partner are at present engaged in closing the business thus suddenly arrested in its successful progress. The subject of this sketch was married October 1st, 1849, to Mary C, daughter of John and Lydia Davis, of Preston, Conn., born July 27th, 1824, died July 14th, 1874. Their children are : John E., of Hopkinton; Mary A., deceased; Augustus L., Jr.,- a skillful and successful dentist, now residing in Boston ; Penelope D., wife of Arthur H. Buffom, of New London. Mr. Wells is a republican, but has never especially interested himself in politics, and filled no offices beyond the limit of his ARTOTYPE, E BIERSTADT, N V HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 841 town, where his influence has ever been on the side of progress and public improvement. He is a member of the First Baptist church of Hopkinton. Mr. Wells and his brother, Edward S., now reside together in Hopkinton. The latter was born September 17th, 1822, in Charlestown, and in 1855 married Eunice Davis, a sister of Mrs. Wells before mentioned. They have one son, James Lee, who graduated at Brown University, and completed his medical course at the medical department of Harvard University. He is now established in practice in Boston. Jonathan R. Wells.— The grandfather of Jonathan R. Wells was Randall Wells, a. successful farmer at Wellstown, in the town of Hopkinton. He was the father of four sons : Thomas W., Russell, Randall and Harris, and one daughter, Sylvia. Rus- sell Wells married Lydia Crandall, of Hopkinton, whose children were : Sylvia (Mrs. John Burrows), Lois (Mrs. Oliver Budding- ton), Silas, T. Randall, Jonathan R. and Lucy E. (Mrs. Robert Avery). Jonathan R. Wells was born February 26th, 1819, in Wells- town, and after his school days were concluded, entered the Bethel Mill where he became thoroughly conversant with the appliances connected with the spinning department. Later, in company with his uncle Lester Crandall, he became lessee of the Laurel Dale mill, and afterward operated the Ashaway mill. He then formed a business association with his brother Randall, and with him assumed control of the Bethel mill, which was successfully managed for several years. Mr. Wells soon extended his mill- ing operations, and with his brother controlled at various times mills in Washington county and points adjacent, including those already mentioned, the Woodville and Oakland mills, and the Clark Falls mill at North Stonington, in Connecticut. He was ranked among the representative manufacturers of the state, evinced great sagacity in business operations, and possessed a happy faculty of controlling and winning the loyalty of those in his employ. As a diversion from the ardtious labors involved in a life of active business, he gave much attention to a farm he owned and improved, in the town, known as the Grinman farm. Mr. Wells was formerly a director in the Niantic Bank and president of the Ashaway National Bank. A whig in his politi- cal affiliations and later a republican, he represented his district in the state legislature, and bore a leading part in all measures af- 842 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. fecting the development of his town. In religion a Seventh Day Baptist, he was a member of the church of that denomina- tion at Hopkinton City. Mr. Wells was married August 21st, 1845, to Martha A., daughter of Daniel Rogers, of Waterford, Conn. Their children are : Melissa Jane, Sylvia E., Everett J., William Rogers and Martha Lillian. William R., the only survivor of this number, married Pauline R., daughter of Phineas Stillman, of Alfred Centre, N. Y., and has four children: Everett vS., Sylvia A., Or- pha and Willie R. JONATHAN R. WELLS. AHTOTYPE, E. B(cR3TADT, N, Y. ^•Bq; ut Suipisaj iusho-bs b 'u'bu'buiooo'BX -^q. PP^ sbav q^oiqAv ';nra -OM.o;oj SF uAiou5[ uopjod :>Bq:^ jfo nopdaoxQ sqi miAV ':sio]mxv/^ JO UAvo; ^l:[:^ jo s^ifuii]; ;u3S9j;d 9t[; uiq;iAv pssopua Xjo;uj.9; aqi JO siUBdnooo an; usaq QABq oj iu99s S9qu; XjujnqiJj ssjq; sssqj, ./Xjnnoo :^u^3; jo ^a^d X|J9jsb9 aq; pgidnooo „ s;9S9jwoq 9qx ■;9xn:^Av■BJ JO 19;;^! 9q:^ pix-B ':j9uio^wBqg jo ragqa^s sbav j9ixuoj 9qX ,,'U9ai p9jpnnq agaq; jo oav; ui9q^ j:9pun SaiA^q „ '90U9p -lAOJJ aB9U 'SUI9qOBS OAV:^ SB P9UIBU 9JB OOOUOOBg puB mBq -uinj; JO xuBquioj spjoogj A|jb9 9qj uj ■:^9xnjAVBj 9qj puB 9qij; 5[0tMJB^ JO ;9UI0AiBqg Sqj 9J9AV S; J9S UbSbJ JB j^ 9q; JO S9TJB; -nqu; gqj Suoray "juoxjoguuoQ pgidnooo 'p9pu9];q 9aiBD9q X9q; uxoqAV qjTAV 'suBSgqo]/^ 9qj q^m oqjtt. 'sijonbg^j 9qj puB 'puB^sj gpoq'a JO 9JBJS jn9S9jd 9qj jo 9i;oqAV gqj ^XJBgu p9ss9ssod ssqijij AjBjnqiJj Ji9qj qim oqAV 'sij9subSbjjbj>^ 9qj ! Avq gdojj junoj/\[ punojB puB J9AXJ 90U9pxAOJj JO 9Joqs uj9;sB9 9q; p9;xqBqux oqAv 'sSBOuBdaiB^ 9X|^j sgqxjj gjBuxpjoqns sji Suoiub pgpxxpux qoxqAv 'sjj9s;aqoBSSBi^ uj9;sB9qjxxos jo sjg^jouBJXoj 9qj 9J9a\ 9iuxj sxq^ ;b puBi;Sua AV9j\j uj9q;nos SuxjxqBqux sgqxjj jBdxouxjd 99jq; gq j^ •nxBxixop sxq ux g^xxj o; pjo^puBj; qsqSug Jo gsBqo aqj jo ;n9xii9jpx9 9q; ux jojxpdxuoo ou qjxiw puB xubm.Sxav xxavo sxq jo jsjSBxrt 'pgqjnj -sxpuxx puB p9J9jj9jan 'P9XIIB0J 9q 9J9JJ -UBXU paj 9qj jo apoqB gqj SBAv puBpi apoq-g jo sjbjs a^m sxq:t jo sauBpunoq jii9S9Jd 9qj uxq;xM. pgptxpui Xjojijjaj aqj '7 -y; 'puBijaqiunQ jo xiAioj 9qi ux x^xfj ^pxx^S ^'^ 9poqB Xj-ejxios sxq dn 3[oo; puB (~T nojsog yai 9uo;s2[9i3xa uxbxhxm xisqAV 'i^ggt j^aA 9q; g-aO^La Q -jivoH I3T"^Q[ TOO.ij ^OBJ^xg — •ppu.ty sBmoi{x ure^d'BQ — -spugij^ jo l^aioog eqx — -jiraapBOY qoiAvnaajCQ ;sBa; — •j£:^utioo aq; jo uopoa^a — •sq.:)8snqo'BSSBi\[ miA\ saxqnojx — 'saamas ^nauitaoaj; jo saqo;9j[g — •s^u'Biiq'Bqui x'EuiSuoqy aqx SNOIXnXIXSNI Sil QNV AXNnOD XNH5I "xix "aajvciVHO 844 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. nation, whose chief sachems were the noble and peace loving Canonicus and his generous but ill-fated nephew Miantinomo. There were probably at the time of the first settlement of the country by the whites five thousand fighting men, but it is diffi- cult to determine the accurate number, as accounts vary. Brin- ley, in the Massachusetts collection, states it at 30,000, but Cal- lender, on the authority of Roger Williams, puts it at about 5,000. The different statements by different writers, made at differ- ent times, were probably owing in part to the ravages of disease and the defection of their tributaries before the sanguinary war of 1676. The Indians decreased rapidly from the war of 1676, at which time, according to Hubbard, they had about 2,000 fighting men. In 1766 they were reduced to 315 persons. In 1861 their number was found to be reduced to two of three- fourths blood, ten of half blood, and of sixty-eight of less than quarter blood. In 1880, when the tribal relations were abolished by the state, there was no member of the Narragansett tribe of Indians that had as much as one-quarter aboriginal blood in his veins. Mr. George C. Cross, the town clerk of Charlestown, who enumerated the population of that town in 1885, reported to the superintendent of the census November 22d, 1886, that thtere were really no Indians then in the town. Thus in less than two and a half centuries from the time Roger Williams crossed the Seekonk river to find a home in this wilderness, the brave and hardy natives had all passed away. Prominent among the Indians was the venerable Canonicus, chief sachem of the Narragansetts, who died June 4th, 1649. Williams speak« of him in his Key as " the high Sachem of Nar- raganset Bay (a wise and peaceable prince)." In the deed or act of submission of his tribe to the government of England in 1644, he is styled " that ancient Canonicus, Protector of that late de- ceased Miantinomy during the time of his non-age." In relation to his ancestors, the Indians held a tradition that there existed formerly a chieftan more powerful than any of their day, whose name was Tashtassuck. He had two children, a son and a daugh- ter, whom he could not match in dignity outside of his own fam- ily, and so he married them to each other. Their issue was four sons, of whom Canonicus was the eldest. At the time of the first settlement he had been chief of his tribe many years. With the Warwick colonists he was on terms of peace and friendship, which resulted at times in serious disadvantage to himself ; and there HISTORY OF ■V^'ASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 845 is no instance recorded where his fidelity was questioned. Roger Williams, quoting his words, says: " I have never suffered any wrong to be offered the English since they landed and never will." " If the Englishnian speak true if he meane truly" he often repeated, "then shall I go to my grave in peace and hope that the English and my posterity shall live in peace together." Thus lived and died the famous Canonicus. Mexam, son and heir of Canonicus ; Pessicus, brother and suc- cessor of Miantinomo, and Ninigret, chief of the Niantics, were the three most powerful sachems of the Narragansetts now. The Shawomet or Warwick tribe and the Pawtuxet and the Potomo- mut Indians, under Taccomanan, were all tributary to the Nar- ragansetts. Such was the state of Indian affairs when Roger Williams formed a settlement at Providence, and Samuel Gorton, for the same general reasons, took up his abode in the wilderness of Shawomet. Williams found his religious views at variance with those of the standing order in Massachusetts, and he was banished out of their jurisdiction. Gorton, who had come to this country from London in 1636, was also a preacher and a founder of a religious sect, and his views, both ecclesiastical and politi- cal, were also obnoxious, and he likewise found it desirable to seek a more hospitable region among Indians, where he hoped quietly to enjoy that freedom in " religious concernments " which he was denied among his countrymen. After his banishment from Massachusetts he was received at Aquidneck, but soon found himself again in conflict with the civil authority, and soon after with his companions removed to Pawtuxet, where their conduct led four of the settlers to put themselves and their es- tates under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; " and seeing the complications that were likely to ensue, they purchased Shawo- met," beyond the limits of Providence, where English charter or civilized claim could legally pursue them no longer. Following is a copy of the deed given by Miantinomo to the Warwick settlers : " Know all men that I Miantinomi Cheefe Sachem of the Nan- heygansett have sould unto the persons here named, one parsell of lands with all the rights and privileges thereoff whatsoever lyinge uppon the west syde of that part of the sea called Sow- homes Bay from Copassenetuxett over against a little Hand in the sayd Bay, being the north bounds and the outermost point 846 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of that neck of land called Shawhomett ; being the south bound ffrom the sea shoare of each boundary uppon a straight lyne westword twentie miles. I say I have truly sould the parsell of lands above sayde the proportion whereof is according to the mapp underwritten or drawne, being the form of it, unto Ran- dall Houlden, John Greene, John Wickes, ffrancis Weston, Sam.- uel Gorton, Richard Waterman, John Warner, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten, William Wuddall, Robert Potter, and Nicho- las Power ffor one hundred and forty foure ffathoms of wam- pumpeage. I say I have sould it, and possession of it given unto the men above saydwith the ffree and joint consent of the pres- ent inhabitants, being natives, as it appears by their hands here- unto annexed. " Dated ye twelfth of January, 1642. Being enacted uppon the above sayd parsell of lande. " In the presence off TOTANOMANS MYANTONOMY His -f- marke + " PUMHAM Sachem of Shawomet His -|- marke "JANO His -|- marke " "John Greene " The price paid was equivalent to ^36. Backus says the value was computed at ;f40, 16s. The deed of John Greene from Miantinomo and Saconoco of Occupasnetuxet, including the farm now in possession of the heirs of the late Governor John Brown Francis, is dated October 1st, 1642, and confirmed by Surquans, alias Moosup, to Major or Deputy Governor John Greene, Ju.ne 15th, 1662. But disturbances occasioned by these Indian deeds soon fol- lowed. Massachusetts had assumed authority at Pawtuxet, and on May 10th, 1643, appointed a committee to treat with Sacon- oco and Pumham, sachems of Pawtuxet and Shawomet, in regard to the submission of themselves and their lands to the jurisdic- tion of Massachusetts. The sachems were now induced to make submission, and even denied having assented to the sale of Shawomet. This extraordinary act was sufficient pretext for Massachusetts to claim jurisdiction over the settlement of War- wick, which she accordingly did. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 847 Massachusetts had long desired the possession of the waters of Narragansett bay for various reasons, the chief of whicli was the enmity Massachusetts had for the peculiar religious views of the Gortonists. Then it was a favorite pastime for her mag- istrates and divines to engage in theological controversy, and for a man to differ in the slightest degree from their judgment was sufficient reason for subjecting him to hardships, if not banish- ment from the state. The settlers of Warwick had bought their lands of Miantino- mo, " chief sachem," whose right to sell them was undoubted. Pumham had assented to the sale, and had affixed his signature as a witness, but his subsequent treatment as an independent sachem rather flattered his vanity, and induced him to take a new position. In addition to this William Arnold, and after- ward his son Benedict, had possession of lands whose titles de- pended upon the right of Saconoco to convey them, and de- pended upon the independence of this sachem. Consequently in September, 1643, Massachusetts sent a letter to the purchasers of Shawomet requesting them to appear before the court. To this request the Gortonists refused to comply. A few days after they sent that marvelous letter which may be found in another part of this chapter, whereupon commissioners from Massachu- setts attended with an armed force of men, forty in all, entered the disputed territory, and soon after the Warwick purchasers found themselves in Boston prisons. Here they were confined during the whole winter, and by the general court banished out of the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. During this time the brave and noble young king of the Nar- ragansetts, Miantinomo, was taken prisoner and put to death by Uncas, sachem of the Mohegans. The quarrel which had arisen between Uncas and Sequasson, a sachem on the Connecticut river, involved Miantinomo, a relative of the former, because he had sold the lands of Shawomet to Gorton. The return of the settlers to their deserted plantations favor- ably impressed the Indians of their importance, and they there- fore concluded there must be some power behind the Gortonists, who were in their estimation a mightier people than the English. The sachems of the Narragansetts, after a consultation among themselves, soon sent for the " Gortonoges " to visit them, which they did in April, 1644. They were received with demonstra- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. tions of gladness by the venerable old sachem, Canonicus, and Pessicus, the brother and successor of Miantinomo. A council consisting of " divers sachems and chief counselors " was called to confer with their visitors. The Indians' were disheartened. They said "they had not only lost their sachem, so beloved among them and such an instrument of their public good, but had utterly impoverished themselves by paying such a ransom for his life, as they then made us an account of, notwithstand- ing his life was taken away, and that detained also." The re- sult of the council was that they concluded to submit themselves and their lands to the government of England, and they ap- pointed Samuel Gorton, John Wickes, Randall Holden and John Warner as their " commissioners in trust for the safety, custody and conveyance of their act and deed unto the State of Eng- land." This matter having become properly adjusted by a successful visit to England, the Indians next deeded the territory of Poto- womut to the Warwick purchasers. Following is the deed, re- corded in the book of land evidences in the town clerk's office : " Know all men by these presents that I Taccomanan, right owner of all ye meadows and mowable land upon a neck of ground commonly called by ye English, b}- ye name of Potawo- mett, situated and being upon ye great river called by ye naime of Narrheygansett Bay, lying over against ye South end of that necke of land called Shawomet, which bay is ye east bounder, and that river commonly called by ye English Potawomut river; being in ye southward bounder and Coessett bay, being ye nor- ward bounder for ye space or length of fower miles, according to ye English accompt, by ye said Narrhygansett bay, which par- sell of land as above saide with all 5^e right and privilidges thereto appertaining by land, water, wood or otherwise, I doe hereby, and by these presents ffreely acknowledge to have leag- ally and trewly sould, made over, and by these presents doe for- ever quit claime unto Randall Houlden and Ezekiel Hollyman, both of Warwick, for themselves and ye rest of ye inhabitants of ye abovesaide towne of Warwicke, to them and to their heirs, and to have and to hould forever, for ye just some of fifteen pounds dewly paid and received alread}^ in wampumpeage ; only I am to receive ye value of one coate of such cloth as ye Indians doe now commonly use to weare, annually as a gratuity hereafter; and I doe hereby binde and engagdge myselfe, that neither I nor any HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 849 in my naime, nor in my behalfe shall forever hereafter disturbe or molest them or any of them in ye quiett and peaceable pos- session and enjoyment of this, their proper right and inheri- tance ; Moreover I doe by these presents further binde and en- gage myselfe and allso my heires and suckcessors, and that in consideration of ye abovesaide some of money in payment re- ceived, never hereafter to sell, mortgage, let, or make over any moor, meadow or mowable land within my right, tytle or claims unto any, what or whomsoever, but only to ye parties above- named, their heires and assignes. In virtue whereof I have heare unto sett my hand and seale according to ye custom of ye English. Dated ye thirteenth day of July Anno 1654. " Taccomanan his marke X " AwA§HOTUST eldest soun to him aboue, his marke -^ " Wawanockashaw, another soun, X his marke. " Sealed and delivered in ye presence of Jeremy Westcott, William Baker, Samuel Ensall." In the town records, under date of February 8th, 1657, Tacco- manan is mentioned as the Sachem of Potowomut. The land was bought for the town.* In 1655, the number of persons enrolled as freemen in this town was thirty-eight. Providence had forty-two, Portsmouth, seventy-one, and Newport, ninety-six. Their names are given in the first volume of the Rhode Island Records. These do not include, however, the full number of residents, but simply those who had been formally " received " as inhabitants. The Indians becoming exceedingly troublesome, the general assembly issued a warrant to bring Pumham before the court to answer the complaints of the town, and a committee was subse- quently appointed to treat with him. An order was also issued "that Warwick shall build a sufficient prison at ye charge of fortie pounds, whereof Providence is to pay six pounds; in lieu whereof Providence shall have use of ye saide prison to putt their prisoners in ; and also it is ordered and concluded by en- *Some difficulty arose subsequently in reference to this tract of land. It ap- pears that another deed was given to Captain Randall Holden, June 26th, 1660, by Namowrish, which " was surrendered up by said Captain Houlden unto Mr. Benedict Arnold, Assistant for the use of the Colony." There was also some con- tention in regard to the land between the town and the " inhabitants of Kings Towne." See R. I. Col. Rec. III., 95, 104, 109. 54 850 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. gagement as aforesaide, that Providence shall build a sufficient cage or stocks at ye charge of fourteen pounds, which prison, cage, or stocks, Warwick alsoe shall have ye use of if occasion be." In November additional efforts were made to come to an un- derstanding with the natives, and Roger Williams, as president of the colony, wrote to the Massachusetts general court in regard to the matter, calling the attention of the court also to the suit against them by the town for ^2,000 damages. Having re- ceived no reply, AVilliams in the spring wrote to Governor Endi- cott, who invited him to come to Boston. As early as 1665 the Indians had become exceedingly trouble- some to the settlers and Pumham was ordered before the gen- eral assembly to answer complaints. The situation of the settlers was extremely perilous owing to the unsatisfactory relations existing between them and the Indians. They were kept in a state of constant apprehension of an outbreak that would result in their entire destruction. The natives of Pawtuxet and Shawo- met, so numerous, still acknowledged allegiance to Massachusetts and knew with them disfavor or acts of violence they might commit would be overlooked by the Boston magistrates. The Indians therefore became bolder and frequent complaints were made that they had killed the cattle of the whites, had entered their houses and committed other acts of violence. On Septem- ber 7th, 1648, the New England commissioners were appealed to. The commissioners then convened at Plymouth, wrote to the sachems advising them to abstain from such conduct, but the ad- vice was couched in such terms that the Indians seem to have regarded it as a mere suggestion to which but little importance was to be attached. They continued their depredations and the next year another letter was sent to the commissioners with but little better results. Pumham still continued to reside at Shawomet, and lacking in many of those nobler qualities which distinguished several of the other sachems, the time came when efforts were to be made for his removal. The settlers were not sufficiently powerful to reduce them to subjection, and the assembly had been appealed to in vain to afford them protection. The policy of the town and state had been one of peace toward them as far as the nature of the case would permit. But matters had arrived at such a state that it was clearl}- seen that the habits of the two races were HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 851 such that little hope could be entertained of their dwelling to- gether without the constant and increasing danger of an out- break that would lead to the total destruction of the one or the other race. The arrival of the king's commissioners afforded the settlers an opportunity to lay their grievances before them, which they accordingly did, and negotiations were soon entered into between them that promised speedy relief. These efforts, as we shall see, though not immediately resulting in their removal, prepared the way for it. Clouds were gathering over the colony, and a storm, fearful and destructive, was soon to break forth which would forever settle the controversy, sending destruction to the homes of the settlers and death and banishment to Pum- ham and his followers : The following order was issued : "Wee, by the power given us by the King's Commissioners, haveing heard the complaint of the towne of Warwicke, doe order and appoint that Pumham and the Indians with him shall plant their corne this yeare upon the neck of land which they have so long detained from the said towne and that before the next planting time, he, and all the Indians with him shall re- move to some other place out of the King's Province provided for them by such as they have subjected themselves unto, or to some place appointed for them by Pessicus. We alsoe order and appoint, that as soone as they are ready to remove, and give no- tice to Mr. Gorton before they remove, the towne of Warwicke shall give unto the said Pumham twenty pound at eight penny ; and if Pumham and those with him shall subject themselves to Pessicus, and that the said Pessicus provide a place for him, and them within the King's Province, then the town of War- wicke shall also give tenn pounds at eight a penny to Pessicus as a present. Given under our hands and scales at Warwicke April the 7th, 1665." The above is signed by the three commissioners. The following deed of acquittance was signed by Cheesecha- mut, Nawshwahcowet and Assowawet, and duly witnessed by Sir Robert Carr and five of the Warwicke men : " Know all men by these presents, that I Cheesechamut eldest Sonne of Pumham having received of the gentlemen of War- wicke the surname of thirty pounds in peag at eight a penny and upon promise to receive the summe of ten pounds more in like pay of the said gentlemen, do hereby in the name, and on be- 852 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. halfe of my father and myselfe with the rest of our company, promise to depart from and quit that tract of land commonly called and known by the name of Warwicke neck, as also all the province now called the King's Province, formerly the Narra- gansett country, immediately on the receipt of the said summe of ten pounds ; and not at any time thereafter to returne to in- habit in the aforesaid place or places. In witness whereof I the said Cheesechamut, have hereunto put my hand on the 28th day of December, 1665, at Mr. Smith's Trading house." In 1675 King Philip's war broke out, sending desolation on every side. Though Rhode Island can hardly be said to have taken an active part in it, the town of Warwick and that vicinity suffered greatly from it. Every house in that town with the ex- ception of one was destroyed, and all their improvements laid waste. The relations between the whites and Indians had been growing more and more unsatisfactory since the tragical death of Miantinomo. In this cpnnection no better description of the ravages committed by the Indians can be given than what we find in Fuller's History of Warwick. He says : "Philip, (whose Indian name was Pometacom or Metacomet), son of Massasoit, sometimes called ' the good old Massasoit,' was the chief of the Wampanoags, and had his principal residence at Mt. Hope. His elder brother, Wamsutta, had succeeded his father as sachem, and had fallen under suspicion of the settlers in the neighboring colony, and pending some efforts on their part to learn his disposition toward them, had suddenly sickened and died. Philip succeeded his brother as sachem, and in 1671 the English at Plymouth suspecting him of plotting against them, summoned him before them. Philip at first denied the charge, but in view of the strong proofs brought against him he finally made a confession. How extensive were the prepa- rations made at this time does not appear, or whether he contemplated a general uprising of all the tribes that subse- quently were brought into alliance, it is impossible, perhaps, to determine. Sufficient was revealed to awaken the alarm of the colonists, and lead them to take immediate and active meas- ures for their protection. " His hostile intention having been discovered, Philip was obliged to submit for the time being to the demands of Plymouth colony. With fqur of his chief counselors he signed an act of submission, agreeing to give up all the arms in possession of his HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 853 people into the hands of the governor of Plymouth, to be kept as long as the government should see reason to hold them. Sub- sequently a new exaction was made of him, requiring him to pay ^100 in three years to the colony of Plymouth, and five wolves' heads annually thereafter, and neither to sell his lands nor to make war without their consent. The agreement was submitted to only as a matter of necessity, the alternative being immediate war. The wily chief, knowing that he was unprepared for such an alternative, submitted as patiently as possible, but his rest- less, independent spirit was by no means subdued. He saw that the demands of the white men were becoming more and more severe upon his people. They would soon become the sole pos- sessors of the soil and drive them from the territory, unless united and active measures were taken, to prevent it. They were becoming stronger day by day, while his people were be- coming weaker. They who had been received in kindness in the period of their weakness, had requited that kindness by severity when they had become strong. If they would recover their lost power, or retain what they still possessed, they must unite their forces for the destruction of the invaders of their soil. Such seem to have been the views of Philip in his attempts to consolidate the Indian forces previous to the actual breaking out of the war. " The following eloquent reply of Philip to Mr. John Borden, a friend of Philip, who tried to dissuade him from the contem- plated war, copied from the Foster papers, and given by Governor Arnold, shows with what clearness his mind apprehended the state of affairs. " ' The English who came first to this country were but a handful of people, forlorn, poor, and distressed. My father was then sachem. He relieved their distresses in the most kind and hospitable manner. He gave them land to build and plant upon. He did all in his power to serve them. Other of their country- men came and joined them. Their numbers rapidly increased. My father's counselors became uneasy and alarmed lest, as they were possessed of fire arms, which was not the case of the Indians, they should finally undertake to give law to the Indians and take from them their country. They therefore advised him to destroy them before they should become too strong and it should be too late. My father was also the father of the Eng- lish. He represented to his counselors and warriors that the 854 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. English knew many sciences which the Indians did not, that they improved and cultivated the earth, and raised cattle and fruits, and that there was sufficient room for both the English and the Indians. His advice prevailed. They concluded to give victuals to the English. They flourished and increased. Ex- perience taught that the advice of my father's counselors was right. By various means they got possession of a great part of his territory. But he still remained their friend till he died. My elder brother became sachem. They pretended to suspect him of evil designs against them. He was seized and confined, and thereby thrown into sickness and died. Soon after I became sachem they disarmed all my people. They tried my people by their own laws, and assessed damages which they could not pay. Their land was taken. At length a line of division was agreed upon between the English and my people, and I myself was to be responsible. Sometimes the cattle of the English would come into the corn fields of my people, for they did not make fences like the English. I must then be seized and confined till I sold another tract of my country for satisfaction of all damages and costs. Thus tract after tract is gone. But a small part of the dominion of my ancestors remains. I am determined not to live till I have no country.' " Negotiations 'between Philip and the other sachems were commenced, looking to a union of the different tribes, with the intention of commencing the war as soon as the necessary ar- rangements could be effected. The war was finally commenced sooner than was intended. " The first blood was shed on the 24th of June, 1675, 'when eight or nine of the English were slain in and about Swansy.' The next day other troops arrived, and the whole were placed under the command of Major Savage, who proceeded to the In- dian country, intending to break up the headquarters of Philip at Mt. Hope. But the Indians had deserted the place, leaving the heads and hands of the slaughtered English stuck upon poles by the wayside. Philip had gone over to Pocasset, whither Church, who afterward so distinguished himself, followed them. To prevent, if possible, the Narragansetts from joining the forces of Philip, commissioners were sent to them, and the Massachu- setts troops followed to enforce the terms that might be dictated. They found the villages of Pumham deserted. He had joined the common foe. A general war was now commenced, for a de- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 855 tailed account of which the reader is referred to Hubbard's "In- dian Wars," Church's "History of Philip's War," etc. Only a few of the more important events can be noted in the present ac- count. Hubbard, at the end of his narrative, says that eighteen houses were burned at Providence, June 28th, 1675, and on the 29th of March following, fifty-four more. Arnold credits the latter, but doubts the former statement. " In July, 1675, Philip, accompanied by AVeetamo, joined the Nipmucks, who had also taken up arms against the English. Brookfield, Mass., was burnt. Hatfield, Hadley, Deerfield, North- field and Springfield were attacked, and many of the inhabitants killed and their houses destroyed. The Narragansetts received and gave shelter to the hostile Indians in violation of thei r compul- sory treaty, but had not yet taken any active part in the conflict. It was feared that they would join the hostile Indians in the spring, and the United Colonies resolved to send an army of a thousand men into their country. The Narragansetts were or- dered to give up Philip's followers who had taken refuge among them. These appear to have been chiefly women and children. The haughty reply of Canonchet, son and successor of Mianti- nomo, who remembered the sad fate of his father, is worthy of record, displaying as it does the honorable spirit of the brave sachem : ' Not a Wampanoag, nor the paring of a Wampanoag's nail shall be delivered up.' Canonchet, alias Nanuntehoo, 'was heir to all his father's pride and insolency, as well as of his malice against the English.' The remark needs qualifying. The Narragansetts as a body, and especially its successive sa- chems, had ample reasons for a dislike to the Massachusetts col- ony. Their friendship for the colonists of Rhode Island was manifested in many ways, and doubtless would have been con- tinued indefinitely but for the many unjust and oppressive acts of the other colonies, which had led them to doubt the integrity of the English generally. " The reply of Canonchet caused all future attempts at recon- ciliation to be abandoned. A force of eleven hundred and thirty- five men was raised, besides volunteers that joined it as it marched through Providence and Warwick. The whole army was under command of Governor Winslow, of Plymouth. Bull's garrison house at South Kingston was attacked in December and fifteen persons were slain, only two escaping. " On the next day (December 19) the army were on the march 856 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to the place where the Indians had taken refuge in the middle of a swamp, where they were found strongly fortified. Here occurred the celebrated ' Swamp ' battle. Eighty of the Eng- lish were slain and one hundred and fifty wounded. Captains Davenport, Gardner, Johnson, Gallop and Marshall were killed. The principal part of those wounded in the battle were after- ward carried to Rhode Island, where they were taken care of until the greater part of them recovered. Eight of them died there. Hutchinson further states that when they left the fort they had about 210 dead and wounded. They left eight dead in the fort and brought twelve away with them. Within the en- closure or fort were some five hundred Indian wigwams, which were set on fire, in the flames of which perished not less than three hundred of the sick and wounded, the infant and aged. The entire loss of the Indians in killed, wounded and prisoners was not less than one thousand, including those who perished in the burning wigwams. This was the principal battle of the war, although afterward there were several skirmishes, and many towns and villages were burned. " On the 27th of December Captain Prentice was sent into this town, where he burnt nearly a hundred of Pumham's wigwams, but the Indians had departed. Pumham joined his fortunes with the other tribes, and was afterward killed near Dedham, ]\lass., in an engagement. At about the same time one of his sons was taken prisoner, who, according to Hubbard, would have received some consideration from his captors on account of his prepos- sessing countenance, ' had he not belonged to so bloody and bar- barous an Indian as his father Avas.' The injury inflicted upon the Indians by the destruction of their wigwams was fully avenged on the 17th of the following ]\Iarch, when a party of the natives fell upon the town and utterly destroyed it. " April 4th, ] 676, Canonchet, the Narragansett sachem, was sur- prised and taken near Pawtucket or Blackstone river, where he and about thirty of his men had gone to get seed and corn to plant their grounds. When first discovered he sought safety in flight, and was so hard pressed that he was obliged to throw off his blanket, which had been presented to him in Boston in Oc- tober, and finally his belt of peage. He then took to the water, and accidentally ' wet his gun, when, as he afterwards said, his heart and bowels turned within him so that he became void of strength as a rotten stick.' Robert Stanton, the first Englishman HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 857 that came up to liim, being about twenty-one years old, the sa- chem looked disdainfully upon his youthful face and said in broken English, ' Yo?/ much child, no understand matters of war; let your brother or your chief come, him zuill I answer.' He was offered his life if he would persuade the Narragansetts to submit, which he rejected, and said he wished ' to hear no more about it.' He was told that he must die then, to which he bravely replied, ' / like it well. I shall die before my heart is soft, or 1 have said anything unworthy of myself! Arnold says, ' To insure the fidelity of the friendly tribes by committing them to a deed that would forever deter the Narragansetts from seeking their alliance, it was ar- ranged that each of them should take a part in his execution. Accordingly the Pequots shot him, the Mohegans cut off his head and quartered him, and the Niantics, who had joined the English, burned his body and sent his head as a token of love and loyalty to the Commissioners at Hartford.' " Canonchet was the last great sachem of the Narragansetts and the chief supporter of Philip, who was now left compara- tively alone. If there was any more barbarous treatment of a prisoner of war in the annals of savage or civilized warfare upon this continent than that meted out to this brave enemy, by a professedly civilized and Christian people, we have failed to notice it. " July 3. ' The English army marched to the south, and sur- prised them in a cedar swamp near Warwick. A great slaughter ensued. Magnus, the old queen of the Narragansetts, a sister of Ninigret, was taken, and with ninety other captives was put to the sword. One hundred and seventy-one Indians fell in this massacre, without the loss of a single man of the English. Thence they scoured the country between Providence and War- wick, killing raany more. Capt. Church was commissioned by Gov. Winslow to proceed with a volunteer force of two hundred men, chiefly Indians, to attack Philip in his retreats near Mount Hope. For- several days they pursued the Indians from place to place, killing many and taking a large number of prisoners, among whom were Philip's wife and only son. " Philip was subsequently pursued into a swamp near Mount Hope, where he was shot through the heart by Alderman, an Indian, whose brother Philip had indignantly slain because he had counseled him to sue for peace. Thus perished Metacomet, 858 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. who had declared that he would not live until he had no coun- try. The same barbarous treatment that had been practiced upon the dead body of Canonchet, was followed upon that of Philip. The head was sent to Plymouth, where it remained set up on a pole for twenty 3'ears ; one hand was sent to Boston as a trophy, and the other was given to Alderman, who exhibited it for money. The body was quartered and hung upon four trees as a vivid illustration of the barbarity of the age. Philip's -chief counselor, Anawon, escaped from the swamp with most of Philip's followers, but was a few days after captured by Capt. Church, who sent him alive to Plymouth, where he was shot. Most of the other captives who were at all conspicuous for their bravery or position met a similar fate. Quinapin, a cousin of Canonchet, and next in command to him in the great swamp fight, with his brother was tried at Newport by a council of war, and shot. The young Metacomet, son of Philip, with many other captives, was sent to Spain and the West Indies, where they were sold as slaves. "The war was now at an end. It had been the most fearful conflict that had ever visited the colonies, and such an one as was not to be repeated until a century had rolled away. No further resistance of any extent on the part of the Indians was made. But the besom of destruction had swept over the fair plantation of Warwick. Not only had the homes of its inhabit- ants been laid waste, but their bridges and other improvements had been all destroyed, and they themselves forced into exile for security. During the war they had found a temporary home at Newport, where they were kindly received and permitted to hold their town meetings for the choice of deputies and jurors, as formerly." Proahxent Settlers. — Owing to the prominence of the names of the original purchasers of Warwick in the state and the prominent part these men took in the affairs of the colony, it is thought a passing notice of their lives may be read with interest. In the preparation of these sketches we have drawn liberally from the " History of AVarwick," by Oliver Payson Fuller, B. A., that careful compiler; from Henry E. Turner, jSI. D., and other writers whose authority is accepted as standard. In the copy of the deed of INIiantinomo to the Warwick settlers, we find the names of the latter to be as follows : " Randall Houlden, John Greene, John Wickes, ffrancis Weston, Samuel Gorton, Richard HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 859 Waterman, John Warner, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotton, William Wuddall, Robert Potter, Nicholas Power." Because of the prominence of the family of Greenes and of the careful preparation of these sketches by Doctor Turner, we have included the same from Doctor John Greene, the surgeon, down to Hon. William Greene, of Warwick, lieutenant-governor of the state of Rhode Island in 1871^72. Because also of "the dwellers at Pawtuxet " who were the originals in this affair we will first mention them. ' "William Arnold was born in England in 1589. In 1635 we find him in Plymouth colony. He afterward went to Providence with Roger Williams, where his name appears in Williams' first deed. He had four children : Benedict, Thomas, Stephen, and a daughter who married Zachary Rhodes. Benedict was born in England December 21st, 1615. He married Damaris, daughter of Stukely Westcott, by whom he had the following children : Godsgift, Josias, Benedict, Freelove, Oliver, Caleb, Damaris and Priscilla. Benedict, son of William, removed to Newport in 1653. He was president of Aquidneck from 1657 to 1660, and governor under under the royal charter several years. He died in June, 1678. His house in Newport stood near the spot now occupied by the the Union Bank. Stephen, son of William, lived and died in Pawtuxet. Thomas settled in Smithfield. Their descendants are among the most numerous in the town. An enthusiastic gen- ealogist of the family traces it back in a connected line for twen- ty-five generations. " Robert 'Coles, one of the ' received' purchasers of Warwick, purchased the tract of land from Williams in the vicinity of Pawtuxet, which the latter bought of Miantinomo. In 1632 he was one of the committee to advise with the governor and assist- ants of Massachusetts about the raising of public stock. He re- sided at that time in Roxbury. The following year we find him settled at Ipswich. He was one of the first settlers of Providence, and his name appears in the first deed of Roger Williams to his fel- low-settlers. In 1640 he was one of three persons who were ap- pointed by the colony to report a form of government, which was adopted, and which remained in force until the arrival of the first charter. He subsequently removed to Warwick. A deed to his widow, Mary Coles, dated November, 1655, made by John Coles, indicated that he died previous to that date. He had at least three children, one son John, and two daughters, who mar- 8.60 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ried Richard, and Henry Townsend, the latter living at the time of Coles' death at Oyster Bay, Long Island." We have no data respecting the life of Carpenter. William Harris was one of the Pawtuxet proprietors, and a persistent and formidable opponent to the Warwick claimants. He went to England four times during the progress of the mat- ter; the last time the ship in which he sailed was taken by a Bar- bary Corsair, and both he and the rest of the passengers and crew were sold as slaves in the public market at Algiers. He re- mained in bondage for more than a year, when a ransom of twelve hundred dollars was paid and he was set at liberty. He finally arrived in London, sick and exhausted, and died three days afterward. William Harris and Thomas Harris were brothers and settled in Providence about the time of Roger AVilliams, or perhaps a year later. William is the seventh named in Roger Williams' first deed. They had previously lived in Salem. His will which he executed previous to his last disastrous voyage, is dated De- cember 4th, 1678. He had four children, viz.: Andrew, who mar- ried Mary Tew, of Newport ; Toleration, who was killed during the Indian war in 1675 ; Mary, who married Thomas Borden, and Howlong, who married Arthur Fanner. Thomas Harris had the following children : Thomas, who married Phebe Brown ; Rich- ard, Nicholas, William, Henry, Eleathan, who married Nathaniel Brown ; Joab, Amity, who married a Morse ; Mary, who married a Bernon, and Job. Samuel Gorton came to this countr}- from London in 1636, and landed in Boston, whence he soon removed to Plymouth. There his troubles commenced. Callender, Backus and others who have spoken of his religious views, acknowledge that it is hard to tell what he believed. "The most we can learn," says Fuller, " is that in allegory and double meanings of Scripture, he was similar to Origen ; in mystical theology and the rejection of ordi- nances, he resembled the Quakers. One thing is certain, and that is, he did not believe all that was fathered upon him, for whatever impious opinions his adversaries imputed to him, he ascribed as bad to them and fixed as dreadful consequences upon their tenets, and, his adversaries to the contrary, he believed in a future state and judgment to come, and avers he always joins eternity with religion as most essential." Fuller, in quoting Callender, remarks : " He (says Callender) HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 861 strenuously opposed the doctrines of the people called Quakers. I am informed that he and his followers maintained a religious meeting on the first day of the week for above sixty years, and that their worship consisted of prayers to God, of preaching, or expounding the Scriptures and singing of psalms." Doctor Bene- dict says; "He was a leader of a religious meeting in Warwick about sixty years." This statement is incorrect, as he died in 1667, or twenty-five years from the founding of the town. The statement of Callender will come nearer the truth, " that he and his followers " maintained a meeting for that length of time. No church was organized by him or his followers, but stated seasons of worship were held upon the Sabbath, in which the gospel was dispensed freely to all who would listen to it. Among his chief heresies were the rejection of an organized visible church and the ordinances connected with it ; and from these peculiar views and those of minor importance which grew out of them, sprang most of the trouble between him and the other religious sects. Morton, in " New England's Memorial," gave a summary of Gor- ton's religious opinions, which was published during Gorton's life. Gorton wrote to Mr. Morton, denying some of the charges made against him in this book, especially that he had ever as- serted that there was " no state or condition after death," and says : " I appeal to God, the judge of all secrets, that there never was such a thought entertained in my heart." He further says, in answer to another charge : " We never called sermons of sal- vation, tales; nor any ordinances of the Lord, an abomination or vanity ; nor holy ministers, necromancers ; we honor, reverence and practice these things." In this letter he refers to a book pub- lished by Mr. Winslow, which referred also to his sentiments, of which Gorton says he had read but little, but was informed by Mr. ■Brown, who had been a commissioner for the United Colonies, that " he would maintain that there were forty lies published in that book." The letter may be found in the Appendix to Judge Staples' edition of "Simplicities' Defence." His published works are marvels of curious composition, with sentences so long and complicated, that it would make a school- master's blood run backwards to analyze and parse them. Among these works the reader is referred to his " Incorruptible Key," printed in London, in 1647 ; " Saltmarsh Returned from the Dead," printed in 1655; "Antidote Against Pharasaical Teach- ers," and " Antidote Against the Common Plague of the World ; " 862 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. "Simplicities' Defence Against a Seven-Headed Church Policy," published in England, in 1646. These, with a manuscript com- mentar}? on the Lord's Prayer, of more than a hundred pages, now in possession of the Rhode Island Historical Society, will furnish the curious reader with ample material for studying the religious tenets of the man. His "Simplicities' Defence " is an historical narrative of the difficulties between the early settlers of this town and the colony of ^lassachusetts, growing out of the attempts of the latter to extend its jurisdiction over the lands and persons of the former. The work is dedicated to the Earl of War- wick, whose friendly aid was received and duly acknowledged, and whom, as we have already stated, the settlers honored by giving his name to the town. Samuel Gorton died between the 27th of November and the 10th of December, 1677. John Greene, surgeon, was son of Peter of Aukley Hall, Salis- bury, Wiltshire, England. He died at Warwick, 1658 ; his first wife, the mother of his children, died at Conanicut, 1643, having taken refuge there when the Massachusetts troops, under Cap- tain Cooke, made their raid on the defenseless and inoffensive inhabitants of Warwick, or as it was then called, Shawomet, and was possibly, and even probably, one of the victims of that monstrous aggression. His second wife was Alice Daniels, a widow, who was taxed 2s. 6d. for land held in Providence, in 1637. His third wife, who survived him, was named Philip ; an unusual feminine name, probably designed to be Philippa. He had by his first wife, Joan Tattersall, six children ; John, born 1620, baptized August 15th, 1620, died November 27th, 1708, aged 88 years, married Anne Almy of William, Portsmouth ; Peter, born 1621, baptized March 10th, 1621, married Mary Gor- ton of Samuel, Warwick ; James, born 1626, baptized June 21st, 1626, died April 27th, 1698, aged 71 years, married, first. Deliver- ance Potter of Robert, Warwick, second, Elizabeth Anthony of John, Portsmouth ; Thomas, born 1628, baptized June 4th, 1628, died June 5th, 1718, aged 90 years, married Elizabeth Barton of Rufus, Warwick ; Joan, born 1630, baptized October 3d, 1630, died young ; Mary, born 1633, baptized May 19th, 1633, married James Sweet, and is reputed to be the progenitrix of the well known race of bonesetters. All these have verj' numerous de- scendants, except Peter, who died childless. According to Savage, John Greene came from Hampton, in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 863 the James, April 6th, 1635, and arrived at Boston, with wife and five children, June 5th. 1635 ; had been of Salisbury, was at Providence in 1636, went to London in 1644, to negotiate for Narragansett. According to Drake's researches, John Greene, surgeon, shipped at Hampton, in James of London, April 5th, 1635, wife and children not mentioned. As the name of John Greene does not appear in Massachu- setts Colonial Record, in the period intervening between his arrival at Boston and his settlement at Providence, it is to be presumed that he made no settlement in Boston or elsewhere in Massachusetts ; we know, however, that he was at one time in Salem, where he probably was associated with Roger Williams ; August 1st, 1637, he first appears on Massachusetts Colonial Record in this wise: "Mr. John Greene of New Providence, bound to Quarter Court first Tuesday of seventh month next for speaking contemptuously of Magistrates in 100 marks." [Massachusetts Colonial Record, Vol. 1, p. 200.] John Greene, junior, more familiarly known as Deputy Gov- ernor John Greene, died November 27th, 1708, aged 88 years. He was born in 1620. His wife was Anne, daughter of William Almy of Portsmouth ; she died May 17th, 1709, aged 88 years. Their children were : Deborah, born August 10th, 1649, married William Torrey ; John, born June 6th, 1651, no issue ; William, born December 6th, 1652, married Mary Sayles, of John ; Peter, l)orn February 7th, 1654^5, married Elizabeth Arnold, of Stephen ; Job, born August 27th, 1656, married Phebe f^ayles, of John ; Philip, born October 7th, 1658, married, first, Dickerson, second, Caleb Carr, Jamestown ; Richard, born February 8th, 1660, mar- ried Ellen Sayles ; Anne, born March 19th, 1662-3, married Thomas Greene, son of Thomas ; Catharine, born August 15th, 1665, married Charles Holden; Audrey, born December 26th, 1667, married Dr. John Spencer ; Samuel, born January 80th, 1669-70, married Mary Gorton, of Benjamin, was father of first Governor William Greene. He had arrived, then, at man's estate when the purchase of Shawomet was made in 1642. His name does not appear in the ■deed, except as witness, brrt it does in some of the acts of Massa- chusetts general court, associated with his father's, and also in division of lands in Providence in 1638, although at that time he must have been a little short of his majority. ^ In 1651 he was elected commissioner from Warwick, and was 864 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. annually re-elected, or rather semi-annually, as was then the practice, until 1659, when he was elected assistant, and contin- ued so to be every year, with two exceptions, until 1686, when the charter was suspended by King James II. He was again elected assistant in 1689, and in 1690 as deputy governor, which office he held until 1700, a period of ten years, a longer time than any other person occupied that position in the colonial gov- ernment continuously and longer than any man was governor, except Samuel Cranston, who was governor thirty years, from 1698 to 1727 inclusive. The lapses in his service as assistant, probably, were in those years when he was absent in England on business of the colony; in 1651-2 he was recorder, and in 1657-8-9 and 61 he was attorney general. In 1654 he was associated with Ezekiel HoUiman as a com- mittee to revise the laws, and in October, 1664, he was again on a commission for the same purpose with John Clarke, Roger Will- iams, John Sanford and Joseph Torrey. At the session of the assembly, June 29th, 1670, he was ap- pointed " (in case the Governor Benedict Arnold decline the ser- vice) with John Clarke, physician, to go to England, to vindicate the charter before the King." NeitherGovernor Arnold or John Greene appear to have accepted the service. A letter appears, dated February 3d, 1678-9, (R. I. Col. Rec, vol. S, p. 37), addressed to the Lords of Trade and Plantations, in relation to Mount Hope, signed Randall Holden and John Greene, from which it appears they were in London at that time on colonial business, and were consulted on that business as one familiar to them. In July of the same year a rate was assessed to raise i^60 for their expenses to and in England, and in October, 1705, an amount of .^30 is allowed to Major John Greene for a debt due from the colony for services done in England ; as this is twenty-five years later, no doubt he had been in England sub- sequently. From 1683 to the time of Andros he was Major of the Main, equivalent to our major-general. In October, 1664, he was joined in a commission with John Clarke and Joseph Torrey, to meet commissioners from Connecticut to settle the boundary, for which he was allowed, March 30th, 1671, i^lO. He was also on a commission to the same purpose in 1670, a mass of records relat- ing to which may be found in R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 2, p. 309 to 328. In this his associates were Joseph Torrey and Richard Bailey. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. SGj March 13th, 1676, he is invited, with sixteen other prominent citizens, to attend the session of the assembly, " to advise in thiese troublesome times and straites." June 7th, 1671, he was again commissioned, with Deputy Gov- ernor Benedict Arnold, John Clarke, John Cranston and Joseph Torrey, to settle differences with Connecticut. " March 1, 1664, ordered, that the Governor (B. Arnold), Mr. Greene, Mr. Card and Mr. Sanford be desired to draw up their thoughts concerning a Preface or Prologue to the proceedings of the present court " (the first held under the charter). June 7th, 1671, he was on a committee to draw up an answer to the government of Plymouth. In May, 1664, John Greene and Joseph Torrey were appointed commissioners to make a treaty with Massachusetts. Of the sons of John Greene, John, the eldest, died young ; Peter appears several times as a deputy from Warwick ; Job, freeman May, 1681, frequently deputy from Warwick, several times assistant, was grandfather of Colonel Christopher Greene ; his daughter, Deborah, was the second wife of Simon Ray, and mother of Mrs. Governor Samuel Ward and of Mrs. Governor William Greene, 2d, and grandmother of Mrs. General Nathaniel Greene ; Philip does not appear in the public record ; Richard, freeman May, 1685, deputy 1699 to 1704, assistant 1704 to 1711, when he died, and his brother Job was elected to fill the va- cancy. Samuel, youngest son of John Greene, 2d, and father of the first Governor William Greene, was deputy in 1704, 7, 8, 14, 15 and 19. He seems to have been less active in colonial affairs than some of his brothers. He was a very substantial kind of a man and highly respected. He was distinguished for his extra- ordinary stature, for which the family were remarkable. He died in 1720, aged 50 years. His children were : William (gov- ernor), born March 1 6th, 1695, died February, 1758, married Cath- arine Greene of Benjamin (Tobacco Ben), May 22d, 1720 ; Mary, born August 25th, 1698, married Thomas Fry ; Samuel, born Oc- tober 23d, 1700, married Sarah Coggeshall of Joshua ; Benjamin, born January 5th, 1702-3, married Mary Angell of Samuel; Anne, born April 5th, 1706, died June 30th, 1706. William Greene, son of Samuel 2d, of John 2d, of John 1st, was born March 16th, 1695-6, and died February, 1758, aged 62 years. His wife was Catharine Greene, daughter of Benjamin 3d, 55 866 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of Thomas 2d, of John 1st. The wife of Thomas 2d was Eliza- beth Barton of Rufus, so that the children of this marriage unite two streams from the blood of 1st John Greene to one of Bar- ton, and also, by other marriages, one from Holden, Gorton and Carder. Governor Greene's brother Samuel married Sarah Coggeshall of Joshua, and was ancestor of William Grpene Williams, esquire, of Providence, who also has the honor to represent Roger Wil- liams in the direct line. His sister Mary was the wife of Thomas Fry, who was deputy governor from 1727 to 1729, and was an- cestor of Hon. Alfred Anthony, of Providence. He had also a brother Benjamin, who married jMary Angell of Samuel. Governor Greene's children were: Benjamin, born ]May 19th, 1724 (his son. Colonel AVilliam Greene, of Warwick Neck, mar- ried Celia, daughter of his brother. Governor William, and has numerous descendants well known in Providence); Samuel, born August 2.">th, 1727, married Patience Cook of Benjamin, and was ancestor of Hon. Samuel G. Arnold ; William (future governor), born August 16th, 1731, died November 29th, 1809; Margaret, born November 2d, 1733, married Rufus Spencer, second wife ; Catharine, born December 9tli, 1735, married John Greene, of Boston ; Christopher, born April 18th, 1741, died same year. William Greene was made a freeman, 1718, and was deputy, 1727, 32, 36, 38 and 40. In 1728 William Greene and John Mum- ford were appointed surveyors of the line between Connecticut and Rhode Island. In October, ]736, Daniel Abbott, John Jen- kins and William Greene were appointed a committee on the line with Connecticut, and reported November 20th, 1739. [R. I. Col. Rec, vol. 4, p. 563-4.]. He was deputy governor in 1740, 42 and 43, and governor in 1743, 44, 46, 48 to 55 and 57, eleven years. Governor Greene's service'was not continuous, but with fre- quent intervals ; he died in the office at a not very advanced age. His intermittent occupation of it, over a space of fifteen j^ears, is sufficient evidence that he showed himself worthy the confi- dence that first led to his selection. I presume he was selected because politics had not then become such an exact science as now, when candidates have to be suppressed instead of being sought, and fitness is the last qualification required. During the service of Governor Greene, the long contest, or series of contests, between the English and French, for the su- premacy on this continent, which concluded b}^ the conquest by HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 867 the former of the French provinces, was carried on with great vigor. A large amount of correspondence between him and various royal officers, may be seen in the colonial records; they are not of a controversial character. On his part they are in- dicative of sterling sense and business-like talents. The second Governor William Greene was son of the first Gov- ernor William and his wife, Catherine, daughter of Benjamin and Susanna (Holden) Greene, his grandmother being a daugh- ter of Randall Holden. He was born August 16th, 1731, and died November 29th, 1809. His wife was Catharine Ray, daugh- ter of Simon and Deborah (Greene) Ray, of Block Island, and granddaughter of Job Greene, son of John, 2d, by whose wife, Phebe, daughter of John and Mary (Williams) Sayles, his de- scendants derive a strain from the blood of Roger Williams. He was admitted freeman May, 1753. In October, 1771, he was on a committee with Thomas Aldrich to finish the court house in East Greenwich. In August, 1772, he was appointed by the as- sembly as a director of a lottery for the benefit of John Greene & Co., Griffin Greene and Nathaniel Greene & Co., iron works, whose buildings had been burned. He was deputy from AVar- wick, 1773, 74, 76 and 77. In February, 1776, he was, with many others, on a committee to procure gold and silver coin for the expedition into Canada. July 18th, 1776, the assembly, after accepting the Declaration of Independence and ordering it proclaimed with suitable demon- strations, and voting, "That the style and title of this govern- ment shall be. The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- tations." A^oted, " That the sheriff of the county of Newport, be ordered to take into his custody Edward Thurston of Newport, and that Messrs. George Sears, Jonathan Arnold, Jonathan Has- sard, William Greene and Cromwell Child, be a committee to proceed, with the said sheriff, to the dwelling house of the said Edward Thurston, and there to demand of him that he open to their view all the desks or other suspected places under lock or otherwise, and if he shall refuse to show and unlock the same that the said committee be, and hereby is, directed to break open the same, and carefully to inspect and make search for any and all letters of correspondence upon the disputes between the in- dependent states of America and Great Britain, or of a political nature, and such letters and papers as thejr shall think proper to bring with them for the inspection of this General Assembly." 868 HISTORY or Washington and kent counties. A like vote was passed in relation to the papers of Daniel Cog- geshall with the same committee. In August, 1776, William Greene was elected first associate justice of the superior court. December 10th, 1776, he was chosen one of the council of war, the enemy having taken possession of Rhode Island. In May, 1777, he was elected speaker of the house of representatives. In October, 1777, he was again appointed of the council of war. In February, 1,778, he was made chief jus- tice superior court. In May, 1778, he was installed governor, being the second governor of the state, and succeeding Governor Nicholas Cooke, who was the incumbent at the declaration of independence. This office he filled until May, 1786, eight years. Governor Greene's children were : Ray, married Mary M. Flagg of George, Esq., of Charleston, S. C. ; Samuel, married Mary Nightingale of Colonel Joseph, of Providence, R. I. ; Phebe, married Colonel Samuel Ward of Governor Samuel, her cousin ; Celia, married Colonel William Greene of Benjamin, of Warwick Neck, her cousin. The eldest son of Governor Greene was the Hon. Ray Greene, who graduated at Yale college, and studied law in the office of General James M. Varnum in East Greenwich. He succeeded William Channing, Esq., as attorney general of Rhode Island in 1794, which position he retained until October, 1797, when he was elected to succeed Hon. William Bradford in the senate of the United States. This place he resigned in May, 1801, and his failure of health precluded his fulfilling any public duties there- after. His son, Hon. William Greene of Warwick, who now occupies the ancestral estate, graduated at Brown University, and having studied law at Litchfield, settled in Ohio about 1820, where most of his active life was passed. He returned to his early home in 1862. In 1871 and 1872 he was elected lieutenant governor of the state. He was the last male descendant of the second Gov- ernor Greene. During his residence of forty years in Cincin- nati he was prominent in the social and business circles of that city, and contributed largely, by his earnestness and energy, to the establishment of their excellent public schools and of the system of roads which, before the era of railways, gave the original impetus to the remarkable growth of that beautiful city. John Wickes, in 1637, was a resident of Plymouth colony, where he and his wife embraced the religious views of Mr. Gor- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 869 ton. On June 20th, 1639, he was received as an inhabitant of Aquidneck, where, with Randall Holden, Richard Carder, Sam- son Shotten, and Robert Potter, he came in collision with the authorities. He subsequently filled the offices of town deputy, assistant, etc. He was slain by the Indians during Philip's war. Callender says he was " a very ancient man." The circumstan- ces of his death will be referred to on a subsequent page. Randall Holden was one of the most conspicuous men in the early colonial history, the larger portion of his life being spent in offices of various grades. He was born in Salisbury, Eng- land. Roger Williams and he were the witnesses to the deed of Rhode Island, given by Canonicus and Miantinomo, March 24th, 1638. On March 16th, 1642, he was disfranchised with several others at Aquidneck, but for what cause it is not stated. He was elected marshal of the colony. His children were Randall, who married Betty Waterman ; Charles, who married Catherine Greene ; Mary, who married John, the son of Richard Carder ; Elizabeth, who married Joseph Stafford ; Margaret, who married John Eldredge ; Susanna, who married Benjamin Greene ; Bar- bara, who married Samuel Wickham, and Frances, who married John Holmes. His descendants are very numerous in the state. Richard Waterman, though one of the original purchasers, does not appear to have resided long in the town of Warwick. He was a resident of Salem in 1636 and subsequently of Provi- dence. He afterward moved to Warwick and was present when the soldiers came and arrested the Gortonists. " Richard Water- man was found erroneous, heretical and obstinate. It was agreed that he should be detained a prisoner till the Quarter Court in the seventh month (September) unless five of the magistrates do find cause to send him away, which, if they do it is ordered he shall not return within this jurisdiction upon pain of death." He lived chiefly in Providence and Newport, dying in the latter place October 27th, 1673. He was buried in Providence, corner of Waterman and Benefit streets. He left four children : Nathaniel, Resolved, Mehitable and Waiting. Mehitable mar- ried a Fenner, the ancestor of Governor Fenner ; Resolved mar- ried Mercy, daughter of Roger Williams ; he had five children : Richard, John, Resolved, Mary and Waite. John, the second son of Resolved, married Anne Olney, daughter of Thomas Olney ; this John was the first of the name who made Warwick 870 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. a place of permanent residence. A sketch of the house built by John Waterman " was made by Mary A. Greene, as described by her grandmother Welthian Waterman, in 1842, in the original room built by John." This John died August 26th, 1728, aged 63, leaving eight children : Elizabeth, Mary, Ann, John, Benoni, Resolved, Patience, Phebe. Richard Carder was admitted freeman in Massachusetts May 25th, 1636. He afterward settled on Rhode Island, where, being disfranchised, a fate not uncommon in those times, he united his fortunes with the original purchasers of Shawomet. During the Indian war the inhabitants left their town and took up their abode in Newport, where Carter died before the war closed. His son John married jNIary, daughter of Randall Holden. Robert Potter was admitted a freeman in Massachusetts Sep- tember 3d, 1631. He removed to Rhode Island in 1639. He af- terward removed to Warwick and was one of the original twelve purchasers. When the Massachusetts soldiers came to arrest the settlers, Islvs. Potter, with some of the other women, sought refuge in the woods and soon afterward died from exposure and fright. Potter was licensed in 1649 to keep a tavern in Warwick. He died in the latter part of 1661, leaving a son, John, and a daughter. Deliverance, who married James, son of John Greene. John died in 1694, intestate, and his estate falling to John, Jr., he shared it with his brother AVilliam as per deed of April 10th, 1694. John Warner came from England, but at what date is unknown. He was an inhabitant of Providence in 1637, and had one of the "Home lots," near where the "What Cheer" building now stands. He was the first town clerk after the organization of the town, and also a member of the first town council ; also a deptit)^ and assistant ; and in 1648 clerk of the general court. He mar- ried Priscilla, daughter of Ezekiel HoUiman. He left a son John, who married Anna, daughter of Samuel Gorton, also three daughters, Susan, Mary and Rachel. He died during a voyage from' England in 16r)3 or 16r)4. The three older children went to England with him. The son John was finally sent for by his grandfather Ezekiel Holliman to inherit his property. The pre- nomen John was continued for not less than four generations. John Warner, 2d, had four children, viz.: John, Ezekiel, Anna and Priscilla. John Warner, 3d, had ten children, viz.: John, Elizabeth, Anne, Susannah, Rachel, William, Samuel, ^Mary, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 871 Priscilla and William, the last three by a second wife. John Warner, 4th, had the generous number of fourteen children, and lived on the north side of the road at the turn near Warner's brook. In April, 1652, a curious affair occurred in the town, which led to the disfranchisement of Mr. Warner. It seems a Dutch ves- sel had arrived at Shawomet on a trading excursion, the crew of which boarded for several months at Warner's, who was one of the magistrates of the town. In settling their accounts a dis- pute arose, and the Dutchmen finally appealed to the court for assistance. Warner's wife was also implicated. Warner refused to appear at a special session of the court, and the case was car- ried before the general court. The result of the matter, together with the specific charges, is given below: " The 24th of April, 1652, at a town meeting of law-making assembly, ordered, that John Warner for his misdemeanors under-annexed, is degraded by the unanimous consent of the town from bearing any office in the town, and that he is wholly disenabled forever hereafter bearing any office in the town, until he give the town satisfaction. " It is further ordered that the above said John Warner is put out from having any vote in the town concerning its af- fairs. " The charges against John Warner are these : First. For calling the officers of the town rogues and thieves with respect to their office. Item. For calling the whole town rogues and thieves. Item. For threatening the lives of men. Item. For threatening to kill all the mares of the town. Item. For his contempt in not appearing before the town now met, being lawfully summoned by a summons from the officer, with two magistrates' hands to it. Item. For threatening an officer of the colony in open court, that if he had him elsewhere he would beat out his brains, as also calling him rogue. Item. For his employing an agent in his behalf to write to the Massachusetts ; thereby going about to enthral the liberties of the town, to the great indignity of the honored State of Eng- land, who granted the said privileges unto us." On the 22d of June it was ordered, " That the house and land of John Warner, situate and being in the sayd towne be attached 872 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. forthwith upon suspicion of unsufferable treacherie against the town, to the forfeiture of the sayd house and land, and that no- tice may be given him of the attachment thereof that so hee by himself or aturney may answer at the next Court of trials to be held in Warwicke the third Tuesday in August next ensuing the date hereof. It is also ordered that all persons are hereby pro- hibited from laying any claim or title unto it, or any part there- of by bargain and sale or otherwise until hee hath answered the law and be cleared by order of the court held as aforesayd, but remains in the hand and custody of the town in the mean time. " Ordered. That the sergeant shall have a copie of this order and set it upon the door of the house. " Ordered, that if hereafter John Warner or any for him shall sell that house and land above sayd, any part or parcel of it, to any but such as shall subscribe to our order, it shall as before be wholly forfeit to the town." The property was released on the fifth of July by the follow- ing order : " Ordered by the town of Warwick that the house and land of John Warner situated in the said towne of War- wick, being of late atached upon suspicion of the breach of the grand law of the town, be resigned to the said John Warner again." Of Nicholas Power but little is known. His name does not occur among the early lists of inhabitants. When the rest of the settlers were sentenced by the Massachusetts court, he " was dismissed with an admonition." He died in Providence, Au- gust 35th, 1657, leaving a widow Jane, a son Nicholas, and a daughter Hope. The son married Rebecca, daughter of Zachary Rhodes. Ten years after his death, the town council of Provi- dence made a will for him (he dying intestate), in order, as they say, " that we may prevent differences before they begin." The tradition is that Nicholas, Jr., was killed in the Indian war in 1675-6. Francis Weston was admitted a freeman in JNlassachusetts in November, 1633. He was one of the deputies from Salem to the general court in 1634. He died previous to June 4th, 1645, of consumption, contracted "through cold and hardships" at this time. William Waddell was a resident in Boston in 1687, when he was disarmed, with fifty-seven others, among whom was Rich- ard Carder. His name does not occur in the records subse- quently. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 873 Troubles With Massachusetts.— The persecutions of Samu- el Gorton, the deed of Shawomet and kindred subjects pertaining to the settlers of the town of Warwick, colonial in their charac- ter, next come in order for our consideration. The history of this trouble begins with Samuel Gorton. He came to this coun- try from London in 1636 and landed in Boston, whence he soon removed to Plymouth. There his religious opinions soon brought him into collision with the authorities and he was banished from among them according to one of their sage laws which reads as follows : " It is ordered by the Court, that in case any shall bring in any Quaker, Rantor, or other notorious heritiques, either by land or water, into any p'te of this government, shall forthwith upon order of any one magistrate, returne them to the place from whence they came, or clear the gov'ment of them, on penaltie of paying a fine of twentie shillings for every week the)' shall stay in the government after warninge." — [Plymouth Col. Rec, 1657.] The general temper and character of Gorton was such that it did not take him long to get into a dispute with one Mr. Ralph Smith, who was an elder of the church. Morton, in his " New England Memorial," giving the side of Gorton's oppo- nents, accuses him for " his turbulent carriages toward both magistrates and ministers in the presence of the court," and also says he carried himself mutinously and seditiously, etc. He was required, it seems, to find sureties for his good behavior during the time he should stay in that jurisdiction, which was limited to fourteen days, and also amerced to pay a considerable fine. He appears to have been warmly received at Aquidneck, though he soon found himself again in difficulty. He ignored the civil authority established th'ere as not being properly de- rived. " After the charter was received from the English crown his mind was relieved upon this point." He afterward removed to Providence, where he experienced similar difficulties. Though the utmost religious freedom was a distinguishing characteristic of the colony at Providence from its origin, its civil government lacked due authority in the opinion of Gorton and his associates, which led him to say in reference to that at Aquidneck, that they had "no authoritie legally derived to deal with me, and I thought myselfe as fitt and able to govern myselfe and family as any that were then upon Rhode Island." The result of holding these sentiments was to bring him again into collision with the constituted authorities. Arnold, in his " History of Rhode Is- 874 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. land," says that " so great was the contention caused by his pres- ence that Mr. Williams (Roger) seriously thought of abandoning his plantation and removing to Patience Island." The contention assumed eventually such serious dimensions that thirteen of the settlers finally petitioned Massachusetts for assistance. In this petition, besides the name of Samuel Gorton, those of John Greene, Francis Weston and Randall Holden were also mentioned as " the insolent and riotous carriages of Sam- uel Gorton and his company." Gorton and his companions soon after moved to Pawtuxet, where their conduct led four of the settlers there to put them- selves and their estates under the jurisdiction of Alassachusetts, and seeing the complications that were likely to ensue they (Gorton and his companions) purchased Shawomet, and in that wilderness sought a more hospitable region among the Indians to quietly enjoy religious freedom, but with what success will now be seen. The trials to which the hardy pioneers were about to be sub- jected, and to which we now turn our attention are probably without a parallel in the history of any of the New England set- tlements. They had nearly all of them at different times been inhabitants of the Massachusetts, or the Plj'mouth colon}', and had either been formally banished by the authorities for their peculiar religious or political views, or found it necessary for their comfort to seek a home elsewhere. It does not appear that any were charged with immoral conduct. Gorton was regarded as an eccle;siastical Ishmaelite, and not without some reason. His associates were men of independent views, who preferred a dwelling in the wilderness with savages, to a home among the civilized without liberty of conscience. This liberty had been denied them in Massachusetts, and to a less extent perhaps at Aquidneck and Providence. The deed of Shawomet was made January 12th, 1642. The set- tlers of vShawomet or Warwick entertained a view different from their friends at Providence and Rhode Island, viz.: That no gov- ernment established by settlers could have any authority except through the assent of the home government. The only records which throw any light on the removal of the friends of Gorton from Providence to Warwick are the complaints of certain resi- dents of Providence to Massachusetts dated November 17th, 1641, to which Governor Winthrop says the reply was: "We had no HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 875 calling or warrant to interpose in their contentions except they did submit themselves to some jurisdiction either Plymouth or ours," and some expressions of Roger Williams in disparagement of Gorton ; but inasmuch as Williams himself suffered at the hands of Massachusetts for similar reasons, we may safely con- clude the Gortonists were no more at fault than the others. However, Gorton and his companions formed the judicious res- olution to withdraw from the neighborhood, and establish an in- dependent community by themselves, and there is no evidence afterward of their interfering in the affairs of their neighbors or cultivating differences among themselves. Three rnonths after the date of the purchase of Shawomet, the general court took notice of some of these men, which now needs to be mentioned. At a general court holden at Newport, March 16th, 1642, it was ordered " That Richard Carder, Randall Holden, Sampson Shotten and Robert Potter are disfranchised of the privileges and prerogatives belonging to the body of this state, and that their names be cancelled out of the record." At the same session it was ordered, " That if John Weeks, Randall Holden, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten or Robert Potter shall come upon the Island armed, they shall be, by the constable (calling him sufficiently aside), disarmed and carried before the magistrate, and there find sureties for their good be- haviour ; and further be it established, that if that course shall not regulate them or any of th&m, then a further due and lawful course, by the magistrates shall be taken, at their session, pro- vided, that this order hinder not the course of law already be- gun with John Weeks." What may have been the offense with which these men were charged we are not informed by the record ; it is certain, how- ever, that they were all parties to the deed of Shawomet, from Miantinomo, January 12th, 1642. John Greene, Francis Weston, Richard Waterman and John Warner were from Providence, and appear to have been, as he himself expressed it, loving friends of Roger Williams, but they seem to have had differences, not now easily elucidated, which induced them to go beyond William's purchase and claim of jurisdiction ; from that time no dispute appears between them and the authorities of Providence and Rhode Island. After removing to Shawomet they had hardly time to erect the rudest huts for themselves and cattle in the wilds of that 876 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. wilderness before the ingenuity of their former neighbors — these four men of Providence — reached them, and by their insti- gations a summons was sent ordering them to appear before the court of Massachusetts. This summons was issued in September, 1643, by Massachu- setts, and contained the complaint and submission of the sa- chems, and requested them to appear at once before the court there, where the plaintiffs were then present. The settlers returned a verbal reply by the messenger, refusing to appear, denying their jurisdiction, declaring they were subject only to the crown of England. A few days after they sent a lengthy letter, Septetnber 15th, 1643, and signed by Randall Holden, but evidently written by Gorton. It was directed " To the great honored and Idol Gen- eral now set up in the Massachusetts whose pretended equity in the distribution of justice unto the souls and bodies of men is nothing else but a mere device of man, according to the ancient custom and sleights of Satan, transforming himself into an angel of light to subject and make slaves of that species or kind that God hath honored with his own image." This letter, with a post- script more than two printed pages long, may be found in Vol. 2, R. I. Historical Collections. Although the settlers of Shawomet refused to subject them- selves to Massachusetts on the frivolous pretense of the claims set up by them, yet they modestly proposed to show the right of their title to such commissioners as Massachusetts might send to them for that purpose. In answer to this proposition, Massa- chusetts sent as commissioners George Cooke, Edward Johnson and Humphrey Atherton ; and it is worthy of remark, that these same gentlemen -were conspicuous as partisans in the future con- tests, in relation to Indian titles and claims of Connecticut and Massachusetts in King's Province. This is the notification of their appointment : " To Samuel Gorton, John Wicks, John Warner, John Greene, Randall Holden, Francis Weston, Robert Potter, Richard Water- man, Richard Carder, Sampson Shotten, Nicholas Power, and William Waddle. " Whereas, upon occasions of divers injuries offered by you to us and the people under our jurisdiction, both English and In- dians, we have sent to you to come to our court, and there make answer to the particulars charged upon you, and safe conduct HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 877 to that end, to which you have returned us no other but con- temptuous and disdainful answers, and now, at the last, that if we would send to yourselves, that the course might be examined and heard amongst your own neighbors, we should have justice and satisfaction. We have therefore, that our moderation and justice may appear to all men, agreed to condescend herein to your own desire, and therefor intend shortly to send commis- sioners into your parts, to lay open the charges against you and to hear your reasons and allegations, and thereupon to receive such satisfaction from you as shall appear, in justice, to be due. We give you also to understand that we shall send a sufficient guard with our commissioners, for their safety against any vio- lence or injury ; for seeing you will not trust yourselves with us upon our safe conduct, we have no reason to trust ours with you upon your bare courtesy ; but this you may rest assured of, that if you will make good your own offer of doing us right, our peo- ple shall return and leave you in peace, otherwise we must right ourselves and our people by force of arms." " Per. Cur. " Increase Nowell, Secretary. " Dated 19th, 7th month, 1643." [Mass. Col. Rec] It will be seen that the action of this extraordinary drama commences with four men of Pawtuxet, in the jurisdiction of Providence, holding land in right of Roger Williams' purchase of Canonicus and Miantinomo, asking to be taken into jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and another from Pumham and Saconoco, two Indians, living at Shawomet and claiming ownership of it, and denying Miantinomo's right to sell it, although Pumham's name is attached to the deed as a witness. In consequence of these applications, the purchasers are summoned before the court of Massachusetts to answer the complaint of William Arnold, Benedict Arnold, Robert Coles and William Carpenter. " May 10, 1643, Mr. Humphrey Atherton and Mr. Edward Tomlins were appointed by the Massachusetts General Court to go with Mr. William Arnold and hold a personal interview with Messrs. Greene, Waterman and the rest." June 2d, 1643, Pumham and Saconoco, of whom Pumham had signed Miantinomo's deed as witness, submitted themselves to Maagsachusetts, but the record does not say how much rum, to- bacco and powder this submission cost ; but they were exempted by special act from the prohibition of the use of powder, which 878 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. applied to all Indians. A mock trial was held at Boston, these Indians being present with no adverse party except Miantinomo. Of course it was decided the land belonged to Pumham andSaco- noco, and that the Gortonites should be ousted. Appended are the proceedings of the Massachusetts court, which will prove the sincerity of the authorities. [From Mass. Col. Rec, Vol. 2, p. 41.] — " Samu. Gorton and his company had a safe conduct offered them and were writ unto, about divers in- juries offered by them to us (and the people under our jurisdic- tion both English and Indians) to come to our Court and there make answer to the particulars to which they returned no other but contemptuous and disdainful answers, whereupon three Com- missioners were resolved to be sent to require and see satisfac- tion made, with security, or bring their persons, with reference to their instructions." Sept. 7, 1643. [Mass. Col. Rec, \"ol. 2, p. 44.] — " It was agreed that we should send three commissioners, with a guard of forty able men to at- tend them, which have authority and order to bring Samu : Gor- ton and his company, if they do not give them satisfaction. " The three commissioners are Captain George Cooke, Humph- rey Atherton and Edward Johnson ; and Captain Cooke to com- mand in chief, and Humphrey Atherton to be his lieutenant of the military force. " A letter was ordered to be sent to Samu : Gorton and his company, by them which go before, to declare our intent. " It is ordered that the deputies shall acquaint the elders, to desire, in a special manner, to commend this undertaking to God. " It is ordered, for the present, that the charge of the soldiers, to go with Captain Cooke, &c., to Providence, should be paid by Mr. Glover and the rest of the committee about the children, and be repaid again when it cometh in. " It is ordered that Mr. Stoughton and John Johnson the sur- veyor, should have warrant to deliver to Captain Cooke, Lieu- tenant Atherton and Edward Johnson, or any of them, what they desire as needful for themselves or their company." Sept. 7, 1643. " The Court purposing to adjourn till the eighteenth of the seventh month, and not knowing what may fall out the mean- while, which may require the authority of this Court, it is there- fore ordered, that the magistrates of the Bay, or the greater part HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 879 of them, and the deputies of Boston, Charlestown, Cambridge, Roxbury, Dorchester, or the greater part of them, shall have power (as a committee), to take order (according to the best dis- cretions) in all the exigents and occasions, which, before the next session of this Court, may fall out, either concerning the expedition now on foot against Sam : Gorton and the rest of that company, or concerning any advice from the commissioners of the United Colonies, about the Narragansett or Mohegan sachems and their people, so they were more explicit than the vote and directed the victims to be brought dead or alive." [Mass. Col. Rec. Vol. 2, p. 47.]— '^t was ordered that Mr. Stoughton pay ;£'20 to the soldiers, of the stock in his hand." Oct. 17th, 1643. " It is ordered that Pumham and Sacononocho should have, each of them, lent them, a fowling piece, and Benedict Arnold hath liberty to supply them powder and shot as he seeth occa- sion."— Oct. 17th, 1643. " It is ordered, Lucy Pease, wife of Pease, appearing and professing that she doth abhor and renounce Gorton's opin- ions, and confessing her fault in blotting out some things in the book which she bought, and showing the same before she had delivered it, and professing she was sorry for it, she was dis- missed for the present, to appear when she shall be called for." Oct. 17th, 1643. " The charge of the prisoners, Samu : Gorton and his com- pany. " Upon much examination and serious consideration of your writings, with your answers about them, we do charge you to be a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ and His holy ordinances, and also, of all civil authority among the people of God, and particularly in this jurisdiction." Oct. 17th, 1643. " What shall we say of the moderation and justice which they wish ' to appear to all men,' " says Doctor Henry E. Turner, " and which induces them to ' to condescend ' to send commis- sioners to hear the cause (already prejudged), and to receive such satisfaction as shall appear, in justice, to be due ; when, previously to inditing the letter in which those expressions ap- pear, they had passed a vote, directing their commissioners ' To bring Samuel Gorton and company to Boston, if they do not give satisfaction ;' which duty they performed, without the least 880 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pretence of investigation, by the aid of forty soldiers (a greater number, probably, than composed the whole settlement), which they were directed to take with them for that purpose? " The general court also directed that their cattle should be seized and sent to Boston to be sold for the payment of the ex- penses of the campaign and of their trial and imprisonment. Having marched through Providence they appeared in War- wick September 28th, 1643. Fuller, in his History of Warwick, thus sums up that expedi- tion and its results : " This announcement spread, of course, consternation through- out the little settlement. They neither liked the idea of being ' slaughtered ' or of submitting to the arrogant claims of their enemies. Their foes were near at hand and confident in their strength. The women and children were hastily sent away, ' some to the woods and others in boats to gain the neighboring plantations,' while the men fortified a house and awaited their assailants. Before making an assault a conference was held be- tween the opposing parties, in which four Providence men par- ticipated, who had accompanied the troops to see if they could render any assistance in settling the difficulty. [Simp. Defence, 108.] The commissioners stated the charges against the settlers, viz., that they had wronged some of the subjects of Massachu- setts, and held blasphemous errors. That unless they repented of these things they must be carried to Boston for trial or be slain where they were. This they declined to do, but proposed an appeal to England, which in turn being refused they sug- gested that the dispute be referred to arbitration. This occa- sioned a truce, and a messenger was sent to Massachusetts to learn the views of the rulei-s. The four Providence men sent a letter to Governor Winthrop in the interests of peace. The re- ply that was returned was unfavorable. They said it was neither seasonable or reasonable, neither safe or honorable for us to ac- cept such a proposition.' They gave several reasons, one of which was that the little company ' were no State, but a few fugitives living without law or government, and so not honorable for us to join with them in such a course.' Also that ' their blas- phemous and reviling writings, etc., were not matters fit to be compounded by arbitrament, but to be purged away only by re- pentance and public satisfaction, or else by public punishment.' The commissioners were directed to proceed at once. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 881 " All hope of effecting a settlement was now at an end, and the little party prepared to defend itself against four times its number. The little war commenced. The small company of eleven men, one of them not bearing arms, hung out the English flag in acknowledgment of their allegiance to England, from their extemporized fort, which was ' riddled by the shot of their assailants.' The siege lasted several days, and during the time an attempt was made to burn the building, which failed. The besieged fired no shot during the whole time, and it does not ap- pear that any one was killed on either side. Seeing there was no hope for them against such numbers, they finally agreed upon articles of surrender by which they were to go with their assail- ants ' as freemen and neighbors ' to Boston. They went, how- ever, as prisoners, and on their arrival at Boston were committed to jail to await their trial. Their captors also took with them ' eighty head of cattle besides swine and goates, which they di- vided among themselves.' Thus, before two years had elapsed, the purchasers of Warwick, with the exception of Sampson Shot- ten, who had died, found themselves in a Boston prison and their families dispersed, they knew not where. "On the Sabbath following their reception in Boston, the pris-. oners were required to attend church, to listen, as they supposed, to a sermon from Mr. Cotton for their special edification. They declined to attend unless they could be permitted to speak after the sermon if they should desire. This liberty was promised them, for what reason it is difficult to determine, unless it was to increase the amount of evidence against them and give the people an opportunity to witness their behavior, as the magis- trates would not have hesitated to compel their attendance. The minister 'preached at them about Demetrius and the shrines of Ephesus, after which Gorton, leave being granted, replied, some- what varying the application of the text, to the great scandal of his hearers.' " On the Tuesday following, October 17th, 1643, the prisoners were brought before the court on the charge of heresy and sedi- tion, as follows : ' Upon much examination and serious consid- eration of your writings, with your answers about them, wee do charge you to bee a blasphemous enemy of the true religion of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy ordinances, and also of all civil authority among the people of God, and particularly in this jurisdiction.' 56 882 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " In, ' Simplicities' Defence ' Gorton mentions the following questions which the magistrates proposed to him, and required his answer ' speedily upon life or death,' in writing: " '1. Whether the Fathers, who died before Christ was born of the A'irgin ]\Iary, were justified and saved only by the blood which he shed and the death which he suffered after his incar- nation. " ' 3. Whether the only price of our redemption were not the death of Christ upon the cross, with the rest of his sufferings and obedience in the time of his life here, after he was born of the A^irgin Mary. " ' 3. Who is that God whom he thinks we serve ? " ' 4. What he means when he saith ' We Avorship the star of our good Rempham, Chion, Moloch.' " Gorton was fully self-possessed, and gave his answers in a lengthy and mystical communication, which must have required the combined sagacity of his judges to comprehend. Indeed, at this age, the whole trial, including the course of the judges, their questions, the answers returned and the sentences pronounced, is a curious commentary upon the spirit of that age. The court was divided. All but three of the magistrates condemned Gor- ton to death, but the deputies refused to sanction the sentence. Finally, he and six others were sentenced to be confined in irons during the pleasure of the court, and should they break jail, or preach their heresies, or speak against the church or state, on conviction, they should die. They were separated and sent in chains to different towns near by — Gorton to Charlestown, Wes- ton to Dorchester, Holden to Salem, Potter to Rowley, Wickes to Ipswich, Carder to Roxbury, and Warner remained in Boston. Waddell was allowed to remain at large in Watertown ; Water- man was fined and released, after giving bonds to appear at the next court, but was afterwards arrested and imprisoned. Power was dismissed with an admonition, and Greene had managed to escape during the siege. " By the General Court they were set at liberty and banished out of the jiirisdiction of Massachusetts, and from the Rhode Island Plantations. Fourteen days were given them to remove, and if found after that time within the specified limits they were to suffer death. They were subsequently ordered to leave Bos- ton in two hours. They started at once for their deserted- homes at Shawomet, staying there, however, but one night, and then HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 883 went to the island of Aquidneck, probably in search of their families. Not feeling certain whether their own lands in War- wick were included within the prescribed limits, they wrote to Gov. Winthrop, and were informed that they were, and they were ordered to leave them at once on peril of their lives. They were kindly received at iVquidueck, and resided there till after the charter of the colony was received in 1644, when it appears they returned and resumed their residences at Shawomet. The full account of the arrest and trial may be found in Arnold's Historj' of Rhode Island." Samuel Gorton and Randall Holden, accompanied by John Greene, sailed for England from New York in 1644, but the ex- act date is unknown. Staples and Mackie think it was in the summer, while Governor Arnold, on what appears good authori- ty, thinks it was during the following winter. Beside the com- mission from the native chiefs, they had other reasons for wish- ing a voyage to the mother country. Massachusetts claiming the lands of Shawomet, had warned all persons from ocrupying them without permission from the general court. The two sub- ordinate chiefs thinking themselves in danger had applied to Massachusetts for protection, and an officer and ten soldiers had been sent to assist Pumham to build a fort and remain with them until the danger was over. The Warwick land had been given to thirty-two petitioners, on condition that "ten families should take possession within one year." Even the houses of the set- tlers were granted to the petitioners on certain conditions. It does not appear that they ever took possession of them, however, which is attributed to the bold and generous position taken by John Brown, a magistrate of Plymouth, who prohibited it. There was therefore need that a better understanding should be had with the home government in regard to their rights and the vexations to which they were subjected. On their arrival in England, the commissioners presented the act of submission of the Indians, and also their own memorial against the colony of Massachusetts to the government. In this latter paper they complain of their "violent and injurious expul- sion from Shawomet," and other evil treatment to which they had been subject. The whole matter was duly considered and the ob- ject of their mission was successfully accomplished. The acquain- tance formed by the commissioners with the leading men in the 884 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. English government at this time, was destined to be of service in the negotiations of subsequent years. The memorial was subsequently sent by the English Commis- sioners of Foreign Plantations to Massachusetts, enclosed with their order relative to Gorton and his company. This order in- formed the magistrates that they held the whole matter in abey- ance until such time as they should be able to make their de- fense, and in the meantime they were required " to suffer the petitioners and all the late inhabitants of Narragansett Bay, with their families and all such as may hereafter join them, freely and quietly to live and plant upon Shawomet and such other parts of the said tract of lands within the bounds mentioned in our said charter on which they have formerly planted and lived, without extending your jurisdiction to any part thereof, or otherwise dis- quieting them in their consciences or civil peace, or interrupting them in their possession until such time as we shall have re- ceived your answer to your claim in point of title, and you shall thereupon have received our farther order therein." They were also required to remove any persons who had taken possession of the Shawomet lands by their authority, if there were such, and to permit the petitioners to pass through their territory without molestation to their own lands, a provision which they afterward found of importance. Thus far the commissioners had reason to congratulate them- selves upon the success of their mission. They had found a friend in the Earl of Warwick, governor-in-chief of Foreign Plantations, whom they subsequently honored by bestowing his name upon their settlement. Randall Holden returned home, landing in Boston September 13th, 1646. He brought with him the order of the English com- missioners and delivered it to the Massachusetts authorities. Af- ter some hesitation he was allowed to land and to pass through the state to his home at Shawomet. Gorton still remained in England to watch the course of events until 1648, when he also returned and landed at Boston May 10th of that year. The gen- eral court of Massachusetts was then in session, and promptly passed an order for his apprehension. But Gorton, perhaps an- ticipating such an event, was prepared for it, having secured a letter of protection from the Earl of Warwick previous to his departure from England. The provision in the communication from the English commissioners to Massachusetts, which Holden HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 885 brought over and which secured him from arrest on his landing, was not considered sufficient to shield Gorton, although the language was very explicit in regard to that matter ; but upon his producing the letter from the Earl of Warwick, the order of the court was revoked by the casting vote of the governor, and a week was given him to leave the state. It will be remembered that they both had been banished from the state and were not to be found within its limits after a certain specified time, under pain of death. Upon the reception of the order of the English commissioners by Massachusetts, brought by Holden, Edward Winslow was sent to England as her commissioner to attend to affairs, bearing a lengthy answer to the Warwick memorial. They say in their answer : " It appears to us by the said order that we are con- ceived, 1st, to have transgressed our limits by sending soldiers to fetch Gorton, &c., out of Shawomet in the Narragansett Bay; 2d, that we have either exceeded or abused our authority in ban- ishing them out of our jurisdiction when they were in our power." The discussion of those points formed the principal portion of the communication. The result of Mr. Winslow's mission is given by Governor Winthrop, which is substantially as follows: "Upon his arrival in England a day was appointed for him to meet the Committee on Foreign Plantations, and Gorton also appeared by request to defend the settlers of this town. The discussion was chiefly upon the matter of jurisdiction. The defence of Massachusetts, as set forth in their reply, was 1st, that they were under the jur- isdiction of Plymouth or Connecticut, and so the orders of the Commissioners of the United Colonies had left them to us; 2d, the Indians upon whose lands they dwelt had subjected them- selves and their lands to our government." The English com- missioners were still undecided, and reaffirmed generally their former order, but said, " If it shall appear that the said tract is within the limits of any of the New England patents, we shall leave the same and the inhabitants thereof to the proper juris- diction of that government under which they shall fall." But they further said that inasmuch as " the petitioners have trans- planted their families thither and there settled their residences at great charge, we commend it to the government within whose jurisdiction they shall appear to be (as our desire at present in this matter), not only not to remove them from their plantations, 886 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. but also to encourage them with protection and assistance in all fit ways." This communication was dated July 22d, 1647, and a copy sent to both jNlassachusetts and Connecticut. The point of jurisdic- tion thus remained unsettled, and the controversy was prolonged for more than thirty years. It afterward became involved, as we shall see, in the greater dispute arising from the subjection of the Narragansett Indians and their lands to England, which virtually annexed them to Rhode Island. But the settlers at Shawomet had gained one important point which was of great benefit. Their opponents were virtually in- structed to let them alone, which, however, contained the pro- viso — an important one where such spirits as Gorton were con- cerned — that the settlers " demean themselves peacefully and not endanger any of the English colonies by a prejudicial corre- spondency with the Indians or otherwise ; wherein if they shall be found faulty, we leave them to be proceeded with according to justice." During this whole time the natives of Pawtuxet and Shawomet still acknowledged allegiance to JNIassachusetts, and had a two- fold reason for regarding the white inhabitants about there with jealousy and distrust. In May, 1649, Randall Holden, having some business in Bos- ton which required his presence there, petitioned the court that the sentence of banishment against him might be revoked, in order that he might attend to it. He was informed that an at- torney could attend to the business as well as himself. On May 22d, 1649, the general court of commissioners was held in Warwick, and lasted four days. John Smith was chosen presi- dent and Samuel Gorton assistant for Warwick. Letters were addressed to the Pawtuxet men respecting their allegiance to the colony, and the sachems of Pawtuxet and Shawomet were sum- moned to attend upon the court. This led the parties addressed to complain to Massachusetts, who in turn addressed letters to Rhode Island, warning all whom it concerned against prosecut- ing any of her subjects. The subsequent course of Massachu- setts was the occasion of the following action of the town : July 26, 1650. " Ordered by the Towne that whereas 3 sum- monses were left at John Greene's house by the hand of Richard Chasemore, to summons him to the court of Ma.ssachusetts to be HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 887 held at Boston the last of July, it is ordered by vote of the Towne that John Greene Junior above saide shall not goe downe to the Conrte with respect to the summons. " Ordered that Mr. Gorton, Mr. Weekes, Mr. Rand. Houlden, Mr. Warner, are chosen to draw up a letter to be sent to the Bay." A committee was appointed to meet similar committees of the other towns at Portsmouth in reference to the summons, and in case they failed to send an answer to Massachusetts, the War- wick letter, signed by ]\Ir. Wickes in behalf of the town, was to be forwarded. Matters were assuming such importance that the general as- sembly deemed it necessary to appeal again to the Foreign Com- mittee on Plantations, and Roger Williams was urged to go once more to England in behalf of the colony. Massachusetts was duly notified of this intention by John Greene in behalf of this town, in a letter setting forth the reasons that had led the colo- nists to this conclusion. The letter stated that they "were bought and sold from one patent and jurisdiction to another;" that they had been threatened with expulsion from their lands and exposed to violence since the order of Parliament was made for their protection, and they should seek redress from the home government, and the United Colonies might instruct their agents to act accordingly. " Feb. 3, 1651. Agreement between the Towne of Warwicke with Mr. John Wickes, Mr. Randall Houlden, Mr. Walter Todd, John Greene, Jr., as undertakers to build a mill in the afore- saide Towne, at their own cost and charges, and to grind the Towne corne for two quarts in a bushelle, in consideration of which the town doth give and grant to the said undertakers for their encouragement that lott, that was formerly Mr. Gor- ton's," &c. " Ordered that the undertakers of the mill have liberty to damme up the fresh river for their use anywhere above the lott, Mr. Holliman purchased of Peter Burzicot." " The town ordereth that in case Richard Harcutt's meadow bee spoiled by the damminge the water at the mill, he shall have 2 akers for one in the most qonvenient place not granted, for all said damnifyinge." The year 1651 is memorable in the history of the Rhode Island colony by the withdrawal of the towns of Newport and Ports- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. mouth and their establishment of an independent government nnder a commission obtained by William Coddington, leaving Providence and Warwick to act alone. A considerable number, however, from the " defective towns " were dissatisfied, and sent Mr. Clarke as commissioner to England to obtain a repeal of Cod- dington's commission. Williams, as agent of Providence and Warwick, sailed with him from Boston in November, their ob- ject now being to obtain a new charter that would reunite the dismembered colony. In the meantime the two towns remain- ing held their general assembly as usual. Samuel Gorton was chosen president of the colony this year, and John Greene for clerk of the assembly. To increase the anxiety of the settlers, Plymouth and ^Massachusetts renewed their dispute about War- wick, and in .September " Plymouth was advised to take posses- sion of that plantation by force, unless the inhabitants would willingl}^ submit themselves to their jurisdiction." In February, 1654, a messenger arrived from London with the repeal of Coddington's commission. The division continued, however, another year. In May two distinct assemblies con- vened for a general election, one at Providence, the other at Newport, at the same time, and finally in " ye last of August, 1654, it was then ordered that a court of election be held upon Tuesday, ye r2th of the next month, and to be kept at War- wicke." Williams was sent to Boston to secure legislation, if possible, in reference to Indian affairs, and before departing addressed a letter to the court of Massachusetts in which he says : " I am humbly confident that all the English plantations in all New England put together suffer not so much molestation from the natives as this one town and people. The settlers are so dan- gerously and vexatiou,sly intermingled with the barbarians that I have long admired the wonderful powers of God in restraining and preventing very great fires of mutual slaughters breaking forth between them. The remedy is (under God) only your pleasure that Pumnam shall come to an agreement with the town or colony, and that some convenient way and time be set for their removal." The visit to Boston and his successtherewere very gratifying. The Pawtuxet controversy was to be closed by arbitration, and although this was not effected till two years afterward, yet the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 889 Pawtuxet men then withdrew their allegiance from Massachu- setts and submitted to Rhode Island. At the close of the Indian war of 1676, Pumham having been taken out of the way, and what Indians remained no longer be- ing feared, the balance of power was in favor of the settlers. But the details of the controversy, so long and tedious, were not settled till 1696, when the legislature made the Pawtuxet river the northern boundary of Warwick, as it exists at present. The original purchase of Warwick from Miantinomo by the twelve settlers was bounded on the north by a line running due west from Copessnetuxet cove twenty miles and on the south by a similar line beginning at the extreme point of Warwick neck. In breadth the territory was about four and three-fourths miles, the whole containing about ninety-five square miles, or more than 60,000 acres. Subsequently the town purchased through its appointed agents, the strip of land known as Potowomut neck. The portion of territory lying in the northeast part of the present limits of the town, and north of the original purchase, was claimed by various parties, including the town of Warwick, all of which was properly adjusted as it now is at the time above stated. Erection of Kent County. — At the time of the purchase of Shawomet, January 12th, 1642, Massachusetts had a government regularly established by virtue of a charter from the English crown, while of course Rhode Island had none. The principle upon which Massachusetts claimed jurisdiction out of the bounds of her patent was that of the submission of the inhabitants with their lands to her government. And in regard to the patent of Massachusetts let us keep in mind that her claim gives her three miles south of Charles river, or the southernmost point of it, and westward, indefinitel)' on that line which is the present north line of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and that much only. The grant to Plymouth again in no wise gave any rights of terri- tory anywhere west of the east shore of Narragansett bay, nor did they ever attempt to enforce any such claim. But Massa- chusetts, as before noticed, upon peculiar grounds sought the submission of the inhabitants of Pawtuxet, because four persons from that place had submitted themselves and their lands to their jurisdiction. A similar right of government before noticed was attempted to be exercised over vShawomet upon grounds of the spurious sale of land by Pumham and Saconoco. 890 HISTORY OF WASHIN(;T0N and KENT COUNTIES. Now, aside from the illegal claim of jurisdiction set up by Massachusetts, the early settlers of this territory were without any form of g-overnment until 1647, when the four towns. Provi- dence, Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick were duly organized under a charter obtained from the English Parliament March 14th, 1644. The settlers considered themselves subjects of the English government and simply dwelt together as a voluntary association, making such rules and regulations as seemed com- patible with such an association until they received authority by charter. In 1()4.3 the colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, New Haven and Connecticut established the congress called the " Commis- sioners of the United Colonies," and to which parties Rhode Island repeatedly asked admission, but was as often repulsed. Ostensibly the object of the association was the common de- fense, and strange as it may seem, on these grounds Rhode Island was denied its advantages. iNlanifestly Rhode Island was their common enemy because, forsooth, she had obtained recog- nition from and owed allegiance only to the same government. Great Britain. As an independent colony she could rightly have no enemies, and no allies but such as were equally theirs. It is probable the united colonies had some grave doubts about their aggressive Indian policies meeting with a cordial support from the settlers Of Rhode Island ; and this may account for the per- petual effort they continually made to retard and discourage, and, if possible, suppress the Narragansett plantations. The first session of the united colonies was in May, 1643, at which Plymouth was not represented. Plymoiith was always milder in her puritanism than Massachusetts. She hung no Quakers, she whipped no Baptists, she strangled no witches ; but Plymouth came in in October of that same year. Connecticut was the foundling of Massachusetts. It was settled by her capi- tal and her government was conducted by men from her leading families. But Rhode Island and Providence were but a hot bed of pestilent heretics that must be eventually absorbed. In 1644, on the submission of the Narragansett Indians, John Greene, Samuel Gorton and Randall Holden went to England as agents to look after the interests of the colony and in 1647 the colonial government, under the parliamentary charter, was organized, and the general assembly with commendable wisdom and promptness enacted a code of laws adapted to the condition HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 891 of the colony. Following is the charter of Warwick, which is. the first instrument of the kind on record for the people of this territory. " Whereas by virtue of a free and absolute Charter of civill incorporation, granted to the free inhabitants of this CoUony or Province by the right honourable Robert Earle of Warwicke Governour in Chiefe with the rest of the honourable Comission- ers, bearing date the fourteenth day of March in the year one thousand six hundred and forty-three, givinge and grantinge full power and authority unto the sayd inhabitants to govern themselves and such others as shall come among them ; as also to make, constitute, and ordeyne such lawes, orders, and con- stitutions, and to inflict such punishments and penalties, as is conformable to the Laws of England, so neare as the nature and constitution of the place will admit; and which may best suit the estate and condition there : and whereas the sayd towns of Providence, Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick are far re- mote each from other whereby so often and free intercourse of helpe in desidinge of differences and trying of causes and the like, cannot easily and at all times be had and procured as in this kind is requisitt ; Therefore, and upon the petition and humble request of the freemen of the Towne of Warwicke exhibited unto this present session of General Assembly, wherein they desire freedom and liberty, to incorporate themselves into a body politicke etc. Wee the sayd Assembly having duly weighed and seriously considered the premises and being wil- linge and ready to provide for the ease and liberty of the people have thought fit and by the authorite aforesaid and by these presents doe give, grant, consigne and confirm this present charter to the sayd inhabitants of the Town of Warwick, allow- inge, orderinge and hereby authorizing them or the maior part of them from time to time to transact all such Town afayers as shall fall within the verge, liberties and precincts of the sayd town ; and also to make and constitute such particular orders, penalties and officers as may best suite with the Constitution of said Towne and Townshippe for the well ordering and govern- inge thereofe ; provided the sayd lawes, constitutions and punish- ments for the civil government thereofe be conformable to the Lawes of England, so far as the nature and constitution of that town will admit ; and to that end we doe authorize them to erect a Court of Justice and do give them power to execute such par- 892 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ticular orders and penalties, and so many of the common lawes agreed in the Generall, and their penalties as are not annexed already to the General Court of Tryalls; and further we do hereby order the sayd town to elect and engage all such officers as shall be necessary for the propagation of Justice and judg- ment therein, upon the first Monday in the month of June annually forever hereafter : shall engadge them in fidelity to maintaine the honor, crown and dignity of the State of Eng- land as loyal subjects thereofe to the utmost of their power, the liberties and freedom of this CoUony and the privileges of the town wherein they bear office, and further wee do hereby invest and authorize the sayd officers so elected and engaged with full power to transact in the premises and in so doinge shall be hereby secured and indemnified. " Given at Portsmouth at the General Assembly, there held this 14th of March anno. 1648. John Warner, Glerk of the Assembly. "CopiaVera sicut attestat Johannes Greene, Secritarius ex civitate Warwick." At the first general assembly it was ordered that " the Courte of Election shall always be held upon the first Tuesday after the 15th of May annually if wind or weather hinder not." Also " that none shall goe out of the courte without leave ; or if any do depart he shall leave his vote behind him, that his power re- main though his person be absent." That " all ye inhabitants in each Towne shall choose their military officers from among themselves on the first Tuesdaj' after the 12th of March ; and that eight severall times in the yeare, the Bands of each planta- tion or Towne shall, openlie in the field be exercised and disci- plined by their Commanders and Officers." Laws were also passed ordering that " common scoulds shall be punished with the ducking stoole." AVitchcraft was punishable with death. Laws touching archery were revived. Children were each to have a " bow and four arrowes until he come to seventeen yeares." To provide for any failure of the town to choose their repre- sentatives to the general assembly, it was " ordered that six men of each Towne shall be chosen, in whom ye General Court shall con- tinue ; and each Towne here shall have the choice of their men if they please; or if any Towne refuse, the Court shall choose HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 893 them for them ; if any else beside will tarry, they may whose help is desired." The desire for office manifested in our day does not seem to have been quite as strong in the early history of the colony, when it was regarded rather as a burden than an honor. At a meeting of the general assembly, held in this town May 22d, 1649, at which John Smith, of Warwick, was chosen president of the colony for that year, it was " ordered, that if a President elected, shall refuse to serve in that Generall Office, that then he shall pay a fine of ten pounds. And the Generall Assistant that refuseth to serve after having been chosen shall pay a fine of five pounds." Smith refused to serve, and also Samuel Gorton, who was chosen the same year general assistant for Warwick, and they were both fined, but their fines were subsequently re- mitted. At a subsequent year (1659) a prospective election was graciously provided for in behalf of Randall Holden in the fol- lowing : " It is ordered that Mr. Randall Houlden if he be chosen the next yeare to Generall Office shall not then be compelled to serve against his will, butt freed without payinge fine, which is graunted upon his request, having fowned a burden in servinge for severall yeares together." In connection with the above there are some facts it will be well to remember as we go along, viz.: We have seen that some of the settlers of Providence submitted themselves to Massa- chusetts in 1643, and were not divested of a nominal allegiance to her until 1658. At the first election under the Providence charter (1647) Mr. John Coggeshall was chosen president. At the next (May, 1648) Mr. Coddington was elected. Nine days after the letter by Roger Williams to Winthrop was written. An extract of it is as follows : "Our poor country is in civil dissension, their last meeting (at which I have not been) have fallen into factions. Mr. Codding- ton, Capt. Partridge, &c., the heads of one, and Capt. Clarke, Mr. Easton, &c., the heads of the other faction. I receive letters from both, inviting me, &c., but I resolve (if the Lord please) not to engage unless with great hopes of peace making: the peace- makers are the sons of God." At the same session. May 16th, 1648, Mr. Coddington was sus- pended for charges, and Mr. Jeremy Clarke elected to serve until the president should be cleared or another elected. Mr. Cod- dington left for England in January, 1649, and before 1651 had ■894 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. returned with a commission constituting him governor for life over the island. Prior to his departure, at the meeting of the commissioners of the United Colonies, September, 1648, a petition was received from Coddington and Captain Partridge, claiming to represent the major part of the inhabitants of Rhode Island, and request- ing that the island might be received into a league of friendship and amity, etc., with all the other colonies, ignoring, as it will be observed, Providence and Warwick. But the m.ajor part of the inhabitants of the island were not his partizans ; moreover, the Gortons, the Greenes and Holdens, of Warwick, were as a stay of steel to the faction represented by Captain Clarke and Mr. Easton, and as events show, this party sustained popular rights at all times. The above is but a glimpse at the state of affairs during the earlier years of our colonial existence, but sufficient to acquaint the inquiring mind of how affairs then existed. From the first settlement of Providence in 1636 up to 1703 there were nine towns formed, but with no county organization. In 1703 the colony comprised of these towns was divided into two counties ; one bearing the name of Rhode Island county and the other the county of Providence Plantations. The former county included the towns on the islands, the latter all the towns on the mainland. In June, 1729, a third county was added, called Kings county. In August, 1741, Coventry, comprising in all sixty and three-fifths square miles of territory, was cut off from Warwick. East Greenwich was incorporated as a town in 1677, and in April, 1741, 35,000 acres were taken from the western por- tion of this territory to form the township of West Greenwich. These four towns comprise the territory of Kent county. In 1686 the long contentious dispute between Connecticut and Rhode Island was begun under Arnold's administration, but in 1689 the question in point of jurisdiction, etc., was settled, and the government of the colony again assumed its sway as before. The general assembly held at Newport the second Monday in June, 17r)(), incorporated the towns of East Greenwich, Warwick, West Greenwich and Coventry into a county, to be called the county of Kent. At that time William Greene, of the town of Warwick, was governor ; having served the three preceding years as deputy, he was elected governor in 1743, which position he held until January 23d, 1758, when he died. Of the governors HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 895 under the royal charter he was the eighth who had died in of&ce. At this time also the continent of Europe was in arms, occasioned hy the Spanish war and its complications. France declared war against England, having espoused the cause of Charles Edward, and England now issued a counter proclamation against France. The war was announced to Governor Greene by the Euke of New Castle, and preparations were made for putting the colony in a state of defense. Following is the act of incorporation of the four towns above named, upon petition of the , inhabitants residing in what is now called Kent county : " An ACT incorporating the towns of East Greenwich, Warwick, West Greenwich and Coventry into a county by the name of the County of Kent. " Whereas the number of inhabitants in the said county of Providence is much increased and the bounds thereof are so ex- tensive that the inhabitants in the distant parts thereof are put to great charge and trouble in prosecuting their affairs at the town of Providence where said courts in said county are established to do the business thereof. " Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly of this col- ony and by the authority thereof it is enacted that for the future the towns of East Greenwich, Warwick, West Greenwich and Coventry, at present in the county of Providence, shall be di- vided off from said county of Providence and shall be a distinct and separate county by the name of the county of Kent ; and that East Greenwich will be the county town. "Be it also enacted that within the said county there shall be held and kept at the said town of East Greenwich in and for said county one session of the superior court of judicature, court of assizes and general jail delivery, on the third Tuesday in Oc- tober once in every year. " Be it also enacted, that for the future there shall be held and kept in said county of Kent one inferior court of common pleas and one court of the general sessions of the peace, which said court of common pleas and court of general sessions of the peace shall have two sessions at said town of East Greenwich in and for said county of Kent yearly and every year ; one on the second Tuesday of July and the other on the second Tuesday in Janu- ary. And that there shall be five judges or justices of said court of common pleas and said court of general sessions of the peace chosen every year, to wit: One chief judge and four other judges 896 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. by the General Assembly of this colony in the same manner and at the same time that the other judges of the inferior court of common pleas are chosen in and for the other counties in this colony ; and that the said judges of said inferior court of com- mon pleas and court of general sessons of the peace shall be commissioned by his honor the governor of this colony in like manner as the judges of said courts in the other counties in this colony are commissioned. And that the justices of the peace in said county shall and are hereby authorized and empowered to attend upon and compose the said court of general sessions of the peace in said county of Kent in like manner as the justices of the peace in the other counties in this colony do. And that the said court of common pleas and court of general sessions of the peace in said county of Kent are hereby invested and clothed with the like powers and authorities in all respects as the said courts are in other counties in this colony, by the acts of this colony heretofore made, without an exception or limitation. "Be it also enacted that there shall be one clerk of said court of common pleas and court of general sessions of the peace ; and one sheriff of said county who shall be chosen as the clerks and sheriffs of the other counties in this colony are ; who are hereby empowered to act and do in all respects in said county of Kent, as the clerks and sheriffs of the other counties in this colony do. " Be it also enacted that there shall be one seal with the de- vice of a dove on it for said courts of common pleas and general sessions of the peace in and for said county of Kent to be used upon all proper occasions as is by law required or made proper or necessary ; and that the clerks of said courts for the time be- ing shall have the custody thereof. " Be it also enacted that the said courts as to the number of members to make a quorum in their respective sessions and in relation to all other matters within the power and jurisdiction of said courts shall be subject to all the laws of this colony now in force and the laws of England in every respect as fully and ef- fectually to all intents and purposes as the other inferior courts of common pleas, and courts of general sessions of the peace are in the other counties in this colony ; any law, custom or usage to the contrary hereof, in any wise, notwithstanding. " Provided that a court house of the dimensions, or near the dimensions, of the court house in Providence, be built in the town of East Greenwich by a free contribution of the inhabitants HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 897 of the said county of Kent ; and that if the same be not so far finished as to be fit to hold courts in by the last day of October next then the present act is to determine, be null, void and of none effect, but if said house be so far finished as abovesaid, that the judges and other officers of said court be chosen at the next October session of this Assembly, to hold a court in Janu- ary next." The act provides for a court house which the following fully explains : " At the session of the General Assembly the last Tuesday in February, 1752-3, the court house not being finished a number of gentlemen and other inhabitants of Kent county repre- sented to the Assembly that they have with others erected and built said court house agreeably to said act which was signified to the General Assembly at their session in Providence, Oct. 18, A. D. 1750, and that their said house is unfinished within, which renders it uncomfortable in winter, in the coldest part of which season one court is held at said court house, and that the inhab- itants of said county, though they cheerfully contributed toward the building of said house, find they are not able to complete it, although it is absolutely necessary to be done, and therefore have prayed this assembly that a lottery be granted them as the easiest method to raise money sufficient for finishing said court house, and now this Assembly taking the premises into consid- eration, do vote and resolve, and it is voted and resolved that there be a lottery set up for finishing the court house in the county of Kent aforesaid, and for erecting a fence around the jail in East Greenwich.' " In 1804 the old court house was pulled down and the present house erected. Parties owning estates on the street west of and in the rear of the court house objected to its being placed in front of their residences, as it obstructed their view of the water in the bay, and did all they could to prevent it, but the house was built and remains to this day, while the men who objected to its being placed there have passed away. The East Greenwich Academy. — This institution was estab- lished in its present location in East Greenwich, in the year 1802, as the Kent Academy. It was the second school of the kind in the state, and has continued to the present time without inter- ruption for a single year. The following preamble and articles 57 898 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of association, drawn up by the Hon. Ray Greene, are historic and deserve notice : " East Greenwich, October 8th, 1802. " Ethan Clarke, William Arnold, Mathewson and Mowry and Peter Turner, all of East Greenwich, and State of Rhode Island, and Ray Greene, Elihu Greene and Christopher Greene, all of Warwick, anxious to promote the happiness of posterity, and to continue the blessings of a free and equal government, which this Country enjoys in as great a degree as any other nation; and believing that well-conducted Seminaries of learning, in which youth may acquire knowledge, with the advantages of places of public worship, to incline their minds to morality and reli- gion, are the most probable means to effect their design — have associated for this (as they consider) laudable purpose and have purchased a lot of land in East Greenwich, containing one acre and twenty rods, upon which they intend (with the assistance of others that may be equally disposed to promote the good of man- kind), to erect a building about sixty feet long and thirty feet wide, two stories high and convenient for the accommodation, and when properly regulated, suitable for the instruction of a considerable number of youth, in such branches of education as may be thought most for their advantage.. They also please themselves with the idea, that such an institution will be pro- ductive of the important advantage to East Greenwich and its vicinity of introducing a settled Minister of the Gospel to preach in the Meeting-house which is now so seldom improved. " The elevated situation upon which the building is intended to be erected, its vicinity to the lot upon which the Catholick Con- gregational Society's Meeting-house stands, the cheapness of living and ease of accommodating boarders, all conspire to make this place agreeable in a Town, the healthful air of which is thought to be exceeded by none. This place being central in this State and possessing so many advantages, will induce many persons to place their children here for education, where they can visit them with convenience and be frequent spectators of their improvement. To complete the contemplated plan, very considerable expense will be required, much more than is con- venient or reasonable for a few to bear. But we flatter ourselves that there are others, who, believing as we do, that the dissemina- tion of Literature, information and religion is amongst the first duties of Society, and the most productive of order and good regu- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 899 lations. in Republican Governments, will become subscribers to this plan, and adding their names to those already mentioned, will lend their assistance to support the Society under the fol- lowing articles of association." The articles provided that the estimated cost of land and build- ing, amounting to $3,200, should be divided into one hundred shares of thirty-two dollars per share, payable in three instal- ments ; that a committee of seven persons should be chosen to erect the building and procure a charter ; and that the school should be under the control of a board of trustees annually elected, eligibility to the office being a contribution to the funds to the amount of thirty-five dollars. The stock was soon taken, and at its spring session of 1803, the general assembly granted a charter to the institution under the name of "The Proprietors of the Kent Academy." The edifice was completed at a cost of $3,733.55. It was a building of two stories, sixty feet long by thirty wide, standing on a lot containing one acre and twenty rods, in the immediate front of the location of the present Academy building, and was ample in its accommodations for the necessities of that day. The school was opened in 1804. The names of the subscribers are. as follows : William Greene, for himself and Ray, 10 shares ; Elihu and Christopher Greene, 5 shares ; William Greene, 2 shares ; Wil- liam Greene (son of Nathanael), 2 shares ; Benjamin Greene, 2 shares ; Nathan Greene, 1 share ; Jacob Greene, 1 share ; James Greene, 1 share ; Stephen Greene, 1 share ; Jeremiah Greene, t]- share ; Joseph Greene & Son, ^ share ; Stephen Greene, ^ share ; Michael Spink, J share ; Hopkins Cooke, -J- share ; Jonathan Niles, Jr., ^ share ; Ebenezer Williams, ^ share ; Benjamin Davis, J share; Etiian Clarke, 10 shares ; Thomas Tillinghast, 2 shares; William Arnold, 3 shares ; Mathewson and Mowry, 5 shares ; Jonathan Salisb)ury, 2 shares ; Clarke Brown, 1 share ; Oliver Weeks, 1 share ; Pardon Tillinghast, 1 share ; Walter Spencer, 1 share ; Jonathan Andrews, 1 share ; David Pinniger, 1 share ; Peter and Daniel Turner, 2 shares ; William Collins, 1 share ; Samuel West, 2 shares ; Jonathan Niles, 1 share ; William Sarle, 1 share ; Stephen Arnold, 2 shares ; Simmons Spencer, 1 share ; Thomas Arnold (capt.) 1 share ; Benjamin Tillinghast, 1 share ; Nathan Whiting, 1 share ; Thomas P. Ives (Providence), 5 shares ; John Brown (Providence), 3 shares ; Caleb Wheaton (Boston), 1 share, entered on the Donation List, this share being given and transferred to the Corporation ; Samuel G. Arnold & Co. (Provi- 900 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. dence), 1 share ; Nicholas Brown (Providence), 3 shares ; Jabez Bowen (Providence), 1 share ; George Gibbs (Newport), 1 share ; George Champlin (Newport), 1 share ; Wm. Greene Spencer, 1 sliare ; Thomas Rice, 1 share ; Dutee Arnold, 1 share ; Henry- Arnold, 1 share ; Wanton Casey, 1 share ; Nicholas R. Gardiner, 1 share ; Benjamin Howland, 1 share ; Casey Whitford, 1 share ; Obadiah Brown, 1 share; William Reynolds, 1 share; Samuel Wright, 1 fehare ; Thomas A. Howland, 1 share ; John Fry, 1 share. From the time of its founding the school continued under the administration of the corporation until its purchase, November 9th, 1841, by the Providence Conference (now New England Southern), of the Methodist Episcopal Church. A new charter for the institution was then obtained under the name of "The Providence Conference Academy." The corporate title was after- ward changed to " The Providence Conference Seminary and Musical Institute." In 1884 the property passed into the hands of a stock company, but four years later, in 1888, the stock was surrendered and the stock company, as such, was abolished. It is now (1889) under the joint control of the New England South- ern Conference and a body of corporators. The buildings are on an eminence on the western shore of Narragansett bay, and the location is of surpassing beauty, pre- senting a view of both shores of the bay for a distance of. twenty miles or more. From the Academy building may be seen with the naked eye the cities of Providence, Fall River, AVarren, Bristol and Newport. Many persons who have visited Europe pronounce the view from the institution equal to that of the Bay of Naples. The Academy grounds contain five acres, giving a large campus and a lawn beautifully laid out and ornamented with trees and shrubbery. In the center of these grounds stands the Academy building proper, one of the finest structures of its kind, erected in 1858. It contains a very superior chapel, com- modious recitation rooms, art room, rooms for literary societies, offices, cabinet, laboratory, library and reading room. The original building was removed to its present site on Spring street, where, with some modifications, it is still in use for a pub- lic school. The Boarding Hall was erected in 1846, and in 1868 it was remodeled and enlarged at a cost of about $15,000. The third building, a private residence situated on the north side of the Academy grounds, now known as the Winsor House, was purchased by the institution in 1856. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 901 Across the street from the Boarding Hall is the principal's res- iSence, acquired in 1888, with convenient and elegant parlors for use in the social life of the school. All these buildings are heat- ed with steam and lighted by electricity. The design of the school is to furnish the best possible facili- ties for a thorough culture, under religious influences, in all de- partments of academic instruction. The institution has a library; and members of the school have access also to the excellent free public library of the town, a few rods distant from the Academy grounds. The geological and mineralogical cabinet embraces about three thousand specimens, and is rarely surpassed in variety and completeness. It has recently been completely reorganized. The specimens were all newly labelled and arranged under the direction of a Russian expert, for practical use in the classes of geology, mineralogy, etc. A number of fine specimens of silver and gold ore from the Rocky Mountains, over fifty typical specimens of valuable minerals, fossil remains and geological formations from Kansas, and var- ious marbles from New England, were among the accessions of the past year. The institution has a good philosophical and chemical appa- ratus ; a superior stereopticon ; a set of English astronomical slides, showing the various real and apparent motions of the heavenly bodies ; a fine collection of Levy's lantern views ; an electric machine, with a twenty-four inch plate; Wightman's gasometers, and a new compound microscope. The " Philognothian " and the "Adelphian" societies of gen- tlemen, and the "Aletheon," a society of ladies, hold stated meetings for discussions and other literary exercises. A large and well conducted reading room is supplied with the most valuable and popular papers and periodicals from various portions of the country. The first conservatory of music in America was opened here in 1859 by Eben Tourjee, now director of the New England Conservatory of Music, Boston, who has ever since had more or less of a general oversight of the interests of the department. No academy in the country has been more widely celebrated for the superiority of its musical department. Pupils are here placed under the same systematic drill and receive for the most part the same studies which would be given them in the best con- servatories of Europe. There is also a commercial college connected with the acad- 902 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'l' COUNTIES. emy and a department of stenography and typewriting, also an art department. A normal department was opened in 1888 with a training school, which gives advantages not to be had at the State Normal School, which has no training school. Particular attention is also paid to elocution. The college preparatory de- partment ranks among the first in New England. In 1888 the institution received $43,000 from the estate of the late Stephen T. Olney, of Providence ; $13,000 of this was used in paying a mortgage debt, leaving $30,000 permanent endow- ment. Following is the list of principals of the institution since it was founded : 1802— Abner Alden, A. M 1808 1808— Joseph L. Tillinghast, A. M 1811 1811— Aaron Putnam, A. M 1812 1812— Ezekiel Rich, A. M 1815 1815— James Underwood, A. M 1817 1817— Rev. Daniel Waldo, A. M., died at the age of 104. . . .1818 1818— Benjamin F. Allen, A. M 1822 1822— Nathan Whiting, A. M 1823 1823— Charles H. Alden, A. M 1825 1825— Rev. Ebenezer Coleman, A. M 1826 1826— Christopher Robinson, A. AI 1829 1829— Rev. Henry Edes, A. M 1881 1831— Penuel Corbett, A. M 1832 1832— Christopher Robinson, A. M , 1833 18.33— George W. Greene, A. M 1834 1834— Joseph Harrington, A. M 1834 1834— Joshua O. Coburn, A. M 1835 1835— Thomas P. Rodman, A. M 1836 1836— Joshua O. Coburn, A. M 1838 1838— Rev. James Richardson, A. U 1839 1839— Rev. Daniel G. Allen 1841 1841— Rev. Benj. F. Tefft, A. :\1 1842 1842— Rev. George F. Pool, A. B 1843 1843— Rev. Daniel G. Allen 1844 1844— George B. Cone, A. M 1847 1847— Rev. William Bagnall, A.U 1848 1848— Rev. Robert AUyn, A. M 1854 1854— Rev. George W. Quereau, A. M 1858 1858— Rev. Micah J. Talbot, A. M 1862 1862— Rev. Bernice D. Ames, A. M 1864 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 903 1864— Rev. James T. Edwards, A. M 1870 1871— Rev. David H. Ela, A. M ' 1873 1873— Rev. Francis D. Blakeslee, A. AI 1884 1884^Rev. Oliver H. Fernald, A. M 1885 1885— Rev. Orange W. Scott 1886 1886— Rev. Leonard L. Beeman, A. M 1887 1887 — Rev. Francis D. Blakeslee, A. M Present Principal. Faculty— 1888-9. Rev. F. D. Blakeslee, A. M., Principal, Mental and Moral Science. John C. Packard, A. B.,',Vice-Principal, Mathematics and Natural Science. Herbert E. Drake, A. B., Greek and Latin. Theron C. Strickland, Commercial Department. Miss Kate B. Mitchell, A. B., Preceptress, Modern Languages and Higher English. Miss Ella M. Greene, Director of Music, Organ, Piano and Voice. Miss Eva Coscarden, Reading and Elocution. Miss Carrie E. Russell, Art Department. Miss Kate E. Dopp, Normal and Intermediate Department. Mrs. Helena M. Whedon, Stenography and Typewriting. Miss Anna S. Barber, Assistant in Music. ]\Iiss Bessie H. Standish, Common English. Miss Alice M. Hotchkiss, Assistant Preceptress and Logic. John McLeod, Steward. George H. Blakeslee, Librarian. Mrs. N. A. Weeks, Matron. The total number of students for the year 1887-88 was 254. The number registered in the fall term of 1888 was as follows, 904 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. by states: Rhode Island, 164 pupils ; Massachusetts, 25 ; Connec- ticut, 17 ; New York, 4 ; New Jersey, 3 ; Ohio, 2 ; Nova Scotia, 3 ; Pennsylvania, 2 ; New Hampshire, 1 ; Arizona, 1 ; Missouri, 1 ; Nebraska, 1 ; Wisconsin, 1 ; total, 22r). Among the prominent alumni of the Academy may be men- tioned the Rt. Reverend Williard F. Mallalieu, D. D. ; the Rev- erend William F. Warren, D. D., LL. D., president of Boston University ; the Reverend C. H. Payne, D. D., LL. D., secretary of the Board of Education of the ^lethodist Episcopal Church ; the Reverend S. F. Upham, D. D., professor in Drew Theological Seminary ; the Hon. Nelson Aldrich, United States Senator from Rhode Island ; Professor Alonzo Williams, of Brown University ; and Justices ilatteson and Tillinghast, of the supreme court of the state. The institution has exerted an important influence in the ed- ucational work of the state, a large proportion of its public school teachers having been educated here. Its alumni are found in prominent positions in business life and official stations. The Society of Friends. — The rise and decline of the Qua- ker church is a subject worthy of general notice in the history of the county. The sixteenth century was a period of great agi- tation. Various religious subjects, modes of faith and forms of worship began now to be freely discussed. The reformation of Luther swept away the ecclesiastical barriers which had been erected in the interests of bigotry and superstition. The sun- light of popery was the hey-day of the dark ages. Truth and knowledge finally dawned upon the dark age of ignorance, and as civilization, freedom and knowledge advanced, the minds of men began to perceive that neither popes, nor kings, nor synods, nor clergy, were the keepers of conscience. The pope promulgated bulls and hurled anathemas at the new faith, the church of England, which then was only a shade less autocratical than popery itself. Dissenting sects now sprung into existence, and they all alike suffered persecution from the established church, the same as from popery. The Friends, or as they were styled in derision, Quakers, suffered with others in those days with prison, scourge and torch. Their founder, George Fox, with his coadjutors, William Penn, Thomas Elwood, George Whitehead and Robert BarclaA^, began to hold and estab- lish meetings about the year 1650. They came out of the Epis- copal church of England, whose forms and ceremonies and prac- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 905 tices they discarded, but the fundamental doctrines which they promulgated did not differ materially from the tenets held by that body. Their belief in the Trinity, in the efficacy of the Savior, in faith, in repentance, in justification, in purification and sanctification, in eternal rewards and punishments, and in the inspiration of the scriptures, were the same, but they rejected the sacraments as mere outward forms. Agreeably to the com- mands of Christ's Sermon on the Mount, they disapproved of war and fighting and declined to swear before a civil magistrate. They disapproved of music as an auxiliary of divine worship, and thought less of a mere literary education as a qualification for the ministry than a spotless life and a degree of religioiis experience of the divine spirit upon the heart. Respecting the forms of church government, the discipline of the church, etc., we copy from the writings of Abel Kenyon, of East Greenwich, who is authority on this subject. He says: " The form of church government which now prevails was es- tablished at an early date in the history of the Society, as were also separate business meetings for women Friends, whose co- equal rights, not only in conducting the affairs of the Church, but in the office of the ministry, were fully recognized. The highest ecclesiastical body known in the Society is a yearly meeting, and each yearly meeting is an independent co-ordinate organization, composed of several quarterly meetings. These comprise sundry monthly meetings, which are made up of sub- ordinate preparative meetings, the lowest form of church organ- ization. There are several yearly meetings in America, each comprising its own section, as indicated by its name, as New England, New York, Philadelphia, and Ohio Yearly Meetings. " New England Yearly Meeting is composed of the quarterly meetings of Rhode Island, New Bedford, Falmouth, Dover and others. Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting is made up of the monthly meetings of East Greenwich, South Kingstown, Provi- dence, Newport, and Swansea. East Greenwich Monthly Meet- ing includes the preparative meetings of East Greenwich and Coventry, and the meeting is held at these places alternately. There were formerly preparative meetings at Wickford and Cranston, but they have been long since suspended, and the meeting houses sold. " Among the modes of faith which have rendered the Society of Friends a peculiar people, the practice of silent worship is one 906 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. which has often subjected them to the scorn, as well as to the derision of the world. " But meetings of absolute silence were not common at East Greenwich on the First day of the week, until within the past twenty years. The meeting at Wickford had no speaker for many years, and for a long time before it was given up it was at- tended by only two persons, Beriah Brown and Howland Vaughn, who sat together in silence the usual time, and then shaking hands, as the usual manner is of closing the meeting, went to their homes. Sometimes inclement weather prevented more than one from attending." A traveling Friend had appointed a meeting in the old East Greenwich meeting house and according to the usual custom general notice had been given the people of the neighborhood, who came in crowds to the meeting and the house was filled with an anxious audience, all eager to listen to the noted preacher, whose reputation had gone before him. After sitting some time in silence he arose and said: "Friends, 1 think it is best for every oite to mind their ozun dusifiess," and then sat down. In due time the meeting closed, and Captain Spencer adds, " It was the greatest sermon I ever heard." Each yearly meeting has its book of discipline, or church rules and advices, which differ slightly, although their main points conform to each other. Certain qiieries respecting the purity and consistency of the members are required to be answered periodically by all the subordinate meetings, and a summary of the answers is prepared at the yearly meeting, which shall indi- cate the condition of the Society. Exemplary members are appointed as overseers in each monthly meeting to report all breaches of morality, decorum or discipline. Any persons, whether male or female, whose public appearance in speaking is favorably regarded and whose remarks are profitable and edifying, are recommended or approved by the monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings to which they be- long, and thereafter they can travel in the ministry and appoint meetings if they deem it their duty, after being provided with a certificate of the approval of the particular meeting to which they belong. " Weighty " members of the society, of deep re- ligious experience, who have never been called to the ministry, are recommended and approved as elders, and such Friends often accompany ministers in their journeys to preach the Gospel as HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 907 companions. They claim all children as members whose parents belong to the society, but they are disowned if, when having reached the years of religious understanding, they fail to be consistent, and it not unfrequently happens that youths are led astray by the charms of pleasure, the vanity of fashion, or the temptation of vice. Each monthly meeting is required to support its own poor, and never permit them to become a burden to the authorities ; and it is enjoined that the children of the poor shall be educated at the expense of the society. Funds for necessary expenses are raised by contributions from the members of each meeting, according to their ability. All members are advised against the use of all spirituous liquors and tobacco, except for medicine ; to abstain from vain amusements ; to avoid places of public resort, and to keep in true moderation and temperance on all occasions. Their marriages are solemnized at a public meeting, the par- ties having previously declared their intentions and obtained permission of the monthly meeting, by rising in the presence of the audience and taking each other by the hand, the bridegroom saying, " In the presence of this assembly I take this my friend, Rachel Penn, to be my wife, promising through divine assistance to be unto her a kind and affectionate husband until it shall please the Lord by death to separate us," or words of similar im- port. The bride repeats the same with the names reversed. A certificate is read and signed by the parties, and witnessed by those present, when the ceremony is completed. A wedding with invited guests, a reception or a tour follows, at the pleasure or caprice of the contractors. The laws of England, as well as those of the United States, recognize this form of marriage, and divorces are never known among the Friends. The laws also have legalized the form of affirmation by which the oath is avoided, but Friends endured much persecution, and a long time elapsed before it was conceded. General meetings or, as they were afterward called, yearly meetings were first held at Swannington, a town in Liecester- shire, in 1654. Five years later a general meeting was held on the island of Rhode Island upon the ninth day of the fourth month, old style. In 1658 there were fifteen ministers laboring in New England and the South. George Fox held meetings in Providence " in a great barn;" 908 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. also under a tree in Old Warwick, which stood on land now owned by John Holden ; also at Narragansett, to which people came from Connecticut to hear him ; also at the house of John Briggs, Kingston, which last occasion was a monthly meeting for business, which was held on the second day of the week in tlie fifth month. On this occasion the meeting proceeded to business, " and it is the mind of this meeting that John Briggs take the account of the meeting in writing." The monthly meeting was at this time established under the name of Narragansett monthly meeting, and comprised the territory of Providence, Warwick, East Greenwich and Kings- ton. Rhode Island Quarterly Meeting was established the same year, composed of the monthly meetings of Rhode Island, Dart- mouth and Narragansett. It appears that the First day meetings were held in Kingston, probably near Wickford, at the dwelling house of Joseph Hull, who was a speaker in these meetings, but in consequence of a difference between Jack Turner and him, and some dissatisfac- tion expressed by Friends respecting his conduct, it was resolved that the weekly and First day meetings be held at the house of William Gardiner, until further order from this meeting. At this period men and women's meetings for business were held together. Three monthly meetings were held at the house of John Briggs ; then they were held at the house of Jabez Greene, in Warwick, probably at Potowomut, until a meeting house was erected. On the 4th of March, 1700, the place of hold- ing meetings on First day was again changed. It was to be held two First days at the house of John Watson, and two First days at Joseph Hull's house, and not at William Gardiner's for " sev- eral " reasons. Before the close of the year it was resolved to build a meet- ing house, as appears by this ancient record: "At the monthly man and woman's meeting in the house of Jabez Greene, this 6th of 12th month, 1699, its the mind of this meeting that Eben- ezer Slocum and Daniel Cogshall are chosen to appoint where a meeting house shall be built and set up for this purpose, to wait upon God in, and to worship him in spirit and in truth." This meeting house was placed on the land of John Spencer, about half a mile southwest of the village of East Greenwich, near the four corners, and just west of Payne's grist mill. The building was begun and so continued, that at a men's and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 909 women's meeting at the new meeting house in East Greenwich, " Ye 2d day of ye 7th month, 1700, it was agreed that a meeting be kept there on every First day, that is, at the aforesaid meet- ing house, by all that are willing there to meet." The meeting house and lot were not conveyed to the Society until 1704. Al- though the house was used for meetings, it remained unfinished until the 3d month, 1703, when Peter Greene, Jabez Greene and Thomas Greenall were appointed a committee to finish it. This spot is now enclosed by a substantial stone wall. Within its precincts, marked by rude stones, rest the remains of those venerable Friends who worshipped within the walls of the old meeting house one hundred and fifty years ago. It will thus be seen that the erection of the first house for divine worship on the western shore of Narragansett bay is justly claimed by the Society of Friends, seven years before the building of St. Paul's church in Kingston — which was removed to Wickford in the year 1800, now standing in a dilapidated con- dition — and twenty-eight yearfe before Trinity church, first built in Newport in 1702, was removed to the shore of Coweset bay, and placed midway between East Greenwich and Apponaug. Surveyor Thomas Arnold. — The first surveyor of the port of East Greenwich was Captain Thomas Arnold, who was appointed to the office by General Washington ; he was an officer in the revolutionary army, and held a command at the battle of Mon- mouth, in which action he was wounded, and in consequence lost his right leg. A rather curious incident occurred at the time when the limb was amputated. The wound was caused by a musket ball, which the surgeon was unable to extract. After the leg was cut off the ball was found and sent home to his wife, who had a string of beads made of the leaden bullet, which she always wore afterward as a trophy. The office of surveyor was a more difficult and important one than it is at present. The surveyor was not only obliged to at- tend to the duties of the custom house, but had the additional duty of collecting the taxes on carriages, plate and watches. It was also his duty to sell the stamps issued by the general gov- ernment. At that time no business transaction was legal unless done with stamped paper. The price of the stamps varied from four cents to ten dollars. In the year 1794 congress made a law imposing a tax on car- riages, the collection of which was a part of the duty of the sur- 910 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. veyor. It appears that the owners of carriages were obliged to make returns to the collector every quarter. The tax on coaches was $15 ; on chariots, $12 ; on phaetons, $9 ; on curricles, $6 ; on chaises, $3; and $2 on all carriages on four wheels without springs. It appears from an abstract of returns made in 1797 that there were no coaches in the county at that time, and but one sulky, which belonged to Doctor Peter Turner ; and of chaises owned in the town of East Greenwich there were only nine. Another source of revenue to the general government was the license law for the sale of spirituous liquors. At that time the collector had the right to grant licenses, and the revenue arising therefrom was appropriated to the general government. The people of those days were not very strong advocates of temper- ance, as is evident from the number of licenses granted during the year 1794. In this year the number of licenses taken out amounted to eleven. Captain Thomas Arnold, while collector, did not find the office always an easy one. East Greenwich at that time carried on an extensive trade with the Dutch colony of Surinam. The officers of the vessels engaged in the trade always managed to arrive in the harbor during the night, and no small amount of smuggling was practiced, as the collector's infirmity (the loss of a leg) kept him within the house at that hour. A brig once arrived so late in the night, in consequence of a fog down the bay, that it was broad daylight before the vessel reached her moorings. Now Captain Arnold had a son named Isaac, who was brimfuU of mis- chief, and the very person for such an emergency. He of course was consulted to know what could be done. His advice was that the old gentleman should be kept at home until the articles sub- ject to duties were removed, adding that he knew how it could be done. In the morning when the captain arose his wooden leg was missing, and could not be found until the brig was in perfect order for the collector's visit. Captain Arnold lived to extreme old age, and held the office of surveyor until the infirmities of increasing age prevented him from performing the duties required. Thomas Arnold Peirce, Jr., the popular station agent of the Stonington railroad at East Greenwich, is one of the many de- scendants of Captain Arnold. Extract from the Diary of D.vniel Howland. — The diary kept by Daniel Howland, a portion of which is here given, will HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 911 be considered by our readers as matter worthy of record. The extract was taken from Doctor Greene's " History of East Green- wich." "In 1739, war with Spain began. In May, 1744, war with France was proclaimed here." "July the 5th, 1740. Died, John Wanton, Late Governor of Rhode Island and was Decently Buried on the 7th of the Same a Great Concourse of People attending the funeral." Rather a singular way of noticing the death of a governor by saying he was " decently buried." " December, 1741 and the first of January following there fell 6 or 7 Snows one upon another, without a thaw between. Bristol ferry was so froase the said winter that people passed upon the Ice from December 23d to January the 10th. January the 30th Father came away from Boston and Got home February the 5th there being thirteen in Company most part of the way and trav- elling every Day, the bad travelling was caused by a great Snow which fell the 28th and 29th of January which with the rest of the Snows that was then remaining on the Ground was counted 5 foot Deep upon a level ; about the 5th and 8th of February the rivers were so extremely frose that five men went from Bristol to Newport on the Ice, and Nathaniel Manchester came from Bristol ferry to Greenige, and a few days before John Baly went from Coeset shore to Swansy upon the Ice ; our well that is 3 or 4 and twenty foot Deep was frose to a solid body of Ice, for three weeks, so that we got no water in the time about the first of February 1741. February the 25th 1741 a Wedding Guest came from Freetown to common fence pint on the Ice, across the Bay. Sometime the last of February the Ice was measured up against Fall River and found to be 25 inches thick and about Slades ferry it was 30 inches. March 6th, there went a man over Bris- tol Ferry and led a horse with a sled. March 7th, there fell a snow, which with the Rest since hard wether set in makes 32 inches." " March 10th, a man went over Bristol Ferry upon the Ice, and two boys came from Portsmouth to Coeset. March 20th it was generally thought that a man might have Gone from Common fence pint to Swansy on the Ice. March the 24th, the Bay above us not yet broke up. March 26th. it broke up and the Ice came down by Acres. April 23d. I went to Newport, and in Moon's lane there was a snow bank for Rods together 3 feet or 3^- feet 912 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Deep. June 2d. the Ice thawed in John Howland's Well. June the 6th. there was Snow Brought to a town meeting held at the town house in Portsmouth, half a hat crown full from Job Law- ton's farm. June the 10th. at the Wedding of Joseph Freeborn, We the Guests Drank Punch made of Snow ; The like Never in these parts Before." "1742. The Spring very forward, the peach-trees bloomed in April for the most part ; a very promising Season the fore part of the year but followed by a violent Drouth, which began About the 26th of June and for about ten weeks, without Rain except some scattering Drops some times and very Seldom an}- at all," " February the 19th, 1743. Grasshoppers seen to Day plenti- full}^ hopping about in the Meadows ; the Winter past since Xo- vember, exceedingly moderate, the Ground bare mostly, and but little frost, fine pleasant Weather sometimes for a Week togeth- er and Summer like Days very common. November the 8th. Extraordinary Dark about the middle of the Day, so that people were obliged to light candles to do their business. January 1774 there appeared a Blazing Star in the West in the Evening for a great while and afterwards it was seen by many in the Morning before it was light Easterly. The same Year in Febru- ary died Martha Dyer aged Ninety Nine years and Nine months, and her Sister Susan Brownel, aged Ninety Six years and Elev- en months, both lived in one house, many years, and died in the same in a week's difference." " June 17th, 1745. Louisburg surrendered to the English af- ter a Siege of six weeks and five days. In May came orders from the King to the several Governments to Raise a Number of forces in order to join the British forces at Cape Britton,to go on an Expedition against Canada, in compliance with which Rhode Island raised three hundred men directly and the other Govern- ments a great many more, but no fleets come as yet October the first. In the last of September a general alarum in Boston Gov- ernment, throughout the Province thirty or forty thousand men gathered into Boston out of the Country all of which was caused by intelligence of a large French fleet near the Cape Sable shore." "November the 4th our Country Sloop and Sogers, which were enlisted for Canady on Bord the transports hauled off in Order to Sail to Anopilus Royal by order of Assembly in order HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 913 to Strengthen that place against the French fleet, which we have inteligence has Sailed homewards Sometime last Month. Our forces afore mentioned, proceeded to the Vinyard shore, and there cast away one transport but lost no Men, took them on bord the other transports, afterwards lost one more totally upon some of the islands, run the Country Sloop on shore, and the other transport. The Sloop they Got off again and after losing great numbers of their men by reason of hardship and Sickness, returned home without proceeding any further. Wood in New- port ten pounds ($50) a cord ; Hay not to be got at all hardly. Grain very scarce of all sorts." " In December 1746 Our Commissioners settled the Bounderies between the Governments; Boston not Joining." These " Bounderies " I presume were those between Massa- chusetts and Rhode Island, which were so long in dispute, and were only decided by law a few years since. '' In the last of May came a man of War Snow and lay off by Block Island and took two flag of truces, and prest several men out of Vessels. In the last of November a prodigious Mob in Boston, chiefly exasperated by the Men of War pressing many of the people and the Governor's winking too much at it." " In February Commodore Knowls besieged and took port Louis upon Hispanola in Order as tis reported to make it a free port for the English, which I think was altogether needless, it being so already to several Governments without employing fif- teen of the King's Ships to settle a traders dispute. About Mid- summer came orders to proclaim a cessation of arms between English, French and Dutch, and some time after the Spaniards also." " March the 23d, 1749, it being the 5th Day of the Week, we put our Goods on board a Boat in Order to move to East Green- wich, from Portsmouth came away the next Morning, and ar- rived at Updikes Newtom (Wickford), just before Night, after a tedious passage and a very hard gale of Wind ; the Next Day carted up our Goods and got into our new House." This new house was the one now owned and occupied by John Kenyon, and therefore by this date we know how old the house is. " May the 5th Anno 1749, Peace proclaimed between English, French and Spaniards at Newport. " June the 15th, 1750, The General Assembly passed an Act 58 914 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Incorporating East Greenwich, West Greenwich, Warwick and Coventry into a county by the name of Kent, with a proviso (viz.) That the Inhabitants of said County should by Free Contribu- tion or Subscription build a Court House, near the Dimensions of the County House in Providence to be suitable to hold a Court in by the last of October, which being Completed agreeable to the Act, was Confirmed and the Officers chosen at that Sessions of Assembly, through great Opposition parts of Warwick and Providence in general doing their utmost Endeavors to stop their proceedings." The court house here mentioned is not the present one. The older one was pulled down in 1804, and the present built on its site. The opposition referred to was caused by the jealousy then existing between the towns of Warwick and East Green- wich, Warwick being anxious to have the court house located at Old Warwick, as it was then the most populous portion of the town of Warwick, but the contribution and subscription of East Greenwich being much the greatest, the controversy was ended by building at East Greenwich. " October the 27th. The Sheriff with a Jury (after two days spent to get a Full One) proceeded to set off a certain parcel of Land which John Rice had Recovered of John Pierce, and at- tempting to run across some Land in possession of Joseph Nichols, was forewarned which they took a great Opposition and very dangerous to proceed and so fled to Providence for aid, re- turned two Days after with forty men, which were warned to appear in arms. But Did Not appear in arms, and with that aid proceeded to set off the Land." " The 22d of this Month we had a very violent storm at S. E. but short attended with an Extraordinary Gale of Wind which brought in a very high tide, which did Considerable Damage in chief of the Harbours about this Shore, and at Providence the loss is considerable sustained by the tide, in their Stores amongst the Salt chiefly ; in Newport, the Merchants suffered many thou- sand pounds Damage in their Stores amongt Dry Goods, Sugar and Salt." " This year 1752, Our Style was altered from Old to New, in the Month of September beginning the 1st and 14th. March following very warm, the Season seeming to be as much altered as the Style, some peach blooms said to be opened in this month N. S. but very plenty according to O. S." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 915 "January 1755. Some stirrin all the American Governments about the French and Indians fortifying at or near the River Ohio. Our Government (R. I.) voted 100 men for to join the other forces in an attempt upon that fortification, and such fur- ther service as should be thought proper." " February the 5th the petition preferred by Joseph Nichols and Ruf us. Green in order to destroy our County of Kent, re- ceived its expected fate, for after a AVarm Debate in the Assem- bly they declined taking a Vote upon it, and so withdrew it." " This year, the 18th November, about half after 4 o'clock in the Morning we had a ver}- surprising Shock of an Earthquake, and on the 22d about 8 at Night we had another small one, but very perceivable. " On the 9th of July this year General Braddock met with an almost total defeat, himself and great part of his head Officers being killed, just after they had passed the River Monongahala in their march towards the fortification on or near the Ohio." " October 21st, we were ordered to raise 400 men in the Gov- ernment by an act of Assembly to join our forces already in the Expedition formed against Crown Point which was done at a very great expense, some leaving i^300 besides their wages, who were all dismissed without being mustered the rest of our forces sent home and dismissed presently after." Freemasonry in Kent County. — Freemasonry in Kent county was favorably known in the early part of the present century. Several lodges were established in different localities, but from various causes they maintained only a feeble existence for a greater -or less number of years, until nearly all surrendered their charters, and labor practically ceased for a time in the en- tire county. Upon the revival of masonry about the year 1850, the old charters were restored, vigorous and healthy work was recommenced and has been steadily carried forward to the pres- ent time. Our lodge rooms are " things of beauty," well worthy of attention, and peace and prosperity reigns within our borders. Brief sketches and appropriate statistical information of the six lodges and the single chapter organized, will be given in chrono- logical order. Harmony Lodge, No. 9, Pawtuxet. — This is the oldest lodge in the county. A meeting of sundry masons was held in Pawtuxet, April 12th, 1805, to consider the advisability of establishing a lodge in said village. After due consideration, a dispensation 916 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was requested and received May 6th, 1805. The lodge was char- tered and consecrated September 20th, Anno Domini 1808, Annoque Lncis 5808, with the following charter members : Peleg Rhodes, Christopher Rhodes, Jonathan Aborn, Comfort A. Carpenter, William vSmith, Benjamin Smith, Solomon Thornton, Ephraim Bowen, Jr., and Jonathan Remington. Harmony Lodge has seen many of the ups and downs incident to lodges chartered in the early part of the century. Though never losing her charter or records, yet from 1827 to 1852 her communications were only intermittently holden. W Remington Arnold was in the " East" during this intermittent period, which is perhaps not equalled in the masonic history of the United States. The master's chair has been occupied as follows ; Jonathan Nichols, 1805-6 ; Ephraim Bowen, Jr., 1807 ; Peleg Rhodes, 1808- 13; Elisha P. Smith, 1814; William Rhodes, 1815; Tully Dor- rance, 1816-23 ; James Harris, 2d, 1824-26 ; Sion A. Rhodes, 1826 ; Remington Arnold, 1827-1852; John Carr, 1853-64; Isb on Sher- man, 1855-66 ; Henry Butler, 1857-59 ; Sidney B. Smith, 1860-62 ; Daniel A. Smith, 1863; Israel R. Sheldon, 1864; John F. Carr, 1865-66 ; Elisha S. Arnold, 1867 ; John F. Carr, 1868 ; George F. Sheldon, 1869-70; Andrew J. Bates, 1871-73; Eleazer Ralph, 1874-75; Henry L. Johnson, 1876; Forrest A. Peck, 1877-78; William B. Hart, 1879-80 ; Samuel S. Remington, 1881 ; James Sutcliffe, 1882 ; Edwin Montgomery, 1883 ; Charles E. Johnson, 1884; Elisha H. Rhodes, 1885; Walter O. Talcott, 1886; Joseph A. Latham, 1887; William B. Rhodes, 1888. The active membership is 71. King Solomon s Lodge, No. 11, East Grccnivich. — The dispensation for this lodge was granted June 24th, 1806. The lodge was chartered and consecrated October 4th, ^;/«() Domiml810, Amioqnc Lucis 5810, with charter members as follows : Peter Turner, Wanton Casey, Stephen Franklin, Abner Alden, James Miller^ Thomas Allen, Thomas Tillinghast, Jr., Stephen Douglas and Job Tillinghast. Prosperity did not always attend the lodge, and the charter was surrendered to the parent body May 28th, 1849, but upon petition of some of its former members was re- stored December 27th, 18.'")2, and the lodge reorganized January 12th, 1853. The following named brethren have filled the master's chair r Stephen Franklin, 1806; Abner Alden, 1807 ; Thomas Tilling- hast, Jr., 1808-10 ; Howland Greene, 1811-15: William Harrison,. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 917 1816-20; Nathan Whiting, 1821-24 ; Joseph J. Tillinghast, 1825 ; Augustus Greene, 1826-29 ; Lucius M. Wheeler, 1830-31 ; How- land Greene, 1832—; Absalom P. King, 1853-56; James C. But- terworth, 1857 ; Alfred Read, 1858 ; Thomas Foy, 1859 ; William E. Peek, 1860 ; Samuel S. Whiting, 1861 ; William Bodfish, 1862-3 ; William A. Johnson, 1864 ; Caleb R. Hill, 1865 ; Thomas J. Til- ley, 1866 ; Charles R. Brayton, 1867-8 ; John M. Spencer, 1869 ; George H. Wilcox, 1870-71 ; George G. Bullock, 1872-73 ; Thomas W. Bicknell, 1874-75 ; John C. Nichols, 1876-77 ; Byron Briggs, 1878 ; Calvin B. Truesdell, 1879-80 ; Charles M. Wilkinson, 1881-82; John R. Allen, 1883-84; John Ware, 1885-86; William R. Sharpe, 1887-88. Active membership, 83. Manchester Lodge No. 1:2, AntJiony. — The dispensation for Man- chester Lodge was granted November 28th, 1808. It was con- stituted October 3d, 1810. The charter bears the date of October 4th, Anno Domini, 1810, Annoque Liicis, 5810, with the following named brethren as members : Richard Anthony, Joseph Rice, William Anthony, Benjamin Clark, John McGregof , Stephen G. Williams, John White and William Hall. No dues have ever been imposed upon the members and the bank account is in a very satisfactory condition. From 1828 to 1851 no work was done, but the regular communications were sacredly held and the lodge has never lost its identity. The master's roll is as follows : Richard Anthony, 1808-10 ; Sylvester Knight, 1811 ; Richard Anthony, 1812 ; John Greene, 1813-14 ; William Anthony, 1815 ; John Baldwin, 1816 ; Sylvester Knight, 1817-23 ; Hollis K. Jencks, 1824-27 ; Oliver Johnson, 1828-30 ; Charles E. Dunham, 1831-32 ; Whipple A. Arnold, 1833-34 ; John Allen, 1835-44; Caleb Kilton, 1845-47; William B. Merrill, 1848-52 ; Whipple A. Arnold, 1853-58 ; Thomas Siddell, 1859 ; Moses Fifield, 1860-63 ; Dwight R. Adams, 1864-65; Albert C. Dedrick, 1866-67 ; Andrew Potter, 1868-70 ; Albert D. Reming- ton, 1871; Harvey S. Bartlett, 1872-74; George L. Card, 1875 ; Dexter B. Potter, 1876-77; Elihu R. Shippee, 1878; Henry D. Heydon, 1879-80 ; Elihu R. Shippee, 1881 ; John M. Nye, 1882- 83; Eug-ene F. Warner, 1884-85; George H. Bartlett, 1886; Byron A. Northup, 1887-88. The roll of membership aggregates 310 ; the active member- ship is 108. Manchester is the mother lodge of Hamilton No. 15 ; Warwick, No. 16, in her later life ; and Ionic, No. 28. 918 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Hamilton Lodge, No. 15, Clayville. — This lodge was originally located in the western part of Coventry. The dispensation was granted May 27th, A. D. 1816, A. L. 5816. It was chartered and consecrated October 9th, 1817, with Thomas O. H. Carpenter as master. In 1825 it was relegated to the eastern part of Foster, and in 1850, to Clayville, where it has probably found a perma- nent home. Warwick Lodge, No. 1(J, Plienix. — The original location of this lodge was in Apponaug. The dispensation was granted No- vember 25th, ] 822. The charter bears the date of September 16th, Anno Domini 1825, Anno Lueis 5825, also the names of Wil- liam Harrison, Thomas Holden, James Warner, Caleb Green, Henry Tibbitts, Jonathan Niles, Albro Anthony and William Arnold as charter members. After a feeble existence of about eight years the charter was surrendered to the Grand Lodge. Labor was suspended for twenty-five years, when the lodge was reorganized at River Point March 12th, 1855, and in 1857 was moved to Phenix, where it has a pleasant and permanent home. The charter was restored June 22d, 1855. The master's chair has been occupied as follows: William Harrison, 1822-27; Henry Tibbitts, 1828; Willard Ballou, 1829; Thomas Holden, 1830; Otis Lincoln, 1855-57; William Greene, 1858; Henry Howard, 1859; James J. Smith, 1860; Daniel Babcock, 1861-66; Thomas G. Dorrance, 1867; Daniel Babcock, 1868; James G. Briggs, 1869-71 ; Samuel T. Whipple, 1872-74 ; John Potter, 3d, 1875-77 ; William B. Douglas, 1878-80 ; Edward Pike, 1881-83 : Thomas jNI. Holden, 1884-87; Edwin C. Capwell, 1888. Active member- ship, 104. lonie Lodge. No. .28, Greene. — This is the youngest lodge in the county. The dispensation was granted January 15th, Anno Domini, ISIO, Anno Lueis, 5810, and the charter bears date May 16th, A. D., 1870, A. L. 5870. It was constituted January 7th, 1871, with the following charter members : Whipple A'. Phillips, Warren H. Tillinghast, William R. Carter, Alexander Peck, Thomas T. Hazard, Leonard Tillinghast, George K. Tyler, Charles J. Borden, Caleb R. Nicholas, William J. Jordan, Hiram Greene, Sylvester R. Briggs, Edward L. Valentine, George W. Brown and Gardiner R. Wilcox. The roll of the masters is as follows: Whipple V. Phillips, 1870-71 ; Warren H. Tillinghast, 1872-73; George K. Tyler, 1874; Gardiner R. Wilcox, 1875-76 ; William H. Jordan, 1877 ; Joseph T. Hopkins, 1878-79 ; Edward HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 919 E. Arnold, 1880-81; George P. Dorrance, 1882-83; Joseph T. Hopkins, 1884-86 ; Alvero A. Kennedy, 1887 ; Joseph D. Hillory, 1888. Active membership, 37. Landmark Royal Arch Chapter, No. 10,Phenix. — In Kent county capitular masonry is of modern growth. But one chapter, Land- mark No. 10, has ever existed within its precinct. The dispen- sation was granted June 17th, 1870, with officers named therein, to wit : Moses Fifield, high priest; Daniel Babcock, king ; Dwight R. Adams, scribe. The first convocation under the dispensation was held in Centreville National Bank, July 9th, 1870, and there- after in Odd Fellows' Hall, River Point, till May, 1878, when the chapter was moved to Phenix, and has since occupied the spa- cious halls in conjunction with Warwiclc Lodge. It was char- tered March 14th, Anno Domini, 1871, Anno Invcntionis, 2401, and constituted October 20th, 1871. The charter members were : Dwight R. Adams, Henry D. Brown, James J. Smith, Daniel Babcock, Horatio A. Stone, John C. Sweet, Moses Fifield, James Waterhouse, Albert C. Dedrick, Andrew Potter and Benjamin C. Allen. The following named companions have been honored with a seat in the " Oriental Chair " : Moses Fifield, 1870 ; Andrew Potter, 1871-74; Samuel T. Whipple, 1875-76; Harvey S. Bartlett, 1877-83; Edward Pike, 1884-85; Henry D. Heydon, 1886-88. The roll of membership aggregates 131 ; the active member- ship is 114. CHAPTER XX. TOWN OF WARWICK. Important Features of the Towns. — Town Organization. — Protection Laws Against the Indians. — Land Grants. — Highways. — Town House. — List of Town Clerks. — Town Officers. — Scliools. — Pawtuxet. — Rocky Point. — The Battonwoods. — Oakland Beach. — Shawomet Baptist Church. — Apponaug and Coweset Shore, Industries, Churches, etc. — Crompton, its Early Manufacturing. Stores, Churches, etc. — Centreville. — Arctic, its Industries and Churches. WARWICK is a flourishing commercial and manufacturing township, situated about five miles southwesterly from the city of Providence, and contains more villages than any other town in the state. It is bounded on the north by Cran- ston, on the east by Narragansett bay, on the south by East Green- wich, and on the west by Coventry. The prevailing soil is a gravelly loam, generally strong and fertile, affording facilities for the successful cultivation of many of the principal grains and veg'etables. The numerous thriving manufacturing villages scat- tered throughout its borders demand a large portion of the prod- ucts of the farm. Following is a list of the principal places of interest in the town : J^illagcs. — Apponaug, Pawtuxet (Warwick side), Norwood, Old Warwick, Oakland Beach, Buttonwood Beach or Nausocket, Coweset, Greenwood, Hill's Grove, Bayside, Conimicut, Pontiac, Natick, Arctic, River Point, Clyde, Lippitt, Phenix, Birch Hill, Centreville, Crompton, Warwick Neck, Spring Green, Elm Lawn, Rocky Hill, Riverside, Potowomut. Hills. — Spencer's, Bald, Carpenter's near Drum Rock, Prospect, Andrew's. Rivers. — Pawtuxet, Potowomut, AVeeweonk creek, Old Mill creek. Brooks. — Tuskatucket, Kickemitit, Aponakee, Mill, Sweet's Meadow, Masquachug. Ponds. — Posnegansett, AVarwick, Gorton's (formerly Coweset), Three. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 921 Coves. — Pawtuxet, Occupessatuxet or Spring Green, Old Mill, Warwick, Horse Neck, Brush Neck, Apponang, Passconuquis or Patiunco, Mud, Turtle, Coweset Bay. Necks. — Potowomut, Warwick, Horse, Brush, Arnold's. Rocks. — Sally, Potowomut, Crack, Flat, Longmeadow, Round, Drum, Mark, Wakefield Ledge, Atwood Ledge, Hunt's Ledge, Gould's Ledge, Barron Ledge. Points. — Conimicut, Namquid, called Gaspee since June 10th, 1772, Choppaquanset, Rocky, Wood, Cedar Tree, Sandy, Marsh, Long. Islands. — Chepiwanoxet, Greene's, Marsh, Rock. Swamps. — Warwick Great, Cedar. Fort. — At Old Warwick Cove (siege of 1643), Greene's stone castle at Old Warwick, residence of Thomas Greene and descend- ants, 1660 to 1795. Trees. — At Buttonwood Beach, a tree that gave name to the place ; Black Ash, back of town house ; Buttonwood on the Briggs place, Coweset road. Indians. — The Cowesets were tributary to the Narragansetts, and there were several petty branches of this tribe, whose seats were known and pointed out years ago by the late Chief Justice Brayton. ^ Historic. — Spring Green was once the home of John Greene, Jr., John Brown and John Brown Francis ; House at Potowomut, in which General Nathanael Greene was born ; Inscription on a stone found at Pastuxet, on Cole's farm, near Cole's Station ; " Here lieth the bodie of Sara Tefft interred March 16, 1642." The Governor Greene house was the center of social life and the seat of political wisdom during the revolutionary period. The Providence & Stonington railroad passes through the central portion of the town, affording excellent facilities for communication with the southwestern towns, Connecticut and the West. The Providence, Hartford & Fishkill railroad passes through the northwestern corner of the town and enters Coven- try on the central line between the two towns. The Pawtuxet valley and Pontiac branches form a junction with this main road, the former at or near River Point and the latter near the north line, where the Providence, Hartford & Fishkill railroad enters the town. The Warwick railroad was chartered in 1873, and subsequently built and run from Old Warwick along the eastern border of the town and formed a junction with the 922 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Providence & Stonington railroad in the southeastern portion of the town of Cranston. The receipts of this road fell so far short of its expenditures that it was abandoned at one time. The first meeting of the general assembly of Rhode Island and Providence plantations was held at Portsmouth on the 19th of March, 1649, for the purpose of formally adopting the charter and organizing a government under it. Providence, Newport and Portsmouth were the only towns mentioned in the charter at the time. Warwick was subsequently admitted with the same privileges and immunities as Providence. On the 8th of August, 1G47, the following raen were chosen town councilmen : John Greene, Ezekiel Holliman, John AVarner, Rufus Barton, John Wickes and Randall Holden. Rufus Barton and John Wickes were magistrates ; John Warner was chosen clerk ; Henry Town- send constable and Christopher Helme sergeant. Randall Hol- den was first assistant from Warwick, an office answering to that of state senator to-day. John Warner was the first town clerk under the charter, and the penmanship of the earlier portion of the old volume corre- sponds with that of his autographic signature attached to the " act of submission." Some of the town laws enacted during the first \-ear of the chartered government are of a somewhat novel character, and throw light upon the condition of things at the time. The}' are not always expressed with the precision that marks the statutes of the present day, but they harmonize with the mode of thought and expression of that time. Here are a couple passed by the town: "Wee conclud that ToAvne meeting [council meeting?] to bee held ye first Monday in every moonth, and that ye Clarke is to have 2s. 6d. for each day of meeting." And " That by ma- jor consent of ye whole Towne, it is ordered that if 12 Towns- men meet in one day appointed for Towne meeting, they shall have power to act in Towne affairs as though all M^ere present." The following is a list of the inhabitants of the town previous to June 5th, 1648.* " Rufus Barton, Hend. Townsend, Chris. Unthanke, Ezek. Holliman, Jo. Lipet, Richard Townsend, Peter Greene, Tho. Thorncraft, James Greene, Thomas Greene, Steuk. Westcot, Mr. Jo. Smith, Mr. Nic. Hart, Mr. Walter Tod, Jo. Cooke, John Greene, Jr., Robert Westcott, John Sweete, John Townsend, Peter Burzecott, John Downinge, Edward Inman, ♦For list of the twelve purchasers of Warwick see general histoiy. o w % h D S y a o H u X HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 923 James Sweete, John Durbin, Thomas Erington, George Palmer, Amos Westcote, John Garreard, John Hayden, Mr. Robert Coles, John Potter." Lots of land, generally of six acres, were set off to these per- sons, but no formal deeds of these lands were made until 1650. Mr. HoUiman, Islr. Warner and Henry Townsend were appointed a committee " to draw up a forme for recording of lands and makinge each man a deed and appoint ye Clarke shall be paid for his pains and so men are to repaire to the Clarke and he to do it." It will be seen from the above that the inhabitants of the town were comparatively few in number, while the natives were numerous ; and because of the Indians who disregarded their rights owing to the disfavor shown them by Massachusetts, the settlers of Shawomet and Pawtuxet were constantly apprehen- sive of an outbreak. In view of this state of affairs John Smith, assistant, in behalf of the town, September 7th, 1648, sent a let- ter to the New England commissioners complaining that the Indians had killed their cattle and committed other acts of vio- lence, and requested their advice on the subject. The commis- sioners wrote to the sachems " advising them to abstain from such conduct." The Indians took no notice of the advice, as they knew well they need not, and the year following the town authorities wrote again, but with no better result. February 22d, 1652, it was " ordered to adjourne the meetinge and forthwith to repair to the house of John Warner, where Thomas Avington dwells, and there being mett orderly, it was ordered by the Towne that henceforth their place of meeting be at the house of John Warner, aforesaid Thomas Avington con- senting thereto, and the said Thomas Avington is to have twelve shillings for the use of the house ; and this to bee until see cause to alter it." April 5th, ] 653, the two following orders were placed upon record : " Ordered that two men shall watch every day (a guard against the Indians) until they shall see cause to alter it." " Or- dered that the watch shall consist of eight men, any order formerly notwithstanding." So great were their fears of an outbreak from the Indians, that on March 22d,1652, Samuel Gor- ton, Randall Holden and ten others made a proposition to sell out and remove from the region. May 2d, 1653, it was ordered that " Randall Holden, Richard 924 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Townsend, Stuckely Wascote, James Sweete, Christopher Haux- hurst and John Cole are appointed to agree with the Indians about Nausaucot and their way about fencinge in their fields." An appropriation of ^12, 10s. was subsequently made on report of the committee to pay the Indians for fencing their lands. Previous to the organization of the town under its charter, an order had been passed regulating the disposition of the lands among the inhabitants of the town. An individual, before be- coming an inhabitant, was required to be compounded and re- ceived by a formal vote. He was then required to pay the sum of ;£'10, which would entitle him to all the rights and privileges ■enjoyed by the original purchasers of the natives. Certain portions of territory in the more compact part of the settlement were assigned as house lots. As the inhabitants increased in number, other regulations were found to be necessary. By far the larger number of acts passed by the town up to this time related to the disposition of the lands. The grants were generally of six acres as house lots, to which were added ■other portions at different times. The consideration, if an}', was not usually mentioned at the time the grant was made. Besides these the unoccupied lands were apportioned among the settlers for a limited time. The following, under date of May 17th, 1656, illustrates the point : " At a meetinge of the Townsmen of War- wicke it is ordered that the medows at Potowomet and Paw- tuxet that are now lotted out to the inhabitants shall remain to each man, appropriated but for this yeare and be allotted the next year if the Towne see cause." In the following, passed the same year, a consideration is mentioned : "It is ordered that John Sweete shall have two ackers of medow for himself and Henry Townsend, in any place where he can find it, that is yet undivided, for some pains he has taken in surveying the medow at Pawtuxet river within the bounds of this towne." Also the following without a consideration in the same year: "Ordered that Mr. John Greene shall have the medow at the northeast side of the pond called by the Indians Cacouncke, lying by a brooke that runs out of the aforesaid pond." The proprietors of the grist mill, to whom a land grant had been made, in consideration of their agreement to grind the town corn at the rate of two quarts per bushel, were suspected of hav- ing too large a measure, and to meet this suspicion the fol- lowing was passed : " It being complained of that the Toll Dish HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 925 is too bigg- : ordered that Mr. Holliman doe gett a pair of skaills for the mill by the sixst of May following." The following bears the date of February 8th, 1657: "It is ordered that a parcel of land, adjoining to Massapoge pond westward, be for a horse pasture for the Towne's use accordinge as may be the most conveniently made use of for to save fencinge, that the horses may be there kept during the time they are apt to damnify the corne." To meet one of the less serious troubles to which the settlers were subject, it was ordered, October 10th, 1658, " that if any one kill the great gray woolfe that hath done so much mischiefe in the Towne hee shall have five pounds for his pains and for any other woolfe fower pounds." As John Sweete subsequently re- ceived five pounds for killing a wolf, it is probable that the old " gray " came to grief by his hands. An Indian received forty shillings the same day for a similar service. February 4th, 1659. "Ordered that Mr. John Greene shall have as much land at his medow Cacowanch, known by the name of Coeset pond for to fence his medow in, he leaving out so much of his land at Occupasnetuxet." " April 4, 1660. Ordered that henceforth any inhabitants that shall hereafter bee received shall not have any land, accordinge to any former order, but so much onely as the Towne shall by particular order grant them, and where the Towne shall see fitt, any order formerly notwithstandinge." " At a Towne meeting held in Warwick the 2d of November Mr. Smith chosen moderator, the Towne tacking it into serious consideration the regeneration of the mill dame, and beinge it cannot be done until the inhabitants doe generally assist in the worck, have therefore thought fitt to order that all the inhabi- tants doe generally assist in the worck ; and those that requier satisfaction for their time Mr. Harvi doth engage to pay them ; and for the better effectinge of the mater the Towne doth apoynt Mr. Weeks, Mr. John Greene, to give order when and who shall come in as ocation shall requier, as allso when all the inhabitants shall come in ; and if any refues upon such warning from the deputed men above sayd, they shall bee lyable to pay a fine at the discretion of the Towne, accordinge as the damage shall ap- pear for their neglect." " Ordered that Mr. John Greene is apoynted to write to the President and Assistants about the Indians pressing in upon our 926 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. lands and spoiling our timber— desiring their assistants to supres their violence." " Jan. 6, 1661-2. Ordered, whereas at a Towne meeting the 3d of February in the year 1657 there was granted a peace for a horse pasture for the Towne's use it is now ordered, that all those free inhabitants that are now willing to fence in a pasture for horses, heave liberty, granted by the Towne to tacke in either three quarters of a mile, or a mile square, more or less, on the west side of Massapoge pond ; and that the said pasture bee only proper for them that fence." " May 10, 1662. Ordered that Goodman Hedger is apoynted to give notis to ye inhabitants of ye Towne to repayer ye fence at Toskeunk and he to oversee the work." " Ordered that any man's share of meddow at Potowomet and Papepieset alias Tosceunck be recorded by ye Clarke in ye towne Booke." At a meeting .of the general assembly held in this town June 17th, 1662, permission was granted certain petitioners, viz.: Ed- mund Calverly, Thomas Ralph, William Burton, James Sweet and John Sweet, of Warwick, to purchase of the natives a tract of land lying together and not exceeding "fower thousand akers." At the same session John, James and Thomas Greene, with two others, obtained leave to purchase "fifteen hundred akers according to the former rule." At the commencement of the settlement of the town in 1642, Warwick Neck was selected as the most appropriate place for the immediate abode of the settlers, and small portions of territory were annexed to each house and lot for each inhabi- tant. To these house lots were added six acres of what became known as the " Four Miles Commons," or the " Four Mile Town," which extended from the head of the Neck to Apponaug. John Smith, by order of the proprietors in 1685, laid out a plat of farms in Coweset. This tract is also known as the "Seven- teen Farms," and included the territory bounded on the north by the present road leading from Apponaug to Centreville, on the east by Apponaug and Coweset bay, on the south by Green- wich, and on the west by the present town of Coventry, with the exception of 1,500 acres in the northeast corner, which had pre- viously been mortgaged to Stephen Arnold and was held by him at the time the plat was made. The lots of the middle division were assigned as follows : The HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 927 1st to Rufus Barton ; 2d, Ezekiel Holliman ; 3d, Francis Wes- ton ; 4th, John Smith ; 5th, Randall Holden ; 6th, John Greene, senior ; 7th, John Smith — Sweet's ; 8th, John Smith ; 9th, Henry Townsend; 10th, John Wickes ; 11th, Stukely Westcott ; 12th, John Greene, Jr.; 13th, Richard Carder; 14th, John Warner; 15th, Richard AVaterman ; 16th, Robert Potter ; 17th, Samuel Gorton. The lots of the larger division contained about 240 acres each. March 25th, 1673, 4,200 acres were set apart for ten of the settlers, one half of which grant became known as the " Weco- chaconet Farms " and the other half as the " Natick Lands." Under the above date is the following record : " For ye farms fronting on ye towne commons as they are this day determined ; from Warwick township at ye west end thereof to be laid out westward and a square as near as may be. It is further agreed that Mr. Samuel Gorton, Senior, Mr. Randall Holden, Stukely Westcott, John Potter and Elyza Collins for one of his shares, shall have the other 2100 acres laid out to them [words illegible] Coesset Township and Pawtuxet river aforesaid, fronting on Warwick Township : thence due west, and this to be their full proportion for their shares in ye towne lands, videlesett : live shares and they are to enter and possess at their own charge and thereby are excused of any other charge with the rest in the tract of farm lands." The Wecochaconet farms were five in number and were sur- veyed and platted by Joseph Carder. The plat was drawn May 14th, 1692. These farms were sometimes referred to as the four hundred acre farms and were assigned to Samuel Gorton, John Potter, John Smith, Stukely Westcott, and the fifth, which was bounded on the river, to Randall Holden. The eastern line of this tract was also the western boundary of Old Warwick. In 1673 the proprietors of Warwick lands assigned to John Greene, senior, Richard Carder, John Warner, Benjamin Barton and Henry Townsend as their portion of the undivided lands extending from Moshanticut brook (which empties into the Paw- tuxet river between the railroad bridges of the New York and New England railroad and the Pawtuxet Valley railroad below Natick) westerly, bounding southerly on the north branch of the Pawtuxet river, northerly on the north line of Warwick grand purchase, extending as far west as was necessary to comprise 2100 acres. This tract of land was described as lying and being 928 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in that part of the town of Warwick called Natick. This incltided the land where thePhenix and Lippitt villages are now situated. In June, 1855, a proposition was made to divide the town into voting districts. The subject was referred to the November meeting, at which time the proposition was laid upon the table. At this meeting, a proposition being before the general assem- bly, for the setting off of Potowomut from this town, and joining it to East Greenwich, it was voted : " That the Senator and Representatives of this town, be, and they are hereby instructed to oppose, by all honorable means, the Granting of the Prayer of the Petition of John F. Greene, et al." " Voted, that John Brown Francis, John R. Waterman, Simon Henry Greene, William Sprague, Cyrus Harris and Bene- dict Lapham, be a committee, with full power to employ coun- sel, and do all things necessary to the proper conducting of the opposition of this town to said petition." The efforts of this committee were successful, and this fair portion of the town's domain, the birth-place of General Nathanael Greene, and the residence of the late Chief Justice Richard Ward Greene, remains still a part of the town, though separated from it by the waters of Coweset bay. Highways. — The highway running from Apponaug to Centre- ville was the subject of some contention as early as 1734. On September 1st, of that year, a committee was appointed, which reported work done November 24th, 1735. The decision of the committee was not satisfactory, however, and the town council summoned a jury of twelve or more men to " revise the highway that leads from Apponage between ye farms of Wecochaconet and Coweset, so far west as the head of Coweset farms extends, and in case they can find no old way to run out a new one." This jury made their report October 18th, 1738, which is as fol- lows: " We the subscribers being appointed by the Town Council being appointed as jurors to Inspect into ye Premises, and to Revise ye bounds of a highway between ye lands of Wecocha- conet and Coweset, according to ye former bounds and plat, and by what Information we could find, we find that a line from ye red oak tree that stands oposit from Philip Arnolds northwest corner on the north side of ye highway that already laid out by Moses Lippit, Thomas Rice and John Whitman, is six degrees HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 929 and scant half, north, which we conclude to be ye north side of said way that leads to ye head of said farms." Previous to 1737 there were no public roads in the northwest- ern part of the town, where the village of Phenix is now located. April, 1736, John Wickes, Joseph Edmonds, Jonathan Reming- ton and others petitioned the town council of Warwick, asking them to lay out a highway through the Natick lands. The town council replied : "In answer to ye within petition it is the opin- ion of ye council that for as much as the proprietors have neg- lected laying out a sufiScient highway thro' their property, that in case they will allow the land and pay all charges in laying out the same, ye council will order a jury to lay out the same." The town council at that time were "Capt. Benjamin Greene, Capt. John Rice, Major Moses Lippitt, Lieut. Amos Stafford, Major Fones Greene and Major Israel Arnold." The town council re- fusing to lay out any highway at the expense of the town, the proprietors of the lands, unable to comply with their conditions, as several of the proprietors being orphans, and some others not being willing that any way should be laid through their lands except they were paid for the same, petitioned the general assem- bly at their session held the second Monday in June, 1736, and the following action was taken upon that petition : "Whereas, Sundry inhabitants of the town of Warwick did by petition set forth to this assembly, that they with several others, being concerned in a tract of land situated in the grand purchase of Warwick, in that part called Natick near fifty years past, and likewise others in a tract of land called Weceecheconet, and there being no provisions made for highways whereby the proprietors and others, the neighboring inhabitants, may pass and repass through each others lands to mill or to market without being exposed to great difficulty ; and several of the present proprietors being orphans and some others not being willing that any way should be laid through their lands except satisfaction be made for the same, and the petitioners having laid the matter before the town council of said Warwick which they were willing to grant, provided the present proprietors would find the land and be at all charges relating to the same, which cannot be complied with for the reasons aforesaid, where- upon the petitioners prayed this assembly to authorize the said town council to summon a jury to run out the same according to the laws of this colony and determine the charge which may be 59 930 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. binding to said orphans and others through whose land the said highway shall be laid. "Upon consideration whereof it is the opinion of this assem- bly as the town council of the several towns in this colony are already fully authorized and empowered to lay out highways that the town council of Warwick proceed according to law if they judge the same necessary." The proprietors of the lands again went before the town coun- cil of Warwick, asking them to lay out the road, but the council adhered to their former decision and refused, unless they would give the land through which said road should be laid and pay all the expense of laying out the same. The proprietors of the lands were determined to have a road, and again went to the general assembly with another petition, and at the May session of 1737 the following order was passed directing the town council to lay out a road : "Whereas, Several persons by petition did set forth to this assembly the great necessity of laying out a highway from near the house of Capt. John Rice in Warwick, to the grist mill called and known b}^ the name of Edmonds mill, in said Warwick, and from thence to extend to the southeast corner of the town of Scituate, at or near the house of James Colvin ; and the petition- ers having divers times requested the town council of said War- wick that they would layout said highway, which by the council was always refused unless the proprietors of the lands through which the said way should go, would be at all cost and charge of laying it out and allow the land on which the same shall be laid, which conditions were not in the power of the petitioners to per- form, not having authority or right to oblige the proprietors to comply with such proposals and the same have been a means of hindering a way being laid out as aforesaid, although the coun- cil have judged a necessity therefor, which being duly consid- ered, " Be it enacted by the General Assembly and by the authority of the same it is enacted that from or near the house of Capt. John Rice in Warwick, there be a highway laid out in the most near and convenient manner to the grist mill, commonly called Edmonds mill, and from thence to extend westerly to the south- east corner of the town of Scituate, at or near the land of James Colvin, and for effecting the same the town council of the said town of Warwick are hereby directed to grant a warrant to the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 931 sheriff of the cotmty of Providence [the county of Kent was not set off from Providence county till July 15, 1750] or to his dep- uty to summon a jury for the laying out of the same as the law directs ; but in case the town council should refuse or neglect to grant forth their warrant as aforesaid for the space of two months, then it shall and may be lawful for any two assistants or justices of the peace of the town to grant forth a warrant as aforesaid for the laying out of said highway, and that the charge thereof be paid out of the town treasury of the town of War- wick." The proprietors having received authority from the general assembly for a road to be laid out, requested the clerk of the towU' council to call a meeting of the town council. He issued his warrant dated August 20th, 1737. " To Stephen Low, sergeant of Warwick, Greeting. "Whereas, Joseph Edmonds and Samuel Barton of said town hath desired that ye town council be commanded to meet at ye house of Maj. Joseph Stafford, ye 23 of this inst. August, at 12 o'clock midday, to give the said Edmonds, Barton and the rest of the petitioners of ye lands at Natick an answer whether they will lay out ye highway or ways according to ye acts of ye Gen- eral Assembly, made at their last meeting at Newport." October 22d, 1737, the council issued their warrant to the sher- iff to summon an impartial jury as the law directs to run out a highway through the lands of Natick. The jury summoned to lay out said highway made the following report : " Warwick, November, ye first day, A. D. 1737. Will ye subscribers being appointed a jury by ye town council of Warwick to lay out a highway through lands of Natick and Wecachoconnit in said Waiwick, and having viewed said lands, have accordingly laid out an open highway through said lands &c. ;" signed "George Wightman, foreman, Adam Casey, Caleb Carr, Amos Lockwood, William Utter, Samuel Stafford, John Wightman, Philip Sweet, Peleg Cook, Benoni Price, John Bud- long, Jr., and John Andrews." The proprietors had obtained a layout of a highway but it was not satisfactory, as they again petitioned the general assembly in October, 1742, and made their report in March, 1742-3. Wil- liam B. Spencer describes this road as follows : "At the place where this highway crossed the river below Natick was a fording place and a considerable piece of land 932 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. more than was occupied for the use of the highway belonged to the town. The committee who laid out this highway where it crosses the river laid it out five poles wide. Some of this land has been enclosed by adjoining owners and buildings placed on other parts, one building being put on this town's land by con- tractors when building the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill railroad, and after they had no further use for it was converted into a store and tenement. This piece of land that belongs to the town, unless looked after, will soon pass from the memory of the inhabitants of the town and will be supposed to belong to those occupying it. The plat of said highway is in the office of the secretary of state, in the state house in the cit)' of Provi- dence. " The highway that was finally established by act of the Gen- eral Assembly at their session the second Tuesday in March, 1742-3, is the same highway that is now used running from Ap- ponaug to Natick where it crosses the river, thence over Natick hill until it comes to Edmonds' mills, now Lippitt factory, thence over the hill past the new school house at Phenix, continuing westerly until it comes to the river near where Philip Duffy's store is situated. At one time this highway ran further south, diverging from where it now runs when it crossed what was then the Coventry and Cranston turnpike near where George B. Atwood now lives, and running as near the south part of the hill as possible until it came opposite where George Handy now lives, where it again entered the old highway. There were no buildings on this hill at that time except the house now owned by the heirs of Hugh Carroll. The Roger Williams Manufactur- ing Co. owned the land and after the road had run through their land several years refused to allow the land to be used for that purpose any longer and the road was changed to where it now runs. " After the road came to the river it then took a northwesterly course, followed the north bank of the river running where the Harris old mill now stands, and following as near the stream of the river as practical until it came to the northwest line of the town of Warwick and the southeast corner of the town of Scit- uate. There were no buildings ver}' near this highway in Phenix, and in 1810 the highway was changed from the bank of the river to where it now runs. After Elisha Harris erected his factory he had the road changed, removing it further north. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 933 where it now runs ; when the Arkwright Manufacttiring Com- pany erected a saw mill and grist mill below their factory, the highway ran south of the saw mill. At every rise of the river it overflowed its banks and washed the highway, and they soon after built the highway where it now runs and the town councils of the several towns legalized the changes. " After several years the proprietors of the farms succeeded in getting a highway legally established through their lands, which has remained as then located with but few changes, which the buildings erected in the villages necessitated." Town House. — The town meetings and the meetings of the general assembly when first held in this town were held either in private houses or in taverns. The attention of the people was called to this subject on February 20th, 1663, when Edmund Calverly and Goodman Westcott were added to a committee appointed for this purpose. " It is ordered and agreed by those that were appointed by ye town to lay out Peter Burzecott's acker of land which is for a tenement, is laid out 8 poles wide on ye front ; and ye side ad- joininge to ye northerern end of Goodman Westcott's house lot being twentie one pole in length ; and ye other side but nine- teene poles in length joininge to ye lott layd out for ye Towne house, which saide lott is six poles wide on ye front, that is to say, to ye way that leadeth through ye Towne, it being easterly from ye front' of ye said Towne lott and ye length of ye sayde lott to be nineteene poles on that side next to Peter Burzecott's, and 5^e other end fower poles and half wide next to ye common, and ye other side bounded by ye highway that leadeth into ye common by James Sweet's hous lott, which sayde highway is six poles wide at ye least, and ye buryinge place layd out for ye Towne is eight poles squaer, joining to ye western end of Peter Burzecott's aker of land adjoininge to Goodman Waskott's hous lott, which is ye southern bounds of ye buryinge place and on ye west by ye common and northerly by common." Nothing further seems to have been done about the town house until March, 1675, when the town ordered "That every man in this towne that hath not a teeme shall give a day's work at digging and loading stones, and every man that hath a teeme shall allow a day's work with his teeme to draw ye said stones into a place at such time they shall be warned thereto by a beate 934 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of the drum or other ways, which worke will be a good prepara- tive towards building the sayd house." Anything further pertaining to the meetings of the town fathers is not found until the year 1812, Avhen the following is given : At a Town Meeting held at Daniel Whitman's Inn on the 25th of July, 1812, it was " Voted that the holding of the Town Meet- ings be sold to the highest Bidder, to any person within the Town of Warwick, for one year, and that the money arising therefrom be paid into the Town Treasury ; and the same was according Struck off to Benjamin Greene, (S. C.) for the sum of One Hundred and Sixty-five Dollars, who was the Highest Bid- der ; that the same be paid into the Treasury at the Expiration of the Year, and that Security be given to the satisfaction of the Town Treasurer within Ten Days." At a subsequent meeting the town accepted the note of Benja- min Greene, endorsed by Caleb Greene, Jr., " for the sum the town meetings were bid off for." The Town House now standing was erected in 1834^5. In 1849 the grounds about the town house presented a barren and desolate appearance. This year, by the authority of the town, five elm trees were planted on the grounds and a strong fence was made around each tree. In April, 1854, the Kentish Artillery were granted the privilege of building an armory on the eastern portion of the town house lot. Town Clerks. — x\ list of the town clerks of Warwick from 1647 to the present time : John Warner, 1647-49 ; John Greene, Jr., 1649-5C ; Ezekiel Holliman, 1G50-,")S : ^Nlathias Harvey, 1658-59 ; John Greene, 1659-60 ; :\lathias Harvey, 1660-61 : James Greene, 1661-64; Edmund Calverly, 1664-77; John Potter, 1677-87 ; Peter Greene, 1087-1710 ; John Wickes, 1710-41 ; Jere- miah Lippitt, 1741-75; Adam Comstock, 1775 to February, 1776 ; Jeremiah Lippitt, February, 1770, to November, 1776; James Gerauld, November, 1776-1802 ; Jonathan Gorton, 1802-4 ; Charles Brayton, 1804 to December, 1834 ; George A. Brayton, Decem- ber, 1834-44; William D. Brayton, 1844-45; William Harrison, 1845-53; Samuel W. Clarke, 1853-68; Caleb R. Hill, 1858-66; Samuel W. Clarke, 1866-78; Stephen W. Thornton, 1878-80; Rinaldo Hoyle, 1880 to November, 1886; pro tem., Dwight R. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 935 Adams, November, 1886, to December, 1886 ; John B. Allen. De- cember, 1886-87 ; James T. Lockwood, 1887 — . Town Officers.— Officers of the town of Warwick in 1888 : Town clerk, James T. Lockwood ; town council and court of pro- bate : Enos Lapham, Webster Knight, M. Joseph E. Legris, William Johnson, Oliver P. Sarle ; town treasurer, Dwight R. Adams ; overseer of the poor, William J. Wells ; assessors of taxes : Benjamin F. Dawley, Henry L. Johnson, Clarence O. Car- penter, Benjamin Hill, William V. Slocum ; justices of the peace : Albert R. Greene, James T. Lockwood, Cyrus Holden, William V. Slocum, John J. Arnold, Frank Cole, Charles A. Lufkin, Oli- ver P. Park, Elihu R. Shippee, Daniel Warner, John B. Allen, Henry A. Wood ; members of the school committee : Oliver P. Sarle, John H. Northup, Webster Knight, Dwight R. Adams, Gideon Spencer, Oliver C. Williams ; collector of taxes, John E. Sherman ; sealer of weights and measures, John C. Brown ; offi- cer district court, Henry Smith ; officers in charge police stations : Apponaug, Henry Smith ; Centreville, John H. Tiffany ; Lippitt, Jonah Titus ; Pawtuxet, William W. Aborn ; town physician, J. B. Hanaford ; health officer, Albert G. Sprague ; coroner, Al- bert R. Greene ; town solicitor, Albert R. Greene. Schools. — The school privileges of this town, owing to the character of the times, were poor during the first seventy-five years of its settlement, and found no place in the records of the town then. The first record we have is the following : " At a town meeting held in Warwick at the house of Capt. James Carder, this 18th of January, 1715-16, ]\lr. Richard Greene, Moderator, Voated. that whereas a house hath lately bin built upon the town orchard for a schoole hous and great part of the charge hath bin paid by some partickular persons, therefore upon further consideration, It is surrendered up to be for the use of the towne for towne meetings upon occasions only. Reserving the liberty that it may be still for the use of a schoole hous for themselves and the rest of the town that shall see cause and remaining part of the cost and charge to be paid by a rate levied upon the whole towne the sum of thir- teene pounds in money or pay equivalent, to be paid to those that built the hous as above s'd to be paid out of the next towne rate, therefore we the proprietors for further encourage- ment of the said schoole wee doe by these presents Ennex the above said lot and orchard thereunto for the use of said schoole." 936 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. This school house probably went to decay before the century closed, as Hon. John R. Waterman, who was born February 19th, 1783, said he went to school in what was then known as the new school house. It stood very near the church. Among the earlier teachers remembered by Air. Waterman were Joseph Carder, son of James ; Charles Morris, who taught four years, and afterward became a purser in the navy ; Thomas Lippitt, a Warwick man, who married Waity Arnold, daughter of David, who recently died in Providence ; Ephraim Arnold, of Warwick. The subject of education was not lost sight of, and the general assembly early incorporated several societies. The "Warwick North .School Society " was incorporated March, 1794; the "War- wick West vSchool Society," May, 1803; the"AVarwick Central School Society," February, 1804, and the " Warwick Library So- ciety," Alay, 1814. The Rhode Island Register for the year 1820 states that " Warwick contains ten schools and two social libra- ries." In 1798 there was built on lands owned by Judge Stephen Arnold, about half a mile east of the village of Crompton, a house for a public school. It was built by subscription, and was a small one-story building. The judge gave the land, and the house cost from $150 to $200. There were twenty shares, of which Mr. Waterman Clapp's father held four. The teachers were sup- ported by a tuition tax upon the pupils. The first teacher was James Pollard. He was followed by Bennett Holden, Miss Lucy Glover, Miss Pond and Oliver Johnson. In 1820 Mr. Clapp bought up the shares at one dollar and a quarter each, and re- moved the building across the road, where it was altered and afterward used as a tenement house. At the inauguration of the public school system in the state, a new impetus was given to the subject of education ; town school committees were appointed, the town was divided into districts, and appropriations of money for their support were made there- after annually. Ham following persons were chosen the school committee for the year 1829 : John Brown Francis, Thomas Rem- ington, Joseph W. Greene, George A. Brayton, Augustus G. Mil- lard, Elisha Brown, Franklin Greene, Henry Tatem, Daniel Rhodes, Thomas Holden, Jeremiah Greene, Sion A. Rhodes, Rice A. Brown and Waterman Clapp. The committee, of which George A. Brayton, late chief justice of the supreme court, was the sec- retary, made a report in behalf of the committee, embracing the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 937 preceding year also (no report of the year 1828 having been previously made), in which a detailed account of their labors is given. This report states that the committee was organized on the 21st of June, 1828, and proceeded to divide the town into suitable districts and make arrangements for suitable places in which to hold the schools. They divided the town into eleven districts. The Crompton district was set off in 1830. The num- ber of scholars attending the schools in 1829 was reported as 763, and the amount of money expended, $908.50. In 1830, the number of scholars had increased to 840. In November, 184,'), an unsuccessful attempt was made to induce the town to provide convenient school houses for the several districts. The matter came up the following year again, when it was again decided to leave the several districts to pro- vide for their wants in this respect. It was soon found necessary to appoint some individual, whose duty it should be to superin- tend the schools, to examine candidates for teaching, visit the schools at stated intervals, and report their condition, with such suggestions for their improvement as in his judgment seemed desirable ; and at a town meeting held February 18th, 1848, the committee were authorized to employ a suitable person for this purpose, at an expense to the town of not exceeding fifty dol- lars. This amount has been gradually increased to $200. Rev- erend Zalmon Tobey was the first school superintendent of the town. There are now sixteen school districts in the town of Warwick, not including Arctic. Pawtuxet Village. — Only the eastern part of the town of Warwick was settled before King Philip's war. Pawtuxet village lies in the northeastern part of what was formerly known as Old Warwick, although this term applies only to what is known as the Neck and its vicinity. The chief items of importance have already been noticed in the preceding chapter pertaining to this part of the town, but this village was the abode of William Arnold, Robert Coles, William Carpenter and Benedict Arnold, who in 1642 placed themselves and their lands under the pro- tection of Massachusetts and thereby became a source of anxiety and vexation to their neighbors at Shawomet. Pawtuxet is situ- ated on the Old Warwick railroad, and is connected with Provi- dence by a line of street cars. Since the addition of these con- veniences it has grown to be a flourishing little suburban village with a regular quota of stores and other places of trade. 938 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Seventy-five years ago Benington Arnold of Coventry came here and opened up a trade in a general way and for forty years thereafter continued a lively business. He died in 1861, seventy- one years old. He purchased a lot of George Sheldon's heirs and built an addition to his store in 1858. His son and successor, Elisha S. Arnold, continued the business of his father and is still engaged in trade. He built his present store in 1869. He began business in 1858. The Pawtuxet store was built by George H. Arnold in 1873. He conducted it for a number of years and it then passed into the hands of Chase & White, but after a few months the White brothers took it and own it yet. The drug store conducted by Luce & Duffy, later J. C. Luce & Co., is now operated by H. H. Barker, who took possession in 1887. C. jNL Dow has lately opened a grocery store, and there are in addition the Boston shoe store, a meat market and one or two other smaller places of trade in the village. There is at this point, but over the river in Providence county, a flourishing Baptist Society of which the Reverend Christie W. Burnham is pastor. He took charge of the church in 1882. Deacon Henry C. Budlong is superintendent of the Sabbath school, which is in a flourishing condition. At this place manufacturing was very early attempted, and successfully prosecuted up to about the year 1876. Since this time the water power here has remained unemployed. Brown & Ives, before they purchased Lonsdale in 1825, very much de- sired Pawtuxet, and made a very liberal offer, which proposition was for some time entertained but was finally rejected. Rocicv Point. — This is one of the most beautiful and pictur- esque spots on the coast from Maine to Florida, and has grown in popularity during the last thirty years. It early belonged to the Stafford family. Two daughters finally inherited it, of whom Mary married Thomas Holden, brother of John, and Phebe 'married a ]\Ir. Lyon. About the year 1847 the former sold her portion to Captain AVinslow for $1,200 and the latter sold hers to the same person a short time afterward for about the same price. Captain Winslow made some improvements in the property, but eventually sold it to Byron Sprague for $60,- 000. Mr. Sprague built the observatory and the spacious private dwelling house in 1865, making improvements costing some $300,000. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 939 In 1869 it was bought by the American Steamboat Company, and they, as is understood, spent in still further improvements, during the nine years ensuing, about $200,000 more. In 1878 the Continental Steamboat Company purchased the place, with the purpose of conducting it in more splendid style, and rendering it more attractive than ever. A conspicuous object, as one nears the massive rocks, which line the shore of the Point, is the Rocky Point Hotel, an impos- ing structure, three stories in height, very commodious, with a splendid prospect from its windows, and of sufficient capacity to accommodate three hundred boarders. It is a first class house in construction and appointments. Connected with the estate is a large, highly cultivated farm, from which the hotel obtains a full daily supply of fresh milk, butter, vegetables, pork, poultry and fruit. Prominent among the numerous attractions at Rocky Point is the grand observatory. This rises to the height of two hundred and fifty feet above the sea level, has various stories or landing- floors reached by a good stairway, and from its summit a mag- nificent view is had of an enchanting landscape extending for many miles in every direction, and exhibiting scenery alike di- versified and beautiful. The locality is adapted equally for the crowds of excursionists, who land by thousands on its wharf, and for those who seek rest and relaxation in the bracing atmos- phere, and find here a temporary home. Within the past few years real estate has taken a sudden rise in the vicinity, and many comfortable summer residences have been erected by persons living in Providence and elsewhere. The Warwick railroad was built and the ceremony of driving the last spike was performed December 3d, 1874, and the road opened for travel in July of 1877. The road is eight and fifty- two one hundredths miles in length, and connects Providence with Oakland Beach. Its cost completed was estimated at $200,000. The Buttonwoods. — This is a place of considerable historic interest. Here the old James Greene homestead, later owned by Henry Whitman Greene, a descendant of John Greene, Sr., was built and stood until some seventy years ago, and was then demolished. The present building, erected a few feet from the old one in 1687, was said to have been seven years in building. It was built by James, the son of the former. The mortar was 940 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. made of shell lime, which was also burnt near by. A few rods from the building stands one of the ancient buttonwood trees, from which the place receives the familiar appellation of the Buttonwoods. This old tree measures near the ground seven feet in diameter. In 1871 the Buttonwood Beach Association purchased of this estate and of others adjoining a large tract for seaside summer residences for $22,000. These grounds are located on Coweset bay, near its junction with the Narragansett, twelve miles south of Providence. They have been laid out with great care and skill into convenient house lots, with fine avenues and parks. A good hotel was built in 1872, at a cost of some $20,000, and other buildings have been erected for the accommodation of boarders, and many cottages have been built by individuals at an expense of from eight hundred to five thousand dollars each. The soil is remarkably dry, the ground is nearly level, slightly inclining to the shore and open to every breeze. There is more than a mile of beach, affording fine opportunities for bathing, unsur- passed by any place on the bay. It has excellent facilities for boating and fishing, also for pleasant drives. East Greenwich, which is in full view from the grounds, can be reached in thirty minutes. Rocky Point in the same time, and Oakland Beach in ten minutes by a ferry. The Buttonwoods are specially known for the very agreeable social intercourse among cottagers and guests. On these grounds, about half a mile west from the hotel, are the " Old Buttonwoods." Here shore dinners have been served for half a century and more. It is probably the oldest shore re- sort on the bay. Many will remember the great clambake held there during the Harrison campaign, in 1840, when, with the clams, oxen were roasted whole. The Buttonwoods is of easy and cheap access from Providence by railroad and steamboat several times each day. The place is known as a Baptist colony, yet all persons of good moral char- acter are cordially welcomed. Religious services are held every Sunday during the season in a neat chapel ; also a Sunday school and weekly prayer meeting. All who desire a cool, quiet and pleasant resting place during the hot summer months will be sure to find it here at very moderate expense. The constitu- tion of the Buttonwood Beach Association requires that six out of its nine members shall be of the Baptist denomination. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 941 James Greene, Sr., took up his residence at Potowomut upon lands that have continued in possession of his descendants. He married Deliverance Potter, daughter of Robert Potter, for his first wife, and Elizabeth Anthony, of Rhode Island, for his sec- ond, August 3d, 1665. He died April 27th, 1698, at theageof 71. His will devising his estate, andduly witnessed by Anne Greene, Pasco Whitford and William Nickols, bears the date March 22d, 1698. His son James, residing at Nausocket, died March 12th, 1712, at the age of 52. His will is dated the day before his death ; after committing his " soul unto ye hands of ye only True God, and Blessed Redeemer, Jesus Christ, in and through whom I hope to obtain mercy and forgiveness of my manifold sins and Transgressions, and to be received by him into his everlasting kingdom," he provides that "his loving wife Mary Greene," shall have half of his house and farm during her life, which upon her decease was to go to his son James ; the other half was given to his son Fones Greene, with legacies to his remaining seven chil- dren. Fones Greene died July 29th, 1758, at the age of 67. He gave his "mansion house and the westernmost part of my home- stead farm together with all the buildings " to his son James. Captain James Greene, the oldest of the six children of Fones, was a member of the Baptist church in Warwick for upward of sixty years. The Warwick town farm consists of one hundred and eighty acres at the Buttonwoods, where the dependent people of the town are furnished a home. In June, 1888, Gardner B. Slocum took charge of this farm as superintendent for the town, and has since then filled this position. He was born in North Kings- town in 1832, where his father Joseph and his grandfather Jo- seph resided. He married Susan A. Sheffield, of Westerly. George W. and Silas E. Slocum, both heads of families, are their sons. Oakland Beach. — This place has become noted as a summer resort since the year 1878. The grounds comprise about one hundred and sixteen acres, with numerous shade-trees, and were well laid out, and furnished with a variety of attractions for ex- cursionists. The hotel, built in 1878, is a commodious three-story building of sufficient capacity to accommodate one hundred boarders. The place is at the terminus of the Warwick railroad. 942 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. With its various objects of attraction, the place has already succeeded in rivalling Rocky Point in the numbers that flock from every direction during the season to enjoy brief seasons of relaxation. The grounds have been tastefully laid out. An arti- ficial pond, spanned by two rustic bridges, has been excavated, and winds gracefully about the grounds, supplied by water from the sea at high tide, over which a fleet of boats are constantly passing. Here, too, are the flying horses and the shooting gal- leries and the dizzy swings, etc., and that which seems to be the special attraction to many, the clam dinners, when scores of bushels of the bivalves, roasted upon the hot stones, find their way to the hungry mouths of the excursionists. Shawomet Baptist Church. — The earliest settlers of this town, viz. : John Greene, Richard Waterman, Francis Weston, Ezekiel Holliman, William Arnold, and Stukely Westcott, in 1639, in Providence, united with six others in church relations, and agreed to support in faith and practice the principles of Christ's doctrine. These six men were among the first settlers of the town, and from that time to this there has always been religious worship in the town. Shawomet Baptist church is one of the earliest in the town. " In the spring of 1842 Reverend Jonathan E. Forbush com- menced to labor here under the patronage of the R. I. Baptist State Convention. Some religious interest was awakened, and the statement of facts preliminary to the organization of the present church says there were some conversions and baptism. Into what church these converts were baptized is not stated. Doubtless not the ' old ' church here, which is represented as in- deed old and ready to vanish away. Mr. Forbush's work was to establish something more vigorous and vital than that seemed to be. " The first record of a meeting looking to a church organiza- tion is without date, but it was probably in September or Octo- ber, 1842. Five brethren and eleven sisters met at the residence of John W. Greene. This meeting, besides consultation and prayer, appointed a committee of three to wait upon the Old Baptist Church and confer with them in reference to the pro- posed movement, and adjourned to November 2d, at same place. " At the adjourned meeting the committee of conference with the ' Old ' Baptists reported— what, the record does not show, but HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 943 it was unanimously resolved to push the church project ; No- vember 16th was set for the recognizing council, and the churches to be sent to were specified. A committee was appointed to report at an adjourned meeting, Articles of Faith. At that meeting, held November 9th, the committee reported the New Hampshire Articles, as then published, which were adopted. Two sisters related their experience, and were received for baptism. " November 16th, 1842, the Council assembled, as called, at the Old Warwick Baptist meeting house. The church was consti- tuted with thirteen members, whose names follow : Rev. J. E. Forbush, (Pastor), Eliza H. Forbush, Benjamin Greene, Frances Greene, John Holden, Hester B. Holden, Welthy Potter, Sarah Potter Greene, Sally Greene, Elizabeth Stafford, Waite Lippitt Greene, Sally Holden Low, Sally Low Holden. At the first meeting of the recognized church, Benjamin Greene was chosen deacon, and John Holden, clerk." In March, 1845, Mr. Forbush closed his labors as pastor, re- moving to Westminster, Mass. Reverend Alfred Colbtirn suc- ceeded Mr. Forbush and remained three years from October, 1845. In April, 1848, John W. Greene was elected clerk and re- mained in charge of the church books until April, 1873, since which time the pastor has served as clerk. After a vacancy of a year and a half, in April, 1850, Reverend George A. Willard commenced his pastorate, closing in 1859. Then came Rever- end Henry G. Stewart, from March, 1860, for about three years ; E. Hayden Watrous, from March, 1864, two years ; Charles H. Hau, one year; J. Torrey Smith, 1868. He remained fourteen years, and in 1883 Reverend S. E. Frohock, the present pastor, came. The present membership of the church is not large, but the church has energy and enterprise. Apponaug and Coweset Shore. — No permanent settlement was made in this part of Warwick until 1696, when John Micar- ter, of Providence, erected his fulling mill on Kickemuit brook. There is reference in the early records of 1663, to "Aponahock " and later to " Aponake." The word in the Indian tongue signi- fies, " an oyster." Williams writes it "Opponenauhack." Ap- ponaug Cove in former times was much deeper than now. An arm of the cove that extends up in the rear of where formerly stood the old Baptist meeting house is known by the name of Paw Paw Cove. Sloops of fifteen tons burden found no difficulty in those earlier times in entering the cove and landing at the wharf of Jacob Greene & Co. 944 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Business was established here in June, 1796, when John Staf- ford erected a mill for the grinding of corn and other grains at or near the bridge ; the grant being given by an act of the gen- eral assembly which provided that the " mill dam be made and erected with suitable waste gates for venting the superfluous water, and in such a manner as not to back the water or other- wise injure the mills of Mr. Caleb Greene," and also provided "that the said John Stafford shall make and leave open at all proper times a suitable passage not less than sixteen feet wide in the said dam for the passage of rafts and boats up." It was followed by a cotton mill, run by a company, of which Captain Caleb Greene, father of Mr. Albert D. Greene, was the agent. The mill was of three stories, shingled on all sides, and remained until about the time the Print works went into opera- tion. There was also a saw and grist mill in operation near by, for some years. Just in the rear of Mr. Benjamin Vaughn's house, was a small building used for the carding of wool, which was brought in by the neighboring farmers, and when carded was carried home and spun for use. It was run a part of the time by a Mr. Manchester, and also by the Wilburs. Mr. Wil- bur, father of the late Colonel Peleg Wilbur, of Washington vil- lage, had a store in the village in the year 1800 and afterward, in which he sold dry and West India goods, and in one part was kept the usual supply of New England rum. It is said there were not less than seven of these variety stores at one time, and sev- eral taverns, all of which kept liquor for sale at retail. The old Wilbur house still stands on the east side of the street, leading toward Greenwich. Jacob Greene, brother of General Nathanael Greene, had a store out in the water, off against Mrs. Repiing- ton's lot, for convenience, perhaps in unlading merchandise from the sloops that entered the harbor. The water surrounded it. One of the oldest houses, and perhaps the first framed house in the village, stands next north of Mr. Atwood's hotel. Early in the present century, sloops and schooners were built here, and one ship is remembered as also having been built. Trade was carried on with neighboring ports to a considerable extent. Jacob Greene & Co. here shipped their anchors from their forge in Coventry, and received their coal and black sand. On two of the four corners in the heart of the village were hotels or taverns, on the southeast a blacksmith shop occupied by Gideon Congdon who died very suddenly, and on the south HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 945 was the old house in which Samuel Greene, son of Deputy Gov- ernor John Greene, lived. Samuel Greene married a daughter of Benjamin Gorton, one of the sons of Samuel Gorton, senior. He afterward purchased of Samuel Gorton, jr., the house which the latter erected, now occupied by ex-Lieutenant Governor William Greene. His son. Governor William Greene, resided on the estate purchased of Gorton. One of the ancient houses of the place stood on the site of the present residence of Elisha, son of Daniel Brown. It was near the railway station and was a one story building. The present residence was built nearly a century ago by Nathaniel and James Stone, and was subsequently purchased by Joseph Brown, grandfather of the present owner. In the chambers of Captain Brown's house lived Caleb Arnold for a while, and there his son John B. Arnold of Centreville (now dead) was born. Joseph Arnold, brother of Caleb, was a revolu- tionary soldier and drew a pension as a major to the close of his life. He owned the house next to the hotel in Apponaug. Colonel Thomas Westcott, a descendant of one of the founders of the town, was a man of some prominence in the early part of the century. He was sheriff of Kent county and at one time a general of the militia. One of the noted residents of the village, and whose influence extended beyond its limits, was Charles Brayton, for many years clerk of the town, and from May, 1814, to May, 1818, an associate judge of the supreme court. He was subsequently chosen to the same position in 1827 and remained several years. His father, Daniel Brayton, was a blacksmith and removed from Old War- wick. He removed his shop from Old Warwick to Apponaug, to near the spot where his son, the Hon. William D. Brayton, for- merly a member of congress, resided (He died in 1887). Hon. George A. Brayton, late chief justice of the supreme court, is also one of his sons. The latter was elected associate justice in 1843, remaining in that position until 1868, when he was elected chief, and remained in that position until 1874. He is a graduate of Brown University, class of 1824. The old building on the southwest corner of the square was erected by Samuel Greene in 1825 for a residence. His grand- father was Samuel Greene, and father Christopher Greene. Samuel Greene married Penelope Gardiner of Wickford in 1816. He lived there until 1865, when the house passed into the hands of his nephews, who now own it. The corner room of this house ■60 946 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. v/as formerly used for a grocery store, and for the past twelve years for a millinery and dry goods store. Mr. O. P. Fuller, B. A., in his excellent history of Warwick, speaking of some of the old residences and important personages in this part of the town, says : ' In reaching this point we have passed the palatial residence of Amasa Sprague, Esq., at the old Ladd watering-place, the most costly dwelling house, probably, in the town ; with its ex- tensive and beautiful lawns and shrubbery. To the southward and not far from the site of the old Indian burial ground, is the pleasant residence of the late Deacon Moses Wightman, formerly owned and occupied by the late Reverend Doctor Crane and long known as the Oliver Gardiner house. On the hill the mas- sive stone dwelling-house of Alfred A. Read, Esq., vying, in architectural beauty, with the Sprague house, to the northward, and overlooking Narragansett Bay and the surrounding country. On the corner of Division street and the road leading to Appo- naug is an old house occupied during the first decade of the present century and for many years by John ]SIawney, who was postmaster for many years in the adjoining village. " The old cozy mansion, the residence of Ex-Lieut.-Gov. Wm. Greene, is one of the historic houses of the town. The original or southeastern portion was built about the year 1685, by vSamuel Gorton, Jr., whose father was one of the twelve original pur- chasers of the town lands. It lays no claim to architectural beauty. The old colonial style of architecture, as indicated by the few dwelling houses still preserved, was one in which the owner studied carefully his means and his necessities rather than the development of his architectural taste. Built, usually, of the best timber of the surrounding forests, it became not only the quiet home of his family in times of peace, but also his castle in seasons of danger. As his family increased and more room was demanded, an addition was built on some convenient side, or another story was added. Sometimes, as in the present case, where no lack of means prevented the removal of the old building and the erection of one of modern structure and ele- gance, a no less serious obstacle intervened. The old house, limited in capacity and liomel}' in appearance, had become sacred to its possessor by the many time-hallowed associations connected with it. It was the home of his ancestors long since gone to their rest. Within its venerable walls he first lisped his HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 947 mother's name, and no other dwelling, however convenient or elegant, would ever seem so much like home to him. From such considerations the old dwelling was allowed to remain ; subject, however, to such modifications as the necessities of the occupants demanded. The building fronts to the south. " The large stone chimney in the centre of the building be- longed to the original part and was built according to the custom of the times, half out of doors, having been enclosed when the addition was made on the west side at a subsequent date. The one on the eastern end has been taken down since the photograph from which the engraving was taken was procured, and exten- sive additions have been made in the rear. The front, however, still retains its ancient form. Some interior modifications have also been made. The old grandfatherly fire-places, in whose cozy corners children half grown could stand erect and look up- ward at night and count the stars, with the well polished brass fire dogs reflecting their faces in grotesque shapes, have been superseded by modern inventions. There is still preserved, however, an air of the olden time, in the low studded rooms, the heavy oaken beams, here and there protruding from the walls and ceiling, the figured porcelain tiles about the fire-places, and various arrangements for comfort or ornament, that would not fail to attract the curiosity of the visitor. " The small building in front, enclosed partly in lattice work, was built for a well-curb in 1794. On its apex is a gilded weather- cock, which from its low and protracted position must have been in a chronic state of uncertainty as to which way the wind blew. The well is still preserved, though not at present in use. It was originally provided with the old-fashioned sweep. The exten- sive out-buildings are of modern structure, having been built chiefly by the present resident, and are provided with all the conveniences that wealth can furnish for the various kinds of live stock in which the Governor takes a considerable interest. " The house has been the home of one of the historic families of Rhode Island for several generations, and in this circumstance lies its chief claim to special interest. "Samuel Greene, who was the youngest son of the Deputy Governor John Greene, married the daughter of Benjamin Gor- ton, brother of Samuel Gorton, Jr., and purchased the estate of the latter in 1718 ; the farm was the 17th of the ' Coweset pur- chase.' Samuel Greene died two years after the purchase of the 948 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. estate from Gorton, when it came into the possession of his son William, who held the office of deputy governor of Rhode Is- land from July 15th, 1740, to May, 1743, and afterward that of governor for nearly eleven years, between 1743 and 1768, dying in office January 23d, 1758. During the year 1758, the west por- tion of the house was built by William Greene, Jr., a new aspir- ant for political honors. It was enlarged in view of his approach- ing marriage, and was destined to gather about it associations rich in historic and family interest. In the year 1777, its owner was elected to the office of chief justice of the supreme court, and in the following year to that of governor, a position which he ably filled for eight successive years. The war of the revolu- tion was then in progress, and the west room became the gover- nor's council room. In it the governor and his council, with Gen- eral Sullivan, General Nathanael Greene, Lafayette, Rocham- beau and other notable personages, both civil and military, held frequent consultations upon important national affairs. Here their several views were exchanged, questions of expediency discussed and grave matters of doubt unravelled. " At intervals, when the demands of duty were less pressing, they were wont to gather here for temporary relaxation and en- joy the generous hospitalities of the governor's family. The ac- quaintances thus formed ripened into personal friendships that were destined to be gratefully acknowledged in after years. The room still contains some mementos of those times. On its walls may be seen a large mezzotint engraving of General Nathanael Greene, presented by Lafayette to the daughter of General Greene many years afterward, which bears on its lower margin the following inscription in the handwriting of the patriotic Frenchman : ' To dear Mrs. Shaw, from her father's companion in arms and most intimate friend — Lafayette.' " A portrait of General Greene, painted by Charles Peale, and said to be the best one extant, hangs on the opposite wall. It originally belonged to the collection of the Hon. William Bing- ham, of Philadelphia, who was a member of the United States senate at the same time that the Hon. Ray Greene, the father of the present resident, held a similar position from Rhode Island. On the death of Mr. Bingham, his collection was scattered, and this painting was accidentally discovered subse- quently in Philadelphia, where its present owner was fortunate enough to secure it. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 949 " Among the notable visitors of that and subsequent years was Dr. Franklin, who was on terms of intimacy with the fam- ily, and usually made a friendly visit here whenever he came to New England. While in France, he kept up a frequent corre- spondence with one of the members of the family, his letters still being preserved in the family archives. The west window, over- looking a beautiful valley, bears the name of ' Franklin's win- dow,' from the interest he is said to have taken in sitting beside it and gazing at the prospect it afforded. In the east room, hanging upon the wall, is a small bronze medallion of the old philosopher and statesman, which the Governor assured me was hung there by Franklin himself. In this latter room, in one corner, let down into the floor several inches, and then reaching to the ceiling overhead, stands an old coffin-shaped clock, tick- ing away, as it has done for the past one hundred and fifty years. Among the interesting manuscript relics, besides the letters of Franklin, is an original one of Washington and several of his au- tographs attached to public documents, letters of Webster, Henry Clay and John Quincy Adams. " It was in this house that Gen. Nathanael Greene, then living in Coventry, and engaged in business with his brothers, in their anchor forge, became acquainted with Miss Catherine Littlefield, daughter of John Littlefield, Esq., of New Shoreham. They were married in the west room, by Elder John Gorton, July 20th, 1774. " In 1797, Hon. Ray Greene, son of Gov. William Greene, Jr., then the possessor of the old family residence, was appointed a United States senator for two years, to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of the Hon. William Bradford. He was one of the talented and popular men of the times, and in 1799 was returned to the same position for the term of six years. In 1801 he resigned his position to accept the office of district judge of Rhode Island, to succeed Judge Bourne. The appointment was made by John Adams as he was about retiring from the presi- dential office. There was some informality connected with the appointment, which was discovered too late to be rectified by Mr. Adams, and when the matter was referred to his successor, Mr. Jefferson, he refused to rectify it, and appointed instead one of his own political adherents to that office. Mr. Greene thus, by a simple misunderstanding on the part of another, lost both his senatorial and judicial offices. 950 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " The present resident was graduated at Brown University in the class of 1817. Among his class-mates were Ex-Governor Charles Jackson, Judge William R. Staples, Rev. Dr. Henry Jackson and Professor Edward R. Lippitt. For forty-two years he was a resident of Cincinnati, Ohio, where he was specially interested in the development of its public schools, and officially connected with them during most of that period. In 1862 he re- turned to his ancestral home, and in 1866 was elected to the office of lieutenant-governor of the state. General Burnside re- ceiving the office of governor. On the following year he was re-elected, and at its close retired from officialstation, topass the evening hours of an already long and busy life in the quiet re- pose of the old homestead. " Passing through the grounds to the rear of the house, we come to the old family burial place, in a quiet, secluded spot, where repose the deceased members of the family of several generations. The lot is of a circular form and surrounded by a tall evergreen hedge composed of the pine, arbor vitae and Nor- way spruce varieties, tastefully intermingled and completely shutting out the view from the outside. I^Iost of the stones bear the simple name, time of the death and age of the deceased, without any attempt to eulogize their virtues. " The oldest dates noticed were those of 1741, 1752, 1758 and 1760, Here lie two of the Governors of Rhode Island, with their wives beside them. " The following are verbatim copies of the inscriptions on two of the stones : In memory of the Hoiib' William Greene Esq>' Governor of the Colony ; who departed this life Jany 23d A. D. 1758 In ye 62d year of his age. In memory of the Honorable William Greene Esqr Governor of this State for a number of years, Principally during the period of the successful Exertion for the Independence of America, who departed this life Nov. 29th 1809 In the 78tli year of his age." In the village there are at this time a number of old houses, erected long time ago, not enumerated above. The old Atwood HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 951 house is still used as a hotel, and is kept by George H. Clough. The old Wilbur property on Main street is now occupied by Mrs. Arthur F. Mason. The property formerly known as the Carder estate, or the house on the same side of Main street above Mrs. Harrison's, was where the town affairs were formerly adjusted. Josiah Westcott fifty years ago used to trade on the corner, but moved where Mr. G. B. Blackmar now carries on business. Alfred Reed built and kept the store on the bridge where Peter Lomas is located. In 1869 Mr. Blackmar went into partnership with Mr. Henry Capron, under the firm name of H. Capron & Co. From 1872 to 1880 the firm name was Blackmar & Rich- mond, since which time Mr. Blackmar has carried on a general store alone. From April, 1875, to January, 1886, he was post- master at Apponaug. He was succeeded by H. B. Matteson, the present postmaster. Mr. Matteson began trading at this point in 1876, on the bridge, where he succeeded S. K. Potter. In 1886 he came to his present location, succeeding Stephen T. Arnold. C. R. Hill and D. C. Curtis were in business in the hardware trade here in 1879. Mr. Hill is at present engaged in commer- cial pursuits in the village of East Greenwich, and Mr. Curtis has continued at Apponaug alone. He built his new store in 1886. He was born in Maine, in 1853, and came to this town in 1872. S. Marsland (boots and shoes) began trading here in 1874. The building in which his store is located belongs to Walter Proctor. Cyril P. Thornton, the accommodating station agent, took charge at the railroad depot December 10th, 1885. Apponaug is located favorably for manufacturing enterprises, and it was at one time supposed that the place would grow to the size of a great city because of its natural advantages. The Oriental Print Works, now owned by Jordan, Marsh & Co., of Boston, at one time did a thriving business, and the hundreds of men and women who weekly drew their wages added materially to the prosperity of the village. The works closed, however, in March, 1883, since which time a hundred thousand dollars and more have been paid to keep watch over the works and to keep the insurance paid up. In the meanwhile the laboring masses have removed to the surrounding villages for work. The planing mill of Salisbury & Vaughn was established in 1867. It burned down in 1871 or 1872, and was rebuilt by the same parties. In 1880 B. G. Browning bought up all interests. It was burned again, and the present structures were built. The 952 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. establishment consists of a planing mill, wood and coal yard, etc., and gives employment to a dozen hands. It is now operated by John Coyle. On the stream above the print works is the grist mill of Ste- phen A. Smith. The building was erected in 1883. The dam was swept away by the freshet of 1886, but was rebuilt. The water privilege above Smith's grist mill is owned by Richard Howard. He is a son of Elijah Howard and grandson of James Howard. He was born in 1817, in the town of Coventry, and after limited advantages of education, became proficient in the business of manufacturing. In 1847 he removed to Arctic, and in company with Lawson A. Seagraves, purchased a half interest in a cassimere mill, which was operated for four years. In ] 8^2 he made an engagement with Charles Allen, of AUenton, in North Kingstown, and became superintendent of his mills at that point, remaining until 1856, when Apponaug became his home. Here he began the manufacture of yarn in an old mill located on the site of the dam of the present grist mill. In 1858 he purchased the building, which had been used successively as a machine shop, grist mill, woolen mill, and paper mill. In this he placed two sets of woolen machinery for the manufacture of woolen yarn, and has successfully continued the business until the pres- ent time, the firm since 1859 having been R. Howard & Son. The product of the mill has a deservedly high reputation for ex- cellence, the Centennial Exposition of 1876, held in Philadelphia, having awarded the maker a gold medal, and also a diploma, for the best jack spun yarn in the world. Mr. Howard is a pro- nounced republican in politics and a firm believer in protection to American industries. He has always declined to be a candi- date for office. John Ware, a blacksmith and wagon maker, has been promi- nently identified in the village since 1868, when he succeeded Alonzo P. Stone. He also gives employment to a few men. Perseverance Lodge, No. :29, I. O. O. F., was established February 26th, 1873. The original officers were: Noble grand, Dennis Hunt; vice grand, John H. Collingwood; recording secretary, Jonathan Holt ; treasurer, A. D. Cahone ; permanent secretary, Theophilus Blythe. The officers for 1888 were : Noble grand, Oscar E. Aylesworth; vice grand, George W. vSpencer, Jr.; recording secretary, John HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 953 Q. Adams ; treasurer, William James Richardson : permanent secretary, Benjamin Hill. St. Luke's Church, Apponaug. — Episcopal services in the vil- lage were first held about war times, the rector from the church of East Greenwich ofSciating at stated intervals. First in charge of this mission was Doctor Crane, and succeeding him came Reverend George P. Allen. The first regular work was com- menced by Reverend Thomas H. Cocroft in June, 1880, of the church of St. Philip's, Crompton. He held services here altern- ating with the rector of Pontiac and Reverend Mr. Goodwin, of East Greenwich. Finally the whole work fell on Mr. Cocroft. He remained two years. Bishop Clarke then sent Reverend A. E. Carpenter, June 2d, 1882. The present edifice was built at this time. It is a magnificent structure. Succeeding Mr. Car- penter came Reverend P. Barnes, a young man of much vigor and enterprise. Unfortunately Mr. Barnes resigned in 1885, and from that time to the present none but supplies have had charge of the society. The church is in a flourishing condition. A good Sunday school is also carried on b}- this Society. Its ofiicers are : Senior warden, George Hardman ; junior warden, Cyril Thornton ; clerk, John Ware. The church build- ing when finished cost about $6,000. It is a neat, tasty little chapel, a gem of its kind. Warwick Central Free Will Baptist Church, Apponaug.— This church was organized by Reverend Benjamin Phelon on the third Sabbath in August, 1835. At that time there were baptized and formed into a church the following individuals as charter members: Alexander Havens, William Harrison, William D. Brayton, Thomas W. Harrison, Elizabeth Weeks, Catharine Westcott and Mary E. Wilbur. The first deacon was Alexander Havens ; first clerk, William D. Brayton. Reverend Benjamin Phelon, the first pastor, preached to this congregation about two years. He was succeeded by the fellow- ing pastors: Reverend Thomas S. Johnson, 1837; James S. Mowry, 1840; Martin J. Steel, 1842, three years; Benjamin Phelon, 1849-1869; J. A. Stetson, E. N. Harris, as supplies; George W. Wallace, 1870-77 (he died September 11th, 1880); G. J. Abbott, May 5th, 1877 (six years). He died November 3d, 1883, when the Reverend Edmund G. Eastman, the present pastor, succeeded. The membership of the church is about one hundred and ten. 954 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Richard Leonard is Sabbath school superintendent and James Clarence F. Heath clerk of the church. The deacons are: T. S. Gardiner, Raymond Stafford and Rice Arnold. Old Episcopal Church. — The old Episcopal church which stood near Coweset, was erected there in 1728, having formerly stood in Newport where it bore the name of Trinity church. According to tradition, it was floated from Newport to this place, where it remained for over thirty years, when the migra- tory spirit came over it again and it was taken down once more and placed upon the water with the intention of removing it to Old Warwick. A storm came on and the materials were scat- tered and never reached their destination. Chippewanoxet, a name euphonious in Indian but rude and diabolical in English, it being interpreted Devil's island, is a small island at high tide, near the summer resort known as Read's Palace. An old burial spot a short distance from it and near the railroad culvert, is tra- ditionally of Indian origin. William D. Brayton in a letter to Wilkins Updike, January 22d, 1845, says : " On the 2d of September, 1728, a lot of ground situated at equal distances between the villages of Apponaug and East Greenwich, was conveyed by the Reverend George Pigot to the society in London for the Propagation of the Gospel in For- eign Parts for erecting a church according to the establishment of churches by law in England. A church was accordingly erected — a wooden building two stories in height with a steeple and spire, fronting the post road. After remaining unoccupied a long time in a ruined state it was taken down about the year 1764, by inhabitants from Old Warwick for the purpose of erect- ing a church there. The materials having been conveyed to the shore, were scattered and lost during the storm which arose soon after. A number of graves, probably of individuals connected with the church, are still to be seen upon the lot. The Reverend George Pigot resided in Warwick a number of years and owned a tract of land there. He probably obtained the means of erect- ing the church." The following entries from the records relate to the Episcopal church in Warwick : "April 11,1736. Baptized at Coweset (Warwick church) by Mr. McvSparran , two children, viz.: Rebecca Pigot, daughter of Edward Pigot, and Chas. Dickinson, son of Capt. John Dickin- son." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 955 " Edward Pigot was the father of Reverend George Pigot and was a physician. He came to Warwick soon after his brother, but remained but a few years after his brother removed to Salem. John Dickinson was a merchant residing at Coweset, in Warwick, in 1733. He remained here, however, but a few years. Having failed in business as a merchant he removed, but to what place has not been ascertained." " September 9th, 1739. Dr. McSparran preached at the church in Warwick and admitted Mr. Levally to the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper." " December 14th, 1745. Dr. McSparran preached Moses Lip- pit's funeral sermon and buried him in his own ground in Warwick. He died the 12th about 11 o'clock in the forenoon." " June 6th, 1746, baptized by immersion a. young woman named Patience Stafford, daughter of Samuel Stafford of War- wick and then from Mr. Francis, rode to the church, read prayers and preached there." " April 21st, 1750. Baptized by immersion in Warwick, Eliza- beth Greene, wife of Richard Greene, and by affusion, Welthan Lippit, wife of Jeremiah Lippit, a sister of said Richard." " Saturday, June 12th, 1756. Dr. McSparran administered baptism by total immersion to two young women at Warwick, viz. : Elizabeth Greene, daughter of Richard Greene and Eliza- beth, his wife, and to Sarah Hariimett, daughter of an Anabap- tist teacher some time ago dead." " May 19th, 1753, at the old town of Warwick at Mrs. Lippit's were baptized by Dr. McSparran, Mary Wickes, daughter of Thomas Wickes and Ruth, his wife." " June ]2th, 1756, read prayers and preached at Mrs. Lippit's and baptized Elizabeth Wickes, daughter of Thomas Wickes and Ruth, his wife." "July 23d, 1756. As I came home from Providence I took Warwick in my way and baptized by immersion an adult nained Phoebe Low, daughter of Philip Greene, Esq., of Warwick, and wife of one Captain Low." Old Baptist Church at Apponaug. — At a church meeting held at Old Warwick, of which Elder Manasseh Martin was pas- tor, December 6th, 1744, Benjamin Peirce and wife, Ezrikham Peirce and wife, Edward Case and wife, John Budlong, and such others as wished to form a church at the Fulling Mill, of the same faith and order, were granted leave. Several members 956 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. from East Greenwich united with them, and the church was duly organized. Benjamin Peirce was ordained their minister. They eventually erected a meeting house, " on an eminence East of the village of Apponaug which commanded an extensive prospect of this village, river, islands and surrounding country." It stood nearly opposite the present residence of C. R. Hill, Esq. The church became involved in difficulty, owing to some change in the religious sentiments of Elder Peirce, and finally dissolved, and their meeting house went to decay for many years. Soon after the close of the revolutionary war another church was organized. The date of the organization is given by Elder Knight as 1785, and in another place as 1792. David Corpe, member of the East Greenwich church, was ordained their pas- tor. He soon became reduced in pecuniary means, and becom- ing advanced in years, resigned his trust and went away. He was succeeded by Elder Spooner, who was to preach once a month, but the tide of prosperity turned against them, and the church followed the example of its predecessor and became ex- tinct. CowESET is but a station on the Providence and Stoning- ton railroad. The post office was established at Coweset by Charles T. Greene, who remained in office for nine years. He was succeeded by the present postmaster, Albert D. Greene, Mr. Albert D. Greene came to this place in 1859, when he bought the coal yard. ,In 1875 the new depot was erected, and through Mr. Greene's efforts the name of the place was changed from Folly Landing to Coweset. His successors in the coal yard are Robert Champlin and Horatio W. Potter. Cromptox. — The territory around Crompton was owned by a comparatively few individuals before the year 1800. Thomas Matteson, a blacksmith, was an early settler in this part of the town. Mr. O. P. Fuller has given an extended history of the Mattesons and others of this vicinity. In 1807 attempts were made at manufacturing in this village. A company consisting of eight men, four of whom lived in Provi- dence, purchased of William Rice twenty acres of land for $1,050. The names of these owners were : Seth Wheaton, nine shares ; Thomas Session, six ; John K. Pitman, six ; Henry Smith, four ; Nathaniel Searle, two ; Jonathan Tiffany, two ; Benjamin Rem- ington, one. The name of the association was the Providence Manufacturing Company. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 957 William Rice, of -whom this land was purchased, bought 127 acres in this vicinity of Nicholas and Isaac, sons of Henry Mat- teson, June 4th, 1779. It is said that William Rice also owned one of the shares in this company, the one not accounted for, but the company objected to his name going upon the records of the town in this affair, being apprehensive of embarrass- ments. The head of this firm was Colonel Seth Wheaton, a native of Providence, and a good specimen of her former merchants. He died October 26th, 1827, aged 68. His only son, Henry Wheaton, was a noted man, and his name will be remembered long after the mills that his father raised in Crompton have crumbled into dust. Mr. Sessions was well known as a man of business, though he excited much opposition. Nathaniel Searle was a talented lawyer. Benjamin Remington was a farmer, and lived on the Coweset road. Major Jonathan Tiffany resided at Centreville, though he subsequently removed to Crompton, where his de- scendants now live. He assisted in making the machinery for the mills at Anthony and Crompton. The Stone mill, called formerly by some, in derision, " the stone jug," now designated as No. 1, was built in 1807, and the village was known for some years as the Stone Factory. It is said to be the first stone cotton mill built in the state. Addi- tional land was purchased of William Rice and Thomas Matte- son in 1808. In January of this year, Mr. Wheaton sold seven shares of his stock to Sullivan Dorr, for $6,720. Roger Alexan- der, of Cumberland, purchased two shares and gave the com- pany the benefit of his intimate knowledge of cotton spinning. Alexander sold his shares to the company in 1812, for the sum of $2,900. In 1814 Mr. Dorr sold all his interest in the concern, consisting of ten shares, to Thomas Sessions. William March- ant, of Newport, bought one-twelfth for $8,000, in 1814, and Mr. Pitman, the same year, sold to Sessions, Smith, Searle and Tiffany, all his right in the real and personal estate of the com- pany, being six thirty-second parts, for $31,800, and took a mort- gage on the property. The company remodeled the shares among themselves, and made Sessions their agent. May 16th, 1816, the company failed, and made an assignment to Philip Al- len and Samuel Aborn. Pitman recovered judgment against the surviving assignee in an action of trespass and ejectment, and appointed John Whipple to act as his attorney in the premises, August 13th, 1818. 958 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Jonathan Tiffany had charge of the mills about ten years. After sundry conveyances Mr. Pitman took possession in Janu- ary, 1819. Shortly after the failure of the Providence Manufacturing Company in 1816, Major Jonathan Tiffany and John K. Pitman, his brother-in-law, built a stone mill near Flat Top. The mill was two stories high with basement, in which a store was kept at first. It was used for spinning yarn, which was put out to be woven by hand looms. In 1827 it passed into the hands of Jon- athan and John K. Tiffany, the major's sons. General James G. Anthony was associated with them for several years. The new firm made wadding. The mill continued operations until 1844, and in 1848 it was taken down, and a portion of the stone was used in building the mill of the Crompton company. The old Flat Top was erected by Captain William Rice and his son-in-law about the year 1818. It was used for the spinning of cotton yarn. The mill had a number of owners, and finally passed into the hands of John Allen, of Centreville, who had a heavy mortgage upon it. His nephew Alexander operated it awhile, and then it burned down. The Crompton mills were rented three years from November 28th, 1820, of Mrs. Alary Dorrance and Asa Lamed, the execu- tors of John K. Pitman, deceased, to Messrs. Rhodes, of Paw- tuxet, ElishaP. Smith and TuUy Dorrance, of Providence. Feb- ruary 26th, 1823, before the expiration of the lease, the execu- tors sold the mortgage for less than principal and interest to Seth Wheaton and Edward Carrington, who, in March, 1823, en- tered into a co-partnership with Benjamin Cozzens. The new owners changed the title of the company and called it the Cromp- ton Company, in honor of the celebrated English machinist of that name. The village, at a public meeting of its citizens sub- sequently, also assumed that name. A lawsuit sprang out of the violation of the lease. The trial took place at Apponaug before two referees, the late Judge Brayton and Judge Dutee Arnold, of Arnold's Bridge, now called Pontiac. In 1823 the new com- pany started a bleachery, the manager of which was Edward Pike, of Sterling, Conn. Cotton mill No. 2 was built in 1828, and No. 8 in 1832. The woodwork of the latter mill was done under the direction of Deacon Pardon Spencer, who had general charge of the woodwork about the mills for several years. Not long afterward the company branched out into calico printing. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 959 Sanford Dvirfee, Esq., late treasurer of the company, was con- nected with the works from about the year 1830 to 1848, a part of the time as superintendent or agent of the concern. An un- usual prosperity attended the company during the last six months of 1844 and the first six months of 1845, in which it is said the print works made for their owners a profit of $100,000. The year 1837 was one of disaster to this concern, and in 1846 was another crash and breakdown. After many revolutions of fortune, of good and bad luck, the three cotton mills and print works were sold by the mortgagees to several gentlemen, and a new order of things commenced. The number of the proprie- tors was diminished by another change, and the whole estate fell into the hands of Governor Charles Jackson, Earl P. Mason, Daniel Bush and William T. Dorrance, of Providence. The print works were leased to Abbott & Sanders, in 1852, and after- ward to Sanders alone. The following were the measurements of the several mills : No. 1, 117 feet long and 33 feet wide, and three stories high ; No. 2, 96 feet long and 85 feet wide, with an addition 60 feet long and 21 feet wide, and four stories high ; No. 3, 109 feet long, 42 feet wide, and two stories high. The Richmond Manufacturing Company now owns the mills. They erected another mill in 1885. F. E. Richmond is presi- dent and Harvey Richmond treasurer of the company. They are carrjdng on an extensive manufacturing business, employ- ing about six hundred hands, running 40,000 spindles and 1,000 looms. The first store in Crompton of which any record is made was the old store called the company's store. Succeeding this was one kept by Captain John Holden, familiarly called Esquire Holden, as he was justice of the peace at that time, an office of considerable consequence. He was the first book-keeper of the Providence Manufacturing Company and was the first to open a variety store, the only one in the village for a number of years. Besides the usual variety of dr.y and West India goods he kept a constant supply of liquor, but for some years previous to his death he voluntarily gave up the sale of the latter commodity. John J. Wood, a prominent man, also an agent of the mills and a prominent member of the Baptist church and its treasurer for a number of years, during the latter part of his life kept a store in a small building that stood just opposite Mrs. Booth's hotel. He died November 25th, 1860, at the age of 64. William Kenyon 960 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. has been a merchant here since 1850. He came here in 1853 as an operative in the Crompton mills. The loss of an arm in 1856 changed all his plans and led to the mercantile life he has since successfully followed. He was born in 1839. His brother Ed- ward T. Kenyon, associated in business with him, was born in 1851. The other stores are those of Batchelder & Heydon, groceries, and Mrs. R. H. Briggs, dry goods. The post office is managed by J. R. JNlcKenna. He succeeded H. D. Heydon October 4th, 1887. Mr. Heydon had the first post office in the village opened about seven years ago. Mr. Mc- Kenna began trading here in 1876. The Booth hotel above re- ferred to has been managed by Mrs. J. G. Booth for the past score of years and more. Warwick and Coventrv Baptist Churches. — The early his- tory of this society, which embraces portions of three towns in its territorial extent, may be found in the chapter devoted to the history of Coventry. Reverend Oliver Payson Fuller was pastor of this society in Warwick when he wrote his " History of Warwick " in 1875, and has given a full account of the society in that history. He com- menced his labors here in 1859. From him we learn that Rev- erend Levi Walker preached on a salary of $200 a year, and that he was followed by Reverend Jonathan Wilson April 5th, 1823, of whom he says : " He accepted, and united with the church June 8th following, and remained until February 19th, 1830. During. this period a slight difficulty arose, occasioned by a portion of the church de- siring to have a young brother whom the church had licensed, preach half the time and Mr. Wilson the other half. Mr. Wilson went off to the southern part of the state and preached about six months, the Reverend Seth Ewer, an agent of the State Conven- tion, preaching in the meantime. He then returned and re- sumed his labors to the above date. Elder Wilson is spoken of as an able preacher, but was not thoroughly established in his religious sentiments. He went west and became a Millerite. As late as 1847 he returned east, and preached a few weeks in Prov- idence, with the expectation of being soon translated to heaven. It is said he carried his ascension robes with him in his preach- ing journeys." Reverend Arthur A. Ross united with the church July 4th, 1880, and closed his labors December 18th, 1834. The parsonage HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 961 hoiise was built by Henry Hamilton for John Allen, in 1831, who afterward gave it to the church. Following Mr. Ross came Rev- erend Thomas Dowling June 5th, 1836, to August, 1840; Thomas Wilkes, November 8th, 1840, to August, 1842. In 1843 the new church in Centreville was erected, and styled "The First Baptist Society in Warwick." John Allen gave a lot worth $400 and $2,300 in money. The church cost $4,100. Mr. Allen was clerk of this church nearly thirty years. He also gave the church the parsonage house. He died July 26th, 1845. Reverend Edward K. Fuller was pastor from August, 1848, to April 15th, 1845 ; George A. Willard, May 1st, 1847, to July 1st, 1850 ; Jonathan Brayton, August 25th, 1850, to January 1st, 1864; L. W. Wheeler, about one year; Jonathan Brayton (recalled) April 1st, 1857, to January, 1859 ; Oliver Payson Fuller from Jan- uary, 1859, to April, 1877; Charles T. Douglas, July 1st, 1877, to April 1st, 1879 ; Thomas Crudgington, April, 1879, to February, 1882; A. C. Bronson, November, 1882, died April 8th, 1883; William H. Fish, August, 1883, to November, 1886. The present pastor is John Cameron, who began his pastorate April 3d, 1887, and was ordained December 20th, 1888. During the past year the church has sold the parsonage in Centreville to Miss Emma Dawley, and has purchased a lot adjoining the church lot at Crompton, and has erected thereon a new parsonage. The inter- ior of the church has been remodelled and reseated. In 1883 the church voted to change the name to the "First Baptist Church of Crompton." Crompton Six Principle Baptist Church. — In the winter of 1841. six persons who afterward with others formed this church, began holding meetings in the old Centreville school house. A revival resulted and about thirty persons were baptized, most of whom entered into fellowship with the Maple Root church, in Coventry. April 23d, 1842, a petition was presented to the Ma- ple Root church, signed by thirty-eight persons, praying to be set off as a branch church. The prayer was granted and Elder E. H. Locke was chosen pastor, C. A. Carpenter deacon, and Wil- liam Rice clerk. In 1843 Elder Locke was succeeded by Elder William Place, who continued in office until April 19th, 1857. A building was erected and dedicated September 7th, 1844. In 1845 the church was organized as an independent church. Elder Locke returned at the conclusion of Elder Place's labors and re- mained two years, when he died. In the spring of 1868 Elder 61 962 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Ellery Kenyon became pastor and continued until January 15th, 1871, when he resigned. vSunday May 5th, 1870, William R. John- son was baptized and on the same day was ordained to the min- istry, and on March 23d, 1871, was unanimously elected elder. He continued until 1875. A building was erected and dedicated September 7th, 1844. C.VTHOLic CiTURCH. — The " Church of Our Lady of Mount Car- mel," a small frame church, was erected in 1844. It was under the charge of Reverend James Gibson. Father J. P. Gibson is in charge at the present time. The present church building in Crompton was erected in 1886. Father William H. Curley is as- sistant rector. The Church of St. James was organized at Birch Hill in 1870. St. Philip's Church, Crompton. — The Episcopal church in Crompton was organized in 1845. At the first meeting Reverend James H. Fames was appointed chairman and David Updike Hagan secretary, and it was decided to form a religious society under the style of St. Philip's church. A lot was procured, a house of worship erected and consecrated in 1846 by Right Rev- erend J. P. K. Henshaw, bishop of the diocese. A new building was erected in 1883. Reverend S. C. M. Orpen took the rector- ship in September, 1885. The society has a membership of about eighty-six communicants, and is in a healthful state of re- ligious prosperity. The rectors of this church have been as fol- lows : John P. Brown, 1846 ; Charles Y. Bennett, 1847-8 ; G. W. Chevers, a number of years; D. Potter, 1857-8; R. H. Tucker, 1859-61; Silas N. Rogers, 1861-7 ; Robert Paul, 1869-71 ; James S. FUis, Thomas H. Cocroft and S. C. M. Orpen. Centreville. — The exact time when the first settlement was made at this point is unknown, but it was probably previous to the year 1700, as the Wecochaconet grant of 2,100 acres was made in 1092. Fuller savs : " In 1677, the proprietors of the town granted to Henrj^ AVood, John Smith, John Greene, and John AVarner, a tract of land one hundred acres in extent, with two other small pieces, one con- taining one acre and the other two acres, with certain privileges ' on ye fresh ri^'er in ye township of Coweset, beinge ye south branch yt runs towards Pawtuxet.' The consideration was, that these persons should erect a saw mill on the river. There are certain items that point to this place as the spot designated, while HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 963 other items mentioned in the record leave the matter somewhat doubtful. " A saw mill is known to have stood here early in the eigh- teenth century, owned at the time by Job Greene, who was then possessor of a considerable portion of the territory within the present limits of the village, as well as of many contiguous acres. Major Job Greene, in 1726, saw fit to transfer a portion of his extensive domain, consisting of 412 acres, to his son, Daniel. This land was on the east side of the river, and bounded ' north by the third Wecochaconet farm ; east by the land of Potter and Whitman ; south by the highway between the Wecochaconet and Coweset farms, and west by the undivided lands.' This estate Daniel subsequently gave to his nephew, Christopher, who after- ward sold it to a man by the name of William Almy, of Provi- dence. Almy's heirs sold a part of it to Reverend J. Brayton, who afterward disposed of it to various persons, reserving a por- tion of it himself. The farms of Rufus Barton, Jeremiah Foster, the water-power and mill site of Benedict Lapham, the water- power, mill site and village of Arctic were included originally in this estate." There were but three houses in Centreville at the breaking out of the revolutionary war. One of these was the dwelling house of Daniel Greene, son of Job. It was a long, low, one story building, at one time divided into two sections and a piece put into the middle, and it stood until consumed by fire about the close of the war of the rebellion. Daniel Greene died No- vember 24th, 1798, over a hundred years old, having been born February 20th, 1698. The house that stood on the southeast corner of the lot on which the residence of Doctor Moses Fifield is situated, was also an ancient house. It was built upon the large farm of William Greene, son of Peter the great-grandson of John Greene, senior. It afterward came into possession of James Greene, son of James and grandson of William. In 1785 the number of houses had increased to eight. The others were John Henry Bunn's house, a small red building, one story, that stood between the Centreville bank and the bridge. It was built by Samuel Pitman for the goldsmith business. Jon- athan Tiffany, father of Mr. Henry Tiffany, of Crompton, mar- ried Mr. Pitman's half-sister. Bunn was a shoemaker and died many years ago. His widow, an old feeble woman, while her 964 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. daughter was absent, fell into the fire and was half consumed before her daughter returned. This event occurred in 1839. There was a house called the " Boarding house " and another occupied by Spencer Merrill. Colonel Christopher Greene's residence became the home of his son, Job, and was finally rent- ed to Thomas Whaley. It occupied the same site upon which William Levally subsequently built. AVestward, across the road. Job Greene built a house in 1785, in which he dwelt many years. Job Greene was the father of the Honorable Simon Henry Greene. The first attempt at manufacturing cotton by machinery in this village seems to have been made about the year 1794, when land and water-power were transferred to a company formed for cy that purpose by Colonel Job Greene, by a deed bearing date ^ October 3d of that year. Greene gave the land and water- ij power, " stipulating that the building should be 40 feet long by "^ 26 feet wide and two stories high, with sufficient machinery for ^v running a hundred spindles." The following persons formed '■"' the company: William Potter of Providence, one-third; John Allen, one-sixth ; James McKerris, one-sixth ; James Greene, one- ninth ; Job Greene, one-eighteenth ; the remaining one-sixth to be owned by the several proprietors, according to this ratio. The water was to be conveyed to the wheel by a wooden con- ductor, the interior of which was to be two feet square, and which was to be placed at the bottom of the mill danv/, Greene agreeing not to draw the water down for his grist mill so low that it would be less than six inches higher than the upper plank of the conductor. He also agreed to keep the dam in good condition for six years ; after this the company was to bear one- third the expenses of repairs. The machinery was built under the direction of Moses Irwin, who was afterward engaged to oversee its operation. The operation did not succeed very well, though the yarn manufactured was salable. There soon appear- ed a desire, on the part of some members of the company, to allow others to continue the experiment, and in May, 1797, Mc- Kerris sold one-tenth to John Reynolds, for $600 ; in June, he sold one-twelfth to Gideon Bailey, of East Greenwich, for $170. John Reynolds, in November, 1798, sold his share to the com- pany for $600. In 1799, the company sold one-half of the whole concern to William Almy and Obadiah Brown, for $2,500. The items of the transfer are as follows : one undivided half part of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. a lot of land and mill ; four spinning machines, each 60 spindles ; two carding machines, with drawing and roving frames ; half of dye-house ; half of single house on Job Greene's land ; half of water-power, &c., &c. July 10th, 1801, Almy & Brown purchased of Job Greene all his rights in the spinning mill. In 1805 they made the further purchase, of the same person, of 16 acres of land, grist and saw mills, water-power and dwelling house, which he built in 1785, all for $5,000. In 1807 a second mill was erected on the east side of the river, by a new company that styled itself the " Warwick Manufactur- ing Company." The company was composed of Almy & Brown, James Greene, John Allen and Gideon Greene. James Greene held one-eighth of the stock, John Allen one-eighth, John Greene one-twelfth, Gideon Greene one-sixteenth and Almy & Brown the remainder. John Allen superintended the erection of the mill, as he had done the one across the river. He also afterward acted as the agent of the company and was followed by John Greene. The mill was painted green, and was known as the green mill. The building that recently stood opposite Mr". Lapham's office, used as a boarding house, was originally used as a store, and in the basement of it hand looms were intro- duced and the yarn was woven into cloth, in the same way as in many of the houses in the surrounding country up to the time of the introduction of power machinery. The company grass- bleached the cloth that was made by the hand loom, and finished it by running it through a calendar that stood on the opposite side of the stream. The land on the opposite side of the river from the Baptist parsonage and lot adjoining, now covered with wood and underbrush, was the Bleach-green, and upon its grassy surface the cloth was spread and occasionally wet until the de- sired whiteness was secured. In 1816 Captain William Potter, one of the original proprie- tors, sold his part of the Warwick Spinning Mill to Almy & Brown, having failed in the general crisis of 1815 and 1816. The old grist mill on the west side of the river was superseded by a cotton mill, built by Almy & Brown. It had been used for various purposes. In the basement was a machine shop with a trip hammer, where the noisy operations mingled with the racket of the saw and grist mill in the second story. In the story above this was a small woolen mill, carried on in a limited way for a short 966 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. time. Almy & Brown owned five-eighths of the Warwick mills, and their shares were purchased by John Greene in 1836 at the rate of $55,000 for the whole. John Greene died July 16th, 1851, one of the richest men in the vicinit}'. William D. Davis bought the woolen machinery in January, 1850, and the tenements, water-power and cotton mills in De- cember, 1851. Previous to this Allen Waterhouse had started the manufacture of several kinds of cassimere. Two-thirds of the mill property, including both sides of the river, were pur- chased of the heirs of John Greene and others, at the rate of $41,000 for the whole ; the other third, belonging to the heirs of James Greene, he bought at auction, at the rate of $38,000. Mr. Davis sold the green mill, on the east side of the river, to Benedict Lapham, who commenced operations in 1852. Mt. Davis continued to run the woolen mill until 1860, when he sold out to General James Waterhouse, who run it until his death, which occurred in Lowell March 25th, 1872. The mill burned in 1870; was rebuilt in 1871, with six sets of machinery. In 1872 the Kent AVoolen Company took the plant, putting in two ad- ditional sets of raachinery. They now make fancy cassimeres, employing 125 persons. The product of the mill is more than one-quarter of a million dollars per annum. The president of the company is Livingston Mason; treasurer, C. F. Mason ; super- intendent and agent, B. F. Waterhouse. In 1873-4 INIr. Lapham built his substantial stone mill, one of the best arranged and largest in the state owned by a single in- dividual. It stands just in the rear of the site of the old green mill, and is 304 feet long by 72 feet wide, of five stories, with a capacity of 30,000 spindles and 650 looms. Most of the stone for this building was quarried from a ledge near by. The old mill, erected in 1807, was moved to the rear, and is now used for a store house. This building is. one hundred and fifty feet long and three stories high. Honorable Benedict Lapham died a few years ago, and Honorable Enos Lapham is now the proprietor. Banks. — The Centreville National Bank of Warwick succeeded the old Centreville Bank, which was incorporated in June, 1828. The incorporators were : John Greene, John Allen, Doctor Syl- vester Knight, William Anthony (father of Governor Anthony), Doctor Stephen Harris, Joseph W. Greene, Thomas Remington, Daniel Gorham, Job Harkness, Perez Peck, Caleb Kelton, Ste- phen G. Hopkins, Stephen Levally, Dutee Arnold, John B. Ar- < I a. < " W c P g . > w 2; u W o 2 Z W H O Q HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 967 nold, and John R. Waterman. Tlie first president was John Greene. His successors have been : Cyrus Harris, John W. A. Greene, Jonathan Brayton, Ezra J. Cady, 1879-85 ; Enos Lapham. 1885. The first cashier was Moses Fifield, whose salary was but two hundred dollars per annum. At his death he was succeeded, January 5th, 1857, by his son. Doctor Moses Fifield, who is still serving. The bank was organized as a national bank May 5th, 1865. Its present board of directors are : Moses Fifield, J. Q. Arnold, D. R. Adams, A. H. Arnold, R. Brayton, J. Kenyon, C. Matteson, Harold Lawton, Enos Lapham. The Centreville Savings Bank went into operation in 1887. Enos Lapham is president of the new institution and Doctor Moses Fifield is treasurer. Stores. — The village of Centreville has always maintained good mercantile standing as a point of trade. The first store was a half mile below Centreville, opposite J6hn Johnson's place. The next store was kept by Joseph Warren Greene, in a build- ing now used as a tenement for the Kent Woolen Company. In 1828 Mr. Greene left for New York city, where he afterward be- came quite wealthy. The old Warwick Manufacturing Company built a new store in 1846. There was an old store kept by Joseph Burton in 1828, and at this same time Whipple A. Arnold kept a store and the post office. The old Warwick store is now kept by Daniel Tibbitts, an old trader in the village of thirty years' standing and over. In 1828 William Levally kept the old tavern. In 1859 Bryel Arnold began trading at this point. Duke & Wood own several stores in this and surrounding villages. Mr. George E. Wood of this firm was born in Scotland, Conn., in 1845, and came to Centreville in 1874 as farmer for Mr. Lapham. The fol- lowing year he bought a half interest in the Charles Duke busi- ness. In December, 1879, Duke & Wood bought the stock of goods at the Clyde Print Works of B. A. Sweet, and in January, 1888, they bought of Franklin Treat's estate the stock of goods and business in the brick store at Centreville. L. C. Greene keeps the only drug store in the village. He es- tablished the business in 1870. His brother, B. F. Greene, was with him at one time, the firm name being L. C. Greene & Co. Dennis H. Devent has the post office. He received his commis- sion from July 13th, 1886. William Merrill, an old settler and a carpenter, established a business here that has been carried on by the Alerrills for many years. His son, Josiah Merrill, was a 968 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. blacksmitli ; and his son, L. C. Merrill, a carriage maker, has op- erated his business with success for the past twenty years. Chris- topher Arnold, father of Uriah Arnold, well known to the people of the community, was an early carpet weaver in the village. He died June 6th, 1847, on a passage home, and was buried in the Gulf of Mexico. Uriah Arnold was born in Centreville, April 5th, 1820. Schools and Taverns. — "In 1803 the first school house was built, and used both for schools and religious meetings. The building still stands, and is used as a wheelwright's shop. It was formally dedicated with religious services. The first term of in- struction commenced September 10th, 1803, with ]Mr. Pettis as teacher. How long ]Mr. Pettis taught is uncertain, but he finally removed to Providence where, in J 828, he was the preceptor of the fourth district. He possessed some knowledge of medicine and is remembered as ' Dr. Pettis.' He was followed by Samuel Greene, who died in Coventry, over ninety years of age. The third was Sabin Lewis, who taught also at another period of his life in Apponaug. He is said to have been a seafaring man but ' excellent in the science of mathematics ; was a landscape painter and master of a forcible style of composition.' He sub- sequently removed to Pleasant Valley, N. Y. Oliver Johnson, Esq., was teacher about the year 1821. " In ]\Iay, 1803, the 'Warwick West School Society' was incor- porated, with John Greene as librarian, Ray Johnson, secretarj-, and John Allen, treasurer. The charter was granted to nineteen persons, all of whom have passed away. They, or at least a por- tion of them, owned the school house and provided for the edu- cational wants of the village. Similar societies had been incor- porated in different parts of the town. " The old tavern house, now owned by Islr. Lapham, was built by Deacon David Cady. He was an active member of the Methodist church, and two of his sons became ministers of that denomination and are now living in Providence. One of them. Reverend Jonathan Cady, built the church about the year 1831. He was a carpenter at the time. The old house was occupied by Oliver Johnson, Esq., of Providence, and others, as a tavern, and it has also been used as a post office. Deacon Cady married a Miss Waterman, of Killingly, Conn., and had a large family of children. His second wife was a daughter of IMoses Lippitt, of Old Warwick. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 969 "In passing from Centreville to Apponaug, in 1795, we should pass seven houses, including the old part of the house now owned by Mr. Horatio L. Carder, early known as Nathan Arnold's, and afterward as Elisha Arnold's, and the one near Apponaug, owned by John Tibbitts. The Eben Arnold house, now owned by Mr. J. Johnson, in revolutionary times was owned by Thomas Matte- son, and was used for a while during the war as an hospital. The farm afterward passed into the possession of Nathaniel Arnold, familiarly known as = Black Nat,' who for a while kept a tavern there. On the opposite side of the road, about the year 1815, there was a small one-story building that was used as a store, and in one part of it an Irishman by the name of McOnomy, or some such name, wove shirting. He is said to have been the first Irish- man that ever lived in this region. Nathaniel Arnold became dissatisfied with his home, and with his characteristic mode of speaking said he was ' determined to sell his place if he could not give it away.' He afterward sold it to Philip Arnold, whose son, Eben,subsequently came into possession of it. Philip Arnold was a wealthy man, and lived on the old homestead near Natick, but afterward became involved and lost most of his property. He had five sons, John, Henry, Christopher, Andrew and Eben. The latter was the father of Albert H. and Ray G. Arnold, well- known and respected citizens." Methodist Episcopal Church. — This church was built in 1831. The first pastor was Reverend Moses Fifield. The soci- ety worshipped for a long time in the school house. The War- wick circuit was quite extended, and included East Greenwich, Wickford, Plainfield in Connecticut, and other places, and the preachers were accustomed to preach to them in rotation. One of the principal members of the church here for many years was Reverend Moses Fifield, a man universally esteemed in the community, who preached during the latter years of his life only infrequently. When the Centreville Bank was incor- porated, in 1828, Mr. Fifield, who was at the time a school teacher in the village, was elected its first cashier, and continued in that position until a few months before he died. He was also the treasurer of the Warwick Institution for Savings, from its or- ganization in 1845. Elder Fifield was born in Unity, N. H., De- cember 19th, 1790, and died April 19th, 1859. The church now is under the ministrations of Reverend Mr. 970 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Woodward. It is not large, but it has, nevertheless, a vigorous tendency upward. ARCTrC: — Previous to the year 1834 the site of this village was a wilderness, covered for the most part with a forest. On the 19th of February, 1834, Rufus Wakefield purchased of Doctor Stephen Harris a small tract of land on the west side of the river for $450 and erected a stone mill 60 by 40 feet, which he rented to variotis parties, who made woolen cloths. The place was then called Wakefield. In 1852 the Spragues erected their large cot- ton mill and changed the name to Arctic. Among those who occupied Wakefield's mill, were Harris O. Brown and Philip Aldrich, of Scituate, who manufactured a coarse kind of cloth, used principally by the southern slaves. They were followed by Clapp and Allen ; the latter afterward became interested in the mills at Hope village. Christopher W. Spalding and Job C. Warriner occupied the upper story, and manufactured Kentucky jeans. Islr. Wakefield was a stone- mason, and married the daughter of Xehemiah Atwood, of Lip- pitt village ; he was a native of Charlton, ]Mass. The years 1845 and 1846 were the most important ones in the history of the little village. At this time the efforts of Rever- end J. Brayton,who had little money but clear foresight, induced parties to purchase the privileges necessary for erecting mills, the land upon the east side being a portion of a large farm held at the time by Doctor Tobey, of Providence, as agent of the heirs of William Almy, of Providence, who was authorized to sell it for $15,000, which property fell (eventually) into the hands of A. & W Sprague in March, 1852, for $11,400. Other additions were sub- sequently purchased by the Spragues, and having obtained suf- ficient real estate for their purposes, they began the work of destroying and remodeling on a large scale. They destroyed some of the old buildings, turned the woolen mill into a store house, and excavated with great labor a quarry of rock on the east bluff for the wheel pit and foundation of a mill. A dam was built, which secured them a fall of water of 29-| feet. A granite mill gradually rose up in this then almost wilderness, whose di- mensions were 312 feet in length, ?0 feet wide, four stories, each twelve feet high, with an L 50 by 02 feet, which contains the machine shop, dressing and lapper rooms. The plan of the mill originated with Governor Sprague ; the draft for the arrange- ment of the machinery was made by Albert G. Smith. This HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 971 large and costly structure took fire on the evening of March 17th, 1865, and all its contents were destroyed. The fire originated in the machine shop, where some painters' materials were stored ; some naphtha became suddenly ignited, and before sufficient as- sistance arrived the flames were beyond control. Only the walls remained standing the next morning. It is said the loss exceed- ed the insurance by $80,000. With commendable enterprise the debris was removed, the walls examined by experts, and found in the main of sufficient strength to allow of their remaining. Defective portions were removed and the whole strengthened, and the renovated mill, with its 22,000 spindles, was again put into operation. A. & W. Sprague erected at the time one of the best modeled mills in the state. It is now owned by the successful and enter- prising firin of B . B. & R. Knight, who have made many im- provements in it, and run 35,824 spindles and 1,039 looms. The population here and at River Point, as they 'are connected, is about three thousand. In 1873, principally through the efforts of Hon. Benedict Lap- ham, the new depot was built, and also soon after the school district covering the territory of this village was set off. This little but very enterprising village has had its growth during the last few years only, but it is one of the most thriving centers of trade in this section of the town. The French Catho- lic church, with a membership of 4,500, is located here, and is the chief object of interest to the inhabitants. A dozen or more stores and places of trade have lately been established, many of them within the past two or three years. The place can boast of three physicians and a hotel, a public hall that will seat 800 people, erected in 1884 ; a society of the French Catho- lic order ; and of a very industrious class of people. The old company store was the first in the place and has a his- tory identical with the Sprague and Knight mills. Albert Spen- cer kept the next store and following him came Isaac K.Curson, who established his business about the year 1853. He carried on the livery business until 1871. He is now owner of a Yankee notion store. William C. Tibbitts, one of the most prominent merchants in the place, came here in 1854 in the employ of A. & W. Sprague and remained with them nine years. In 1880 he built his present store and is doing a thriving business. J. B. Le Moine came to Arctic in 1876 and established the clothing 972 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. trade. Joseph Le Moine & Son have carried on undertaking here since 1875. Albert Tyler has been engaged in the mercan- tile business at North Centreville since 1884. H. C. Shepard built his hotel in 1874. Chase s Monthly Advertiser was started in January, 1886. It had a gratuitious circulation, but the advertisements furnished by the business men of the village supported it handsomely. It is a four column folio work neatly executed on Mr. Chase's job press, run by steam. Mr. Isaac F Chase, the proprietor, began job printing in River Point in April, 1867, and in Arctic in 1874. He established his circulating library in 1867. North Centreville is sometimes termed Arctic. The most prominent among those doing business here is Robert Forsyth. He was born of Scotch parents in the state of Connecticut in 1830. He has resided and been in business here since 1882, when he bought the site and erected the grist mill at North Cen- treville. He subsequently put in the machinery there now in use, and added to the feed and grain business his present trade in coal and wood. Steam is the motive power, and the business is principally the manufacture of feed from AVestern grain. J. W. Carpenter also established his business at this point in 1882. He operates a planing mill and manufactures sash and blinds. Milton H. Arnold, son of Uriah and grandson of Chris- topher Arnold, was born in 1854. His father being a wood me- chanic, he worked at house-carpentering from 1877 to 1884. He then established, in connection with building and contracting, a lumber yard. In 1885 he bought his present site in North Cen- treville, built an office, and added to his business doors, sash, paints, carpenters', masons' and painters' supplies. French Catholic Church.— The Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist, consisting wholh- of French Canadians, was formed from the parishes of St. Mary's, Crompton, and adjacent terri- tories, and St. Peter and St. Paul, Phenix, the pastors being Rev- erend James Gibson, of the former, and Reverend John Couch, of the latter. In the year 1872. Reverend Henry Spruyt was as- signed to the new parish, the services then being held in the Odd Fellows Flail, River Point. He obtained a beautiful build- ing site at Arctic Center and erected a magnificent church . They first had mass in the basement, and the first baptism was Janu- ary 19th, 1873. They also erected a fine residence adjacent to the church for the pastor. Father Spruyt remained in charge HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 973 of the churcli till 1878, when, being ill, his place was filled by Reverend Fathers Lanegan and Perkins. Father Spniyt re- ttirned again and assumed charge for a short time, but finally had to retire on account of poor health. He was succeeded by Reverend George Mashony,who was sent to Central Falls, his place being filled by Reverend James Smith, August 28th, 1879. The latter remained pastor, being assisted by Reverends Henry Kennedy and Henry Coubo)?, until Septem- ber, 1887, when he was sent to Pawtucket. His successor was Reverend Charles P. Gaboury, assisted by Reverend L. O. Massi- cotte. The population of the parish is 4,500. They have built the past year a large, substantial building of brick 60 by 70 feet, three stories high. This is to be used as a parochial school, with the Sisters of Jesus as teachers. The Societe St. Jean Baptiste De Centreville was organized March 15th, 1885, and was incorporated January 12th, 1886. Doctor Legris, one of the founders, is its president, and under his ad- ministration the society has flourished from the first. The mem- bership consists exclusively of the resident French people. CHAPTER XXI. TOWN OF WARWICK (Concluded). Phenix and Its Surrounding Villages.— Early History.— Lippitt Manufacturing Company. — Roger Williams Manufacturing Company and Phenix Mills. — Stores.— Undertakers.— Railroad. — Hotels. — Fire District. — Water Com- pany.— Fires.— Banks.— Public Library. — Tatem Meeting House.— Phenix Baptist Church.— Phenix Methodist Church.— Catholic Church, Phenix.— Episcopal Church.— Clyde Print Works.— River Point.— Congregational Church, River Point.— Natick.—Natick First Baptist Church.— Pontiac— First Free Will Baptist Church.— All Saints' Church.— HiU's Grove.— Metho- dist Church. — Biographical Sketches. THE villages of Harris, Phenix and Lippitt are all connected and seem as one village, and together have a population of about four thousand inhabitants. The most flourishing one of these villages is Phenix, There are four meeting houses here for public worship, and a very enterprising newspaper, is- sued weekly, called the Pazuti/xct Valley Gleaner. It is one of the most enterprising weeklies published in the state. Outside of the mill owners, no one has done so much to en- large and beautify Phenix as Honorable William B. Spencer, the gentleman who prepared the able paper on the " Valley of the Pawtuxet," from which we have copied freely, by permis- sion, for our own history of the village. He erected two of the largest and handsomest dwelling houses in the village and two of the handsomest business blocks here, and was the means of establishing the bank located at this point and was its first pres- ident, a position which he held for several years. He was chair- man of the committee to build the Baptist meeting house, giving the lot on which it stands. This edifice is one of the most beautiful and convenient meeting houses to be found in the rural part of Rhode Island. Besides, he laid out a commodious cemetery on the high lands half a mile southwest of the village, at his own expense. Such a man is a benefit to the community, by whatever motive he may have been actuated in doing it. It is hoped by many persons that Mr. Spencer will yet pub- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 975 lisli the valuable sketches above referred to in book form. These papers were published in the Gleaner during- the year 1888, and in the aggregate comprise over sixty columns of that paper. The tract of land originally termed Natick reached from Shau- ticut Brook up along the north branch of the Pawtuxet as far at least as Arkwright, and embraced in extent 2,100 acres. The term Natick eventually loosed its hold and the place is now known as Phenix. The tract was assigned in March, 1673, by the pro- prietors of Warwick to Job Greene, Senior, Richard Carder, John Warner, Benjamin Barton and Henry Townsend, as their portion of the undivided lands. Various changes in its ownership had taken place previous to 1750, at which time the western portion, including the site of the present village, became known as Wales. Samuel Wales was at one time one of the principal owners of the land in this vicinity. Benjamin Ellis, Anthony Burton, Charles Atwood and Andrew Edmond were also at this time prominent landholders. Under date of May, 1737, the general assembly authorized the construction of the highway " from near the house of Capt. Rice in Warwick to the grist mill commonly called Edmonds' mill," elsewhere described. May 5th, 1740, Joseph Edmonds, for love and good will, etc., deeded to his son Joseph Edmonds, Jr., a part of the homestead farm containing fifty acres. February 16th, 1747, Anthony Burton sold to Charles Atwood for i^2,400, 140 acres of that part of Warwick known as Wales. This tract was bounded easterly by the Edmonds farm. Benja- min Ellis owned most of the land on the north side of the north branch of the Pawtuxet river, extending from where the Phenix factory now is to Natick village. " May 21st, 1751, Benjamin Ellis, for sixty pounds, sold to Charles Atwood, twelve acres of land with a dwelling house and other improvements thereon, bounded easterly on land of An- drew Edmonds, southerly by the north branch of the Pawtuxet river, westerly and northerly by lands of Charles Atwood, and divided into two pieces by the highway. " Benjamin Ellis lived in a house on the east side of the high- way, opposite the first sharp turn in the road in descending the Natick hill, going from Lippitt, and near the house of William Baker (since owned by James Caswell).' After his death his son Jonathan continued to reside there until the factories at Natick 976 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. were erected in 1807, when he built a two-story dwelling house on the hill, overlooking the village and the surrounding country, and removed to Natick, and the old house was allowed to decay and has been entirely demolished. " Jonathan Ellis lived to a good old age, and resided in this new house until his death, which occurred July 7th, 1842. After his death it came into the possession of his heirs, and has changed owners several times, and is now (1888) owned by Mrs. Barnes." " Charles Atwood by purchase from Anthony Burton, Benja- min Ellis and others, became owner of most of the land from where the village of Harris is now located, bounding southerly on the north branch of the Pawtuxet river and northerly on the south line of the town of Cranston, extending easterly until it came to the bend of the river below the Clyde works ; he had a grist mill and saw mill located where the brick boiler house of the Lippitt Manufacturing Company now stands. " Charles Atwood died in 1782. His estate, containing 268 acres, 137 rods of land, became the property of his three sons, Charles, Caleb and Nehemiah. " The Phenix factory and the dwelling houses now stand and remained unchanged until Nehemiah Atwood, in 1809, sold about eight acres of land and the water privilege to the Roger Wil- liams Manufacturing Company. " ]March 19th, 1737, James Utter sold to Anthony A. Rice the farm on which he, the said James Utter lived, containing fifty acres lying on the south side of the north branch of the Pawtuxet river and bounded southerly partly on land of John Levalley and partly on land of the heirs of Michael Levalley, west on land of Peter Levalley, north and east on the north branch of the Paw- tuxet river. This farm is on the opposite side of the river from the Lippitt village and at that time included the land south of where the Lippitt company's trench now runs below the factory, the river then running near the factory and continuing close to the bank passing in the rear of the house of the late Simon Henry Greene, continuing near where the bridge now crosses the river. Anthony A. Rice continued to occupy this farm until his death, which occurred in 1836, and his estate was divided the 8th day of April, 1837, among his heirs. Previous to the year 1809 the country where the Lippitt village is now located was nearly a wilderness, there were only two dwelling houses, a saw mill, grist HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 977 mill and tan yard where now stands a large factory and many dwelling houses. One of the dwelling houses at that time was a gambrel roof house owned and occupied by Nehemiah Atwood, located in the rear of the present Lippitt store (which is now standing). The other house stood next westerly from the Doctor Clark house at the turn of the road, where now stands a cottage house owned by George B. Atwood. This house was owned and occupied by Caleb Atwood, grandfather of George, who had a tan yard between his house and the trench leading from the mill pond to the saw and grist mills, where he tanned the leather used in his boot and shoe making. The bark was ground with a flat stone some four or five feet in diameter and about one foot thick, having a hole through the center. A wooden shaft was put through this hole. One end of this shaft was fastened to a post set in the ground in the center of a circle. To the other end of the shaft a horse was fastened. The stone standing on the edge, the horse walking around in a circle turned the stone, and the bark being placed in this circle on the ground or bed prepared for it, became broken into small pieces and made ready for use. This piece of land occupied by said tan yard remained in the At- wood family until June 29th, 1822, when it passed into the hands of the Lippitt company, who used it for a wood yard." " Caleb Atwood and sons erected a small factory where the Lanphear machine shop now stands, and for some cause it be- came known as ' the dumplin' mould,' which name was not pleas- ing to Mr. Atwood. A stranger coming into the place and in- quiring for a certain locality was told to go to Mr. Atwood's tav- ern and inquire for the dumplin' mould, and on doing so Mr. Atwood grabbed his cane and drove him from the house in a great rage." Lippitt Manufacturing Company. — ■• November 9, 1809, Christopher Lippitt of Cranston, Charles Lippitt, brother of Christopher, Benjamin Aborn, George Jackson and Amasa and William H. Mason of Providence, formed a copartnership under the name of the Lippitt Manufacturing Company, with a capital of $40,000. November 11, 1809, they purchased of Nehemiah Atwood (as per deed) ' in common not as joint tenants one cer- tain tract or parcel of land situate in said Warwick and is bound- ed as follows, to wit, etc., in the following proportions, that is to say, Christopher Lippitt one quarter part ; Charles Lippitt one quarter part ; Benjamin Aborn one eighth part ; George Jackson 62 978 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. one eighth part; Amasa Mason one eighth part; William H. Ma- son one eighth part ; with the privilege of drawing water from said Atwood's mill pond above the sawmill and gristmill in such quantities sufficient to carry 2000 spindles by water frames; also sufficient for the use of a forge or trip hammer works.' (The trip hammer works were not erected.) Nov. 11, 1809, the Lippitt Co. agreed with Nehemiah Atwood, ' that we will hereafter for- ever support and keep in good order and repair the dam, bulk- head, gates, gateways and trench between the northwesterly end of the said Atwood's saw mill flume up to the mill pond.' " AA^ork was soon after commenced and the factory building now standing and occupied by the Lippitt jNIanufacturing Com- pany was erected and occupied ; also a building was erected be- low the factory building, where the weave shop now stands, and used for a dye shop for coloring the yarn spun in the factor}^ After the yarn was colored and prepared for weaving, it was taken by persons having looms and skilled in weaving to their homes and woven into cloth and then returned to the factory. The company at one time had a contract with the Vermont state prison to furnish them with yarn to be woven by the prisoners. After this dye house had been used a number of years it took fire one stormy night in winter, when the ground was covered with snow, and was entirely consumed and was not rebuilt. The inhabitants formed themselves into two lines, one to pass buck- ets of water, the other to return the empty buckets, and thus pre- vented the factory from taking fire. This building was not re- built. The company erected one two-story double house and six one-story two-tenement houses on the north side of a street and two houses on the south side of the street on the bank of the river ; also two double houses on a street running westerly from the highway at the foot of Wakefield hill ; all of said houses are now (1888) standing. " May, 1853, a charter was granted to Charles Lippitt, Christo- pher Lippitt, Henry Lippitt, Robert L. Lippitt, Penelope Lippitt, Julia L. vSweet, Cornelia A. Andrews and Arthur M. Kimball, in- corporating them as the Lippitt Manufacturing Company. " April 2, 1810, Colonel Christopher Lippitt, one of the owners of the Lippitt Manufacturing Company, was chosen agent at a , salary of $42 per month. January 4, 1822, Aborn, Jackson and Greene were appointed agents and continued until 1833, when John F. Phillips was appointed agent and in 1850 AVarren Lip- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 979 pitt was agent and continued about 13 years, and Christopher Lippitt was agent ; they all resided in Providence and had super- intendents who resided at the mills. " Nathaniel Gladding was superintendent several years. James Essex was superintendent in 1824 and continued until his death in 1826. Edmund C. Gould was the next superintendent. He was a mule spinner in the employ of the company before he was promoted. After continuing several years he was succeeded by Leonard Loveland, who Avas superintendent until he removed from the state. His daughter married Irus Albro, a brother of Mrs. William Remington of Phenix, and they went with the family when they removed west. In 1838, Daniel Wheelock was superintendent, and in 1842 James Caswell was superin- tendent and continued several years. He purchased the Wil- liam Baker farm on Natick hill and removed from this village, and resided on this farm until his death, October 6, 1867, in the 62d year of his age. Since Mr. Caswell there have been several superintendents; among them were Henry Potter, now head me- chanic at the Clyde works, Henry D. Eddy, who occupies Me- ■ chanics' store at Harris, Mr. Knight, now at Quidnick, John C. Bartlett, now of Scituate, Bradford Hathaway, now at Coweset, Charles A. Sweet, superintendent of a mill at Knoxville, Tenn,, and John A. Collins the present incumbent. " The Lippitt Manufacturing Co. in 1809 purchased water power sufficient to run 2000 spindles. Afterward they pur- chased the remainder of the water power and added more ma- chinery and took away the saw mill and several years thereafter the grist mill was dispensed with and a large building erected a short distance below the factory, and the looms were removed into the second story of this building and several years after- ward the first story of this building was used for the spinning on throstle frames. In 1887 the company were running 10,640 spindles and 238 looms. The mill is heated by steam and the engine supplies the needed power in summer when the water power is not sufficient to run all the machinery. Roger Williams Manufacturing Company and the Phenix Mills. — " Previous to the year 1809 where the Phenix mills and ^ dwelling houses are located was an orchard of fruit trees ; the river was running unobstructed. August 16, 1809, Nehemiah Atwood sold to ' Daniel Baker, William Baker, Samuel Baker and William Harrison, of Warwick, Reuben Whitman of Coventry, 980 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Elisha Williams and John S. Williams of Cranston,' who had re- solved themselves into a company for the purpose of carrying on the manufacturing of cotton, and assumed the name of the Roger Williams Manufacturing Company, by which name the village was known until after the factory was burned, ' a certain piece or parcel of land and water privilege situated in Warwick in that part called Natick.' The consideration paid for this land and water privilege was $600. Anthony A. Rice gave the company the deed August 16th, 1809. " In May, 1821, the Roger Williams factory was entirely con- sumed by fire. The writer saw the factory burn, and remembers how it looked when he first saw it on fire. There were no facil- ities for extinguishing fires, the only means being pails and buckets used by hand. It was said that the books of the com- pany were in such shape about the time the factory was burned that the financial situation of the company could not be ascer- tained ; but the burning of the factory together with the books settled it without any further trouble. "The Roger Williams Manufacturing Company was composed of men of little experience in manufacturing and of small means. They did not find manufacturing profitable and were not prepared to sustain the loss occasioned by the burning of the factory and were not disposed to rebuild, and in March, 1822, Elisha Harris, William Harrison, David Cady and wife, Peter Howard, Samuel Budlong, Daniel Baker, Wait Lippitt, William Baker, Reuben Whitman and Stephen Btidlong, who then com- posed the Roger Williams Manufacturing Co., conveyed by deed all the property of the Roger Williams Manufacturing Company to Timothy Greene, Samuel Greene and Benjamin C. Harris, who assumed the name of the ' Phenix Company ' and the vil- lage has ever since been known as Phenix village. Soon after purchasing the estate the new compan}- commenced erecting a factory but changing the situation of it, placing the west end on the wall that made the west side of the Roger Williams factory and extending easterly down the river which brought the side of the factory facing the road instead of the end as in the old mill and placing the building further from the road. A new factory soon arose from the ashes of the old one and remains to- this day, being built of stone. " September 3d, 1823, Tim6thy Greene sold to Reuben Whit- man, Edward Walcott, Samuel Greene and Benjamin C. Harris, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 981 all his interest in ttie Phenix estate, and preparations were com- menced for building another factory, which was erected in 1825. The raceway or trench leading- from the new factory to the river had to be excavated through a ledge of rocks nearly all the way, which was done by Rufus Wakefield, who built the walls of the trenches. The factory was built of stone with slated roof. " About midway between the two factories was erected a small stone building with a tin roof. In the basement of this building was placed a force pump and waterwheel to be used in case of fire, having a stationarj- iron pipe extending up to the floor above on a level with the ground, to attach the hose to. A hose carriage with hose was kept in this room. In 1829 Benjamin C. Harris and Edward Walcott became sole owners of the Phenix estate ; manufacturing became much depressed and August 30, 1829, Benjamin C. Harris and Edward Walcott conveyed to George J. Harris the Phenix estate in trust, and the mills were stopped and business in Phenix came to a stand. Ames & Crary had a store in the village and sold out their stock and gave up the business. Some of the families moved from the place ; this state of things did not last long. January 28, 1830, George J. Harris conveyed to Benjamin C. Harris all the Phenix Com- pany's estate and he then became sole owner, and the mills again started up. December 6, 1830, Benjamin C. Harris sold one half the Phenix estate to Crawford Allen, and they continued togeth- er until January 2d, 1837, when Crawford Allen leased his half of the estate to the Phenix Company, composed of Crawford Allen, one-half, David Whitman, one-quarter, Zachariah Allen, one-eighth, and Job Andrews one-eighth, and this company con- tinued until May 13, 1837, when Crawford Allen made an assign- ment to Philip Allen, Isaac Brown and Zachariah Allen. July 20, 1838, Zachariah Allen bought of the assignees all the right, title and interest that Crawford Allen had at the time of his assignment in the machinery and personal property of the Phe- nix Company. May 8, 1839, the assignees of Crawford Allen sold to the Lonsdale Company, who were owners of the Hope mills at Hope village, one-half of the real estate of Phenix for the sum of $22,000. The first two and a half yards and three yards wide sheeting made in this country was made by said Phenix Company. They also made the old fashioned Nankeen cottons and continued in the business in the upper mill until 1854, when Zachariah Allen sold the machinery and the Phenix 982 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Company sold the stock in process of manufacture to Harris and Lippitt, who were running the lower mill. Mr. Allen was then building a large mill at Georgiaville. September 19, 1846, the Phenix estate that was then owned by Benjamin C. Harris and the Lonsdale Company, by agreement of the parties, was divided by Stephen Harris, Truman Beckwith and David Whitman ; in this division the upper mill was assigned to the Lonsdale Com- pany and the lower mill to Benjamin C. Harris, who with his son Thomas, continued running the lower mill until January 1st, 1848, when he leased the mill and machinery to Thomas Harris for ten years, reserving the right to sell the property at any time. Thomas Harris continued running the mill until April, 1852, when he took Christopher Lippitt into company with him and they purchased of Benjamin C. Harris the machinery be- longing to him and commenced business under the name of Harris & Lippitt. August 1st, 1854, after purchasing the ma- chinery in the upper mill, they obtained a lease from the Lons- dale Company of the mill and continued running both mills until 1860, when the Lonsdale Company took possession of the upper mill and Harris & Lippitt built an addition on the east end of the old mill larger than the first mill and moved their machin- ery from the upper mill into this addition, and the Lonsdale Company put machinery into the mill that Harris & Lippitt had vacated, and it was run by said company. March 31st, 1863, Ben- jamin C. Harris sold to the Hope Company all his interest in the lower mill and other real estate in Phenix. Benjamin C. Harris resided a number of years in Phenix ; he also lived several years above Fiskville, in what was known as the Caleb Rea house. In 1861 cotton had advanced so much, in consequence of the war of the rebellion, that Harris and Lippitt stopped their mills, and they were not fully started again until after the close of the war. Thomas Harris in 1804 sold to Christopher Lippitt all his interest in the machinery, stock and building that belonged to Harris and Lippitt, and Christopher Lippitt continued to run the mills until 1867, when he sold to the Hope Company, who took the place of the Lonsdale Company, having received a charter passed by the general assembly at their session held June, 1847, incorporating John Carter Brown, Robert H. Ives, Moses B. Ives, Charlotte R. Goddard and vSamuel G. Allen as the Hope Com- pany, who owned both the Hope and Phenix estates. Samuel G. Allen was agent, and managed both estates. He lived at HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 983 Hope village until within a few years, when lie removed to Prov- idence, but continued to visit the mills until a short time pre- vious to his death, which took place in Providence, April 24th, 1887, in the 82d year of his age. William Greene was superin- tendent for Thomas Harris & Company and for Harris Lippitt. He was a faithful and energetic manager, and took an interest in the improvement of the village. He was induced by the offer of a good situation to go South, where he contracted a disease which proved fatal in a year or two after his return North. " Isaac Hall was superintendent several years, and after him Mason W. Hall served several years, and Willard T. Pearce was superintendent some dozen or more years, and was succeeded by Nathan A. Sisson, who now has charge of the mills. " Soon after the Hope Company came into possession of both mills they began to improve the village. They built a number of new houses, purchased others and removed some old ones and built new houses in their places, improving the looks of the vil- lage. In May, 1882, they commenced improving the factory building by building in the space between them and altering the roofs, making a building 328 feet long, of which 236 feet is 43 feet wide and four stories high, with a basement, 92 feet is 60 feet wide and four stories high, making one large factory build- ing containing 21,536 spindles and 430 looms, making sheetings 72 warp, 76 picks to the inch, which are bleached before being put into the market. The water privilege has about nineteen feet head and fall. The mill is heated by steam, which is used in summer, when they are short of water, to propel the ma- chinery. The company has built a substantial building a little west of the factory building, which is used for an office, and have erected a fence in front of the mill, enclosing all the build- ings within the yard, and have beautified the grounds with ever- greens, shrubbery and flowering plants. They are now erecting several tenement houses. Richard G. Howland has the super- vision of mills at Hope and Phenix, residing at Hope and visit- ing Phenix nearly every day. On the opposite side of the street from the old factory was a building used for a store many years until William C. Ames built a store on the lot now occupied by Hoxie Brothers, when this old building was sold to Sterry Y. Chase and moved on the lot above the Briggs Hotel, and used by him until it was destroyed by fire July 13th, 1885." In the process of spinning, each thread is passed under a small 984 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. leather-covered roller. This leather covering requires frequent renewal, and the business of applying the leather is called roller- covering. Some mills have a department where this work is done. In 1853 Alexander L. Nicholas established at Phenix a shop with machinery for roller-covering. This old building is now used as a refuse store by the Harris Company. About 1873 his son, Sylvester R. Nicholas, having succeeded him^in the busi- iness, removed it to the present site south of the river, near Harris' depot. The business now employs six persons, and is the only distinct business of the kind in this vicinity. Stores. — Caleb Atwood was an earl)' trader in Phenix village. He kept a tavern and besides a store for the sale of West India goods, and ran a boot and shoe shop. His two sons, Ray and John, assisted him, and the business was continued for many years under the firm name of Caleb Atwood & Sons. His estate was divided May 18th, 1834, among his heirs. In 1824 Samuel Budlong opened a store in the basement part of his house which he bought of Anthony A. Rice March 5th, 1824. He had a small red shop standing in the rear of the house, which he used for a shoemaker's shop. Mr. Budlong occupied his estate until February 22d, 1827, when he sold it to Reuben and David Whitman and moved to Providence. In 1828 these men conveyed this property to Ray W. Atwood, who erected the building standing west of the house and used it for a store, using the shoemaker's shop for a work shop, and resided in the house until February 2d, 1835, when he sold the estate to Henry Tatem and pulled down the old Atwood tavern house near Lippitt vil- lage, and built a new house there now occupied by George B. Atwood. Henry Tatem was by trade a tailor and occupied the store for a tailor shop. "Charles Morse was occupying a store in Washington village in the town of Coventry. About 183(» he built a store in Phenix village on the lot now occupied by Capron's bake house. Dexter G. Stone was a clerk in this store, and after continuing in the store a few years bought the stock of goods, and in 1834, together with Cyril Babcock, purchased of Charles Brayton the piece of land in Phenix village lying between the highwa)- and the river, on which Mr. Stone built a store and moved his goods into it. The building from which he moved was sold to Gorton and David Atwood, who leased it February 8, 1840, to Samuel A. Briggs and Anson Lewis for two years at an annual rent of $70, payable HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 985 quarterly, who used it for the manufacture of tin ware, and kept for sale hardware, farming tools, &c. After remaining together a few years Mr. Briggs sold his interest in the business to Mr. Lewis and moved to Providence. Mr. Lewis continued in the business at this place until 1849, when he sold his goods and bus- iness to George W. & J. J. Smith, and moved to Brooklyn, N. Y. After a few years George W. Smith sold his interest in the busi- ness to James J. Smith, who continued in the same business un- til his death, which occurred March 9, 1887. " In 1830 Elisha M. Aldrich occupied a store in the basement of the house of James Remington, where Card's block is now lo- cated. Lyman P. Low kept a store in this village about this time. John F. Pond kept a store in the building then known as Cooksocket in 1832. William C. Ames erected a store on the lot where Hoxie Brothers store is now located, and continued in the dry goods and grocery business until February, 1846, when he sold the goods in the store to Henry D. Brown and Jason P. Stone, who continued in the same business until 1851, when the firm dissolved, Mr. Brown retiring and George O. Gilbert taking his place, the firm being Stone & Gilbert, and afterward Gilbert, Tuttle & Co., who were succeeded by William C. Ames, who af- terward sold the business to Nathan E. and Stephen J. Hoxie, who have since taken their brother Presbary into company and now continue the business under the firm name of Hoxie Broth- ers. Otis Lincoln occupied a store in Spencer Block many years for the sale of boots, shoes, etc. Moses B. Thaj'er occupied a store in the same block several years when he sold his stock to E. C. Capwell and B. F. Arnold of Westerly the 1st of April, 1866, who leased the store for five years and opened the store for the sale of drugs, medicines, paints and fancy articles, under the firm name of Capwell & Arnold. After continuing together several years Mr. Arnold sold his interest in the business to Mr. Capwell, who now occupies the store in the same place. William H. Snow occupied one of the stores more than thirty years for a tailor shop and the sale of clothing up to the time of his death, and the bus- iness is continued at the same place by his son. " Philip Duffy keeps a grocery store and John C. Conley a liq- uor store on the south side of the highway. Several stores are located in Card's Block. William Johnson, who formerly kept the post office, continues in the same store in Spencer Block, and in the story above is the barber shop of M. Gorton. Opposite the 986 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. bridge Joseph Lawton has a clothing store and in the second story over his store A. W. Colvin has a dentist office. ^Mr. Law- ton was born in England in 1823. He was a printer for the Clyde Works 1848 to 1853. He began in the clothing business in November of the latter year and has the only clothing store in the place. M. A. Arnold has a store in Spencer Block for the sale of boots and shoes, and B. Dean has a store in Capron's Block for the same business. "In 1849 William B. Spencer erected the first block of stores and public hall that was erected in Phenix village, on land he bought of Gorton Atwood, where Spencer Block is now. The building was seventy-two feet fronting on the street, and forty feet wide, two stories high with a basement, that contained three stores, above which were four stores ; the entrance to the second story and attic was from the center of the building by an easy flight of stairs. The west half of the second story above the basement was furnished and used as a public hall, being thirty- two feet wide and forty feet long, the ceiling extending into the roof. The east half of the second story was used for millinery and dress making and for offices, and a daguerrean room extend- ing in the rear. The upper story was used for a printing office. This building was known as Spencer's Hall. " In 1832 William B. Spencer built a store in Lippitt village near the dwelling house of his father, and stocked it with such dry goods and groceries as were usually kept in a country store, except liquors. At that time there was no store in the village except the factory store ; there was no post office nearer than Centreville until January 23d, 1833, when a post office was estab- lished by the name of ' Lippitt ' in the village and he received the appointment of postmaster. In 1835 the store was raised up and a story built under it and the upper story made into a tene- ment and the lower story was occupied as a store until 1838, when that was converted into a tenemet. Rufus AVakefield built a blacksmith shop nearly opposite this store, which was occupied several years by Geo. Cook, and a wheelwright shop near by was occupied by James R. Potter ; both buildings were consumed by fire in 1885." The Phenix Bridge was built in 1856 by Harris & Briggs, bridge builders, of Springfield, Mass., at a cost of $18.50 per running foot. It was opened for travel December 27th, 1856, three months and nineteen days from the time the committee were authorized to build it. The bridge is 122* feet long and cost «2,269.38. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 987 Undertakers. — " For many years there was no regular under- taker in Phenix ; when a person died some carpenter was engaged to make a coffin. For many years Robert Levalley, of the firm of Levalley, Lanphear and Company, attended to the making of coffins ; after they were made they were stained red. In 1840 James P. Arnold, in conjunction with his brother Nathaniel, made coffins in a shop standing near where the Briggs House is now, and remained there until April, 1842, and then left the place and returned in 1851, and in connection with Jonathan Tiffany opened a store and coffin shop in a store built by Thomas P. Lanphear near the Lanphear Machine Company's shop. The store is now occupied by Henry D. Eddy. Mr. Arnold remained there until April, 1852, when he commenced the undertaking business in a carpenter's shop in the rear of where Capron's bake shop now is, where he continued until the building was burned. " William B. Spencer engaged in the undertaking business in 1855, employing James P. Arnold to attend to the business, and continued furnishing the stock, employing Mr. Arnold until 1860, when he sold the business to Mr. Arnold and rented him the shop, who soon after added to his business furniture and house furnishing goods and occupied the rooms over Capron's bakery until the building was burned in 1871, when he occupied other rooms until the building was rebuilt, when he returned and remained there until the building was again burned in 1873, when he occupied a building near the bridge on the south side of the river near the railroad station until March 12, 1888, when the building with all its contents was burned. Mr. Arnold then obtained rooms in Capron's building and continues the under- taking business at that place." Railroad. — "The Pawtuxet Valley Railroad was chartered January, 1869, charter amended May, 1872, again amended Jan- uary, 1873, May, 1874, and May, 1875. The road was built from Hope village in Scituate, to River Point in Warwick, passing through Phenix and connecting with the New York and New England railroad at River Point. Passenger cars commenced running August 5th, 1874. The road was leased to the New York and New England Railroad Company for five years, who furnished the rolling stock. After the expiration of their lease the road was extended to Pontiac and from thence connecting with the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad at Auburn 988 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. station. The road was leased to the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad Company for ninety-nine j'ears and they run cars from Providence to Hope, which is much pleasanter for the passengers than having to change cars at River Point, as they did -when the road connected with the New York and New Eng- land railroad." Hotels. — There are two good hotels in the village of Phenix. The history of the tavern business extends back to the Atwoods, whose ancester, Charles Atwood, bought property in Wales Feb- ruary 16th, 1747. In 1785 Caleb Atwood owned a house on the northwest side of the highway, which he occupied for a tavern. After the Coventry and Cranston turnpike was opened for travel he kept the toll gate and built an addition to the tavern house, and opened a grocery store and a hall in the second story. He carried on his business until his death, July 14th, 1833. The tavern was the resort of persons who liked to imbibe the ardent freely, and sometimes got so lively they had to be ejected. In 1839 George Kenyon erected a large house on Birch Hill, in which Owen Burlingame kept tavern for a number of years. The old Atwood Hotel was torn down about the year 1845. The old chimney was torn down by William B. Spencer when he built Spencer's Hall. This old tavern stood just back of the Phenix Hotel. November 5th, 1847, Harrison and Emanuel Collins bought of W. B. Spencer a lot of land on the corner of High and Pleasant streets, running 60 feet on High and 100 feet on Pleasant street, on which they erected a large house used for a store and hotel ; Emanuel soon after sold his interest to his brother Harrison, who resided there until his death, August 6th, 1864, in the 51st year of his age. The estate is now owned by Rhodes Andrew, and is known as the Phenix Hotel. It was destroyed in the great fire of May 24th, 1871, and rebuilt the same year. In 1858 John Lippitt was the owner of a house where the Briggs Hotel is now located. April 11th, 1860, he sold the estate to Stephen C. Briggs, who was then working in the blacksmith shop occupied by James Carroll at Lippitt. October 17th, 1860, he added another lot to his former purchase, and May 4th, 1861, another lot was purchased, and after building an addition to the house, Mr. Briggs opened it in February, 1870, as a hotel, giving up blacksmithing, as he found the hotel business more profita- ble than blacksmithing, and continued in that business until his HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. death, and his son now continues it at the same place, although the former house and buildings were destroyed by fire July 13th, 1885. His son, Willet G. Briggs, has erected a fine house and barn where the former buildings stood and continues the busi- ness, and his place is known as the Briggs Hotel. The Phenix Fire District.— After the destructive fire of May 24th, 1871, the subject of protection from fire was again talked of, and during the May session of the general assembly in 1872, an act was passed to incorporate the Phenix Fire District in the town of Warwick, which charter included all that part of the town of Warwick in the bounds of school district No. 7. Nothing in particular was done until the citizens of the village were aroused by another destructive fire, which broke out March 5th, 1873, when the subject of protection was again agitated and meetings again held. Much was said but nothing done again until the destructive fire of July 13th, 1885, aroused the people the third time from lethargy, and the general assembly was again applied to in the May session of 1886, and an act to incorporate was passed. Again no notice was taken of this movement until the following was published in the Gleaner: fire district notice. " The undersigned request all taxpayers interested in the formation of a fire district in Phenix and vicinity, and in the adoption of the act passed by the General Assembly at its May session, creating a fire district, to attend a meeting to be holden at Music Hall, Thursday, July 22, at 8 o'clock p. m., for the pur- pose of taking such action as may be necessary in order to or- ganize under the act. B. B. Franklin, E. U. Johnson, Abram Spencer, Philip Duffy, N. A. Capron, J. D. Miller, Rhodes An- drew, Robert F. Carroll, George B. Atwood, William Johnson, J. B. Tillinghast, A. W. Colvin, J. P. Arnold, Joseph Lawton, W. H. Snell, J. Harty, Alexander S. Knox, J. C. Conley, W. A. Whit- ford, John Pearce, Jr., Pearce Bros., S. R. Nicholas, E. A. Mum- ford, W. W. Remington, S. E. Card, Elisha Lanphear, George W. Burlingame, James E. Hudson, W. G. Briggs." A preliminary meeting of the tax payers of Phenix Fire Dis- trict was held on Thursday evening July 22d, as per notice, a committee appointed and thereafter meetings were held in earn- est, and finally September 28th, 1886, by-laws were reported and accepted. 990 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The hydrants were located as follows : " No. 1, just above the residence of John Potter, 3d, on Phenix hill ; No. 2, in front of Henry D. Brown's residence on Phenix hill ; No. 3, in front of Robert Reoch's residence ; No. 4, in front of the Baptist Church ; No. 5, opposite Capron's bakery ; No. 6, at corner of Phenix bank lot ; No. 7, at Nelson Levalley's corner ; No. 8, near corner of new Harris building ; No. 9, in front of machine shop office ; No. 10, opposite Phenix Hotel; No. 11, opposite E. C. Capwell's new house on Pleasant street ; No. 12, in front of the J. P. Gardner estate ; No. 13, corner of Peleg Kenyon's lot ; No. 14, between Methodist parsonage and Pleasant street; No. 15, in front of James C. Richardson's residence; No. 16, opposite the barn on Harris Henry estate ; No. 17, opposite Golf house ; No. 18, in front of George W. Burlingame's residence ; No. 19, opposite the Gallup house ; No. 20, opposite the residence of John Pearce, Jr. ; No. 21, northeast corner of new mill yard, Harris ; No. 22, at the head of 'old lane,' Harris; No. 23, near George Handy's shop. High street ; No. 24, in front of large tenement house of William B. Spencer, on High street ; No. 2o, opposite George B. Atwood's residence ; No. 26, near Phenix Co.'s cotton house, be- low the bridge ; No. 27, opposite the last four-tenement house in Phenix hollow ; No. 28, near Father Hart}^'s residence ; No. 29, near the large tenement house on the ^Mumford estate ; No. 30, near the northeast corner of the Ames estate ; No. 81, at the northeast corner of George Field's estate ; No. 32, at the north- east corner of George T. Lanphear's estate ; No. 33, opposite Joseph Lawton's residence ; No. 34, near E. C. Capwell's resi- dence on Colvin street ; No. 35, just below the house on the I. 0. Seamans estate ; report received Aug. 17, 1886." At a meeting of the fire district, January 18th, 1887, it was voted to purchase 1,600 feet of hose at a cost not exceeding sev- enty cents per foot, and it was decided also to purchase hose car- riage, hook and ladder arrangements, buildings, etc., and appar- atus for extinguishing fire, for which a tax of fifteen cents on each $100 of taxable property was to be levied. May 2d, 1887, the annual meeting of the Phenix fire district was held and officers elected. Aram W. Colvin was elected moderator; William V. Slocum, clerk; Edwin Johnson, treas- urer; I. H. Whitford, Philip Duffy, R. H. Northup, assessors; 1. H. Whitford, collector ; A. F. Hill, first engineer; Thomas P. Bradford, second engineer ; Frank S. Chase, third engineer. It HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 991 ■was voted that the board of engineers be empowered to procure necessary articles for the fire department at an expense not to exceed $35.83, the unexpended balance of the $1,200 voted to procure hose, etc. It was voted that Albert F. Hill, Aram W. Colvin and Thomas P. Bradford be a committee to procure a hook and ladder truck at a cost not to exceed $500 ; also voted that they procure a bell for No. 2 hose carriage and that they hire a suitable place in which to keep the hook and ladder truck. The clerk was directed to procure a seal for this fire district. At a meeting of the fire district held June 13th, 1887, the fol- lowing named persons were confirmed as firemen, having been nominated by the chief : Walter Hill, Edward Northup, Wm. Watson, Charles Briggs, Edward Burlingham, George Bradford, J. Matteson, John Smith, Charles Holmes, P. Duffy, Jr., Oscar Aspinwall, D. Ward, Nathan Potter, Peter Lenoi, John Lenoi, Joseph Lasson, William H. Snow and Joseph Shepard. At a meeting of Phenix fire district, held October 13th, 1887, the committee who were appointed to procure ladders, reported that a contract had been made with Mr. Bishop of East Provi- dence for two 20-foot ladders and two others, one 25 and one 30 feet long, at the price of 17 cents per foot ; also one extension ladder 36 feet in length, the price to be 35 cents per foot. The committee were instructed to have the ladders painted and placed in some suitable place until a permanent place was pro- cured. Since the committee on location of hydrants reported, there have been some changes made in the location of hydrants and five more have been added, making in all forty hydrants, one of them being placed near the residence of S. E. Card on the hill south of the village, and three near Harris mills. The fire dis- trict have sixteen hundred feet of hose, two hose carriages on which they have placed bells, one extension ladder 35 feet long, two ladders 20 feet long, one 25 feet and one 30 feet. Pawtuxet Valley Water Company. — The Pawtuxet Val- ley Water Company was incorporated in June, 1885. The subject of bringing water from Fones pond into the village for domestic and other purposes received careful consideration, and finally the plan was adopted. This pond is situated southwest of the village in a direct line about 2,650 feet from Phenix, where the watering trough is now placed, and about 135 feet higher than the street, and contains about six acres, mostly covered 992 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. with water. On invitation of several of tlie citizens of Phenix, Hon. George H. Norman, of Newport, the noted builder of water works, paid Phenix a visit Saturday morning, August 15th, 1885, to examine the pond. In company with several gentlemen he visited this body of water, and after a thorough examination, gave it as his opinion that the supply would be ample for fire purposes, but hardly sufficient for household use and fire pur- poses during the whole year. He thought it would pay to take the water for fire purposes alone, as the pressure would be suffi- cient to throw a stream over the tallest buildings in the village. He thought a ten-inch main could be put in and the water brought to the village with sufficient hydrants at a total ex- pense of less than $5,000. November 9th, 1885, Stephen E. Card and A. Lowell Johnson, the owners of the pond, deeded all their rights to the water in Fones Greene pond to the Pawtuxet Valley Water Company. The members of the company met and organized July 13th, 1886, and elected the following officers : John J. Arnold, presi- dent; Robert Reoch, vice-president; V. A. Bailey, secretary; Presbary Hoxie, treasurer ; H. L. Greene, A. F. Hill, and E. C. Capwell, directors. The capital stock of the company was fixed at §50,000. From Fones pond the company have laid 2,400 feet of 12-inch pipe, in which are three gates for shutting off the water, and have laid several branch pipes extending into streets leading from the main street ; and have placed forty hydrants for fire purposes, which they have rented to the Phenix Fire District for five years, at a yearly rent of $30 each, from December 1st, 1887. " February 19th, 1887, the company purchased of Israel F. Bray- ton about eleven acres of land, of Gardiner P. Cottrell about eight acres, and of James M. Brayton about one acre, in the town of Cranston, near Fiskville Four Corners, on what is known as .the ' Thayer Brook.' Upon this land the company has built a res- ervoir for storing water, covering about seventeen acres, and holding about thirty million gallons of water, and have called it Spring Lake reservoir ; it is 175 feet higher than the street in Phenix village, and from the reservoir to the corner of the street at the residence of James P. Arnold in Phenix, they have laid 8,600 feet of water pipe, passi ng through the villages (in the high- way) of Fiskville, Arkwright and Harris, and connecting at said corner with the pipes from Fones pond. 500 feet of this pipe is HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 993 16-inch calibre and the rest 12-inch. In this pipe are placed one 16-inch gate and four 12-inch gates, and fifteen branches set for hydrants between Fiskville Four Corners and Harris' store, and three hydrants placed in main pipe from Harris' store to J. P. Arnold's corner, one of them placed opposite blacksmith shop of Lanphear Machine Company, one at the sotitheast corner of Mr. Bucklin's place and one at Harris' store. The company had laid, up to June 14th, 1888, nearly five miles of cast iron pipe (27,021 feet). The annual meeting was held Tuesday evening, July 10th, 1888, and the following officers were elected for the en- suing year : Richard G. Howland, president ; Robert Reoch, vice- president ; V. A. Bailey, secretary ; Presbary Hoxie, treasurer ; A. F. Hill, Frank W. Greene and Nathan A. Sisson, directors. " July 31st, 1888, it was decided to extend the present water sys- tem through River Poifit. The present line of pipes terminates opposite the residence of George B. Atwood at Lippitt. From this point the pipes are to be continued to the stone mill at Riv- er Point, thence to Gough avenue, on the limits of Arctic, which will require about 6i miles of pipe, having sixty-three hydrants, which are contracted to be supplied with water for ten years at $30 for each hydrant per year. The pipes are to be here at an early date. The contract calls for the completion of the work by January 1st, 1889." Fires. — There have been a number of destructive fires in the village of Phenix. The first was the burning of the Roger Wil- liams factory in May, 1821. There was quite a long time before the second large fire occurred, which took place November 21st, 1855, burning two business blocks and one dwelling house. Fire No. 3 occurred May 24th, 1871, and was the most destructive that ever occurred in Phenix, destroying eleven buildings. Fire No. 4 occurred March 5th, 1873, destroying seven buildings. Fire No. 5 occurred July 13th, 1885, and destroyed ten buildings and damaged many others. Fire No. 6 took place April 16th, 1887, destroying the barn of Daniel O. Pierce. Fire No. 7 oc- curred May 15th, 1887, in the railroad station, but its timely dis- covery and the street water prevented the burning of this and the adjoining building, but they were not suffered to remain long, for fire No. 8 occurred March 12th, 1888, on the most se- vere winter night of the season, and they were both entirely de- stroyed together with their contents. The second fire broke out in the building owned by William 63 994 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. B. Spencer, and occupied by James J. Smith as a hardware store and tinshop, which was entirely consumed, also a dwelling house west of this building, owned and occupied by the heirs of James Remington, and another building east of the first-named build- ing, owned by Mr. Spencer and known as Spencer's Hall, were consumed. These buildings (except the dwelling house) were immediately rebuilt by the owner with such expedition that they were occupied again the following January. The third fire proved more destructive than the fire of 1855. It also broke out in a building owned by William B. Spencer, known as the Spen- cer Block, which was soon burned to the ground. Following is an account of the losses as given by a correspondent of the Prov- idcncc Journal: " The block was occupied b}' James J. vSmith for a hardware store. i\lr. Smith estimates his loss at about $10,000, insured for S4,500 ; §2.000 in the Hope Insurance Company of Providence, and $2,500 in the ]\lechanics' and Farmers' jMutual Insurance Company of Worcester. James P. Arnold had a store on the first floor and nearh- the whole of the second story for his un- dertaking and furniture business. He estimates his loss at about $8,000 ; insured for $5,000 ; $3,500 in the Narragansett of Provi- dence, and $1.5il0 in the Lamar of New York, on his stock and tools ; Nathan A. Capron's bakerj^ was in this building, and was almost a total loss. Edwin T. Lanphearhad a job printing office on the third floor and his office on the second. His loss is about $G,40() ; insured for $4,200 ; $1,500 in the Narragansett, and $1,500 in American offices in this cit}-. Ira O. Seamans had a law office and also Card's orchestra a room in the block. Hardl}' fifty dol- lars worth of goods Avas saved from the building. A two-story building in the rear owned by ]Mr. Spencer and occupied by Mr. Arnold as a coffin shop and j\Ir. Smith as a tin shop was also destroyed. The three story bank building owned by William B. Spencer was entirely destroyed. It was occupied by ^Messrs. Joseph ^lyrick & Son, groceries and dry goods, whose loss is about $3,5iM); insured for $3,000 at Narragan- sett office ; Otis Lincoln's boot and shoe store, no insur- ance ; the post office, William Johnson, postmaster, who also kept a restaurant ; Messrs. Capwell & Arnold, apothecaries, partial loss; insured for $2,50() at the City Insurance Company of this city ; Sterry Y. Chase, clothing store, goods mostly saved ; William H. Snow, tailor; Mr. Angell, watches ; Henry Potter, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ' 995 millinery store, goods partially saved ; Dr. Alexander S. Knox, dentist ; Sophie Snow, school, and the Phenix National Bank, whose valuables were saved. The Phenix Hotel, owned and kept by Rhodes Andrew, was entirely destroyed, with the out- buildings; insured at Sarle's agency in the Norwich Insurance Company, Norwich, Conn., $2,500 on hotelbuilding and contents, and $1,000 in Tradesman's New York office on horses, carriages, and contents of livery stable. A two-story building situated across the road to the west, owned by Messrs. Lawton & Colvin, was entirely destroyed ; insured by D. R. Whittemore in the Mechanics' and Farmers' Insurance Company, Worcester, for $1,500. It was occupied by John Miller, confectioner, Avho also lived up stairs, and by Dr. Colvin, dentist, who were not insured. A liquor shop next to the last mentioned house, kept by J. C. Conley, was entirely destroyed ; insured in the Narragansett office for $1,500. A three story block owned by Benjamin C. Harris was burned to the ground. It was occupied by Joseph Lawton, clothier, whose stock was mostly saved ; insured for $2,500 at Mechanics' and Farmers' office, Worcester ; loss about $500. Palmer T. Johnson, meat market ; J. C. Rose, liquor store and billiard saloon ; insured at George T. Paine's office in Na- tional Company, Bangor, Maine, for $1,000. John St. John, bar- ber, insured in theCity Insurance Company of this city, for $400, and the Mechanics Hall. A building owned by Ira O. Seamans and situated across the road from the Phenix Hotel, called the ' Roger Williams House,' was also destroyed ; insured in the Narragansett of Providence. Henry C. Shepard kept the hotel, and was insured at the Hope office in this city for $1,500 on fur- niture and fixtures, and a Mr. Ralph had a meat market in the building. A two-story dwelling house next to this, owned by the Lonsdale Company, was partly destroyed. Ira O. Seamans' dwelling house, occupied by himself, was partly destroyed ; no insurance. A waste house in which lumber was stored, and a barn occupied by N. A. Capron, both owned by Mr. Spencer, were destroyed." Banks. — At the May session of the general assembly in 1856, a charter was granted to Elisha Lanphear and others, and the Phenix Village Bank was established with a capital of $50,000. William B. Spencer was elected president, and Henry D. Brown cashier. August 1st, 1865, the bank was changed to a national bank, and the word village stricken out and it became the Phe- 996 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. nix National Bank of Phenix, in the town of Warwick, and its capital has since been increased to $100,000. In general assem- bly, May session, 1858, an act was passed incorporating Elisha Lanphear, William B. Spencer, Thomas P. Lanphear, Robert Le- valley, Horatio A. Stone, John S. Brown, Edwin Johnson, Thomas G. Dorrance, Almon C. AVhitman, William C. Ames, Henry L. Greene, George O. Gilbert, Caleb Congdon and others by the name of the Phenix Savings Bank. William B. Spencer was elected president, and continued in that office in both banks some fifteen years. He was succeeded by Christopher R. Greene and he by Henry L. Greene, the present officer in that capacity. Henry D. Brown was elected treasurer and continues in both banks. November 1,5th, 1887, the deposits in the savings banks amount- ed to $398,450.49. The bank has passed through several fires. When it was first established it was located in Spencer's build- ing until that was burnt in 1871, when it was located in Card's building, where it remained until that building was burnt in 1873, when the Phenix National Bank purchased a lot and erect- ed a brick building which has withstood the fires, although some- what scorched when the Briggs House ^vas burnt. Public Library. — In 1852 a public library was organized in Phenix, the stock being taken by individuals. The money re- ceived was invested in books, a large case to hold the books pro- cured and placed in one of the stores, and the books put in cir- culation. A small sum per week was charged for their use. The library was not very well patronized, the income being small was not sufficient to pay the librarian, and the stockholders received nothing for their investment. When the building in which the library was kept was burned November 21st, 1855, the books and case were removed and were not consumed ; some of the books were lost in removal. After the building was rebuilt they were placed in one of the rooms and remained there until the fire of May 24th, 1871, when they were burned with the buildings. No effort to establish another library was made until ]\larch 3d, 1884, when the Pawtuxet A^alley Free Library Association was formed, contributions of books and monej- were made, and the library was placed in Whipple's building and remained there until burnt out July 12th, 1885. The books were removed and placed in Lawton's building, where they now remain. The library con- tains about three thousand volumes. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 997 At the annual meeting of the association held in April, 1888, the following officers were elected : William R. Greene, presi- dent; George E. Sheldon, secretary and treasurer; Henry L. Greene, William V. Slocum, Emma E. Lanphear, Albert F. Hill, Nathan A. Sisson, John F. Deering, Presbary Hoxie, James P. Arnold and John H. Campbell, directors. Tatem Meeting House.—" February 9th, 1829, Henry Snell sold to Ray W. Atwood and Cyril Babcock, trustees for ' The First General Baptist Church in Warwick,' a lot of land in Phe- nix village for the sum of $125. Henry Tatem was pastor of this church ; he lived at Natick and carried on the tailoring bus- iness. Soon after purchasing the lot they erected the first meet- ing house in Phenix village, which was known as the 'Tatem Meeting House.' An act incorporating Henry Tatem, Nicholas G. Potter, Benjamin R. Allen, Caleb Potter, Sheldon Colvin, Cy- ril Babcock, Ray W. Atwood, Cyrus Manchester, George P. Pros- ser, Reuben Wright and William Warner, as ' The First General Baptist Church in Warwick,' was passed by the general assembly at its January Session, 1833. Henry Tatem purchased the house in Phenix now occupied by George Handy February 2d, 1835, and moved his family from Natick to Phenix ; he preached in the meeting house the society erected until 1837, when the church became divided in consequence of the alleged misdoings of El- der Tatem that took place several years before he came to Phe- nix. Elder Tatem was ordained in 1816 ; he came from Salem, Mass., and resided in Cranston before moving to Natick. "Elder Nicholas G. Potter preached in the Tatem meeting house a short time after Elder Tatem. The society soon became so feeble that they could not sustain meetings, and November 2d, 1837, sold their meeting house and lot to Benjamin R. Allen, who had become a preacher in the Congregational societ}- , and he held meetings in the meeting house and endeavored to estab- lish a Congregational church, but not succeeding he became dis- couraged and abandoned the enterprise, and February 2d, 1839, conveyed his interest in the meeting house to Josiah Chapin, of Providence, who leased it to the Methodist society with the priv- ilege of purchasing it, and June 4th, 1842, Mr. Chapin conveyed it to Elisha Harris for $1,600, who conveyed it November 11th, 1842, to the 'Warwick Methodist Episcopal Church,' who contin- ued to use the house until Elisha Harris purchased the building and moved it near his new mill and made it into tenements for 998 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. persons working in the mill, and the society erected the present edifice in 1867-8, which was built by Deacon Pardon Spencer, of Crompton." Pi-iENix Baptist Church.* — As early as 1827 the ground was made ready for the foundation of a Baptist church in the neigh- borhood of Phenix, by the establishment of a Sunday school. In that year the general assembly granted a charter- to the " Lip- pitt and Phenix Sabbath School Society." This society immedi- ately built a house, which long served the needs of the Sunday school, and, in an enlarged and improved form, still serves in the capacity of the village school house. The Sunday school which met in this house was nominally of a union character, but the dominant influence of Baptist sentiments in the community vir- tually made it a Baptist school. The building was rented by the society for a day school, and also for preaching services, which were held in rotation by the various denominations, and became the rallying-place of many good causes ; a fountain which sub- sequently widened to a broad and deep river of blessing. The fall of 1841 was marked in the entire state by unprece- dented displays of the Spirit's power, a larger number having been added to our churches in Rhode Island than in any associa- tional year before. Our revered Brother Jonathan Brayton, con- verted in childhood, at once called of the Spirit to the ministry, yet shut up for several years in secular pursuits against his dear- est desire, was, by a terrible accident delivered frora business life and gently forced into the work of preparation for the min- istry. As the time for his graduation from the seminary drew near, he heard the Spirit's unmistakable command : " Go to Phe- nix." To his perplexed response : " Lord, there is no church nor Christian workers known to me there, nor any acquaintances ex- cept my own unconverted brothers," again came the answer: " Go to Phenix," with this searching addition, " Go home to time oivn, and tell what great things the Lord hath done for thee." " Wherefore he was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision," but refusing the pastorate of a flourishing church in New York, came straightway to Phenix. Having secured for himself a position as teacher at Natick, he made inquiries in Phenix ; found Brother William B. Spencer ; told him of the Spirit's directings, and received from him encouragement and sympathy. Brother Brayton's first sermon was in the school house, to an audience * By Rev. Louis A. Pope. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 999 of thirteen. In the course of a few weeks the interest greatly increased. The school house was thronged. A protracted meet- ing seemed to be imperatively called for. In addition to aid from the village people, the State Convention gave assistance, and the meeting was begun in the larger accommodations generously afforded by the Methodist society in the building known as the Elder Tatem meeting house. Reverend John H. Baker assisted Brother Brayton and the laity were not slack in prayer and ex- hortation. At the end of a fortnight the meetings were resumed in the school house, with an attendance that the school house could by no means accommodate. The time was manifestly ripe for the formation of a Baptist church. Accordingly eight breth- ren, Jonathan Brayton, Thomas S. Wightman, William B. Spen- cer, Jeremiah Franklin, John B. Tanner, Benjamin Gardner, Richard Gorton and Stephen Greene, members of neighboring Baptist churches, constituted themselves a church, January 10th, 1842. Ten days after their organization, having increased meanwhile to twenty-five members, they were, by a large council, publicly recognized, in the Methodist meeting house, as a regular Baptist church. The organization resulted in still further deepening the interest and in preserving the results already secured. The snows and cold of that long-to-be-remembered thirtieth day of January, 1842, kindled anew the flame of sacred love in the hearts of new converts and old, and powerfully summoned the great company which witnessed it, to their imperative obligation to follow their Lord. Twenty-nine happy converts furnished true christening to the stream whose quiet beauty is still for many hundreds sweetly conjoined with precious memories of the happy day when it became to tliciu as the Jordan to their Saviour. These twenty-nine were the first-fruits of a far larger company which, during three successive Sundays, and at numerous times during the entire year, put on Christ in baptism ; and their bap- tismal day was the first of a hundred and fifteen other days in the subsequent forty years, during which the true baptism has been proclaimed and loyalty to Christ's bidding been in the act declared. When the year 1842 began there was no Baptist church in this neighborhood ; before it closed, one hundred and fifty-one persons had been gathered into an earnest, loving, enthusiastic company of believers. Shortly after the organization of the church, and while meet- 1000 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ings were still held in the school house, the imperative call for more room led to the erection of a meeting house. A stock company, consisting of both church members and others, con- tracted, in the sum of §1,800, for a plain, substantial building, 40 by 36. The church, however, built the foundations and paint- ed the house. The dedication occurred October 27th, 1842. A vestry was subsequently finished in the basement, at the expense of the church. These outlays cost about $3,000. When the church attained financial ability, it bought from the stockholders such shares as were offered for sale, the remainder having been generously donated to the church. Mr. Brayton's pastorate nominally began after the formation of the church, but really preceded that event. From March 20th, 1843, to June 23d, 1844, he was pastor also of the newly estab- lished church in Natick, though he served them only once in two months. With untiring zeal he filled the pastoral office. His health gave way, and he was for many months unable to preach, although his devoted people refused to give heed to his persist- ently offered resignation. At last, after being practicalh' out of service for a 3'ear and a half, his resignation was accepted Octo- ber 2d, 1849, having received 324 into the church, 216 by bap- tism. During the illness of Mr. Brayton, Reverend Frederic Charl- ton served the church for a period of nine months, closing his labors a few days after the nominal close of 'Mr. Brayton's pas- torate. He subsequently removed to Plainfield, Conn., greatly to the regret of man)' in the community who had enthusiasti- cally loved him. His death took place many 5'ears since. Five members were added during his stay. Reverend George D. Crocker assumed the pastoral office Sep- tember 1st, IS.'iU, and continued his service until ^Nlay 19th, 1851. Three members were added during his pastorate. Reverend B. F. Hedden a.ssumed the duties of pastor on the first Sunday of September, ISol, having just come from a very successful pastorate in East Greenwich. For a little over three years he faithfully fulfilled his obligations, and had the pleasure of witnessing much prosperity attending his efforts. A stock company, like the one which had built the meeting house, erect- ed a house for the use of the minister, and received quarterly dividends from the church. This house, in 1870, became the property of the church, some of the stockholders giving their HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1001 portion, and the rest being paid for on the strength of a mort- gage of $600 effected for the purpose. The land damages award- ed by the Pawtuxet Valley railroad enabled the church, in 1877, to lift the mortgage, and thus become sole owner of this most excellent and desirably situated property. A gracious revival, which brought a goodly number into the church, sealed with God's approval the union of pastor and people. In the associa- tional year ending in 1854, the church reported a membership of 303. At that time, out of fifty-two churches connected with the Warren and Providence associations, there were but three churches which exceeded it in numbers. Fifty-five persons were added during this pastorate. Among the persons who supplied the pulpit in the interval between the active part of Mr. Brayton's pastorate and the set- tlement of Mr. Hedden, was a young lumber surveyor from Providence, a lay preacher, named Christopher Rhodes, whose labors proved so very acceptable to the church, that they pro- posed to secure his services whenever the time should be propi- tious. Subsequently to his early visits to Phenix, he had been ordained to the ministry in Allendale, from which, after serving several years as pastor, he was dismissed to become the unani- mously chosen pastor of the Phenix church. With large-hearted, whole-souled love of the ministry, he entered upon his labors here. His attractive preaching and his marvelous devotion to pastoral visitation brought him into general favor, and contrib- uted to the decided enlargement of the congregation and the church. A special feature of this pastorate vv^as the absence of large acces.sions to membership, and the very great frequency of these accessions. On no less than forty occasions were members add- ed, the total during the pastorate being 103. The claims of dis- cipline were enforced from the beginning of the pastorate, and a very large number of delinquent persons were removed from church connection during the year 1855. The constantly en- larging congregation soon filled the house to an uncomfortable fullness. The call for enlargement was heeded by the election of a committee "to enlarge and alter the house." The commit- tee consisted of William B. Spencer, S. E. Card, and Samuel H. Brayton. Upon their report that a new house would be better than an enlarged one, they were authorized "to sell the old house and build a new one," and subsequently "to build such a 1002 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. house as they thought best." After various delays, including- the failure of the contractor to build the house for 88,500, the building was erected and roofed in, and the vestries completed and dedicated March 29th, 3860. The large vestry was fitted up with more than usual care, and for upwards of nine years all church services were held in it. The meeting house, which is the present edifice, occupies an advantageous position beside the river, and in close proximity to the village, being easily accessi- ble and yet retired. The lot was the unconditional gift of Brother William B. Spencer. Up to the time of occupying the vestry, the total cost of the new house and grounds amounted to $] 8,- 437.41. About one-third of this amount constituted a debt. The house itself is a beautiful building, having Romanesque windows, and a gothic spire 161 feet in height. Surpassed, if at all, by very few village churches, it is the pride and chief- est ornament of Phenix. The war of the rebellion broke out not long after the occupation of the new house, and tended inevita- bly to the embarrassment of the finances and general prosperity of the church. In a little more than a year, also. Brother Rhodes resigned his office as pastor amid much regret, but apparently to the mutual advantage of himself and the church. Reverend B. P. Byram became pastor immediately after the departure of Mr. Rhodes. By earnest, self-denying labors, the entire debt was at length removed, and there has been no debt from that time onward. The church membership was increased by thirty-four during this pastorate, and also wisely and judi- ciously decreased to the extent of about seventy names, many of which, however, representing persons who had been dismissed, but not heard from. The beginning of a new pastorate is the signal for a new en- ergy on the part of both people and pastor. When Reverend T. W. Sheppard came to the pastorate, April 5th, 1868, he found the people ready for the important undertaking which awaited his leadership, the completion of the main audience room. With untiring zeal he prosecuted the arduous labor of securing sub- scriptions, until the needful sum of $5,000 had been pledged. An efficient committee, consisting of Samuel Himes, James P. Arnold, and Horatio A. Stone, very judiciously expended the sum provided, and secured for the church an audience room of tastefulness, beauty, and most excellent workmanship, many superiors to which it would be difficult to find in the state. For HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1003 twelve full years Brother Sheppard fulfilled his duties with much discretion and fidelity. Several seasons of special revival influ- ence, notably those of 1874 and 1876, visited the church during this pastorate, the total number added being 113. Brother Shep- pard's pastorate closed March 31st, 1880. The pastorate of Reverend Louis A. Pope began July 4th, 1880. Previous to September 10th, 1882, at which time the above sketch was prepared, six hundred and forty-nine persons had been members of the church. One hundred and thirteen had died in its fellowship, 168 had been dismissed to unite with other churches, the names of 141 had been erased, 101 had been ex- cluded, and eleven had been restored. The number of members at that date was 144. The benefactions of the church have been generous at times, especially during the first years of its history, when foreign mis- sions and the State Convention received more than a tenth of the total annual income of the church. The days of its highest spiritual prosperity were the days of its best giving. Yet there has never been any general reluctance to bear a full share in the evangelization of the state, the nation, and the world, and mis- sionary interests receive a cordial hearing and a generous re- sponse. The pastors of this church since Mr. Pope's departure have been : T. T. Frost, W. B. Cross and W. J. Reynolds, the present pastor. Phenix Methodist Episcopal Church. — Circuit riders sup- plied the members of this faith prior to the year 1840-41, when their house of worship was erected. From that time to the pres- ent able and efficient ministers have filled the pulpit, and the society has been in a flourishing condition. Reverend William H. Allen is the present pastor. The Methodist Episcopal Church in Centreville was erected in 1830-31. They have had preaching at this place in this society since the year 1825. Catholic Church, Phenix. — Benjamin C. Harris built a small building on a ledge of rocks northwesterly from the Tatem meeting house. It was called " Rock Chapel." As there were but few Episcopalians in the village, the meetings were not con- tinued very long. July 13th, 1853, Rock Chapel was sold to the Right Reverend Bernard O'Reilly, Bishop of Hartford, for $450, 1004 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. for the use of the Catholics of this vicinity. In October, 1859, the chapel was sold and made into a tenement. It is now (1888) owned by Mary Shakeshaft. During the same year (1859) the Catholics bought the old Bap- tist meeting house on the hill, in which they continue to worship every Sunday. Father John Couch administered here for many years. His health declining in his old age, he was obliged to re- sign his charge three years before his death, which took place in December, 1887. Father Harty lived here three years, and after him came Reverend John C. Tennian, who after three months sojourn with the good people of Phenix was promoted to a more arduous field of labor. Father McCabe, the present rector, succeeded him. St. Andrew's Church, Phenix. — The Episcopal fraternity of Phenix erected a handsome church edifice in the village in 1885 at a cost of $7,000. The Reverend Mr. Cocroft, of St. Philip's, Crompton, officiated for the communicants at this place during his ten years rectorship there, and it was principallj' under his ministrations that the society here so greatly prospered. There are now fifty-one members belonging to St. Andrews, and the rectors of St. Philip's still officiate. Clyde Print Works. — November 6th, 1823, Joanna, widow of Nehemiah Atwood, and Nathan Atwood sold to Samuel Budlong and Rufus Wakefield seven acres and thirt}^-nine tuV rods of land lying northerly from and adjoining that bought of Thomas Le- valley. " May 21st, 1824, Samuel Budlong and Rufus Wakefield sold the afore-described land to the Lippitt Manufacturing Company. The purchase of the land from Anthony A. Rice, June 1st, 1822, and from Samuel Budlong and Rufus Wakefield, JNlay 21st, 1824, gave the Lippitt Company another water privilege which they improved by building a dam across the river. August 18th, 1827, the company had both their privileges surveyed and levels taken by Benoni Lockwood. The head and fall of the upper privilege was found to be 19 feet 9 inches, and the lower privi- lege 12 feet 1 inch ; they made no further improvements until September 15th, 1828, when they leased to Simon Henry Greene and Edward Pike, who composed the firm of Greene & Pike, for the term of five years, at a yearly rent of $300, the water privi- lege and lands connected therewith known as their lower privi- lege ; there were no buildings upon the premises, but the Lip- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1005 pitt Company agreed to erect a building 80 by 40 feet, two stories high and such other buildings as may be necessary to enable them to carry on the bleaching business, and were to receive from Greene & Pike an annual rent of ten per cent, on the cost of said buildings. There being a large spring of pure water on the premises, the large building was located near this spring, which continues to furnish all the water needed for the purpose of bleaching and of a superior quantity. " September 27th, 1831, Greene & Pike bought the estate which they had leased of the Lippitt Company and continued the busi- ness. In 1839 their bleachery and dry sheds were consumed by fire, which was attended with a heavy loss. "In 1842 Edward Pike died and Mr. Greene, the surviving partner, settled up the business of the late firm, continuing the business under a lease. " In 1845 Simon Henry Greene purchased the interest in the estate that belonged to the heirs of Edward Pike and continued the business. In 1853 the beetle house building and small dye house was burned and ]\Iay 1st, 1870, the bleaching and white department was consumed by fire. Mr. Greene continued the business, associating with him his sons, Edward A. Greene, Henry L. Greene, Christopher R. Greene and William R. Greene, under the firm name of S. H. Greene & Sons, and the village as- sumed the name of ' Clyde Print Works.' '■ Simon Henry Greene resided in Providence until 1838, when he removed with his family to the print works, and occupied a house built by David Pike near the Pawtuxet Valley railroad until he built the house in which he resided until his death, which occurred April 26th, 1885, in the 86th year of his age, and was buried in Swan Point cemetery. His son, Christopher R. Greene, died the 13th of March, 1885, in the 58th year of his age, and was buried in Greenwood cemetery, Phenix. The remain- ing sons continue the business under the same name. In 1867 Robert Reoch took charge of the Clyde works ; as an illustration of the increase of the business since that time the following statement, furnished by William R. Greene, is given : In the year 1867 the consumption of coal was 5,000 tons ; the outturn of printed cloth was then about 14,000,000 yards ; the number of operatives then employed was 205, with a pay roll of $7,250 monthly. In 1886 the consumption of coal was upwards of 16,000 tons ; the outturn of printed cloth upwards of 53,000,000 yards ; 1006 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. they had 597 hands on their pay roll, requiring about $21,000 monthly. " The company in their works use 28 steam engines of 800 horse power in addition to the fine water power, and have eight force pumps located in different parts of the works for use in case of fire, and steam is constantly kept up in some of the boil- ers, so that if fire breaks out the force pumps can be brought into immediate use. " The Pa wtuxet Valley railroad crosses the grounds and passes very near the works and adds very greatly to the facilities for doing business. " S. H. Greene & Sons have erected a store-house 264 feet long and 62 feet wide, with 22 feet posts, built in the most substantial manner with rails laid the entire length of the building that bring the cars alongside so they can be unloaded and loaded directly from the building. Their freight adds very much to the income of the railroad, amounting in 1886 to §37,000. Rob- ert Reoch, their efficient manager, holds his position at this time." Thomas Rawlinson was born in England in 1841. He was educated in Scotland as a dyer from thirteen years of age. In 1867 he came to Clyde with Robert Reoch to take charge of the dyeing department of the Clyde Print Works. His technical knowledge was acquired in Glasgow after having served an ap- prenticeship with Zachariah Heys & Sons, Barr Head, Scotland. Mr. Rawlinson has one son now learning the business with him at Clyde. Richard S. Canavan was born in England in 18,in. He came to Clyde, R. I., in 1864, and entered the engraving department of the Clyde Print Works in 1868 under James AVarburton, who is now foreman engraver at Haverstraw, N. Y. Since 1881 j\Ir. Canavan has been foreman of the engi-aving department at Clyde. " At this place in 1828 was commenced in a small way a busi- ness that has since been enlarged and extended until it has be- come one of the largest establishments in the state. Below this establishment, on the north bank of the river near the east line of the land owned by Greene & Pike, David Pike, a brother of Edward, erected a building for extracting from wood an acid used in printing calico. He used principally white birch wood and it made a good market for the farmers to dispose of this kind HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1007 of wood, which was not very salable. He continued in this busi- ness several years when his works were consumed by fire, and they were not rebuilt, Greene & Pike obtaining their acid from E. J. Cady at Centreville and from Arnold's acid works in Cov- entry, and some from Sterling, Connecticut." Duke & Wood do general trading in this village. The store is owned and was formerly occupied by Robert Reoch. River Point. — River Point owes its prosperity to the facili- ties that the water power has afforded for manufacturing pur- poses. The two principal branches, known as the north and the south branches of the Pawtuxet, here unite, and undoubtedly gave origin to the name of the village. The land here previous to the year 1726 was owned by Job Greene, father of Judge Philip Greene, the latter falling heir to 278 acres "lying on the north- west of the south branch of the Pawtuxet," and subsequently " all the land in the forks of the Pawtuxet." The will is dated 1744. Judge Philip Greene sold to Caleb and Nathan Hathaway February 20th, 1786, all this land. In 1812 Elisha Warner, one of the heirs of the Hathaways, sold forty acres and half of a house to Doctor Stephen Harris and Doc- tor Sylvester Knight, both of Centreville, for $1,625. A few years after the Lippitt Manufacturing Company had their fac- tory in operation, Doctors Knight and Harris erected a building two stories high and sixty-five feet long a short distance up the river and commenced manufacturing cotton yarn with four throstle frames and two mules. They associated with them James Greene, Resolved Slack and Resolved AVaterman. The company was known as the "Greene Manufacturing Company." The vil- lage was known as Frozen Point or Pint, until the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill railroad (now known as the New York & New England railroad) was opened in 1853, when the name was changed to River Point, and the railroad station is known by that name. The extensive range of hills on the east side of the river extending southerly from the junction of the two streams nearly to Centreville, affords a fine view of the surrounding coun- try. The New London turnpike passes over this hill and affords an easy access to its height, from which to the east can be seen a portion of Old Warwick, and the shore resorts. Lo'oking north- erly, the state farm, pumping station and surrounding country come into view. Nearer by, the village of Arctic, with its rows of white tenement houses and the extensive and substantial fac- 1008 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. tory buildings built of stone, is seen. Looking south the villages of Centreville and Crompton come into view. Northwesterly the north branch of the Pawtuxet river may be seen with its man- ufacturing villages. When Messrs. Harris and Knight commenced their factory there was no way of getting to their place from Centreville ex- cept by following a winding cart path among the shrub oaks, and to get to their place from Lippitt village with a carriage except by following a cart path and fording the river belOw where the Clyde works now are, or passing through Phenix village and over the Coventry and Cranston turnpike. After 1814 it came to the highwa}- near Anthony village and thence to Centreville. There was a foot bridge that Anthony A. Rice had erected to enable him to pass from his farm across the rii'er to Lippitt village, that persons on foot could cross the river, and a path led from the foot bridge to Frozen Point. This was kept up until the high- way from Greenville to Lippitt was opened in 1831. The company started with four throstle frames and two mules. The castings were furnished by a distant foundry in Halifax, Mass. In 1816 this establishment closed its doors. In 1817 Doctor Knight sold his share to Doctor Harris, and the mills resumed operations in 1818. At this time the mill was running eight looms. In 1821 the dam was injured by a freshet and the bulk- head was swept away. In 1827 a fire greatly injured the build- ing. The first mill was enlarged and in 1836 Doctor Harris built a stone mill to which an addition was subsequently made. An- other stone mill was built in 1844, and greatly enlarged in 1855. On the death of the doctor his heirs, consisting of the four sur- viving children, namely, Cyrus, Stephen and Caleb F. Harris and their half-sister, Mrs. Henry J. Smith, formed the company. These mills were also purchased by B. B. & R. Knight, and now belong to their system. This company operate 15,904 spin- dles and 531 looms. The machine shops of S. Colvin & Co. are located at River Point. They are extensive builders of looms. The junior part- ner is tloratio A. Remington. Stephen Colvin was born in Cranston in 1821, but has spent the greater part of his life in Warwick. He worked for a time at Anthony for Perez Peck & Co., also for the Braytons. In 1858 he became partner of Asa Sisson & Co. at Anthony. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1009 River Point has a number of stores and places of general busi- ness. Horatio W. Potter lias been here ever since the village took its name, and carries a stock of lime, masons' materials, etc. He came to River Point in 1843, and then began work for Doctor Harris in the mills. He opened his place of trade in 1866. Da- vid Pike built the Coweset wharf about the year 1845 and started the lumber business. In 1852 he came to River Point and erected his planing mill in 1853. In 1873 the mill burned and was rebuilt, and is now carried on by Edward Pike, his son, who employs from twenty to twenty-five hands constantly. Lodowick Brayton built the River Point foundry about 1855. The firm was then L. & S. H. Brayton (machinery castings). In 1870 Robert Brayton succeeded S. H. Brayton, and the firm be- came L. Brayton & Son. The foundry was burned and rebuilt by L. Brayton. L. Brayton died in June, 1884. He was never a resident of Warwick. His son Robert resided at River Point from 1865 to 1880. The carriage shop now owned by B. B. & R. Knight, but op- erated by John R. Congdon, Peter Nolan and John F. Harden, was formerly an old cloth room, afterward turned into a tene- ment house by the company. It has been used for a carriage shop for about ten years. Among the stores in the place should be mentioned the River Point store, kept by B. B. & R. Knight ; J. Flanagan, hats and caps ; L. Walker, hardware ; the Clyde Shoe Store ; the Clyde Drugstore; P. E. Brown, hosiery; Chase's printing establishment and library. Pike's Block was built in 1887. William C. Nichols is a native of Natick, R. I. His early days were spent in Connecticut and Massachusetts. In 1873 he was in the store at River Point with the Greene Manufacturing Com- pany. This relation terminated in 1884, when Nichols & Allen took the business and run it until January, 1886. Mr. Nichols and Edward W. Jones formed a co-partnership in December, 1885, and in January, 1886, began business as general merchants at River Point. Mr. Nichols served three months in the civil war with the 9th R. I. He was town treasurer of Warwick in 1884. Thomas McGuire & Son are bottlers at River Point. Thomas McGuire was born in 1823 in Ireland, went to Scotland in 1840, and subsequently came to Rhode Island. He was sixteen years in the employ of the Harrises and several years with the 64 1010 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Spragues. In 1870 he established a livery business at Arctic in which he now uses forty horses. His oldest son, Thomas, has been a partner in this and his other business for the last fif- teen years. They have carried on a soda bottling business since 1883. Washington Lodge, Xo. 11, I. 0. O. F., was incorporated March 2d, ]84(;. The first officers were as follows : Xoble grand, Frank B. Champlin ; vice-grand, Thomas Lindsley : recording secretary, William B. Slocum : permanent secretary, Edward E. Payson ; treasurer, George W. Niles ; trustees, Thomas W. Locke, George B. Harris, John AVestcott. The present membership is about one hundred and ninety. The public hall in which the lodge holds its meetings was erected for an armory in 1844 by the state. April 12th, IS.IS, the society bought the building, and in 1871 it was enlarged thirty feet, at an expense of about §5,000. The officers for the term commencing January 1st, 1887, were : Noble grand, Caleb Westcott ; vice-grand, Frank B. Champlin; record- ing secretary, William V Slocum ; permanent secretary, Thomas M. Holden ; treasurer, George W. Niles ; trustees, Thomas W. Locke, George B. Harris, John Westcott. Past grand masters — Charles G. Cole, Thomas I\I. Holden. First Congregational Church, River Pchxt. — This church was organized February 7th, 1849, by John L. Smith, Jeremiah K. Aldrich, Brigham C. Deane, JNIary Greene, Phila B. Deane, Priscilla G. Seagraves, Hannah L. Sweet, Lucy Hill, Hannah Hall and Susan E. Smith. Reverend George Uhler was the first preacher, serving as a supply. He continued his labors until June 12th, 1853. Reverend S. B. Goodenow, at a salary of $700 a year, filled the pulpit from the first Sabbath in December, 1858, until June 5th, 1855. There were then no pastors until 1857, with the single exception of Reverend jNIr. Woodbury, who preached about nine months in 1856. Reverend George W. Adams, a very excellent pastor, filled the pulpit from September 30th, 1857, to December 8th, 1802, when he died. Reverend J. K. Aldrich preached from February 6th, 1864, to August, 1867, when he was succeeded by Reverend Lyman H. Blake, from October 6th, 1867, to October 3d, 1869. The church was for a long time without a pastor. In 1882 Reverend Stephen Smith took charge and re- mained six years, a very successful pastor. He is now in East Douglass, Mass. He was succeeded by Reverend Frederick H. Adams, the present pastor, who took charge in 1888. Mr. Adams HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1011 came from New Hartford, Conn., where he had been for thirteen years. The membership of the church is about two hundred and fifty- seven in number, making- it one of the largest churches in thfe town. The church has recently been refitted, three hundred and fifty new seats having been put in at a cost of $2,500. The dea- cons are Thomas M. Holden and George Young, the latter being also the Sabbath school superintendent. Natick. — The northwest and the southwest branches of the Pawtuxet river unite at River Point, but the first fall large enough for factories is at Natick, a mile or so below their junction. When the Natick lands were assigned by the "Warwick propri- etors to their five associates in 1673, they were undivided. On December 9th, 1674, the five owners of the tract divided it among themselves, and under this latter date we find the following en- try on the proprietors' records : " We the proprietors of Natick lands that lyeth on ye north side of Pawtuxet river in ye colony of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, have laid out five lotts ; that is to say ; they lye in one range, in manner and forme aforesaide, as foUoweth : the north ends of them bounded by the west lyne of the grand purchase of the Mishawomet plantation ; and the south ends of these lotts, bounded by the northern most branch of Pawtuxet river : The first lott lyeth near range a rock so called in the northwest corner, bounded by a small black oak, from thence southerly to a small black oak." The portion of the Natick lands which were included in the present village of Natick was on the north side of the river. On the south side were the Wecochaconet farms. In the course of the following century the several farms were cut up and sold to various individuals. In the beginning of the present century Jonathan Ellis, son of Benjamin ; William Anthony Holden, son of William Holden, and Philip Arnold, were among the princi- pal owners of the territory. Benjamin Ellis lived on the hill on the old road leading to Lippitt village. His son Jonathan and several sisters inherited their father's estate. Jonathan lived on the hill, sometimes called " Green Hill," in the house occupied now by Mrs. Sheldon, and died at an advanced age, July 7th, 1842. William Holden, previous to the year 1771, owned a grist mill on the south side of the river, just above the present iron bridge. The old trench way may still be seen when the pond is 1012 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. drawn down. In 1771 the general assembly granted him a lot- tery "to raise about i^50, to enable him to repair and secure a dam across the Pawtuxet river, which had been carried away by S flood the previous winter." William Anthony Holden, son of the former, lived in the house, which is still standing, situated on the east side of the turnpike, near by Indigo brook. The brook was so called from the circumstance that Harvey Arnold had upon it a small building, and made use of the slight water power to grind indigo for coloring purposes. William Anthony Holden died April 24th, 1854. Previous to the year 1800, there appears to have been no bridge across the river at this place, though one was soon after erected, and in 1823 a new one, called, from its shape, the " Rainbow bridge," was built upon the same site. The beginning of the cotton manufacturing interests was an important period in the history of the town. In 1807 the value of the waterfall at this point was estimated by Perez Peck, Peter Cushman, John White and Joseph Hines to be great, and through their influence those who had capital were induced to make a venture at manufacturing cotton. The company consisted of Adams & Lathrop, Captain William and Charles Potter, Chris- topher and William Rhodes, Jonathan Ellis and the four mechan- ics mentioned above. The capital of the company amounted to $32,000, divided into thirty-two shares. The first mill was built in the autumn of 1807 and was about eighty feet long. It was known as the Natick Red Mill from its color. In 1836 this mill was converted into tenements, since known as the factory house. The Red mill was started with two throstle machines of eighty-four spindles each, and two mules of 200 spindles each. Jonathan Ellis was the first agent. " The company not merely spun yarn and warp, but erecting a dye house, they began to dye the same before sending it to market." " The machinery in the Natick cotton mill was propelled by a tub wheel (so called at that day) somewhat similar to the iron wheels of the present time. The one used here was ten feet in diameter and eighteen inches in depth, with floats of correspond- ing depth, with a curb above it of greater depth, through which the water was conveyed by a trunk into the wheel. It was made wholly of wood. This wheel, while it required a larger amount of water than the bucket wheel to do the same work, yet it pos- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1013 sessed the advantage of acquiring the desired speed with a less amount of gearing." MfTJi ^ Various changes took place previous to the year 1815. Two of the original stockholders, Perez Peck and Peter Cushnian,ha& sold out their stock as early as the summer of 1808. In July, 18] 5, the old organization was superseded by three companies, one of which was known as the Rhodes Natick Company ; an- other the Natick Turnpike Factory Company, and the third as Ellis, Lothrop & Company. In 1821, AVilliam vSprague, of Cran- ston, father of the " Old Governor," purchased one mill with forty-two looms and 1,692 spindles, and another furnished with carding and spinning machinery. Both these mills were painted red ; the latter stood near the present grist mill, and was re- moved about the year 1830, to its present position on the turn- pike, and converted into tenements. It is the first house on the east side of the turnpike, next to the bridge. It has undergone various changes since, and lost all outward resemblance of its original form. The Messrs. Rhodes retained one mill, which stood about where the south end of the present number one (New Brick) now stands, and was about 80 feet by 30 feet, with thirty looms and other necessary machinery for making cotton cloth ; also a grist mill and several tenement houses. George A. Rhodes, a son of General Christopher, was agent until his death, when his father took charge until the company sold out to the Spragues. " The Messrs. Rhodes continued to own about half the village for about forty-five years, building in the mean- time, in 1826, a stone mill 100 by 44 feet. On December 17th, 1852, they sold out to the Spragues for $55,000." An estimate of the business done by the Spragues may be ob- tained by the following, which was taken from a New York paper November 7th, 1873 : " The firm of A. & W. Sprague Mf'g Co. run near 280,000 spin- dles, and 28 printing machines in mills and print works, and em- ploy over 10,000 operatives. Their great print works at Crans- ton employ about 1,200 persons, and can turn out 40,000 pieces a week. At Natick, they run 42,000 spindles and have about 800 hands. At Arctic they run 29,000 spindles and employ 500 hands. At Quidnick they have 32,000 spindles and 500 hands ; at Baltic, Conn., 83,000 spindles and 1,000 hands ; at Central Falls, R. I., 32,000 spindles and near 600 hands ; at Augusta, Me., 34,000 spindles and 700 hands. These cotton mills supply their 1014 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. print works with most of the print cloths used by them, making about 35,000 pieces a week when running on full time. All were running on half time in the early part of November, 1873. At present all are running on full time. " Besides their mill and print works, they run other great en- terprises, both within and without the state of Rhode Island. In Maine they have vast timber mills, saw mills and like prop- erty, in which are employed great numbers of men during the lumbering season. In vSouth Carolina, at Columbia, they own valuable water power and have a great stock forward. They also own much land in Kansas and in Texas. In this city (Prov- idence) and Cranston, their real estate, improved and unim- proved, is great in extent and value. They control in this city (Providence) the Union Railroad, owning most of the street rail- ways, and 100 cars, and employing 300 men and 600 horses. The capital stock is $600,000, and valuation of property about $800,000. Wm. Sprague is President of the Providence and New York Steamship Co., which has eight steamers, employs 500 hands, and owns property valued at $1,000,000. This company it is claimed will not be embarrassed by the Spragues ; because, al- though they are the largest stockholders, they own a minority of the stock. A. & W. Sprague control in Providence, the Per- kins Sheet Iron Co.; the R. I, Horse Shoe Co., having 300 hands when full; Sprague Mowing Machine Co.; Comstock Stove Foundry, and the American Horse Nail Co. Their mill prop- erty, at a low valuation, isestimated at $4,200,(100, and their print works at $1,000,000. Their pay-roll at times has approached $25,000 a day. Besides all this property, A. & W Sprague, as partners of the firm of Hoyt, Spragues & Co., own the stock of the Atlantic Delaine Co., whose mills in Olneyville, R. I., em- ploy over 2,000 hands. On this property (said Delaine Co.) there is an indebtedness of near $4,0()(),()(io." The Spragues failed in 1873, and executed a deed of trust to Zachariah Chaffee, in which mention is made "that the Spragues are indebted to the amount of $14,000,000." Their property was estimated to be far in excess of this amount. William Sprague, father of the first Governor William Sprague, started a small mill in Cranston in 1811. He was the first of the family inter- ested in the Natick Jvlills. He died suddenly in 1836, leaving three sons and two daughters. The sons were Amasa, William and Benoni. Amasa and William continued the manufacturing HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1015 interest after their father died. William was sometimes called the " Old Governor," to distinguish him from another of the same name. He was governor of this state from 1838 to 1840, and United States senator from 1842 to 1844, when he resigned to attend to his manufacturing interests. He died in 1856, leav- ing a son Byron and a daughter Susan. Amasa, brother of the governor, was murdered in 1843. His children are the present Colonel Amasa Sprague, of Cranston ; ex-Governor William Sprague ; Almira, who married Hon. Thomas A. Doyle, mayor of Providence ; and Mrs. Latham. On the death of the senior Governor Sprague, the business fell into the hands of his son Byron, and his two nephews, Amasa and William. The former retired from the business in 1862, several years previous to his death. In 1860 William Sprague, then about thirty years of age, was elected governor of the state, and was re-elected the following year. He rendered conspicu- ous service during the war, and in 1863 was elected to the United States Senate, in which position he remained until 1875. After the failure of A. & W. Sprague, the enterprising firm of B. B. & R. Knight bought out the whole concern here and con- nected the factories together by building between them, so that they make but one factory 1,350 feet long, making probably one of the largest mills in the world. The Natick Mills have five cotton mills. No. 1 being 360 by 50 feet, with an annex 8 by 62 feet ; No. 2 mill, 202 by 63 feet; No. 2i mill, 73 by 74 feet ; No. 3 mill, 222 by 72 feet ; No. 4 mill, 200 by 45 feet. All are six stories high, built of brick, and contain 84,960 spindles and 2,311 looms, making sheetings, and are owned by B. B. & R. Knight. In 1886 a new stone dam was built a short distance below the old dam. There is in operation in the Natick Mills 2,112 spindles less and 445 looms more than in the seven mills on the north branch of the river. Hotels. — Christopher Arnold, Ephraim Covill and Warren Turner at various times prior to 1847, were hotel men at Natick. Mr. Turner kept the Union Hotel until about 1852. James H. Atwood kept the Union House a few years prior to 1860. George W. Tourjee ran this hotel in 1869-70. Thomas W. Briggs kept it some fourteen years, prior to his death in 1884. General Business, Natick.— The store building now occupied by Oliver S. Baker was erected during the year 1810. This was before the building of the turnpike, and the house was then used 1016 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. for a residence. It was erected by Charles Baker, who was a cabinet maker. In 1843 it was first turned into a store and has been used as such ever since. Charles Baker kept a store here from 1843 to 1865, when he died. Oliver Baker then took the store and has had it ever since. The new building owned and occupied by H. O'Donnell was erected in 1887. Mr. O'Donnell has been trading in the village since 1866. The post office is kept by John McQuade. His new building for a drug store was erected in 1888. He is a registered pharmacist. He started bus- iness in 1887, where the post office is now. The old Sprague store was opened September 18th, 1882, by B. B. & R. Knight. Doctor G. T. Perry, the old physician of twenty years standing in Natick, has gone to East Greenwich and was succeeded in 1888, by Doctor L. A. Fectean, a graduate of the University of New York. There is a good public library, consisting of 1,000 volumes, in the village. Stephen W. Thornton is librarian. St. Joseph's Church, Natick. — The Catholics have recently erected a magnificent place of worship in Natick, and are pros- pering under the efficient care of Reverend W. B. Meenan, who took charge July 26th, 1887. The building was erected at a cost of about $23,000. Worship has been carried on some years in the basement. Father Couch was the first pastor. Following him came Fathers McGee and Gleason, then Father Meenan. Natick First Baptist Church. — The church was organized on the 23d of November, ] 839, and was composed of sixteen per- sons of regular Baptist churches, residing in the village and its vicinity. Alanson Wood was appointed deacon, and Fayette Barrows, clerk. On the 25th of December following, a council, composed of delegates from the First, Second, Third and Fourth churches of Providence, the Pawtucket, the Warwick and Coven- try,the Arkwright and Fiskeville,and the Quidnessett, assembled, and after the usual examination, publicly recognized the body as the Natick First Baptist church. The first members received by the new church were Pardon Spencer and his wife, Sybil Spencer, who were received January 26th, 1840, by letter from the Exeter Baptist church. The first member received by baptism was Sister S. Thornton, who was baptized by Reverend Thomas Tew, May 24th, 1840. The church was received into the Warren Association September 9th, 1840. On November 16th, of this year, Reverend Arthur A. Ross ac- cepted the invitation of the church to become its pastor, "while HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1017 he continues in this village." This pastorate of Mr. Ross appears to have been of short duration, as on February 18th, 1841, the church appointed " a committee to supply the pulpit." At the same meeting George K. Clark was appointed a deacon. On June 25th, 1841, Smith W. Pearce was elected clerk, and served in that capacity until he was appointed deacon, December 25th, 1847. April 14th, 1842, Samuel Peterman was appointed deacon in place of Deacon Wood, who had removed from the village. The year 1842 was a prosperous one to the church, during which time a large number united with the church. On March 20th, 1843, the church invited Reverend Jonathan Brayton to the pas- torate ; Mr. Brayton accepted and continued in this relation until June 23d, 1844. He was also pastor at the same time of the Phenix church. April 25th, 1847, Reverend Arthur A. Ross was again called to the pastorate of the church. In June, 1849, Moses Whitman was appointed the trustee of the Relief Fund. This fund was raised by voluntary contributions, for the relief of the poor con- nected with the church. December 4th, 1851, Reverend Stephen Thomas, who had previously been connected with the Six Prin- ciple Baptists, and had changed his views to those held by this church, was invited to assume the pastoral care of the church. Mr. Thomas accepted the invitation and was publicly installed as pastor June 2d, 1852. He continued to preach until Reverend N. T. Allen commenced his labors. Mr. Allen became pastor in January, 1855, having preached for the church several months previous to that date. He resigned November 4th, 1855. Reverend A. Sherwin became pastor July 2d, 1856, and re- mained one year, when he resigned and became pastor of the High Street Baptist church at Pawtucket. For about six months following the resignation of Mr. Sherwin, Reverend O. P. Fuller, then a student of Brown University, supplied the church, and until the Reverend George Mathews commenced his labors. The closing part of the year 1857 was the year of the general revival throughout the country, and this church shared in the spiritual blessings, forty-one persons uniting with the church by baptism. Mr. Mathews accepted the pastoral care of the church March 30th. 1858. From this time until the fall of 1863 the church was supplied by different persons, chiefly by Reverend Harris Howard. Fol- lowing are the pastors from that time :• Reverend George L. Put- 1018 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. nam, November 7th, 1863, to autumn of 1865 ; J. H. Tilton, No- vember 18th, 1866, to June 30th, 1869 ; Charles L. Frost, July 4th, 1869, to July 4th, 1875 ; Warren S. Emery, August 24th, 1875, following whom was Reverend W. A. Briggs, who was here about six years, and then the present pastor, Reverend Whitman L. Wood, a recent graduate of Newton Theological Institute, near Boston, who took charge in 1887. There are about one hundred and fifty members belonging to this society. A flourishing Sabbath school under the superin- tendency of Deacon vS. H. Tillinghast is carried on. The church clerk is S. W. Thornton. Henry A. Bailey and S. H. Tillinghast are the deacons. PONTiAC. — Next below, Natick on the Pawtuxet Valley railroad, is the village of Pontiac, which has had various names ; the " Great Weir " was the designation at one time, then " Greene's Bridge," and " Arnold's Bridge," and the present title of " Pon- tiac." It is now owned by B. B. & R. Knight, and has a factory building 60 by 120 feet, built of brick, four stories high, and an addition of stone, 60 by 60 feet. The river at this place has 6nnr feet head and fall, operating 27,000 spindles and 678 looms, making sheetings ; also, a bleachery, 40 by 80 feet, with a capac- ity of 100 tons per week. The village has a population of about 1,500 inhabitants, contains 120 tenements belonging to the own- ers of the mills, and about fifty belonging to other parties. The site of the village in the year 1800, was in possession of Gideon Mumford, who was drowned in the river near his house. The land and water power were subsequently purchased by Henry Arnold, who in connection with Dutee Arnold, erected a saw and grist mill in 1810. Horatio Arnold subsequently carried on wool carding and cotton spinning in another mill. This building was also used at different periods for the manufacture of coarse woolen cloth. In February, 1827, Rice A. Brown, Jon- athan Knowles and Samuel Fenner bought the land and two- thirds of the water-power of the Arnolds for S4,2."i0. They run it for about two years, having twenty looms, on which they wove coarse sheetings. In 1829, during the general depression in manufacturing operations, they failed, and the property was sold at public auction, in 1830, to John H. Clark. Two years after- ward, Clark bought of Dutee Arnold the other one-third of the water-power, with the saw mill and grist mill, and in 1882, built a stone factory, in which he run seventy-five looms. In 1834, the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1019 bleachery was built fitted to bleach 2,250 pounds per day. George T. Spicer, later of Providence, of tlie firm of Spicers & Peckham, was superintendent. Mr. Spicer married the granddaughter of Judge Dutee Arnold. From 1822 to 1829, Mr. Spicer lived at Phenix, having charge a portion of the time of the machine shop. He afterward removed to Providence, and in 1830 went to Pontiac, where he was connected with the mills, having full charge of the concern for ten years previous to 1845. He after- ward removed to Providence, where he took the general charge of the High Street Furnace Company for five years, and then bought in with Dutee Arnold, and built the furnace now known as Spicers & Peckham's furnace. October 4th, 1850, Mr. Clark sold out his estate to Zachariah Parker and Robert Knight for $40,000. In 1852, the premises passed into the hands of the present owners, the Messrs. B. B. & R. Knight, who changed the name of the place to Pontiac. Va- rious changes and improvements have been made in the mills, as well as in the general appearance of the village since it has been in possession of the Knights. In 1858, they had so enlarged the bleachery that they were able to finish five tons daily. The cot- ton mill then contained 124 looms and 5,000 spindles for the man- ufacture of cotton cloth. The old bleach works were burned April 15th, 1870, and a new building was immediately erected and in operation September 1st, 1870. The new building is of stone, 160 by 40 feet, arranged with all the modern improvements for carrying on the bleachery business, and capable of turning off fifteen tons of goods per day. The old stone mill was torn down and the handsome new brick building erected upon its site in 1863. The dimensions of the new mill are 200 by 66, with an ell, 90 by 40. Its capacity is 27,000 spindles. The fall of water is about seven feet. The goods manufactured are fine sheetings, known by the popular name of the "Fruit of the Loom." In 1866, the company built a large brick store, with an upper room nicely fitted up for religious services, and in 1874, a store house of stone, 157 by 58 feet, and five stories high. Mr. S. N. Bourne was in charge of the works from June, 1866, to June, 1887. Al- bert Hawksworth, the present superintendent, then succeeded him. In addition to the extensive works in this village, the Mes- srs. Knight own the mills at White Rock and Dodgeville, and are also the principal owners at Hebron and Manchaug. In 1868, the new public highway leading from this village to 1020 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Natick, was laid out, and in 1873, the company obtained a char- ter from the general assembly to lay rails alongside this road from the Hartford railroad to their village, for carrying freight and passengers. The old tavern on the north side of the river," was one of the most noted public houses outside of the cit)' of Providence, un- til the Providence and New London turnpike was built, and was kept by Henry Arnold, son of Benjamin, who was a grandson of Captain Benjamin Greene. The old road on which it was situ- ated, was laid out in 1729, and was the only thoroughfare from Providence into the cou.ntry in this direction. When the turn- pike was put through it was left out of the main line of travel, and a new tavern was built to the westward on the turnpike, which became known as the Gorton Arnold Tavern, or "Gorton Arnold Stand." Gorton Arnold was a son of Philip, who was brother of Judge Dutee Arnold. A few years ago the tavern was consumed by fire and a new one erected. Judge Dutee Arnold was one of the most conspicuous men of the place, and was well known throughout the state for more than half a century. In June, 1817, he was elected an associate justice of the supreme court. He took his seat on the bench in May, 1818, and continued in office until 1822. Joseph Haddock keeps the old store formerly the company's store. Pie came here in 1888. J. L. Fish came to the village and kept the B. B. & R. Knight boarding house four years, and then began trading at his present place of business. One of the three principal stores of Pontiac is owned and op- erated by Charles A. Johnson. He is one of three brothers, Charles A., Claes E. and Richard, who came here from Sweden in 1874. Their older brother Swanty came in 1871. The two older brothers began business in May, 1881, in a new building of their own. In January, 1887, Charles A. bought the whole business, which now includes a grocery, market and general store. First Free Will Bai'tist Church, Pontiac— This church was originally located in that portion of the town now becoming known as Greenwood, near the " High House," so called. Pre- vious to the building of the meeting house, meetings were held in a school house, across the railroad, on or near the site of the present dwelling of Mr. Collingwood. Elder Reuben Allen ap- pears to have been the first pastor, and John Carder and John HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1021 Gorton, deacons. The church was prosperous under the leader- ship of Elder Allen, and many were added to the church. The church built their meeting house about the year 1833. Elder Allen was followed in the pastorate by Elder James Phillips, who preached for several years. The church during this time passed through severe trials, from which it never fully recov- ered. Elder Champlain preached for a while in the meeting house, and until about the time the church of which he was pas- tor built a house for themselves about a mile to the southward. Elder Joseph Whittemore preached twice a month for awhile, about the year 1842-3, and after that preaching services were held only occasionally until the house was removed to Pontiac and the church reorganized. About the year 1850 the meeting house was removed to Pon- tiac upon land given by David Arnold. The land, according to the terms of the deed, was to revert to the original owner or his heirs, assigns, &c., when no longer used for church purposes. In March, 1851, the church was reorganized under the name of The First Free Will Baptist Church of Warwick. The following persons composed the new organization : Joseph B. Baker, Ed- mund L. Budlong, Moses Budlong, William Tibbitts, Burden Baker, John Vickery, Stephen Luther, Freelove Wood, Hannah Searles, Susan Bennett and Susan Baker. Uriah Eddy, who united a few weeks later, was appointed a deacon, and Edmund L. Budlong clerk. Elder Reuben Allen, who appears to have been the first preacher under the old organization, w-as the first pastor under the new order of things. On March 13th, 1852, the church voted to change their name to the " Warwick church." In 1852 Uriah Eddy became the church clerk. On April 19th, 1856, passed a " vote of thanks " to Elder Reuben Allen for his services during the past year, and appointed Joseph B. Baker a committee to supply the pulpit. From this time up to April, 1859, the pulpit was supplied by different preachers. At this lat- ter date it was voted " that Elder Reuben Allen be our pastor for the ensuing year." On April 28th, 1861, George T. Hill was licensed to preach the gospel, and on September 6tii following he was ordained as pastor of the church by Elders George T. Day and Reuben Allen. In October following, Horace Thomp- son was licensed to preach the gospel. Following him came Elder Reuben Allen, July, 1862 ; Franklin Potter, April 26th, 1863 ; David Culver, June 4th, 1864 (salary, $200) ; A. Warner, 1022 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. March 30th, 1866, and the last pastor was Elder Tobey, who re- mained two years, when failing health induced him to resign, and from this time until they disbanded the church was pas- torless. On November 6th, 1871, the church met in covenant and de- cided to sell their house of worship and unite with the church at Apponaug. All Saints' Church, Poxtiac. — This parish was organized April 9th, 1869, when the following officers were elected : Senior warden, Stephen N. Bourne ; junior warden, John P. Olney ; treasurer, John F. Knowles ; clerk, John P. Olney ; vestrymen, Samuel Black, Samuel Preston, Henry Owen, John Gildard, Ed- win R. Knight, AVilliam Wooley, Isaiah Wilde, Thomas Evans, Charles S. Robinson, William A. Corey, John F. Knowles. Reverend L. Sears of St. Bartholomew's church, Cranston, held services for the first time in All Saints church April 1st, 1869. Reverend E. H. Porter commenced labor in the parish on July 4th. There were then but five regular communicants connected with the parish, but the church prospered greatly. In July, 1870, Mr. Porter resigned and September 4th, 1872, Rever- end H. K. Browse succeeded, but his ill health compelled him to give up his pastoral work and in December, 1872, Reverend William H. Williams took charge and remained till April, 1875, but we have not learned the names of the succeeding rectors. Reverend L. B. Thomas was here in 1884, at which time, under his influence, a good public library was established in the vil- lage. The new Episcopal church at Pontiac was built during the year 1888, and the consecration took place October 9th. On this occasion a special train brought two hundred people from Boston and Providence to take part in the exercises. After the organ voluntary by Mr. Downes, the bishop entered the main door, followed by fifty-three clergymen, and as they moved up the south side of the chancel they repeated the Twenty-fourth Psalm. Reverend Daniel Goodman of East Greenwich read the instrument of donation. Then followed the solemn prayers of the Episcopal service, after which Reverend Edmund S. Rous- maniere, the rector of the parish, read the sentence of consecra- tion whereby the building was declared to be " separated from all unhalloiced, ordinary and couimoii uses and saeredly dedieated to the scrviee of the Eternal Trinity in Unity." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1023 The church is gothic in most of its lines, yet there are evi- dences of independent design. The tower is especially note- worthy for its graceful proportions, and the carriage porch fur- nishes a unique addition to the western end of the building. Along the south side of the church runs a cloister, which is one of the happiest of the exterior architectural features. The most striking feature of the interior is the beautiful chancel. It is semi-circular in shape, surrounded by a very handsome brass rail and enclosing elegantly carved cherry furniture. The communion table stands in the center ; on either side are chairs, antique in design, for the Bishop and rector, and along the eastern- wall are arranged nine sedilia for the clergy. The five windows are filled with some of the finest glass in New Eng- land. The central window is in memory of the mother of Rob- ert Knight of the Pontiac Manufacturing Company, and consists of a very beautiful and spiritual female figure, in rich coloring and graceful drapery. On either side of the central window are two smaller windows given by Robert Knight in memory of his children. There is also a handsome window in honor of Mrs. Stephen Bourne. To the north of the chancel is the robing room, a cosy and comfortably arranged apartment for the rector of the parish. The feature of the church that still remains to be noticed is the high open roof, rising forty feet above the floor of the church, and by its rich coloring giving an added dignity to the building. Attached to the church as a transept, is the Parish HoUse meas- uring 60 by 40 feet. Here all the parochial activities are to find rooms for their work. A door opening from the church, leads to two class-rooms, beyond which is the Sunday school room. The latter room will also be used for the week-day services of the parish. Up one flight of stairs is a large airy room which is used by the parochial organizations. A small reading room is also on this floor. In the basement of the Parish House are dining-room and kitchen, showing that the social side of life is not to be neglected. Throughout the church and parish house are found the evidences of skillful architecture and tasteful coloring. The architect was Howard Hoppin of Providence. The buildings were erected and deeded for church purposes by the Pontiac Manu- facturing Company, consisting of Messrs. B. B. & R. Knight, of Providence, who, with the exception of $1,500 raised by the par- ish, bore the entire cost. 1024 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Hill's Grove. — This is a thriving little village on the Stoning- ton railroad, that has sprung tip since the building of the large iron works and mills at this point. "The Rhode Island Mallea- ble Iron Works were started here in 1807 by a company, with Thomas J. Hill, president and treasurer ; Smith Quimby, super- intendent, and Samuel AV. Kilvert, agent. They erected a fine brick edifice with a front of about 247 feet by 60 feet, with an L, used as a moulding room, 165 by 60. When in full operation it employs 100 hands. Its business is the manufacture of all kinds of malleable iron castings. "The process by which these castings are produced maybe briefly stated. In the melting process, the iron does not come in direct contact with the coal, as in ordinary furnaces used for the production of common castings, but is in a receptacle by itself, where the refining process is carried on by carefully skimming off the dross as it collects upon the surface, leaving onl)^ the pure metal for the moulder's ladle. This separation of the iron from the coal in the process of melting incurs an in- creased expenditure of coal, about a ton of the latter being re- quired to bring a ton of iron to the desired point. After cool- ing, the castings are closely packed in iron boxes, iron scales being used in packing ; the boxes are then placed in a furnace,, where they are subjected to a certain degree of heat for the space of nine days, for the purpose of annealing them. The car- bon is by this time thrown off, and they are found to be as tough and pliable as wrought iron. A multitude of different articles are thus manufactured, of all sizes and shapes, from garden rakes and coffee mills to the larger pieces used in connection with cot- ton and woolen machinery. They use principally for these pur- poses the kind of iron known to the craft as cold blast charcoal iron." Elizabeth mill, No. 1, at this point, was built by Thomas J. Hill, a very prominent gentleman of Providence, R. I. The mill gives employment to two hundred and sixty-five hands, and is under the efficient superintendence of William G. James, who is also a part owner of the stock. The mill is a very large struc- ture, 324 by 70 feet, three stories high, and has an extension 80 by 28 feet. It operates 20,000 spindles and manufactures fine yarn thread and warps. There is a store in connection with the mill, under the management of Benjamin C. Sweet. Elizabeth mill. No. 2, is the old Bay Mill of East Greenwich. Mr. James [■prrr ii ^' V 1 1' -J :-s^' Uo u«! ui' ; ^i IR- J " - <[«■ u till ■ Li, f^ <- *-"i4 ; ; j iwm Cm Uil I'j! — ; Z 1 Lii Li '-■: * 1 'li M W w 0^/^^o^. -O^-xyz-^ ARTOTYPE, C. UlERSIADT, M. Y. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1025 took charge of this mill in December, 1882. It employs ninety hands and "operates 7,552 spindles. This mill was purchased of the Bay Mill Company. The firm is composed of Thomas J. Hill, president ; Albert Hill, his son, secretary and treasurer ; and Wil- liam G. James, superintendent. Methodist Church.— There is a Methodist church in the ham- let of Hill's Grove. The building was erected in 1887, at a cost of $6,000, having a membership of fifty persons. Services were held prior to the building of the new house in the old hall now used for school purposes. There is a Sabbath school, under the superintendence of Reverend Mr. Stetson, of sixty scholars. The first located pastor was the Reverend Addis Albro, who came in 1882. He was followed by Reverend George E. Dunbar, and he by Reverend W. H. Stetson. Under the influence of such men as Messrs. Quimby, James and others, who have given character to the place, a temperance society was organized in Hill's Grgve in 1883, and is also in a flourishing condition. Mr. Thomas J. Hill has also been of considerable help in all matters pertaining to the public welfare. He built the school house for the village years ago, and has in various ways assisted the public in all laudable undertakings. He is now a resident of Providence, is president of several large business undertak- ings, and a man of considerable wealth. He is at this time eighty-four years of age. biographical sketches. DwiGHT R. Adams. — Henry Adams, the ancestor of nearly all who bear that name in this country, was born in Braintree, England, in the latter part of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and with his eight sons and a daughter, who were also born and edu- cated there, emigrated to New England about the year 1640. Dwight R. Adams, the subject of this sketch, was born in Lisbon, New London county, Connecticut, December 11th, 1823. He was the eldest son of Marvin and Almira (Baldwin) Adams, and of the eighth generation in direct line of descent from the emigrant Henry, of Braintree, Massachusetts. (Marvin', Samuel C.°, Samuer, David\ Henry^ Edward' and Henry'.) The early life of Mr. Adams was passed in the southeastern part of Wind- ham county, Connecticut, where his parents had located soon after his birth. In the public and private schools of the age 65 1026 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the elements of a substantial education were obtained, which in later years, without the aid of the school and the schoolmaster, he developed and utilized for practical and important results. Farming in the summer and teaching in the public schools in the winter occupied the early years of his manhood from 1840 to 1849. On the 7th of October, 1849, he was united in marriage with Miss Sarah J., the youngest of the three daughters of Captain Samuel L. and Betsey (Adams) Hough, of Canterbury, Conn. She was the eighth generation in a direct line of descent from Edward Hough of England. (Captain Samuel L.', Doctor Walter', John', John", John', William' and Edward'.) Immediately after marriage he settled in Warwick and entered upon a career of successful teaching in several of the grammar schools of the town, also six years in Woonsocket and a j'ear in Coventy Centre, retiring from the work in June, 1880. He was elected by the general assembly in May, 1880, a member of the state Board of Education and trustee of the State Normal School, po-sitions which by triennial elections he still holds. To the local interests of Warwick he has given much time and attention since he re- tired from the teacher's chair. As a member of the school com- mittee for a dozen years, and as chairman for the last eight years, he has exerted an important influence upon educational matters in the town. In 1883 he was elected superintendent of the public schools, and since his re-election in 1885, has continued to fill that position. He is serving his eighth year as town treasurer of Warwick, was town auditor in 1878-79, and has been a director in the Centreville National Bank since 1879. In politics Mr. Adams is a republican, and was elected a repre- sentative to the general assembly in 1878, and for five other consecutive years, beginning with 1880. In the general assem- bly he was chairman of the committee on fisheries in 1880, and from 1881 to 1884 was a member of the committee on education, being two years its chairman. He was chairman of a board of commissioners appointed under an act of the general assembly to abolish the tribal relations of the Narragansett tribe of In- dians, passed in 1880, the duties of which, including the pre- liminary work of 1879, occupied the attention of the board from 1879 to 1884. The work was very successfully accomplished. His social proclivities led him in 1860 to unite with the Masonic .^^ ^^iL^-^^ AHTOTIPE, E, BlERSTAOr, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1027 fraternity, and finally carried him through the Lodge, Chapter, Council and Commandery. He has constantly held some official position in his Lodge since receiving " light," also in his Chapter since its organization, and has presided in his Council ; he was District Deputy Grand Master of the state for four consecutive years from May, 1874. " Freemasonry in Kent County," is from his pen. (See Chapter XIX in this work.) William Guarzia Bennett.— Mr. Bennett is a son of Thomas Bennett, who resided in Newport during the revolutionary war, and on the bombardment of that town made Old Warwick his residence. He married Lydia Guarzia, daughter of Captain John Guarzia, and had five children : Esther, who died at an early age ; Esther, wife of Isaac Nichols ; Benjamin, William G. and Elizabeth, wife of William Burden. All are now deceased. Captain Guarzia, a Portuguese, was a brave and intrepid offi- cer. The English ship " St. James " left Jamaica with 600 tons of sugar, bound, in company with five other vessels, for England, under the protection of two convoys. They became separated in a gale off Cape Hatteras, and speedily encountered Captain Guarzia's gunboat, manned by its commander and five men, and carrying two six-pounders. Aware of the rich prize that awaited them, they determined to capture the English vessel, and con- sequently aimed all their shots at the sails and rigging. After a continuous assault of five days, on the sixth day she surrend- ered with thirty men, the captain remarking, as he observed the swarthy complexion of Captain Guarzia, that it was very " humil- iating to surrender to a nigger in a hog trough." This remark so enraged the captain that he threatened to cut off the offend- er's head with his sword if it were repeated. The " St. James " was brought to the dock in East Greenwich, and the cargo di- vided as prize money among the crew. William Guarzia Bennett was born September 11th, 1794, in East Greenwich, where he remained for many years. Very lit- tle time was afforded for acquiring even a modest education, his early life having been devoted to hard labor. His industry was rewarded with ninepence a day until greater devotion to his task brought the increased sum of twenty-five cents per day. On attaining the years of manhood he became a sailor, and for six years followed the sea, his objective points being East Green- wich and the coast of South America. On retiring from this somewhat wandering life he became an apprentice under Stutk- 1028 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ley Williams to the trade of carpenter, and for a period of thirty years pursued this trade in the vicinity of his home. He was for many years employed as head carpenter at Natickby Messrs. A. & W Sprague, meanwhile residing upon the farm he purchased in Warwick, now the home of his son, William H. Bennett. Here in the agreeable pursuits pertaining to the life of a farmer his advancing years were passed. Mr. Bennett was in 1827 married to Cyrena, daughter of Jabez Williams, and a descendant in the seventh generation from Roger Williams, as follows : Roger', Joseph^ Thomas', Thomas', John", Jabez", Cyrena'. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bennett were : Leorra W. (Mrs. Job R. Card), born July 27th, 1827 : Mary Ann, January 7th, 1829; William H., December 27th, 1838; and Emma, who died December 12th, 1842. Mr. Bennett devoted the later portion of his life to farming, and engaged in no other business. He was in politics first a whig, and afterward a re- publican, strong in his convictions, and true to his party affilia- tions. He was particularly pronounced in his opposition to the Dorr rebellion, and ready with influence and personal effort to aid in suppressing the insurrection. He was reared in the Quaker faith, which he revered, though not a constant attendant upon its services. The death of Mr. Bennett occurred on the 8th of August, 1870, and that of his wife September 14th, 1867. Their son, William H., who now cultivates the farm, married April 27th, 1865, Anna M., daughter of Deacon James S. Gard- ner, of North Kingstown, who died May 21st, 1884. Mr. Ben- nett, while devoting much time to the farm, has also found op- portunity for the development of his mechanical tastes. He is a skillful carpenter and an adept in the construction of machinery, his ingenuity and knowledge being of practical use in his daily avocations. He was first in the township to apply steam for ag- ricultural purposes, and to adapt its use to cider mills. John C. Ellis.— Gideon Ellis, the grandfather of the subject of this biography, who resided in West Greenwich, was born in October, 1724, and died September 30th, 1793. He was thrice married, his third wife being Elizabeth Manchester, to whom he was united on the 21st of March, 1762. Among their seven chil- dren was a son Arnold, born September 6th, 1763, in AVest Green- wich, whose death occurred February 23d, 1844. He was on the 31st of July, 1791, married to Mary Crandall. Their children , -^ , <^,<^ix \ t^€L/^a^ ^.^^^-^-^t^ ARlOT'Pt, t. BILOSl A HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1037 been known familiarly among his friends as " Farmer Greene of the Buttonwoods." On the death of his father in 1849, the estate was divided between the son and daughter, Mr. Greene receiv- ing the dwelling known as the homestead, with- land immedi- ately adjacent, which he has greatly improved. He has gratified his inclination in cultivating the paternal acres, and given time and attention to this, to the exclusion of other business pursuits, perhaps more attractive and less laborious. He was formerly a trustee of the Centreville Savings Bank, and has been for forty years a member of Coventry Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons. He has been since the casting of his first ballot a firm believer in the principles of the whig party, and is now equally strong in his defense of the republican platform. He has been a dele- gate to state conventions, but always declined office other than that of member of the school board of his town. He was made a major during the days when the militia was a power in the state, and shouldered a musket when the Dorr rebellion inspired the patriotism of Rhode Island citizens. On the election of Wil- liam Henry Harrison to the presidency in 1840, Mr. Greene gave a gigantic clambake on the homestead farm, when 10,000 good whigs cheered for " Tippecanoe and Tyler too." He celebrated the election of his grandson. General Benjamin Harrison, in the same hospitable manner in 1888. He is doubtless one of the best informed men on matters of historical and antiquarian interest in the town of Warwick. He adheres in religion to the faith of his ancestors, that of the Baptist church. Mr. Greene was married in 1842 to Erneline, daughter of Jeremiah Dexter, of Warwick, and granddaughter of Benjamin Dexter, of Centreville, Warwick. Richard Greene. — Richard Greene was born the 2d of April, 1827, on Warwick Neck in Kent county. The schools of the neighborhood afforded him opportunities for a rudimentary edu- cation, and careful reading during the later years of his life did fully as much as a more thorough course of study in the develop- ment of a thoughtful habit of mind. He at an early age gave considerable attention to the work of the farm and aided his father greatly in his varied pursuits, meanwhile fop five winters assuming the charge of a district school. In 1854 he rented a farm in the same town and found this venture so satisfactory as to warrant a continuance of the arrangement for eleven years. 1038 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. On the death of his mother Mr. Greene returned to the home- stead farm, which he cultivated until 1871, when on the disposal of his interest in the paternal estate, he purchased his present home at Old Warwick. Here he erected a commodious dwel- ling, and otherwise improved the property, upon Avhich he has since resided. He is one of the most representative republicans in his portion of the town and exceptionally well informed on all matters per- taining to its interests,. He was prominent in measures having for their end a division of the town of Warwick in 1873-75, which for the time being were defeated. He was for six years an in- fluential member of the town council and has held other less important offices. He was one of the originators of the Old Warwick Library Association, has been its devoted champion through many vicissitudes, and is its present treasurer, his daughter being the librarian. He is a supporter of the Baptist church of Old Warwick with which some of the family are con- nected by membership. Mr. Greene was on the 28th of September, 1852, married to Miss Sarah Malvina Atwood, daughter of Jeremiah Atwood of Pawtuxet. Their only daughter, Alice D., is married to Robert W. Greene, of Warwick, whose two children are Bessie A., now living, and Marion, deceased. The progenitor of the Greene family was Peter Greene, who resided on his estate in Wiltshire, England. His son John, who married Joan Tattersall, emigrated to America in 1635. Their fourth son Thomas was born in England in 1629 and admitted a freeman in Warwick in 1647. His death occurred in 1717. His son Richard was born in 1667 and died in 1724, leaving a son Richard, whose birth occurred in 1702 and his death in 1778. Thomas, a son of the latter, was born in 1729 and died in 1813. His son Thomas Wickes was born in 1769 and died in 1854. He married Barbara Low, who was born in 1770 and died in 1854. Their son Richard Wickes, whose birth occurred in 1791 and his •death in 1867, married Betsey Wells Anthony, born in 1796, died in 1866. Mr. Greene, who was captain of a vessel engaged in the East India trade, in 1826 purchased and afterward resided upon the Wickes farm on Warwick Neck. His son Richard, one of seven children (three of whom are deceased) is the subject of this biography. ftHTOTYPE, E. BIBHSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1039 Henry D. Heydon. — Mr. Heydon traces his descent in the di- rect line from William Hayden, who was born in England, and probably emigrated to America in 1 630. He was twice married, his children by the first union being : Daniel, born in 1640 ; Na- thaniel, in 1642 ; and Mary, in 1648. Lieutenant Daniel Hayden married, in 1664, Hannah Wilcockson, of Stratford, Conn., who died in 1722. Their children were : Daniel, born in 1666 ; Han- nah, in 1668 ; Nathaniel, in 1671 ; William, in 1673 ; William, 2d, in 1676; Samuel, in 1678 ; Ebenezer, in 1681 ; and Mary, in 1688. Ebenezer Hayden, of Haydens, married, in 1708, Mindwell Gris- wold, whose children were : Ebenezer, born December 9th, 1709 ; Mindwell, April 4th, 1713 ; and David, January 21st, 1715. The last named of these children married, March 11th, 1761, Jemima Ellsworth, who died February 13th, 1828. Their children were : David, born in 1761 ; Jemima, in 1764 ; Newell, in 1766 ; Peletiah, in 1768 ; Oliver, in 1770 ; Abijah, in 1772 ; Lyman, and Olive. Among these sons was David, grandfather of the subject of this biography, a native of Harwinton, Conn., who removed to Green- bush, N. Y., and died in 1835. He was three times married, and had children : Manta, Miles Lester, born in 1794 ; Bateman Ellsworth, in 1809 ; Julia, William Henry, Ann Jemima, in 1820 ; and David,* on the 2d of March, 1822, in Greenbush. David married, in 1849, Remima C. Johnson, whose only son, Henry D. Heydon, was born December 25th, 1851, in Coventry, R. I., and in childhood became a resident of Woonsocket, where he remained until his tenth year. He then removed to Provi- dence and supplemented his course of study in the English branches at the public schools by a period at the Mt. Pleasant Academy, in the latter city. He early began his business career as clerk in a store in Providence, some years later embarked in the sale of groceries and dry goods at Olneyville, and subse- quently undertook for three years the management of an estab- lished business at the same point. In 1874 Mr. Heydon removed to Crompton, and in behalf of creditors, assumed charge of a general store located in that village. The promising outlook at this point induced him six months after to form a copartnership with Daniel W. Batchelder, which relation has continued until the present time. Mr. Heydon has given some attention to public affairs, and manifested much interest in matters connected with the town. * The orthogi-aphy was in this generation changed to Heydon. 1040 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. He has since 1883 been a member of the school board, for three years filled the office of town auditor, and was for three and a half years postmaster of Crompton. He was for the years 1879- 80 elected to the general assembly, and again the successful can- didate for that office in 1888. He served as chairman of the committee on unfinished business, and is now a member of the finance committee, considered the most important in the house. He is a member and secretary of the board of examiners of the State Normal School, and aide-de-camp, with the rank of colonel, on the staff of Governor Royal C. Taft. Mr. Heydon is a member and past master of Manchester Lodge, No. 12, of Free and Ac- cepted Masons, of Coventry ; also member of Landmark R. A. Chapter, No. 10, of Warwick, and has been for three years its high priest. He is identified with Manufacturers' Lodge, No. 15, I. O. O. F., of Olneyville, and a member of the Franklin Ly- ceum, of Providence. Mr. Heydon in 1881 married Lottie A. Booth, daughter of Wright Booth and Jane G. Bradley, of Crompton, R. I. Mr. Booth built, and for more than twenty-nine years was landlord of the Crompton Hotel. The only child of Mr. and Mrs Heydon is a son, Howard Raymond, born January 23d, 1882. Thomas J. Hill. — The long and successful business career of Thomas Jefferson Hill as a manufacturer in New England sus- tains an important relation to the development of a portion of Kent county, and although his enterprises have been carried on and his fortune secured chiefly outside the county, yet, in this record of the growth of manufacturing villages, among the peo- ple here who have known him and respect him for his masterly qualities of head and heart, something more than a passing men- tion should be made. The state of Rhode Island has produced but few men in this century who will go down to history as his peer. The son of a Pawtucket mechanic in humble life, he found his school days ended when he was but fourteen years of age, and in the black- smith shop of his father, at Cromwell Hill, his next two years were passed. The next nine years probably determined the general channel in which his life Avork was to be done. Pitcher & Gay (afterward Pitcher & Brown) were manufacturers of mill machinery, and Mr. Hill became their apprentice, mavStered the business, and within the nine j^ears he was with them he was employing men and taking contracts on his own risk. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1041 He went to Providence April 19th, 1830, and took charge of a machine shop connected with a cotton manufactory on Eddy street for Samuel Slater. Four years later the business of the machine shop was reorganized as the Providence Machine Com- pany, in which Mr. Hill had an interest of forty per cent. In 1837, two years after Mr. Slater's death, the business having rap- idly improved, Mr. Hill bought at Willimantic, Conn., the Lee mill, intending to remove there the 'machine manufacturing business. He, however, repaired the property at Willimantic, and making his own machinery, started a thread mill in 1840, which in 1845 he sold to A. D; & J. Y. Smith. Within the two succeeding years Mr. Hill built a new machine shop, and pur- chased the balance of the stock of the Providence ^Machine Com- pany. The company was reorganized under a 'charter in 1874, with T. J. Hill as president and treasurer. The business, largely owned by Mr. Hill, includes one of the best equipped plants in the country for the manufacture of cotton and worsted mill ma- chinery. His fly-frames, now in general use, were first put on the market in 1847. In 1850 Mr. Hill, with some Boston capitalists, organized the Bates & Hill Manufacturing Company at Lewiston, Me., and built four cotton mills on the Androscoggin river. Mr. Hill built a foundry and rented a machine shop at Lewiston, where he put up a large portion of the machinery for the flour mills, associating with him in this enterprise his former foreman, Sam- uel W. Kilvert. In 1864 Amos.D. Lockwood and others pur- chased part of Mr. Hill's stock and formed the Lewiston Machine Company, and two years later Mr. Hill sold his remaining in- terest. In 1859 he purchased the Peckham Mills on the bay at East Greenwich, manufactured part of the required machinery and started a cotton mill, which he named the Bay Mill, and later gave it to his two sons. He now owns several hundred acres at Hill's Grove, in the town of Warwick, where he erected in 1875 one of his cotton thread mills, now under the management of William G. James. This mill, with a capacity of 20,000 spindles, he named the Elizabeth Mill, in honor of Mrs. Hill. The Bay Mill, located at East Greenwich, is now known as the Elizabeth Mill No. 2. His splendid farm property at Hill's Grove is one of the finest on the line of the Stonington railroad, and in his various enterprises to build up a village here'of pleasant homes, 66 1042 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. hi has endeared himself to the hearts of all by his broad sympa- thies for the humble and the poor. In 1867 he became president and treasurer of the Rhode Is- land Malleable Iron Works, then erected at Hill's Grove, of which Smith Ouimby is si:perintendent. Mr. Hill paid half the cost of the fine depot building- there, and in 1869 erected and furnished, at a cost of over $4,000, a village school house, containing also a hall for religious meetings. His sturdy good sense and keen business perceptions, as well as his large private means, have made him a desirable adviser among- capitalists, and to-day we find him, besides directing the manufacturing enterprises mentioned, completing a third of a century as president of the Lime Rock National Bank of Provi- dence, and he has served over twenty-six years as vice-president and trustee of the City Savings Bank. In 1866 he organized the Providence Dredging Company, and in 1874 the Providence Pile Driving and Bridge Building- Company, and other combinations of labor and capital for the development of the material re- sources of his native state. He has given a little attention to politics, having been seven years in the Providence city council and once in the state gen- eral assembly. Mr. Hill's first wife, Betsey, who died in May, 1859, was a daughter of Sylvanus and Ruth Brown of Pawtucket. All the lines of descent from the subject of this sketch will be traced from this marriage. The second Mrs. Hill, who died in Novem- ber, 1866, was Olive L., daughter of Stephen and Hannah Farn- ham of Canterbury, Conn. In 1869, after completing his second European trip, Mr. Hill was married on the 9th of August to a Warwick lady — Elizabeth C. Kenyon, daughter of John H. and Ruth Kenyon — who shares with him their elegant home in Providence, where he is passing his serene and hale old age in the enjoyment of that vigor of mind and body which would class him with the men of sixty years. His life has been long and eventful and cast in a remarkable period of the country's growth. His native village, now a city — his adopted city, a great manufacturing center — the plains of Warwick, which he found almost useless, he has lived to see teeming with life and enterprise ; and himself transformed from the unknown blacksmith's boy to the millionaire whose career HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1043 will be made tlie model of many another who aims at honors and position to be fairly won. Benedict and Enos Laphaaf. — The Lapham family are of English lineage, their progenitor being John Lapham, a weaver, born in 1635, who settled in Providence, where he married ]\Iary Mann, daughter of William j\lann. John Lapham's son Thomas was a deputy in the general assembly in 1747 and 1749, and a judge in 1760. Reverend Richard Lapham, the father of Bene- dict and Enos Lapham, married Phebe Arnold. He Avas a farmer, and a minister in the "Wesleyan jMethodist church, though not settled as a pastor. His father, Levi Lapham, and his grand- father, Jethro Lapham, were members of the Society of Friends, the former a minister, and both were prosperous farmers and in- fluential citizens. Phebe Arnold Lapham was the daughter of Noah Arnold, a prominent citizen of Burrillville, Rhode Island. Benedict Lapham, born June 26th, 1816, was in early life em- ployed on a farm, and in manufacturing establishments in Bur- rillville, Rhode Island, and Palmer and Douglass, Massachusetts. He also for a time had charge of the farming interests of the Albion Manufacturing Company at Smithfield, Rhode Island. In 1837 he attended Bushee's Academy at Bank Village, Rhode Island, where he paid special attention to the study of mechan- ics. He then worked several years as a carpenter and wheel- wright. In 1839 he hired the Tillinghast factory in East Green- wich, and engaged successfully in the manufacture of cotton goods until the fall of 1840, when the factory was sold and the stock disposed of to the purchasers of the property. He then re- sumed farming, his father having conveyed to him the old home- stead. Mr. Lapham afterward carried on the manufacturing business in North Scituate, Wallum Pond, and Pascoag, Rhode Island. In the summer of 1852 he bought of the executors of the will of the late John Greene of Warwick, the estate in Cen- treville, embracing two-thirds of the water power, and all the machinery of the old mills which were built in 1794 and 1807, with later additions. Here Mr. Lapham and his brother Enos engaged in the manufacture of cotton cloth with about 5,000 spindles. In 1861 he made a large addition to the mill, and in 1871 removed the old building, erecting on the site a new struc- ture three hundred and three feet long, one of the finest mills in the state, and probably one of the largest. It has a capacity for 40,000 spindles and employs both steam and water power. He 1044 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was his own architect, making- the plans and supervising the work of building. Mr. Lapham was also engaged in the cotton and grain trade, visiting the South and West in the interest of this branch of his business. During the " Dorr Rebellion " he was captain of a militia com- pany. In 1849 he was a member of the Rhode Island house of representatives from Scituate. In 1863 he was elected to the state senate from Warwick to fill a vacancy, and re-elected the following year. He was appointed by Governor Smith, state commissioner of the Antietam Cemetery, and reappointed by Governor Padelford. He was president of the town council for five years, justice of the peace, and the incumbent of other offices. In 1863 he purchased the Smithville Seminary and gave it to the Free Will Baptist Association. He afterward carried on that institution for five years at his own expense. He married, in November, 1849, Ann Eliza, daughter of the late Russell and Catherine (Essex) Austin, of North Kingstown. Mr. Lapham's business career extended over a period of more than forty years, and was characterized by strict integrity and ceaseless energy. He was a man of iron constitution, indomita- ble perseverance, and great executive ability. He possessed a thoroughly disciplined mind, and was master of his business, comprehending all its details, from the buying of cotton in the fields, through all the processes of manufacturing, to the sale of all the products of his mills. His liberal spirit and interest in the public welfare led him to devote much of his wealth to the cause of education and to benevolent purposes. His career was one of great usefulness until his death, which occurred June 16th, 1883. Enos Lapham, also the son of Richard and Phebe (Arnold) Lapham, was born in Burrillville, R. I., September 13th, 1821. When a lad, with only the educational opportunities afforded at a district school, he entered a cotton mill as a mill hand. But he was bright and promising. At an age when the boys of to- day are still in the high school, he was running a little mill in his native town, which he had leased. In 1839 he joined his older brother, Benedict Lapham, in operating a small factory in East Greenwich, and although the business was conducted in the name of the older brother, they continued together until the latter's death. Enos was the practical mill man and superin- tendent, while Benedict devoted his time to the business man- "^ i , »<>' ^-^^^-^^^^^^^^ ;t? HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1045 agement of the concern. Their venture having prospered, they removed to Centreville and greatly extended their manufactur- ing interests, as has been before stated. On the death of his brother, in 1883, Mr. Lapham became sole owner of this valu- able property. He thus stands as a conspicuous example of the possibilities of a poor boy under the American system of indus- tries and government. The life of Enos Lapham has been one of keen and persistent toil, devoted, with his brother, to the building up of a great busi- ness. He is emphatically a man of the people, great-hearted,whole- souled, and cordially esteemed by those who understand him. He is well known for hard common sense, often more valuable in legislative halls than college education or polished manners. Reared in a Methodist family, he has been a member of that de- nomination nearly all his life, is a trustee of the church in Cen- treville, and a director of the Providence Conference Seminary in East Greenwich. The temperance question, which is one of vital importance in Rhode Island, finds in him no lukewarm de- fender. He is one of the strongest temperance advocates in the state. In his school district no intoxicating liquors are sold, and none have for years past been allowed. He is identified with the interests of the town as president of the Centreville National Bank and the Centreville Savings Bank. In politics Mr. Lapham has been a republican since the life of that party, is active in affairs connected with his locality, and has been for three years president of the Warwick town council. In 1886 he was elected to the Rhode Island senate, and in 1888 was the unanimous choice of his party for the office of lieutenant-gov- ernor, which distinguished position he now fills. A man of pro- gressive ideas, of much executive ability, evincing a deep interest in public affairs, and of genial nature, he has won a deservedly honored place in the regard of his fellow citizens. Mr. Lapham was married April 23d, 1843, to Abby B., daughter of the late Russell and Catherine (Essex) Austin, of North Kingstown, who died March 18th, 1885. Their only child, Eliz- abeth S., is the widow of Franklin Treat, and has one son, Rob- ert Byron Treat. Mr. Lapham was a second time married, De- cember 30th, 1885, to his present wife, Lydia Harriet, daughter of the late Henry and Maria (Pierce) Hamilton, of Centreville, R. I. The Lockwood Family. — Abraham Lockwood, one of the earliest if not the earliest representative of this family in this 1046 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. country, was born in the year 1670. He settled in that part of Warwick known as old Warwick. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Amos and Deborah (Stafford) Westcott, by whom he had five children : Abraham, Amos, Adam, Deborah and Sarah. His second wife was Priscilla, daughter of John and Ann (Gor- ton) Crandall and by whom he had no issue. He was possessed of extensive real estate both in Warwick and in Providence. He died in the year 1747, his will being admitted to probate in War- wick June 7th, 1747, in which he devises by far the greater por- tion of his estate, both real and personal, to his son Adam, who is appointed executor. Abraham", son of Abraham', must have been at one time a res- ident of that part of Providence which is now Scituate, as a deed from his father is in existence conveying to him real estate in Providence (now Scituate) which tends to prove this fact. He died in 1762. His issue was five children : Abraham, Joseph, Jacob, William and Damaris. Amos°, second son of Abraham', was born in Warwick in 1695. December 23d, 1725, he married Sarah, daughter of AVilliam and Ann (Stone) Utter. Twelve children were born to them : Amos, Sarah, Ann, Benoni, Alice, Jilercy, Ruth, Wait, Phebe, Barbara, Abraham and Millicent. Adam", the third son of Abraham', was married December 24th, 1734, to Sarah, daughter of Henry Straight. Their issue was as follows : Ann, Sarah, Abraham, Hannah, Adam, Deborah, Almy, Patience, Adam, Abraham and Benajah. The date of his death is not certain. Deborah^ daughter of Abraham', was married in December, 1724, to Nathaniel Stone. Their children were three in number — Sarah, Nathaniel and Deborah. Sarah\ daughter of Abraham', was married June 16th, 1728, to Abel Potter. Seven children were born to them : Phebe, Phebe, Prudence, Margaret, jNlercy, Dinah and Abel. Benajah', the youngest child of Adam^ married Abbie Webb, by whom he had nine children : I^lary, married John Mackenzie ; Sallie, married John Mackenzie after the death of his first wife ; Russell, married Amey Arnold ; Amey, married Chauncey An- dros ; Celia, married Russell Fiske ; Freelove, married John Humphrey ; Thomas, married his cousin Lucy Ann Lockwood ; Henry, died in infancy, and Eliza, married James Titus of New Jersey. ^^-^^^-^^^^^^ ^, ^^^rzYc^ii^Tr-v-'yi^ ARTOTYPE, E. HIER8TADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1047 The children of Thomas' and Lucy Ann Lockwood were fif- teen in number, four of whom died in infancy. Eleven reached maturity, viz. : Mary M., married Albert Phillips; Thomas H., married Adaline A. Titus, daughter of James and Eliza* (Lock- wood) Titus ; Benoni T., married Margaret J. Seaman ; Abby F., married (1) John Weaver (2) John Searle ; Abraham, married Sarah A. Carr ; Lewis, married Anna K. Knapp ; Lucy Ann, married George T. Searle ; Nancy, married Willard M. Briggs ; Russell, unmarried; Elisha P., married Amey Austin, and Lydia C, married George Eukers. Six only survive, viz. : Thomas H., Abby F., Abraham, Nancy, Lucy Ann and Lydia. Thomas H.', son of Thomas' and Lucy Ann Lockwood, was born in Warwick, March 9th, 1827. April 14th, 1850, he married Adaline A., daughter of James and Eliza (Lockwood") Titus of Tappan, New Jersey. Their children are : Amanda Augusta, born at Warwick January 28th, 1851 (she was married December 25th, 1872, to John Waterman, grandson of John R. Waterman and now resides in Providence, R. I.) ; James T., and Eliza Evelyn, born at Tappan, New Jersey, July 5th, 1856, unmarried. James T. Lockwood", son of Thomas H.* and Adaline A. Lock- wood, was born at Providence, R. L, May 20th, 1853. He attend- ed the public schools of Providence, R. I., New Jersey and War- wick until his seventeenth year ; entered Mount Pleasant Acad- emy in the spring of 1869, graduated from that institution in June, 1872, and in September of that year entered Brown Uni- versity in the class of 1876, graduated in June, 1876. During the period from this time to 1881 he followed the occupation of school teaching in New Jersey and Warwick, R. L In the autumn of 1881 he entered as a student in the law office of Colwell & Colt, two of the leading attorneys of Providence, R. L, and was admitted to the Bar in the summer of 1883. From that time till June, 1887, he filled the position of clerk of Attorney General Samuel P. Colt, as well as being engaged in the practice of his profession. October 21st, 1886, he married Alice K., daughter of Andrew J. and Mary A. Smith of Warwick, and granddaugh- ter of ex-Mayor Edward P. Knowles of Providence. In June, 1887, he was elected to the office of town clerk of the town of Warwick, which office he now holds, removing from Old War- wick in November, 1887, to Apponaug, R. I., where he now re- sides. 1048 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. David Pike. — The subject of this sketch is the grandson of Jonas Pike, and the son of Ephraim and Lucy Pitman Pike. He was born on the 13th of March, 1807, in Sterling, Conn., and there spent his boyhood days. His father carried on the trade of a hatter and his son, until the age of sixteen, divided the time between the school room and the shop, making himself in various ways useful in the latter place. In 1820 he removed to Lippitt, Kent county, R. I., and entered a store as clerk, but finding this employment yielded but little profit, he sought an engagement in the cotton mills at that place. His first experience was in con- nection with what is known as the dresser, after which he was placed in the weaving department, and ere long became over- seer of that branch of the mill industry. He found this labor somewhat circumscribed and on the death of his father began the manufacture of acids, then largely used in the printing of fabrics. Mr. Pike next embarked in teaming, which prior to the con- struction of railroads was an important industry, and soon se- cured a large patronage, employing many 'horses for the pur- pose. He began at a later date the manufacture of packing boxes, and in conjunction with this conducted a large lumber business at River Point, the material being shipped to Coweset, from whence it was drawn by horses to its destination. Mr. Pike's ver- satile mind enabled him to master more than one enterprise, and soon a grist mill was erected on the site of the present planing mill. This was successfuU}' operated until 1873, when a disas- trous fire laid it in ruins. Not discouraged by this loss, its own- er, who had also been a considerable bu}'er of grain, erected an extensive building on the old site, which was devoted to the manufacture of sash, moulding and blinds, as also to planing on a large scale. The firm, by the admission of his son as part- ner, became in 1875 David Pike & Son. With the exception of a farm owned and cultivated by him, this business absorbed most of his attention. Mr. Pike was a striking example of the results accomplished by industry, thrift and solidity of character. He began without aid, in youth was self-reliant and persevering, and from the com- mencement maintained that firm adherence to principle, which made his name a synonym for honesty and probity. His judg- ment was excellent, his business habits methodical, and his word as good as his bond. anMd f/if^l ABTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, I m J ^c/L. ITOTVPe, E. nrCRSTADT, 1050 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ter, Providence county, in the same state, where he engaged in general trafficking. In 1866 Mr. Potter returned to River Point and established a general supply depot for the sale of masons' materials, coal, wood, land plaster, fertilizers of all kinds, hay, grain, harness, etc. His business has so increased in proportions, as to necessi- tate offices and warehouses at both River Point and Coweset, to which may be added a valuable farm at Mt. Vernon, in Provi- dence county. Mr. Potter has supplied a liberal share of the building material used in his locality, and finds that attention to business, honorable dealing, and a quick perception of the wants of the public, have brought a large and growing trade. He gives his time chiefl}'- to his several interests, and has not entered the political field. His public spirit has, however, prompted him to accept office on the town committee as a representative of the re- publican party. Though not a member, he is an attendant upon the services of the Congregational church at River Point, and a willing contributor to its needs. Mr. Potter married, in 1855, Hannah M., daughter of Doctor William N. Clark, of Warwick. Their children are : Charles E., Emma M., Frank E., and Frederick H., the only survivor being Frank E. Robert Reoch. — Mr. Reoch is of Scotch parentage, and the grandson of Robert Reoch,who resided in Renfrewshire, Scotland, where he was well known as a skillful calico printer. His ser- vices were later in demand in Denny, a famous center for calico prints, in Sterlingshire, from which point he moved to Barrhead, in Renfrewshire, where his death occurred. He married Bethia Tennant, of Sterlingshire. Their children were : Archibald, Abraham, Robert, Elizabeth, i\largaret and Bethia. Robert, the third son in order of birth, was a native of Denny, where the greater part of his active life was spent. Under the instruction of his father he became proficient in the art of calico printing, and was employed both at Denny and Paisley, a large manufac- turing point not far distant. He married Ann, daughter of Dan- iel McNeal, who resided in the suburbs of Paisley. Their chil- dren were : Robert (the subject of this biography), Mary (Mrs. Faulds), and Archibald. Robert, the only surviving child, was born October 9th, 1840, in Renfrewshire, and in early childhood became an inmate of his paternal grandfather's home. He pursued the ordinary '■''V B„.^si^A 'ojo: HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1051 branches at the common schools until fifteen, the age of his ap- prenticeship to the firm of Thomas Boyd & Sons, at the Fereneze Print Works at Barrhead, Renfrewshire. Here he remained for seven years, and meanwhile, desiring to become thoroughly con- versant with the science of chemistry as applied to colors, took a special course under Professor Penny at the Andersonian Uni- versity in Glasgow. On the conclusion of his apprenticeship he remained three years with the Fereneze Print Works as assist- ant manager of the coloring department, and then accepted an engagement to act in the same capacity with Muir, Brown & Co., of Glasgow. While here Mr. Reoch received from Messrs. S. H. Greene & Sons, in 1867, a flattering offer to assume the manage- ment of the Clyde Bleachery and Print Works, located at River Point, in Kent county, Rhode Island, which, after much deliber- 'ation, he accepted. Under his able management these extensive works have at- tained a high degree of prosperity. In the conduct of the busi- ness skill and ability have been displayed conspicuously at criti- cal times. Thus in 1872-3, when calico printing was greatly depressed and most concerns were either running on very short time or closed, the Clyde Print Works were being operated much of the time both night and day on a new style of black and green prints, then deservedly popular. As the green was a new color- ing matter, which few printers were able to make fast, the Clyde works reaped a golden harvest. Again in 1876 (the Centennial year) the calico printing interests suffered severely, prices being low and business extremely dull. S. H. Greene & Sons em- barked in the manufacture of printed flags, which proved a sig- nal success, and enabled them to run almost their entire estab- lishment for several months on this article alone. These included United States flags, British, French, German, and one or more copyrighted international flags, the latter including the flags of all nations. In 1877 the Clyde Print Works gave their attention to a branch of industry never before introduced into the United States, the manufacture of Turkey red handkerchiefs. This also for several years proved a lucrative business, and indicates the influence of home industries in reducing rather than enhancing the price of goods. Previous to this achievement these hand- kerchiefs retailed for twenty-five cents each, and three years later an article equal in every respect could be purchased for seven cents. The present price is five cents. The Messrs. 1052 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Greene & Sons are therefore, through their manager, the pioneers in this branch of industry, and have laid the foundation for a large Turkey red trade, both in plain and printed goods. These facts will illustrate the progress and development of their ex- tensive works under skillful and energetic management. Mr. Reoch is vice-president of the Pawtuxet Valley Water Works, of which he was one of the foremost projectors. He has happily adapted himself to his surroundings, and is identified with many enterprises in Phenix, his residence, and its immedi- ate vicinity. As a republican he has been president of one or more local clubs and given his influence to the success of his party. He is more especially interested in the advancement of the musical taste of the community, and was president and con- ductor of the Choral Union. Mr. Reoch is a member of the Con- gregational church of River Point, president of the society, and has for sixteen years acted as its chorister. He is a member of the Congregational Association of Providence, and has frequently been a delegate to ecclesiastical conventions. He is also presi- dent of the British-American Club of Phenix. Mr. Reoch was married March 31st, 1865, to Helen, daughter of William Stewart, of Barrhead, above mentioned. Their chil- dren are : Lillias Stewart, born in Scotland, and Robert A. S., William S., Helen M., Archibald T., Mary E., Norman G., and John S., born in Kent county. All, with the exception of the youngest, are living. Christopher Spencer. — The name of Spencer has been one of prominence in both Washington and Kent counties for more than a century. Thomas Spencer, the grandfather of the sub- ject of this biography, was a resident of North Kingstown. His son, William Spencer, a firm patriot during the period of the revolutionary war, was, in June, 1779, taken prisoner by an armed force from the British ships lying near Hope Island, his stock grazing in the field captured, and his farm produce appropri- ated, leaving his family destitute of the means of subsistence. William Spencer married Waite Spencer, daughter of Walter Spencer, of East Greenwich, January 21st, 1770. They were the parents of Christopher Spencer. The latter was born in North Kingstown, May 17th, 1783, on the farm of the late Governor Greene. The opportunities for ac- quiring a thorough education were at that time exceedingly lim- ited, and he may therefore with propriety be regarded as self- ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1053 educated. He was reared on his father's farm, and much of the time resided with his parents, occasionally teaching school in winter, and meanwhile improving his leisure time in study. He remained at home until 1797, then accompanied his parents to East Greenwich, where he resided one year, when Cranston be- came his home. Here he was actively employed in farming for six years, and later resided upon various farms in the town of Warwick. In 1816 Old Warwick became his home, his father having leas- ed a farm at Conimicut Point, which he assisted in cultivating until 1821, and where the death of both his parents occurred. Here he for several years was the genial landlord of a country inn, the property purchased by him having formerly belonged to his wife's father. He also kept a country store and dealt in yarn which was woven by hand until it ceased to be profitable. Mr. Spencer was in 1822 elected to the house of representatives, in which he served for four years. He was afterward elected to the state senate under the " old charter " and continued in office for the same period. In 1856 he again represented Warwick in the house of representatives for one year. He held various local offices, was for fifteen years a member of the Warwick town council and part of that time its president. In 1866 he sold the store that had witnessed his coming and going for a period of forty-five years, and retired from active business life. He was a man of great activity and always occu- pied, either with his store, farm, or public duties, occasionally adding surveying to his other pursuits. Mr. Spencer was much esteemed in the community for his sound judgment, his enter- prise, and his marked integrity of character. He was a member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encour- agement of Domestic Industry, in which he was much interested. His death occurred May 11th, 1870, in his eighty-seventh year, on the farm which had been his home for nearly half a century. His remains were interred in the family burying ground on the farm. Mr. Spencer was thrice married. He was in 1813 united to Celia Westcott, daughter of Captain Nathan Westcott, by whom he had six children : William, Arnold W., Thomas, Edwin, George W. and John Q. A. Mrs. Spencer died in 1827, and the following year he married Sarah C. Spencer of Ira, Vermont, by whom he had two sons, Charles A. and John. Mrs. Spencer died 1054 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in 1831 and in 1833 he married Welthan Tiffany of Warwick, who survives him. The sons now living are William, who re- sides in Providence, and George W. on the homestead farm. William, the son of Christopher Spencer, was born in 1817, and in 1831 began his mercantile career in Providence as a clerk. Six years later he became proprietor of a business which he still continues in that cit}^ He is unquestionabl}^ the oldest mer- chant in point of service in Providence. ]\lr. Spencer married Penelope vS., daughter of John Tiffany of Crompton. He still resides much of the year at Old Warwick. George W. Spencer, of Old Warwick, is also a son of Chris-- topher Spencer. His son George W., Jr., is the principal of the Spencerian Business College located in Providence, having graduated first at the Rhode Island State Normal School in 1884 and at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, in 1885. He is an active Odd Fellow and presiding officer of Perseverance Lodge of that order, located at Apponaug. Thomas Spencer, of Old Warwick, grandson of Christopher Spencer, was born in 1851. He has been actively engaged in business since 1872, and has devoted some attention to public affairs. He was for two years a member of the town council, and one year represented his district in the general assembly. For two years he was president of the AVarwick League, and in 1888 a delegate to the democratic national convention held in St. Louis. Benjamin F. Waterhouse. — Thomas Waterhouse, the grand- father of the subject of this biography, resided in Meltham, Yorkshire, England, where he followed his trade as a weaver of woolen fabrics. He had four sons — Samuel, Richard, James and Matthew, and three daughters — Mary, Ruth and Martha. Rich- ard Waterhouse, a native of Meltham, emigrated to America in 1846, and was at once employed in the weaving department of the mill owned by Messrs. Waterhouse & Allen at Centreville. He remained with this establishment in the same capacit}^ until his death on the 2d of January, 1864. He married Mary, daught- er of John Hurst, of J\leltham. Their children were: ]\Iaria, Benjamin F., Walker, Richard, Martha, Mary, Hannah, John, Sarah, Maggie and Emma, seven of whom are still living. Benjamin F. Waterhouse was born in Meltham on the 15th of September, 1830. Unlike the youth of the present day, his op- portunities for education were exceedingly meager, being lim- ^' -^^^^^Z^^^^^^.ty-ct.^:^^ ARTOTYPE, E BIERBTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1055 ited to instruction in the Sunday school and study at his home. At the age of nine years he entered a woolen mill and began winding bobbins, three years later having control of a hand loom which he operated until 1846, the date of his emigration with his parents to America. He at once entered the weaving room of the mill at Centreville, where his father was employed, and continued with the firm until he had become thoroughly proficient in the business of a woolen manufacturer. Mr. Water- house then accepted an engagement as foreman of the weaving department of a mill owned by Ezra Pollard at East Greenwich, and remained until 1857, when a mill in the city of Philadelphia offered superior attractions and kept him profitably employed for six years. In 1863 he returned to East Greenwich and for the same length of time superintended a woolen mill for his un- cle, James Waterhouse. He next acted in the same capacity at Burrillville, R. I., and in 1872 returned to Centreville. Here with other partners he organized the Kent Woolen Company, became owner of one quarter of the stock, and its manager. In July, 1888, he purchased the property, of which he is now sole owner, thus by industry and application becoming proprietor of the mill which he first entered as a common hand. Of this organi- zation he is president, George B. Waterhouse, treasurer, and Richard E. Waterhouse, superintendent. Elsewhere in the work this mill and its operation are more fully discussed, though it may be pertinent here to mention its capacity as recently doubled, and the working force largely increased. Mr. Waterhouse is much absorbed in business and has little time for interests not immediately connected with his daily pur- suits. He is a republican in politics, a firm believer in protection to home industries, and has participated in the administration of local affairs. He is a member and senior warden of the Protest- ant Episcopal church of Crompton. Mr. Waterhouse was on November 13th, 1853, married to Mar- garet, daughter of Joseph and Mary Liddle, who is of Scottish descent. Their children are: Benjamin W., Henry A., Richard Edgar, George B., Fanny F., Maggie M. and Charles L. Henry A. married Genie Read and has two children ; Benjamin W. is married to Sarah Adams and has one daughter ; Richard E. mar- ried Dora Arnold. Henry A. is a successful mill superintendent at Pascoag, R. I. The remaining sons are associated with their father as manufactiirers. CHAPTER XXII. TOWN OF EAST GREENWICH. General Description of the Town. — Division of Lands. — West Greenwich Set Off.— The Census of 1774.— Temperance.— The Poor, How Cared For.— Town Officers in 1888. — The Fry Family. — Commerce and the Fisheries. — The Spencer Family. — George Washington Greene. — Hugh Essex and the Old Grist Mill. — Education.— The Village of East Greenwich.— First Inhab- itants and What They Did. — Samuel King. — The Mercantile Trade. — Li- braries. — Banks. — Fire Department. — Water Works. — Electric Light. — Soci- eties. — Churches. — Manufactures. — Biographical Sketches. THE town of East Greenwich is situated upon the western shore of the Narragansett bay, and is the shire town of Kent county. It is bounded north by Warwick, east by the Narragansett bay, south by North Kingstown, and west by West Greenwich. The surface is somewhat uneven, and in some sections a little rough and stony. Much of the scenery is pic- turesque and beautiful, and some of the views are of imposing beauty. The soil is comparatively fertile, and yields a.ll agricul- tural products common to this section. It is a favorite summer resort, as well as a seat of learning and a delightful place of resi- dence. Following is a list of the principal places : Village. — East Greenwich, formerly called Newtown for a long time. (See S. Tillinghast's Diary in R. I. H. Society). Hamlets. — Frenchtown (Huguenot, 1687) ; Shippeetown, Fry's Four Corner's. Bridges. — Kenyon's, Dancing, Hunt's, Massachug. Historic. — vSunset Rock, Fry's Woods, Old French Fort at Frenchtown. The town dates its settlement from 1677, and was incorporated October 31st, in that year. In June, 1678, the name was changed to Dedford, but the original name was restored in 1689. This change grew out of a boundary controversy between Connecti- cut, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, relative to the jurisdiction of this territory. The king finally took control, and to obliterate every vestige of its former title, called the Narragansett country HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1057 the King's Province, and the name of East Greenwich was changed to Bedford, North Kingstown to Rochester, and West- erly to Haversham. The settlement of the town began with its incorporation. The safety and excellence of its harbor attracted man}' within its borders, and soon an active and enterprising people were settled along its shores, engaged in the various avo- cations of trade and commerce. At a general assembly held for the colony at Newport, May, 1677, it was " Ordered that a certain tract of land in some convenient place in the Narragansett country, shall be laid forth into one hundred acre shares, with the house lots, for the accommodation of so many of the inhabitants of this Colony as stand in need of land, and the General Assembly shall judge fit to be supplied. " In pursuance of said act of the General Assembly, this pres- ent court do enact and declare, that the said tract of land be forthwith laid forth to contain five thousand acres, which shall be divided as follows : Five hundred acres to be laid in some place near the sea, as commodious as may be for a town, which said five hundred acres shall be divided into fifty house lots, and the remainder of said five thousand acres, being four thousand five hundred acres, shall be divided into fifty equal shares or great divisions, and that each person hereafter named and ad- mitted by this Assembly, to land in the said tract, shall have and enjoy to him and his heirs and assigns forever, in manner and form and under the conditions hereafter expressed, one of the said house lots, and one great division, containing in the whole one hundred acres. "And further this Assembly do enact, order and declare, for the services rendered during King Philip's war, the persons here named that is to say : John Spencer, Thomas Nichols, Clement Weaver, Henry Brightman, George Vaughn, John Weaver, Charles Macarty, Thomas Wood, Thomas Frye, Benjamin Griffin, Daniel Vaughn, Thomas Dungin, John Pearce, Stephen Peck- ham, John Crandal, Preserved Pearce, Henry Lilly, John Albro, Samuel Albro, Philip Long, Richard Knight, John Peckham, Thomas Peckham, William Clarke, Edward Day, Edward Rich- mond, Edward Calvery, John Heath, Robert Havens, John Strainge, John Parker, George Browne, Richard Barnes, Samson Balloo, John Remington, Jonathan Devell, Benjamin jNIowrey, Joseph Mowrey, William Wilbore, James Eyles Pearce, James 67 1058 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Battey, Benjamin Gorton, Henry Dyre, John Knowles, Stephen Arnold, John Sanford, William Hawkins, and John Houlden, are the persons unto whom the said tract of land is granted, and who shall possess the same, their heirs and assigns according to the true intent and meaning of this present grant. "And to the end, that the said persons, and their successors, the proprietors of the said land, from time to time may be in the better capacity to manage their public affairs, this Assembly do enact and declare that the said plantation shall be a town, by the name and title of East Greenwich, in his Majesty's Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, with all the rights, liberties, and privileges whatsoever, unto a town appertaining; and that the said persons above mentioned, unto whom the said grant is made are by this present Assembly and the authority thereof, made and admitted the freemen of the said town, and they, and so many of them as shall be then present, not being fewer than twelve on the said land, required and erapowered to meet together upon the second Wednesday next, and constitute a town meeting, by electing a Moderator and a Town Clerk, with such Constables as to them shall seem requisite ; and also to choose two persons their Deputies to sit in General Assembly, and two persons, one to serve on the Grand Jury, and one on the Jury of Trials in the General Court of Trials, and so the like number and for the said Court. " And to the end that the said Plantation may be speedil}* settled and improved according to the end of this present in the granting thereof ; be it enacted and ordained that each person mentioned in this present grant, shall, within one year after the publication thereof, make on his house lot, by building a house fit and suitable for habitation ; and in case any person who hath any of the said house lots shall neglect or refuse, by himself or assignee to build accordingly, he shall forfeit both the house lot and greater division, to be disposed of by any succeeding Assembly as they shall see cause. " And further, this Assembly do enact and declare, that if any person unto whom the said land is granted, by this present act, shall, at any time within one and twenty years after this hereof, sell, grant, make over, or otherwise dispose of any land or lands hereby granted unto him, or unto any other person or persons interested in the said plantation, that then the said person or persons whatsoever, without liberty had been obtained from the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1059 General Assembly, that then the said person or persons so sell- ing or disposing of the said land shall lose all other lands what- ever, that he is possessed of in the said plantation, and also the lands so disposed of, to be and remain to this Colony. " And further, it is enacted by this Assembly, that the freemen of said town shall make and lay out convenient highways from the bay up into the country throughout the whole township, as shall be convenient for the settlement of the country above and about the said township." In the year 1790 the boundaries of East Greenwich were enlarged by an addition of thirty-five thousand acres of land on the western border. The old deed is as follows : " Know all men by these presents, that We, Weston Clarke and Randal Holden, Richard Greene and Philip Tillmghast, being a Committee appointed and fully empowered by the Gov- ernor and Company of this her Majestie's Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, to dispose and make saile of the vacant lands in the Narragansett country belonging to said Colony, have, for and in consideration of the sum of one thousand and one hundred pounds current money of New England, in hand already, well and truly paid to us, who have received the same in behalf and for the use of the Governor and Company aforesaid, of and at the hands of Benjamin Barton, Thomas Fry, James Carder, John Spencer, Benjamin Greene, Pardon Tilling- hast, John Waterman, Thomas Nichols, John Nichols, Malachy Roades, James Greene and Simon Smith, all inhabitants of Warwick and East Greenwich, in the Colony above said, have bargained, sold, conferred, made and passed over from the Gov- ernor and Company aforesaid, and their successors forever, a certain tract or parcell of land, being part of the vacant lands belonging to this Colony, lying in the Narragansett Country, within the Jurisdiction of this Colony, westward of East Green- wich, butted and bounded on the north by Warwick's south bounds ; bounded on the east by East Greenwich bounds, and Jones his purchase bounded on the south beginning at the south- west corner of Jones his purchase and so to run due west, parallel with Warwick's south bounds afore mentioned, until it comes to the Colony line that divides this Colony from Connec- ticut Colony, and bounded on the west by the said dividing line between said Colonys, containing, by Estimation, thirty-five thousand acres, be the same more or less, all which, together 1060 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. with the privileges and appertenances within the bounds above- said, we liave sold as abovesaid unto the afore named persons, to them and every of them, their and every of their heirs, Ex- ecutors and Administrators, and assigns forever jointly and severally to have and to hold forever the which we will warrant forever against the Governor and Company of the Colony above said and their successors or any other person or persons what- soever lawfully laying claim to the above bargained premises or any part or parcel thereof, by, through or under them the said Governor and Company or their successors under what pretence soever, in witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seales this thirtieth day of June, in the eighth year of her Majesties reign Ann by the grace of God queen of Great Brittain, Ireland and France, Anno que Domini Nostri, 1709. Weston Clarke, Randal Holden, Richard Greene, Philip Tillinghast. " Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of us, Joseph Smith, Samuel Sweet. " The day and year above written the Committee acknowledged this to be their act and deed before me, John Eldred, Clerk." According to this old deed thirteen individuals owned what is now the town of West Greenwich. In the year 1740 the township was divided into the towns of East and West Greenwich. By an entry bearing date 1741, it appears that every town in the colony was entitled to draw a certain sum out of the general treasury of the colony. East and West Greenwich at that time belonged to the county of Provi- dence. From the town records we make the following extracts : " We, the subscribers, being Committees appointed by the Towns of East and West Greenwich, in the County of Provi- dence, to proportion the Interest money to be drawn out of the General Treasury of the Colony, by the aforesaid two Towns ; we, having considered the premises, do mutually and unani- mously agree and order that out of each and every one hundred HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1061 and fifty pounds, to be drawn as aforesaid out of the said Gen- eral Treasury, the Town of East Greenwich draws Eighty Five pounds and seven shillings, and that the Town of West Green- wich draws Sixty Four pounds and thirteen shillings, and so pro- portionally for greater or lesser sums, in confirmation of which we have hereunto set our hands, in said East Greenwich, the Thirty First day of July, A. D. 1741. John Spencer, | Comviittee John Greene, ' for Benj'n Sweet, ^ East Greenwich. Thomas Spencer, ] Committee John Jenkens, for Thomas Fry, Jr., \ West Greenwich." " We, the subscribers, being the committee appointed by East and West Greenwich, in the County of Providence, to proportion the money now in the Town Treasury of said East Greenwich, and the poor in said Towns between the aforesaid Towns, now order and agree that West Greenwich shall draw one Hundred and Eighty Nine pounds and three shillings out of the Town Treasury, including Captain Spink's bond for their whole pro- portion of the money now in the Treasury of said East Green- wich, and that West Greenwich be at one half of the charge in keeping and maintaining the widow Elizabeth Low, in meat, drink and lodging and washing and apparel for the future, and to take effect at the division of said Towns. As witness, our hands, at East Greenwich aforesaid, this Thirty First day of July, A. D. 1741. John Spencer, j Committee John Greene, for Benj"n Sweet, \ East Greenwich. Thomas Spencer, "i Committee John Jenkens, for Thomas Fry, Jr., ) West Greenwich." The county of Kent was set off from the county of Providence, and East Greenwich selected for the county town June the 15th, 1750, according to the record which says : " The General Assembly passed an act Incorporating East Greenwich, West Greenwich, Warwick and Coventry into a County By the Name of Kent, and East Greenwich Chosen for the County town through Great Opposition, as a part of Warwick, 1062 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and Providence in general doing their utmost endeavour to stop their proceedings." The " great opposition " of Warwick was owing to the local jealousy of the two towns, as Warwick wished to be the county town, and have the court house and jail located at Old Warwick, which was then considered the capital of Warwick, and ought to be now. The citizens of East Greenwich agreed to furnish a lot and build a court house and jail, upon the condition that the general assembly and the courts should be held there. The first court house and jail were both small and inconveni- ent, and in 1805 Avere so much out of repair that the legislature appropriated a sum sufficient to build the present court house and jail. The old jail building is now a dwelling house, stand- ing on the corner of Marlboro and Queen streets, and owned by Mr. William N. Sherman. The present court house stands on the site of the old one, and is a large and handsome structure. It formerly contained the most beautiful court room in the state, but it has been altered and changed so often that it now has no resemblance to its former appearance. The following entry shows that the first allusion to the court house is an abstract from the town records in 1750 : " At a quarterly meeting at the County House in the County of Kent November the 27th 1750.— " Voted, That the Quarter meeting, and all other quarter meet- ings, shall be held in the County House in said East Greenwich. " Drawed for the Grand Jurors to attend the first Superior Court of Common Pleas, and General Sessions of Law, to be held in East Greenwich, in the County of Kent, within and for said County, on the second Tuesday of January next, Wm. Sweet, Silas James, Thomas j\Iadison and Colonel Peter Mawney." On the town records of January the lOth, 1732, is this entry : " Voted and Ordered, That there shall be a good pair of stocks and a Whipping Post, made at the Town's Cost, and put up at or near the House of Capt. John Drake in said Town and ordered that Robert Easter is appointed to build and put up the above said Stocks and Whipping Post, and to make return of his doings therein to the said Town Council at their next meeting, and the said Council to agree with said Robert, for making the same, and to be paid for the same out of the Town Treasury." From the census report taken under the authority of the col- ony we give the names of the heads of families, as the lists stood HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1063 in 1774, for this town : John Arnold, Jr., Charles Andrew, Thom- as Aldridge, Matthew Aylsworth, Oliver Arnold, Pardon Allen, John Arnold, William Arnold, Joseph Arnold, Thomas Arnold, Richard Aylsworth,Anthony Aylsworth, Rebecca Andrew, Benoni Andrew, Jonathan Andrew, Edmond Andrew, Job Alsbane, Wil- liam Bailey, William Bailey, Jr., Thomas Bailey, Joseph Bailey, George Bailey, Daniel Bates, Robert Babcock, Caleb Briggs, Clive Briggs, Edwin Briggs, Job Briggs, Thomas Briggs, Nathan Briggs, John Briggs, Jr., Richard Briggs, son of John ; Benjamin Bennett, William Bentley, John Brightman, AVilliam Burlin- game, John Burlingame, David Brown, Bial Brown, Amos Brown, Clarke Brown, Amos Boose, Andrew Bayard, William Card, Job Card, Joseph Card, Charles Carr, Daniel Carr, Cornell Carpenter, Morgan Carso, Jonathan Capron, William Coggeshall, Benjamin Coggeshall, Thomas Coggeshall, Nichols Coggeshall, Joshua Coggeshall, Thomas Corey, John Cooke, Hopkins Cook, Stephen Cooper, Gideon Casey, Thomas Casey, wSilas Casey, Archibald Crary, Job Comstock, Samuel Cahoone, Richard Cornell, Corne- lius Clarke, Samuel Davis, Nathan Ely, Jeremiah Fairbanks, Benjamin Fry, Joseph Fry, Lemuel Fry, Thomas Fry, Phineas Foster, Nathaniel Greene, Nathan Greene, Joseph Greene, Elisha Greene, Sylvester Greene, Stephen Greene, Rufus Greene, Jona- than Greene, Daniel Greene, Benjamin Greene, John Greene, Griffin Greene, Henry Greene, Christopher Greene, William Greene, Augustus Greene, Matthew Greene, Nicholas Greene, George Greene, Samuel Greene, Albert Greene, Job Greene, Oliver Gardner, John Gardner, Henry Gardner, Job Gard- .ner, Nicholas Goddard, William Giles, John Glazier, John Grinnell, Archibald Graves, Joshua Godfore, Ebenezer Hath, Freeborn Hamilton, William Hamilton, Robert Hall, Oli- ver Hazard, Joseph Hunt, Ezekiel Hunt, Ebenezer Hall, An- thony Holden, Nicholas Hyde, Daniel Howland, Mary Jennings, Lowry Jenks, Michael Jenks, Isaac Johnson, John Johnson, Jon- athan Johnson, William Johnson, Jabez Jones, Silas Jones, Josiah Jones, Abel Jones, Joseph Joselyn, Philip Jenkens, Rem- ington Kenyon, Arthur King, James Luther, John Langford, John Langford, Jr., Joseph Mott, Stephen Mott, Stephen Mott, Jr., Robert Morris, Daniel Maxwell, Gideon Mumford, Stephen Mumford, John Matterson, Augustus Mumford, Caleb Mathew, Isaac Moore, Richard Mathewson, Pardon Morney, John Nich- ols, son of Elkan ; Jonathan Nichols, George Nichols, Richard 1064 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Nichols, John Nichols, son of Thomas ; Freelove Nichols, Thom, as Nichols, Alexandre Nichols, James Nichols, Robert Nichols- Ruth Nichols, John Nichols, Job Pierce, Daniel Pierce, Thomas Pierce, Stephen Pierce, John Pierce, William Pierce, John Pierce, son of Benjamin ; James Pierce, Jeremiah Pierce, Preserved Pierce, Ichabod Prentice, John Pitcher, Thomas Place, Thomas Phillips, Aldrich Reynolds, Samuel Relf, Shippey Reynolds, Thomas Reynolds, Jonathan Rouse, Gardner Rouse, Peleg Rice, John Spencer, Michael Spencer, Griffin Spencer, Thomas Spencer, son of Benjamin ; Stephen Spencer, Walter Spencer, William Spencer, Wilson Spencer, Henry Spencer, Nathan Spencer, Ca- leb Spencer, Benjamin Spencer, Jeremiah Spencer, George Spen- cer, Ebenezer Spencer, Silas Spencer, Susannah Spencer, Rufus Spencer, John Shaw, Merrit Smith, Ichabod Smith, Samuel Smith, Thomas Slocum, Andrew Smart, Caleb Sheffield, William Sweet, Ann Sweet, Sylvester Sweet, Stephen Shippee, Thomas Shippee, Rowland Sprague, Jeremiah Sweet, James Stafford, Jo- seph Stafford, James Sweet, Benjamin Sweet, Samuel Sweet, Henry Sweet, Jonathan Tibbitts, Henry Tibbitts, Benjamin Tib- bitts, Robert Taft, Thomas Tillinghast, Philip Tillinghast, George Tillinghast, Benjamin Tillinghast, Joseph Tillinghast, Samuel Tarbox, Isaac Upton, Samuel Upton, James Mitchell, Varnum, Daniel Vaughn, David Vaughn, Robert Vaughn, Chris- topher Vaughn, Caleb Weeden, John Whitman, Samuel Whit- man, James Whitman, Smith Wilcocks, Ephraim Ware, Robert Whitford, Caleb Whitford, Peleg Weaver, Benjamin Weaver, George Weaver, Jonathan Weaver, Timothy Weaver, Clement Weaver, Thomas Wells, Peter Wells, Ezekiel AVarner, Joseph Winslow, Job Winslow, Joseph Whitmarsh, Hannah AVall, Ben- jamin Wall. The following document is the agreement subscribed by the early settlers in East Greenwich : " Know all men by these presents, that we the subscribers, whose hands and seals are hereunto affixed, being inhabitants of Warwick and East Greenwich, in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, having purchased a tract of land in the Narragansett country, being part of the vacant lands belong- ing to this Colony, and the committee appointed by said Colony to dispose of said vacant lands, a Refference being had to the deed of saile bearing date eaven the same with these presents, said land being butted and bounded as follows : HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1065 "We, the subscribers, do covenant and agree upon the follow- ing : First, — that we will take in as many partners as will make the number of fifty or sixty partners including ourselves in said number ; And the said land shall be divided into as many parts or shares, and if one man will not take a whole share, there may be so many taken in as will represent a whole share for the rest that are taken in said share. "Secondly, — that in all matters that relate to the well manage- ment and ordering of said land aforesaid, the major part of the partners present votes shall be valid and binding to all the part- ners, to stand to both to them that are in the Deed as well as them that are taken in for partners, who are to be equal with those who are in the Deed, in all respects with ourselves. " Thirdly, — none are to be taken in as partners without the consent of the major part of the purchasing partners, and not to take in more than to make as many shares abovesaid. " Fourthly ,^that any man shall have more than one share, yet he shall have but one vote about anything relating to said land. In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this 30th of June Anno Domini 1677. "Signed, Sealed, and Delivered in presence us, Benjamin Barton, John Waterman. Thomas Fry, Thomas Nichols, James Carder, Malachi Rhodes, John Spencer, James Greene, Benjamin Greene, Simeon Smith, Pardon Tillinghast, Joseph Smith." " May 29th, 1730. That whereas Thomas Fry having taken up the lot No. 27, and having erected a wharf and warehouse there- on, which is the condition that the said lot was granted upon, therefore the proprietors do hereby make the said lot a good es- tate in fee simple unto the said Thomas Fry, and to his heirs and assigns forever. "Voted, That the proprietors and inhabitants of the town are granted liberty to build a school house upon the southeast part of the land that was allowed for a Town House, which said land lyeth between John Coggeshall's lot and John Nichols' lot as it appears on the plat." " March 25th, 1734. Voted, that whereas the proprietors are desirous to exchange six lots that are laid out for room for a burying place, and in lieu thereof to lay out several water lots in 1066 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. the room of them, and whereas one of the lots proposed to be ex- changed, belongs to Thomas Fry, and in lieu he shall have the liberty to take the choice of the lots that shall be laid out, and the present committee to proceed to exchange the said lots upon the shore according to their discretion for the best conveniency, for the accommodation, and for the promotion of our town ; and the lots so exchanged with the other land that they decide for a burial place, shall be and shall remain a burial place forever ; and whereas there is a piece of land where the school house stands that was left for the building of a town house forever, we order and grant that the said land shall be and remain for no other use, but for building a Town House." At a meeting in July, 1734, an act was made, allowing a boun- ty of two pence on the killing of all kinds of squirrels, except- ing the flying squirrels. That the authorities of the town early considered the evils arising from intemperance is evident from the following acts, but different from our mode now of legislating against rum drinking. From the Council Records, February 14th, 1721 : "Whereas, the town council hath been informed that several persons residing within our jurisdiction doth give themselves so great a latitude to drinking, to that degree that it is likely that they may bring themselves and their families to poverty and so become chargeable to the town ; for the preventing whereof it was thought good to give out this admonition, that if there should be any such persons within this town that they take warning, and let the time past suffice, and refrain from all evil practices for the future, as they will expect to answer the con- trary at the utmost penalty of the law shall inflict, and that all retailers take notice hereby to square themselves by the laws of this colony relating to their duty in selling and keeping good order therein, and that all housekeepers and heads of families do order their children and servants upon the first day of the week to repair to some place for the worship of God, or otherwise to keep in their own houses, and that the Clarke of the council transcribe copies thereof and sign them as Clarke of the council and post them up in the taverns and alehouses in the town." "November 2.')th, 1752, William Baih', of said town, made application to this Town Council that he might have Liberty to Retail Strong Liquor in less quantities than a Gallon, for the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1067 space of two days and no more ; which is for two Muster Days for the second company or Train Band belonging to East Green- wich, there being no house in said Company suitable for that purpose. " Resolved that the said William Baily have the liberty to retail Strong Liquor in less quantity than a Gallon for the space of two days as above said, he keeping good order and being under the same regulation as the other licensed houses." In 1754 there were nine licenses granted in East Greenwich for the sale of strong liquors. In early days persons, in order to remove from town according to law, were obliged first to obtain a certificate of permission. We find that during the year 1756 there were several removals to North Kingstown and Exeter. September 13th, 1759, a man formerly of North Kingstown was complained of by one of the overseers of the poor of East Greenwich, that he, the said man, would, by his ill conduct and bad behaviour, probably become chargeable to the town, where- upon he, with his seven small children, was ordered back to North Kingstown forthwith, and the order was carried out by the proper officer. In November the man returned, in " con- tempt of authority." He was then o dered to pay the sum of forty shillings, and pay costs of prosecution, taxed at £1 6 and 4 pence, and that he remain in custody of the of&cer until the cost be paid, and thenceforth leave the town. Cases like this are often found upon the records. At a council meeting held August 25th, 1756, Captain Sylvester Sweet appeared and informed the council that Abigail Sweet, one of the poor of the town, wanted some clothing, such as "shifts and a gound," and whereupon it was resolved by the council that the said Sylvester Sweet provide for her two good tow cloth shifts and a good flannel "gownd," and exhibit his account of the same before the council. How the poor are cared for now can be seen from the report made by Nathaniel G. Carpenter for the year "ending June 1st, 1887 : Outside poor, $333.75 ; grain and feed, $205.03 ; asylum keeper, $200; Lillibridge & Holland, for coal, $27.83; J. A. Cap- ron, for burial of poor, $23.50; overseer of poor, $50; total, $840.11." The town officers for the year 1888 were : Moderator, Henry A. Thomas; town clerk, Edward Stanhope; town treasurer. 1068 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Levi N. Fitts ; town sergeant, George S. Bennett ; town council, James H. Eldredge, Lyman Hines, Joseph W. Vaughn, Warren Lauder, Christopher A. Shippee ; assessors of taxes, George C. Greene, Christopher A. Htint ; overseer of the poor, Nathaniel G. Carpenter ; superintendent of public schools, Al- bert J. Congdon ; school committee, James H. Eldredge, Albert J. Congdon, Arthur Knight, Almon Place, Charles S. Wight- man ; pound keeper, James E. Spencer ; truant officer, George S. Bennett ; police constables, James E. Bennett, James B. Til- linghast, George S. Bennett, Alfred Fry, Owen McCahey. Thomas Fry came from England sometime before 1669, and in that year was admitted a freeman into the colony, and in the year following was elected sergeant of the colony. In 1677, with forty-seven others, he became one of the proprietors of East Greenwich, and was afterward deputy from East Greenwich, and several years general sergeant of the colony. He died be- tween the years 1691 and 1696. Thomas Fry, Jr., his son, was admitted freeman of Rhode Island from East Greenwich in 1690, and his brother Joseph, who had moved to Newport, in 1701. Thomas Fry, Jr., was probably born about 1669, and it was he who became major, speaker of the house, and deputy governor. He had at least two sons — Thomas, born about 1696, and John, born about 1698. The third Thomas Fry was freeman in 1715. He was married to Mary Greene (sister to Governor Greene) De- cember 31st, 1719. His children were : Thomas, Samuel, John, Joseph, Richard, and Sarah. Thomas Fry' was born December 19th, 1723, and died December 23d, 1805. He married Penelope Rhodes. Their children were : Thomas,' Rhodes, Benjamin, Peleg, Jeffrey, Amherst, and Sarah. The above gives the heads of various families of the name of Fry, many of whom have continued from Thomas Fry, the orig- inal settler in East Greenwich, to reside in this town, and many of them have filled honorable positions. The old homestead place is now owned by Joseph Fry. Thomas N. Fry, and also Thomas G. Fry, prosperous farmers of this vicinity, are descend- ants of the original Thomas, who came from England. The following, an extract from the genealogical record of the Fry family, compiled by Benjamin Greene Fry, of Providence, and published in Doctor Greene's History of East Greenwich, is worthy of preservation. Mr. Fry says: HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1069 "The town of East Greenwich previous to the revolutionary war had a large coasting trade, in which my grandfather, Ben- jamin Fry, was to some extent engaged. Among other enter- prises, he imported a cargo of slaves from the coast of Africa, some of whose descendants still remain, bearing the name of Fry. " In the war of the revolution a Captain Gazzee, a resident of East Greenwich, fitted out a small schooner of fifty tons, called ' Felicity,' as a privateer, and with her surprised and captured a large English ship with a valuable cargo of dry goods, brought her into the harbor and anchored her in the upper end of the cove. I have heard my father say that the English captain was so mortified at his capture that he actually shed tears, and re- marked had he been captured by a respectable force he could have borne it with more fortitude, but to be captured by a d — d old squaw in a hog trough was more than he could endure. "Captain Gazzee was a Frenchman with a very dark complex- ion, hence the allusion to an Indian squaw. He left a number of descendants, some of whom are still living here. " Within my own recollection many citizens of the town were engaged in navigation ; among others, Colonel William Arnold, in connection with his sons. Major Stephen Arnold and Captain Perry Arnold, employed two brigs and a schooner in the trade with the Dutch colony of Surinam and the West Indies, export- ing mules, fish and stoves, and importing sugar, molasses and other products of the islands and the Spanish Main, as South America was then called. Colonel Arnold was the proprietor of the old tavern, ' The Bunch of Grapes,' which is still occu- pied as a hotel, with the identical sign, and now called the Updike House. " Jonathan Salisbury, Captain Joseph and Reynolds Spencer, Joseph and Barney Greene and others, owned and employed vessels in the coasting trade and cod fisheries. The fish were caught and salted on the Newfoundland coast, and then dried on flakes on Rope Walk Hill. My father, John Fry, was for sev- eral years engaged in the same business. I still remember the names of some of his vessels, a sloop called the ' Industry,' which ran regularly to Nantucket, another the ' Betsey,' in the .trade to the James River and the cities of Norfolk and Richmond, Vir- ginia, and a schooner called the ' Beaver,' which was wrecked in a hurricane in the Island of Antiqua. 1070 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " About the year 1809, a company was organized for the whale fishery, and two ships, the ' Hudson ' and the ' Dauphin,' were fitted out ; but the embargo and the non-intercourse laws, fol- lowed by the war of 1812, put a check upon all maritime enter- prise, from which the town has never recovered. The ' Hudson ' was wrecked at Turks Island, and the ' Dauphin ' was driven on shore at the east end of Long Island by a British privateer, and thus ended the whale fishery at East Greenwich. The Oil works stood on a wharf at the foot of Division street." The embargo law passed by congress in 1812 was very disas- trous to the commerce of East Greenwich. At that time a num- ber of vessels were engaged in trade with the West Indies and the southern ports of the United States. A brig, partially loaded, was lying in the harbor near Long Point when the news arrived that the act had become a law. To escape the vigilance of the collector, the vessel was loaded at night by boats from Old War- wick harbor, and by night escaped. The Spencer family were early and prominent settlers of East Greenwich. The Spencer homestead, now owned by W. W. Spencer and Fones Shippee, is the oldest in the town, save that owned and occupied by John Kenyon. The farm above men- tioned was purchased of John Godfrey May 6th, 1751, for i^505. Benjamin Spencer, son of John and brother of Doctor Thomas Spencer, the pioneer physician in the town, first came into pos- session of the property. Wilson Spencer built the house in 1753. It then passed to his son, Wilson, Jr., and then to Wil- son's son Caleb in 1817, and then to Caleb's sons, B. B. and W. B. Spencer in 1861, and then to the present owners in 1886. Benjamin Spencer was born in 1670. His son Walter married Ann Wilson May 16th, 1726. Wilson Spencer, son of Walter, was a blacksmith. Wilson Spencer, Jr., married Elizabeth Waite June 25th, 1780, and his son, Caleb Spencer, married, first, Margaret Bunn, 1806, June 26th, and for his second wife Sarah Andrews, on January 24th, 1821. His son, B. B. Spencer, mar- ried Mary A. Briggs April 7th, 1862. George Washington Greene, the historian, was born at East Greenwich April 8th, 1811, and died at East Greenwich in the seventy-third year of his age. Professor Greene was the son of Nathaniel, who was the second son of ]Major-General Nathanael Greene of the revolution, and his motherwas Anna Maria Clarke, niece of Governor Samuel Ward, of the continental congress. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1071 He was thus connected by birth with two of the most distin- guished families in the early colonial periods of Rhode Island history. His mother, a woman of rare culture and taste, taught him when a mere lad to love Pope and Addison and Goldsmith, thus laying the foundation of pure taste and a love of good read- ing. In the fall of 1825, at the age of fourteen, he entered Brown University, and there remained until his junior year, when he abandoned his sttidies and traveled in Europe. He remained abroad, with the exception of several visits home, until 1847, a period of twenty years.. From 1837 until 1845 he was consul at Rome. During his residence abroad he published in the NortJi American Review a series of essays on Italian history and litera- ture. He at one time intended to publish a history of that coun- try, and had already made progress in the work, when the par- tial loss of his eyesight and a recall to America interrupted his plans. Soon after his return, in the spring of 1848, he was ap- pointed instructor in modern languages in Brown University, a position which his superior culture and scholarship enabled him to fill with credit and usefulness. In 1852 he removed to New York, where he devoted himself to teaching, and especially to historical research, the libraries of the college affording am- ple facilities for this purpose. In 1853 he married Catherine, daughter of Addison and Ann Porter, and granddaughter of the Reverend Doctor David Porter, for twenty-eight years pastor of the Presbyterian church in Catskill, New York. Her elder brother was the lamented and gifted John Addison Porter, for several years professor of chem- istry in Brown University and afterward professor at Yale. In the year 1866 Professor Greene removed with his family to his home in East Greenwich, where he continued to reside until his death. Professor Greene has been regarded as one of the best of our writers, especially on historical subjects pertaining to America. His friend Washington Irving was accustomed to speak of him as without an equal in this department of literary effort. His most important work was the life of his grandfather, Major- General Greene, first published in the second series of Sparks' American Biography and afterward enlarged to three royal octavo volumes, and published in New York in 1867-70. His other works, given in the order of their publication, are as fol- lows : " Primary Lessons in French," New York, 1849 ; new 1072 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. edition of " Putz and Arnold's Ancient Geography and His- tory," New York, 1849 ; " Companion to OUendorf s French Grammar," New York, 1850 ; " Historical Studies, Chiefly on Italian Subjects," New York, 1850 ; " History and Geography of the Middle Ages," New York, 1851; "Addison's Complete Works," Bishop Hunt's edition, with notes by Professor Greene, six volumes, New York, 1854 ; " Historical View of the American Revolution." His latest works are: "German Element in the American War of Independence," New York, 1876 ; and a " Short History of Rhode Island," Providence, 1877. He also contributed many papers to the North American Review, Christian Review, Knickerbocker Alaga.zine, Harper's Magazine, Putnam's Magazine, and other periodicals. In 1872 Mr. Greene was appointed non-resident professor of American history at Cornell University, in Ithaca, New York. After entering upon the duties of his office, looking forward to years of useful and honorable labor, he was stricken with a partial stroke of paralysis, which enfeebled and impaired the use of his limbs for the remainder of his life. For several years after his removal from New York Profeissor Greene represented East Greenwich in the general assembly. He was a member of several literary societies of East Greenwich. He was one of the founders of the Dante Club, which met regularly at the house of the poet Longfellow. The old grist mill formerly operated by Hugh Essex on Hunt's river, Potowomut, was built on lands now owned by Russell Bateman, and was a very early mill. Hugh Essex came to America with his father about the year 1680, and was an only son, unmarried at the time of his arrival. He and his father settled at Potowomut, and there he remained until he died. He and his father carried on the business of clothiers, fullers, dyers and dressers of cloth, and carded wool for the family spinning wheel, and also ground grain in their grist mill. Hugh and Rebecca Corp Essex had ten children. Hugh Essex died at the age of 90 years and his wife at the age of 92 years. Their seventh son, Corp Essex, the grandfather of Albert James Congdon, of East Greenwich, was drowned. The names of the children were Richard, James, John, Dean, Benjamin, William Fones, Corp, Nancy and Elizabeth. James Congdon married Martha, daughter of Corp Essex, and they resided on the old homestead property. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1073 The mill next passed into the hands of James Congdon, Jr., the father of Alfred James Congdon, of East Greenwich, who fell in the mill pond and was nearly drowned in 1823, when but two years of age. His father, at the time above mentioned, was in- formed that he lay at the bottom of the mill pond, and, swim- ming to the place, dove down and brought him up, the child having sunk for the last time just prior to his reaching the place. The lad was tumbled about until resuscitated, then a doctor was sent for, and by careful treatment he fully recovered, and has since been one of the prominent men of East Greenwich. The mill was afterward sold to Lewis Ellis, who attempted to move it over the ice to the other .side of the river, but the ice melting before the work was accomplished necessitated the building being torn down, and it was never rebuilt. Education. — Prior to 1828 there was no free public school system in this town. We had the Academy, which is spoken of elsewhere, and several private schools in the village, and in the rural district there were a number of small school houses in which schools were kept during the winter months only, main- tained by private subscription or by fees for tuition. In the southwestern part of the town, now District No. 4, was the sem- inary, so called, built by a lottery in 1804, the grant being for the purpose of erecting a building for religious meetings and for schools, for which purpose it was used ; but only occasionally until recently, when it has been wholly devoted to religious meetings, another school house having been provided for the district by the town. The public school system began in 1828, when the state made a small appropriation to the towns from the revenue derived from what was called the School Fund Lotteries ; this town re- ceiving the first year $180. In May of this year, for the first time a school committee was chosen. Charles Eldredge, Thomas Rowland, Thomas Tillinghast, Job R. Greene, Joseph P. Briggs. and Daniel G. Harris were the committee. They made their first report in 1829. They recommended the passage of a reso- lution appropriating one hundred dollars to any district building a school house approved by the committee, also that the town ap- propriate one hundred dollars in addition to the state money. They divided the town into districts, the boundaries of which have remained unchanged, essentially, to this day. The first appropriation was made by the town in 1831. In this year the. 68 1074 HISTORY OP' WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. representatives of the town m the general assembly were in- structed to procure an act authorizing the town to build school houses. In May, 1831, freemen were notified that at the August town meeting the propriety of building school houses in the sev- eral districts would be brought before the meeting. The com- mittee reported in August of this year that thirteen hundred dollars would be sufficient to build the school house. It was voted to build school houses of equal size in all the districts. Five hundred dollars was appropriated out of this year's tax. In April, 1834, the committee reported that they had contract- ed with James A. Capron to build four school houses in Districts 2, 3, 4 and R, for one thousand and sixty dollars — the buildings to be twenty by twenty-five feet and eight feet posts, no contract be- ing made for No. 1. In November of this year one hundred and fifty dollars additional was appropriated to District No. 1. To this was added the subscriptions of individuals and also of the Baptist society, making a sum sufficient to erect a building such as was needed to accommodate the larger number of scholars in this district and also to furnish a room for religious services for the above named society as by agreement. The whole town being now provided with suitable buildings, according to the idea of the times, the system of free public schools may be considered as fairly established. In these early days of small appropriations from state and town, about three hundred dollars in all, it was expected that the regular free school should be kept for three months in the winter only. How even this could have been done may seem a mystery ; but we must remember that the teachers" wages only were paid out of this public money. He was to board around among his pupils proportionally, so many days for each scholar, the better class kindly offering to keep him for those whose limited quarters would not permit them to make the master comfortable. The fuel and care of the house was also to be provided for by the patrons of the school. The average wages of the teacher in these early years of the free school could have been no more than twenty dollars a month, and sometimes much less than this. These small appropriations from the state and town were continued for seven or eight years, when the state received from the general government a large sum from the surplus in the treasury, which was invested by the state as a school fund. The lottery system was discontinued, and the appropriations became more liberal. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1075 The town also increasing its appropriation proportionally, a summer term was added, and the winter school prolonged to four months and more liberal wages paid to the teacher, securing thereby better service. From this time on the amount appro- priated by the town and state has been steadily increasing until, at this time it amounts, as by the report of the committee for the year 1887-8, to the sum of three thousand eight hundred and eighty-two dollars, from the following sources : State, $1,024.71 ; Town, $1,624.71; Registry Taxes, $247 ; Dog Fund, $199.40; In- come from Maxwell Fund, $139.75 ; Balance from last year, $46.75=$3,882.32. Schools have been kept in all the districts on an average nine months, in school houses approved by the com- mittee and on a much more liberal and generous scale than that with which they began more than fifty years ago. The Maxwell School Fund has a peculiar and interesting his- tory. It is the gift of the late Robert Maxwell, of Philadelphia, son of "Master" Maxwell, as he was called in his day; a Scotch schoolmaster who taught the young people of this neigh- borhood in the latter years of the last century. Robert Maxwell retained a fondness for the place of his birth, visiting it occasion- ally to see his brother Benjamin, who was decrepit and de- formed from his birth, and always a helpless invalid and pen- sioner on his brother, who cared for him tenderly all his long life. Mr. Robert Maxwell gave in his will ten thousand dollars to the town of East Greenwich, the place of his birth, for the support of a school, where all the children of the town might have the benefit of it. The legacy was payable after the decease of his wife. He died about the year ]836, and before the decease of his widow the property specified as the gift to this town, stock in the United States Bank, at the time of his death worth a large premium, had become entirely worthless, impairing his estate very materially. His widow, in order to carry out the intention of her husband as far as practicable, gave in her will five thousand dollars for the same purpose. After some delay and some de- preciation also, and much expense in the way of state taxation on legacies payable out of the state, twenty-five hundred dollars was paid over to the treasurer of this town, to be applied accord- ing to the provisions of the will. The money was invested by order of the town in the stock of the Rhode Island Central Bank, an institution located here and supposed to be solvent. This bank very soon met with losses, which so impaired its capital as 1076 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to preclude all hope of dividends for some years to come. After three years or so there was a demand for the stock of this bank from parties who wanted to get the control of it, and so the town availing itself of this opportunity, ordered it sold, and the pro- ceeds invested in stock in some solvent banks in the city of Providence, at the discretion of a trustee, in whose name it was to be placed. The new investment was twenty-five shares in the Bank of North America, good and sound from first to last, pay- ing always dividends, and worth now sixteen hundred dollars ; and twenty-five shares in the Arcade Bank, good also and pay- ing for a while, but meeting with losses, which reduced its capi- tal twenty-five per cent. Recovering itself and under the new name of Rhode Island National Bank, this stock is now worth nearly the original amount paid for it, and yields regular and good dividends. The value of the jSIaxwell Fund, as now invested, is twenty-eight hundred and eighty-four dollars, and the income from it, as by the last year's report, was $139.75. This income is apportioned equally among all the scholars in the public schools, and prolongs the term so far as it may. For quite a while a sep- arate account was made of the expenditure of this money, and a return made of the Maxwell school in each district ; of late this has fallen into disuse, and this money is merged with the other moneys of the. town and state and divided with them. It has been proposed to devote this income to the purchase of scholar- ships in the Academy, to be given to such scholars from the pub- lic schools as, on examination, should be found to be most worthy, but this has not yet been done. It would seem better to carry out the design of the donor if appropriated in this way than as it is now. East Greenwich Village.— The village of East Greenwich is situated in the extreme northeastern portion of the town of East Greenwich on Greenwich bay, and on the main line from New York to Boston, fourteen miles from Providence, twenty from Newport, fifty-six from Boston and one hundred and sev- enty-six from New York. The Stonington Line passes through this place by steamer from New York to Stonington and thence by rail to this place and Providence. The village is partly on an eminence, the location being of sur- passing beauty, presenting a view of both shores of the bay. From the highest point in the village can be seen the bay, with its peninsulas and islands, cultivated farms with their beautiful HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1077 residences, extensive inland views of fields and forests equal in many respects to those of Naples. From the observatory on the Academy building may be seen with the- naked eye the cities of Providence, Fall River, Warren, Bristol, and Newport. The seaside advantages here are excellent. Salt water bath- ing, sailing, rowing, and in winter, skating, facilities for which are ample, combined with the salubrity of the climate, render this one of the most healthful localities in the world. Being in the southern section of New England, the climate is more mild and equable than that of the eastern states generally ; the wind being tempered by the ocean which, though not far away, is not so near as to impart the usual harshness to breezes flowing from the sea. Serious sickness is almost entirely unknown, due to a perfect system of natural drainage, and the place is free from the miasmal mists of many villages built on low lands. A number of delicate plants and shrubs live through the winter in the open air in East Greenwich, which in other places in the same latitude can be preserved only in green-houses. The village is situated on a small bay, the harbor of which is completely land locked so as to be perfectly secure from all heavy winds ; and the shores so bold that vessels of all kinds can approach very near. Formerly it was celebrated for its men- haden fisheries, but of late years these fish have become very scarce. One hundred years ago oysters were so plentiful here that each family was in the habit of laying in a hundred bush- els for winter consumption, but they are scarce now ; also clams and quahaugs, those cheap and wholesome shell-fish, the chief de- pendence of the poor. Escalops are very abundant and in their season they furnish the principal food of a large portion of the people of the village. During the summer months scup, tautog, mackerel, flatfish, blue fish, suckertearg and a number of other kinds of fine fish are caught. During the winter a large num- ber of eels are caught with spears through holes in the ice. The village of East Greenwich is the county seat of Kent county, a favorite summer resort and a delightful place of resi- dence. The East Greenwich Academy is located in this village. An extended description of this institu.tion may be found in Chapter XIX. The village formerly was called Newtown for a long time, to distinguish it from other sections of the town. As a manufacturing center it has more advantages than have been properly utilized. Appreciating its situation and facilities for 1078 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. commerce, its founders and successors hoped that it might be- come the emporium of the Plantations and relinquished this hope only after long efforts to realize it. The village now has become a center of various industries and it has a history because of its merits, destined to survive the succeeding ages. John Spencer was probably the first settler in the village. His name heads the list of those to whom the assembly granted the lands of East Greenwich township for services rendered during King Philip's war. Of this large tract of land, consisting of five thousand acres, granted to fifty individuals, five hundred of which were " to be laid in some place near the sea as commodi- ous as may be for a town, which said five hundred acres shall be East Greenwich Academy. (See page 897). divided into fifty house lots," etc., and each person named was entitled to one of these lots, and his share in the remaining four thousand five hundred acres, making one hundred acres for each individual. John Spencer, before mentioned, settled at East Greenwich and died here in 1G84. His wife Susannah died m 1719. He was elected freeman in 1668. His seventh son, Thomas Spencer, born on the 22d of July, 1679, was the first English child born in East Greenwich, and he was the first physician who practiced here. Doctor Thomas Spencer was a man of respecta- ble attainments, and was town clerk from 1713 to 1752. He was several times deputy to the general assembly, a magistrate and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1079 large proprietor, and was a recognized minister of the Society of Friends for many years. Doctor Spencer built the house in which he resided, on the hill near the bluff at the southern termination of the ridge, which extends from Drum Rock, near Apponaug, to this point. Mr. Henry P. Eldredge now resides in a house more recently built on that site. Doctor Spencer's house was a generous man- sion of the olden time, subsequently occupied by Thomas Al- drich, and later by Benjamin Rowland. The children of John and Susannah Spencer were : John, born April 20th, 1666, died 1743 ; Michael, born May 28th, 1668, died 1748 ; Benjamin, born 1670 ; William, born 1674; Robert C, born 1674, and died 1748; Abner, born 1676, died 1759 ; Thomas, born 1679 ; Susannah, born 1681 ; Peleg, born 1683, died 1763. The descendants of John and Benjamin are still found in the town of East Green- wich. R. C. Spencer, the author of the Spencerian system of penmanship, also Piatt R., Michael, Caleb and others of this fam- ily whose names are now household words, were from the town of Exeter. So impressed were the first settlers with the importance of the place that they provided for its realization when planning and laying out the village, by making the principal streets wide and straight, and giving them lofty and high-sounding names. Main street, running north and-» south through the center of the village, is sixty feet wide, as are also King street, Queen street and London street, running at right angles from Main street to the harbor ; while Marlboro, Duke and other short streets are only half as wide. After laying out the requisite number of streets to accommodate the house lots, certain portions of land were reserved for public use. The triangular piece of ground at the junction of Duke and King streets, now occupied by the steam grist mill and a few dwelling houses, was originally in- tended for a market, and was to become the property of any per- son who should erect upon it a building of certain specified di- mensions containing a certain number of stalls and choppin[;- blocks. Another piece of land near the depot is called the ex- change, but buildings for other purposes than that of an exchange were built there. Two locations were set apart for ship yards. One of these yards was located at the foot of Queen street, and the other, near the railroad station, is now occupied as a coal wharf. At this latter place brigs and schooners were built and 1080 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. launched ; at that time the tide flowed far above where the de- pot now stands, but from natural causes the valley has since been filled up, and what was then a salt marsh covered with thatch and overflowing twice in twenty-four hours, is now cov- ered with houses and laid out into streets. Previous to 1790 that part of King- street where the county jail now stands was an open dock. Here the tide ebbed and flowed, reaching as far up as the railroad bridge. Such was the situa- tion of the village that most of the water from the neighboring hills found its way into the harbor through this street. The consequence was that such a vast quantity of sand was washed down during the heavy rains that it was "Voted and Resolved by this Town Meeting that the said Jeremiah Bailey and Benja- min Howland, together with such others as may be admitted by them as partners, their heirs and assigns," should have the priv- ilege of filling up the harbor and building a wharf, and erecting a store or stores on said dock, and pay into the town treasury of East Greenwich six shillings per year. This wharf and other property now belong to Thomas J. Hill. May 26th, 1792, this town dock was disposed of by the town authorities at public ven- due to Charles Andrew for thirty pounds. Prior to 1800 three extensive hat manufactories were in East Greenwich. The principal one was owned by John Casey, who employed a number of workmen in a building located on the lot now occupied by the large brick block until recently occupied by Browning & Fitz. Another hat shop, owned by Daniel Davis, was on the lot where the Greenwich Bank now stands ; and the third, owned and managed by Ezra Simons & Sons, on the corner of Main and Queen streets. The sons were Chalmer, Caleb and Harry. The first possessed a taste for painting and a genius for caricature, which, had it been cultivated, would have made him celebrated. Caleb and Harry were steady and industrious, and assisted their father in the hat business. The old man and his two sons would make up a quantity of hats, and then, with as large bundles as they could carry in their hands, would trudge off among the factories on the Pawtuxet until their hats were all sold. On the summit of the hill on the east side of the village once stood a long, low structure, called the rope walk. It was owned and operated by Joseph Greene and his two sons, Joseph and Barney Greene. " Many now living in East Greenwich can, in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1081 imagination," says Doctor Greene, "see the old man walking slowly backward with a large bunch of hemp around his waist, spinning with his fingers, while one of his sons turned the crank of the large wheel which operated the spindles. " When East Greenwich was in its height of prosperity as a com- mercial port, and extensively engaged in maritime affairs, this rope-walk was quite an important concern, employing a number of workmen constantly, making cables and cordage for the numerous vessels then owned here, while the air around was filled with the agreeable odor of tar, with which the ropes were saturated to protect them from salt water. The rope-walk was used as long as there was business enough to support it." Before the building of the Stonington railroad East Greenwich village was a small collection of houses, generally unpainted, and not a half-dozen shade trees adorned the streets. Aside from the indispensible cobbler, hatter and tailor, a few carpenters and blacksmiths, a few groceries, where a meagre traffic was carried on by retailing gin, West India rum, or the New England " staple," to thirsty customers, for which process no license was required in those halcyon days, its limited commerce was con- fined to shipping once in a year horses, mules and dried fish to Surinam and the West Indian ports, for a return cargo of sugar and molasses. If there was any excitement in the village at that time it was about the wharves, when a few coasting sloops plied to Providence, Newport and Nantucket ; or fishermen, then as now, went across the bay to Jarvis's Rocks, or the muscle bed, in pursuit of shelly or finny prey. A tri-weekly mail supplied all the demands of correspondence. The village contained one physician and one lawyer. Sixty j'ears ago no peremptory bell called the early toilers to their monotonous tasks among the humming spindles. No iron horse careered through our village or wakened with its shrill whistle the drowsy echoes of the hill-sides. At that time the compact part of the town did not extend southward beyond the junction of Elm and Main streets, and along the entire length of Elm street. There was only one house on the eastern side of the street. The hill between the railroad and the cove, crowned by the ancient rope-walk, was destitute of a single dwelling. The construction of the Provi- dence and Stonington Railroad, with its beautiful and costly granite bridge, the erection of the Orion steam mill, the Bay 1082 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. mill, the Woolen mill, and a bleachery where the Narragansett Print Works now are, gave an activity which increased the growth of the village in a wonderful manner. Then the mail service was performed by a stage coach, which carried passengers from Kingston to Providence one day, and returned the next. A public school house which would accom- modate about eighty pupils, who were governed by a single teacher, supplied all the demands for free education. It was sit- uated on the " heater" piece of land, near the corner of Duke and King streets, and at the periods of violent rain and conse- quent flood the unfortunate pedagogue was obliged to convey the scholars to dry land on his back. On such occasions the school was suspended sometimes for a week or more, as there was no regular ferry. An academic institution of learning, second to none of its class in New England, with an accomplished faculty, has the best of accommodations for over two hundred students. Spacious dwell- ings, tastefully adorned, have sprung up here and there, and no village in New England is protected and adorned by finer shade trees. Formerly, if the people were devoutly inclined, they wor- shipped either with the Friends or Presbyterians ; but now the religious devotee must be able to find among the congregations of the Methodists, Baptists, Friends, and Episcopalians, at the Marlboro Street chapel, or beneath the cross of the Roman Cath- olic church of " Our Sister of Merc}'," or within the plain Lu- theran church on Spring street, some form of worship that will meet the requirements of his creed. The natural beauty and local advantages of East Greenwich have already been noticed. No town is better situated for the pursuit of any domestic manufacture, for freight can always be forwarded either by water or by rail. It may be safely predicted that the next fifty years will show far greater changes than those that have marked the past fifty years. Samuel King,* a merchant connected in some way with the house of Oliphant & Co., of New York, came to East Greenwich with his family about the year 1818, retiring to this place on ac- count of ill health, to lead a quiet life as an amateur farmer. His family at the time he came here consisted of two daughters and two sons, the daughters well grown up to womanhood, and the * By James H. Eldredge, W. D. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1083 sons also well grown, but still at school, One of the daughters was very beautiful and the other was rather plain, but both very agreeable, with accomplished, lady-like manners. The sons also were very unlike, one an athlete, fond of all boyish games and rough sports, the other of delicate organization, studious and scholarly. Three sons were born in this family during their residence here, with a wide gap between these and the older brothers and sisters born elsewhere. Mrs. King was a Vernon, of Newport, of good family, and possessed of what was then thought a handsome property — houses and lands in that ancient town. Mr. King was also of Newport, his father, of the same name, being a nautical instrument maker. The residence of Mr. King and his family in this town for fifteen years or so, formed an episode in its history of no little interest. He was a man of cultivation and travel, had resided abroad in the capacity of commercial agent for the house with which he was connected in New York, and so had seen much of the world. He soon became interested in local affairs — in repairing and rebuilding the meeting house of the Catholic Congregational Society, in settling a minister and opening regular religious ser- vices, which had for a long time been only irregular and occa- sional. He was made a trustee of the Kent Academy and took a lively interest in the school which had always been maintained here of a high order, educating many generations of young peo- ple in the elements of polite learning, and fitting young men for college. Mr. King became also interested in the Rhode Island Central Bank, an institution founded here in the early years of the century, and which was for many years the only one of the kind in the county. He bought stock and was made a director and president, and continued to hold that office for some time. He was especially devoted to agriculture and gardening ; bought a farm near the village, enlarged the house and made it his residence. He brought from Prince's Nursery, on Long Is- land, choice varieties of fruits and flowers which he planted out and distributed with a generous hand to all his neighbors. The first cultivated strawberries and raspberries and the rare varie- ties of peaches, pears and cherries, were found in his garden. Cuttings and grafts of all these were freely distributed. The Hundred-leaf damask rose, the Scotch Burnett rose, were intro- duced by him and are still growing wild, as it were, where they were first planted out. Tulips, hyacinths, jonquils and crown- 1084 I-IISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. imperials, now found growing in other gardens, are recognized and named for him. In the more substantial affairs of agricul- ture he took a deep interest, ditching and draining the low grounds on his farm, building substantial stone walls and con- venient barns for his cattle, improving his fields by the use of sea manures and new methods of cultivating the soil. He became a member of the Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry and was a member of the committee which prepared for publication under the auspices of this society, the " Farmer's Guide." This work was distributed by the above named society for the instruction of the farmers in the new and improved ways of cultivating the soil and also to introduce new vegetable plants and grasses which were supposed to be adapted to our soil and climate. Tired, after a while, with the quiet life of a farmer, Air. King engaged in business in Providence in a limited way, still living here and visiting his place of business in the city as occasion re- quired. This enterprise was not a success and involved him in liabilities which he could not meet at maturity. It is quite prob- able, too, that his expenditures in amateur farming had been larger than he had intended. His friends in New York, not ap- proving of his mercantile venture in Providence, had with- drawn their support. All this led to an assignment, or failure, as it was then called, a much more serious affair then than in these modern days. His home was at once broken up, his farm and stock sold off, and the family retired to a small house in the village, where he soon fell into a despondent waj-, which led into absolute dementia, in which condition he died in a little more than one year from the date of his financial disaster. Mrs. King, her unmarried daughter and the three younger sons remained here for two or three years and then removed to Newport, where she spent the remainder of her days, living to very old age and retaining the beauty and grace for which she was noted in her young days, through all her life. This little episode in the history of a small town is worthy of this brief notice, showing, as it does, in a marked way the perma- nent, refining influence of an intelligent famil}^ over a large circle and continuing, as it has, for more than two generations. Mercantile Business. — After the building of the railroad a new era of mercantile industry began in the village, started by John P. Roberts and others, and from that time the various HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1085 trades have been on the increase. Mr. Roberts was a very promi- nent and successful merchant, continuing in business for a great many years. In 1866 William G. Browning came to the village in search of an opening, being attracted to the place by the beauty of the village as seen while passing in a train of cars. He was born in South Kingstown in 1840, and is a son of Samuel K. and grandson of Thomas Browning. He was graduated at Eastman's Business College in 1865. The advent of Mr. Browning into the mercantile circles of East Greenwich was a little singular. Being a stranger he inquired of a man at the depot for the most promi- nent merchant in the place. He was told that John P. Roberts was the man ; whereupon Mr. Browning sought out the store of Mr. Roberts and found the object of his visit sitting with heels over his desk, and not in a very pleasant mood for entertaining strangers. Mr. Browning, however, not abashed, made his re- quests known, but was abruptly told that the clerks were idle most of the time and that business was such that there must needs be a diminution rather than an increase in the force. Mr, Browning then took a stroll through the store and found things about as stated. Approaching Mr. Roberts again, he very stoically remarked : " A good clerk can create new business." At this juncture Mr. Roberts turned upon his new comer with an in- terrogation as to what business concern that was of his, when Mr. Browning told him he came to the place desiring to connect him- self with the leading and oldest business merchant of the town, that he might in the near future buy in as a partner and event- ually succeed. He had been told that Mr. Roberts was the lead- ing merchant of the place. As for himself, he could give ref- erence, etc., etc. The idea to Mr. Roberts' mind was a novel one ; he had, however, been thinking of that kind of a succes- sor, but hardly knew where to find just the kind of a young man he wanted. He arose from his seat, took a second look at the stranger, then escorted him up to his house, and after introduc- tions, a good dinner, etc., bid him good-bye with a good promise for the future. Mr. Browning went home, well assured of his prospects and several months after received word to come to East Greenwich. He did so, in 1867, and after a clerkship of five years bought Mr. Roberts out and is now one of the leading mer- chants in the county. From 1872 to 1879 the business was con- ducted by Browning & Fitz and since by Mr. Browning alone. In 1876 Mr. Browning erected his large brick block, and is at this 1086 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. time putting up a large addition. He was in the town council one year. Colonel William Bodfish was another prominent and success- ful merchant in the place. He came to East Greenwich in 1843, and, with slight interruptions, has continued until recently, when he retired. In 1878 he built the block now occupied by Mr. G. H. Fuller. Russell Vaughn came to East Greenwich in 1845, as a clerk in a store. In 1848 he established his present business. He was born in 1816 in Connecticut. His wife was a daughter of Stephen Place. They have three children. Mr. Vaughn was two years in town council, two years assessor of taxes, and three years state senator. Albert A. Hall began manufacturing wine from the native grapes in 1860, and continued the business until 1880. He was very successful. W. A. Hanaford (grocery and market) opened up a trade in 1880. He succeeded H. ]\I. Lillibridge. He was born in New Hampton, N. H., in 1851, and came to East Greenwich in 1876. He was elected to the legislature in 1888. In February, 1876, Caleb R. Hill and his son, Charles G. Hill, opened a store in East Greenwich as dealers in stoves and tin- ware, under the firm name of C. R. Hill & Son. Undertaking was made a part of their business three years later, and within the next seven years they added a furniture business. The senior Mr. Hill, now a resident of Warwick, is a son of Fones Hill. Charles G. became a resident here in 1876. His wife is a Tefft, of South Kingstown. Their two children are Frank R. and Anna. The Hill store, lately purchased by Charles G. Hill, is the old place which was Doctor Greene's residence and office. Of others now in business should be mentioned : N. G. Car- penter, who began in 1876 ; Enoch W. and W. G. Lovell, tin and hardware, who started in 1850, and built their store in 1862 (they were successors of James E. Pollard) ; Thomas L. Spencer, boots and shoes, who began in 1848 with his brothers, John and Richard ; I. D. Miner, grocery, 1883 : John R. Rnowles & Co., grocery and grain business, in 1874 (Mr. Knowles retired in 1881, when Abel C. Kenyon succeeded ; in 1887 Mr. Kenyon moved into the old Baptist church, now used as his store. This build- ing was dedicated in 1847) ; A. W. Howland, ready-made cloth- ing ; George H. Fuller, dry goods, 1879. Levi N. Fitz, a former HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1087 partner of John P. Roberts, afterward in company with William G. Browning, has been trading with Thomas H. Galvin since 1884, under the firm name of L. N. Fitz & Co. The new store was erected in 1887. Mr. Fitz was born in Troy, N. Y., in 1850, and came to East Greenwich in 1871. On the dissolution of the firm of Browning & Fitz he began business for himself, and in 1884 took Mr. Galvin as partner. Mr. Fitz is town treasurer. Albert J. Congdon, the pioneer druggist in East Greenwich, established a trade in groceries, drugs, etc., in 1847. His sons, now in company with Mr. Cundall, under the firm name of Cundall & Co., are in charge of the only drug business in the village, in the old Congdon store. Mr. Congdon is the present town superintendent of schools for East Greenwich. Edward Stanhope, who has been town clerk since 1868, came to the village in 1852, and for a number of years was a trader in gro- ceries, etc. A. & J. C. Nichols have kept a meat market since 1872, and David Wilbur a dry goods store since 1860. E. A. Gould was born in 1849 in Dover, Vt. He came to East Green- wich in 1878, and has been in the grocery and provision business since November of that year. He has been secretary since October, 1885, of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 11, A. F. & A. M., and is trustee of the Odd Fellows. Davis & Kingley and other traders might also be mentioned in this connection. Joshua C. Arnold is a native of this town and a representative of the old Arnold family, a name connected with the general interests of the town. His is the oldest and principal livery business here. Mr. Peleg F. Babcock has the onl)' other public livery stables here of any considerable importance. Libraries.* — Somewhere about the time of the foundation of Kent Academy the East Greenwich Social Library was estab- lished, probably by the same persons and for the same purpose — the moral and intellectual improvement of the people of the town and the neighborhood. Among the founders of this library may be mentioned Doctor Peter Turner and his sons, Henry, James and George ; the Hon. Ray Greene, the Greenes of Poto- womut, Wanton Casey, the Arnolds, Stephen and Perry ; David Pinniger, Jonathan Salisbury, Nathan Whiting, and others whom we cannot now recall. The books in this library were selected with great care and good judgment, and were a choice collection of standard English * By James H. Eldredge, M. D. 1088 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. authors of the time — Gibbon, Robertson, Hnme, Rollin and Goldsmith, in history ; the works of Bacon, Burke, Hurne, [Mon- taigne and ^lontesquieu ; Shakespeare, Milton, Pope, Thompson, and Dryden, and the translations of the classic poets. "The Rambler," "The Idler," "Spectator," "The Federalist," and " Letters of Junius " can be remembered among the books that were on the shelves in an old cabinet in what was then the office of the clerk of the supreme court, in the north basement of the court house. This choice collection of books was carefully preserved and read, and it may be said studied by the young people of this town and neighborhood in the early years of this century, and contributed very much to the culture and refinement for which this village was noted at that period of its history. How an in- stitution of this kind, with such a beginning and such a sub- stantial foundation, could have fallen into disuse and decay is a mystery, but so it was. The rules so rigidly enforced in its early years were neglected, the funds so necessary to sustain all such systems of public charity were no longer contributed. The books became scattered and lost to the library, but not altogether lost to the people ; they were to be seen in the houses of the older people of the town with the stamp of the East Greenwich Social Library still upon them, not purloined, but kept for use, and from the destruction to which they were exposed from dampness and mould in the room in which they were kept,which had been abandoned as unfit for a clerk's office, and so for most of the time shut up and inaccessible. To this more than to any other cause may be attributed the decline and fall of this, the first public library in East Greenwich. The East Grccm^ncli Free Library Association was established under the provisions of Chapter 132, of the Public Statutes, in March, 1869, by the Hon. William Greene, Professor George AV. Greene, Daniel H. Greene. Joseph W Congdon, Richard G. How- land, Silas R. Crane, Samuel M. Knowles, James T. Edwards and others, Professor George W. Greene being the principal mover and controller of the enterprise, his endeavor being to establish an institution for the education and instruction of the young peo- ple of the town and neighborhood, not confined to territorial limits, but extending to all who should wish to avail themselves of its privileges. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1089 Professor Greene was sustained and assisted in tliis work by the generous financial support of Governor Greene, who contrib- uted liberally for its foundation and for its support as long as he lived. The prominent idea of Professor Greene was to preserve an institution of this kind carefully from the beginning for its legitimate purposes, to prevent its deterioration into a collection of worthless trash, the use of which would serve to demoralize rather than instruct the readers in useful knowledge. To se- cure this he thought it necessary to be guarded in the admission of members into the corporation, that the management might not pass into improper hands ; to preserve its shelves carefully for the standard works in literature, history, biography, travel and science, and exclude everything like the works of modern romance, with which the young people everywhere were already supplied in abundance. While watching so closely for this common error of the time, he subjected himself to the charge of exclusiveness. Members were to be admitted only on recom- mendation and by standing, propounded from one annual meet- ing to another ; and so, perhaps very justly, the opprobrium of a close corporation fell upon the association in its earliest for- mation, and hindered very much its successful progress. Becom- ing aware of this, while still adhering to his original idea of the great danger of destroying the healthy influence of a public library by crowding its shelves with works of fiction, he yielded to the advice of others, and a more liberal system was adopted. All who would subscribe to the constitution and by-laws and pay a small annual tax were admitted on nomination. This plan has been followed since its introduction, but it has been slow in re- moving the prejudices against the association originating in this conservative policy for the good and sufficient reasons named above. The meeting for organization was held at the house of the Hon. William Greene on the 23d of March, 1869. William Greene was chosen president ; George W. Greene, vice-president ; James T. Edwards, secretary ; James H. Eldredge, treasurer, and Joseph W. Congdon, librarian. Rooms were opened in the Salisbury building on Main street, ]\lay 2d, 1869, Aliss Mary Brown being assistant librarian in charge of the rooms. The Schroeder library, a valuable collection of about fifteen hundred volumes, was purchased for the corporation in June, 1869. The sum agreed upon being eleven hundred dollars, Gov- 69 1090 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ernor Greene assumed the payment of one half, and ultimately paid the whole. In November, 1869, a lot for a building was purchased for eight hundred dollars, and at a meeting of the corporation Feb- ruary 7th, 1870, the president proposed that the association pro- ceed to erect on the lot recently bought, a building suitable for the uses of a free library, he engaging to pay one half the ex- pense of the same, provided the whole cost did not exceed five thousand dollars. A building committee was appointed at this meeting, consisting of James H. Eldredge, George W. Greene and Richard G. Rowland. The committee was instructed to pro- cure plans and estimates. May 7th, 1870, the building commit- tee presented plans and estimates, which were accepted and the committee authorized to contract for a building, provided that the cost did not exceed the sum of four thousand dollars. The building was finished and opened for use in February, 1871. The basement was finished with a vault for preservation of the town records from fire, and with a room for the meeting of the town council, and it was rented for these uses for one hundred and fifty dollars a year. In 1875 an appropriation was made by the general assembly for the support of free libraries, the association receiving from this source one hundred and twenty-five dollars annually, to be expended in the purchase of new books. At the annual meeting in 1877, the Hon. William Greene de- clined serving longer, on account of the infirmities of age, as president. J. H. Eldredge was chosen in his place. Professor Greene still holding the office of vice-president. In 1879 Gener- al Thomas W. Chace was chosen president in the place of J. H. Eldredge, declined. At the annual meeting in January, 1884, a committee was appointed to prepare resolutions commemorative of the late Governor Greene and the late Professor George W. Greene, both of whom had died within the last year — Professor Greene in February and Governor Greene in March. The fol- lowing report from the committee was presented at the next an- nual meeting, January 28th, 1884 : "Since its last annual meeting this corporation has met with great affliction in the death of two of its prominent members — Hon. William Greene and Professor George W. Greene. " Professor George W. Greene died early in February last, af- ter a lingering illness which had confined him to his house for a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1091 long time and prevented him from taking an active part in the affairs of the association, though still retaining an interest in its welfare, and holding the office of vice-president, to which he was elected at its first organization. To him we are indebted for the plan and inception of this institution. From his appreciation of the value of a free public library as a means of instruction and improvement, and from his suggestion other influential citizens of the neighborhood were induced to join with him in organiz- ing themselves as a body for establishing a library for the use of all who should desire to avail themselves of its advantages. As a member of the State Board of Education he exerted his in- fluence to secure the recommendation of the board to the Gen- eral Assembly in favor of the act making an appropriation for the aid of Public Libraries, without which this association could hardly have continued its existence. To him the institution is indebted for the character of the volumes now upon its shelves. He fully realized the importance of presenting to the young standard books of instruction in history, biography, science and literature, instead of the transient fiction of the day. On these especial points and for his general interest in the prosperity of the institution the surviving members, his fellow laborers in this corporation, desire to place on permanent record their grateful acknowledgments of the eminent services of their lamented late Vice-President. "The Hon. William Greene departed this life on the 24th day of March, 1883, having completed his eighty-sixth year on the first day of January previous. He was the first president of this association and continued in ofBce until advancing years com- pelled him to decline it. To him the association is indebted for the substantial aid which secured the nucleus for the library by purchasing the valuable collection of books left by the late The- odore Schroeder. He encouraged the erection of a library building by offering to pay one half the cost thereof. He paid from time to time the debts of the association when current ex- penses had left it in arrears and finally, when aid from the town treasury was withdrawn, took upon himself the responsibility of guaranteeing the floating debt, which his heirs, in assuming, have relieved the association of a heavy load. These repeated generous gifts amount, in the aggregate, to more than ten thous- and dollars. This marked liberality on the part of its principal promoter and founder should prompt the managers of the insti- 1092 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. tution to carry out in the future faithfully the original design for which it was established — the instruction and improvement morally and intellectually of the people of this vicinity. " It is eminently fitting that we should thus place on perma- nent record the generous gifts and labors of our departed mem- bers, acknowledge our obligations to them and pay our tribute of gratitude and respect to their memory." Since the death of these eminent members of the association, it has at times languished for lack of substantial aid. It has, how- ever, in some way struggled on. There are now on the shelves something more than three thousand volumes, besides pamph- lets and public documents. Between five and six thousand books are circulated annually. The rooms are opened daily from three to five and from six to eight P. !M. The state appropriation for the purchase of new books is one hundred and twenty-live dol- lars, and from the town one hundred and fifty, applied to cur- rent expenses. Arrears are made up by subscription among the members. The lot, the building, the books, and the furniture, may be estimated at twelve thousand dollars. Rhode Island Central Bank.* — Any history of Kent county would be incomplete without some notice of the old Rhode Isl- and Central Bank and some of the men connected with its or- ganization and management. This bank was incorporated at the October session of the general assembly in 1804. It was or- ganized in the same 3^ear, with a paid up capital of fifty thousand dollars. An addition was built at the north end of the house in which Colonel William Greene resided, on the main street, for a banking room. The vault was a stone structure of great strength, built up from the cellar beneath to the floor above, and covered over by a massive iron door, which was raised and lowered by a strong tackle and left on a poise during business hours, sup- ported in this position by a wooden shore. This crypt was about eight feet deep and four feet square. The descent into it was by a ladder. The lid or door Avas secured by a massive bolt, turned by two ponderous keys, first one and then the other be- ing used to complete the operation. This vault was supposed to be fire-proof and burglar-proof, and so proved itself to be so long as it was used for this purpose. Here was held the treasure of the bank and the valued treasures of the country about. Safes and safe deposits were not known in those days. * By James H. Eldredge, M. D. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1093 Ethan Clarke was the first president, and Colonel William Greene the first cashier. Mr. Clarke was born in Westerly or Hopkinton, but had resided in Newport most of his life, where he was engaged in business, having connections at the South in Savannah and St. Mary's, Georgia. He came to East Greenwich in 1802, and bought the house on Prince street which the late Gen- era! James M. Varnum had built in the first years of the revolu- tionary war. Here Mr. Clarke spent the remainer of his days, dying in September, 1833, at the advanced age of eighty-nine years. jSIr. Clarke was the father of the late Airs. Anna M. Greene, who died within three years at the advanced age of one hundred and three, and the grandfather of Doctor Kathanael Greene, of Newport, and the late Professor George W. Greene. He was also the grandfather of the wife of the Hon. George A. Brayton, and of Samuel W. Clarke, formerly town clerk of War- wick. Colonel William Greene, the first cashier, was the son of Cap- tain Benjamin Greene, of Warwick Neck, grandson of the first Governor Greene, and the nephew and son-in-law of the second. Prominent among the stockholders were William Arnold and sons, engaged extensively in commercial business, Stephen Ar- nold of this firm being among the most active in the manage- ment as long as he lived. William Peter Maxwell came to Rhode Island from South Carolina to complete his education, graduat- ing at Brown University in the class of 1798. He soon after married the eldest daughter of Christopher Greene, Esq., of Potowomut, bought a small farm on the Post road at Devil's Foot, and settled down as a country gentleman, leading a quiet life, but keeping open house to all the members of his family, north and south, and to his friends and acquaintances generally. Mr. Maxwell was among the first stockholders and for many years a director. William Reynolds, a noted member of the Society of Friends, living in North Kingstown, near the Potowomut fac- tory, was an old stockholder and director, in the later years presi- dent of the bank. Colonel William Greene retired from the cashiership about the year 1815 and Wanton Casey was chosen to fill his place. Mr. Casey was the son of Silas Casey, a prominent business man and ship owner in East Greenwich in the last half of the last century. In one of his father's ships, near the close of the war of the revo- lution, Mr. Casey was sent abroad to finish his education and es- 1094 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pecially to learn the French language. For this purpose he re- sided in Paris for two years, just prior to the exciting times of the revolution in that country, of which he said there was no in- dication then. Returning to this country, he- joined a company of explorers to settle in the rich lands of Ohio, then a wilder- ness. jNIr. Casey remained in this frontier settlement for sev- eral years, enduring many hardships, married while in Ohio a lady of Massachusetts (Miss Goodale) and returned to Rhode Is- land with his wife, making the journey on horse back. No man was more identified with East Greenwich than Wanton Casey. His house was on the corner of Main and Division streets, a prominent object as you entered the town from the north. Here Mr. Casey reared a large family and his house was the center of a refined and cultivated circle through all his long life. During the years of his cashiership the Rhode Island Central Bank was the very embodiment of solvency and good management. The capital was increased to one hundred and fifty thousand dollars and over, the stock sold for a high premium, good dividends were regularly paid and nowhere could the funds of the widow and orphan be more safely invested than in this stock. A few per- sons, and only a few can now remember the cashier on his way to the banking rooms at the hour of nine o'clock in the morning with his green baize bag of heavy keys. In the winter season, the first thing done after opening the outside door was to re- move the iron fender from around the fire place and rake open the glowing coals from the fire of the day before, then pile on the walnut wood and start afresh the cheerful blaze which was one of the pleasant features of this old fashioned room. This done, the keys were turned in the lock, the hook in the block was fastened to the ring in the iron door of the vault and with a long pull and a strong pull it was raised to its place a little aslant, leaning against the wooden shore that held it through the busi- ness hours, till two o'clock in the afternoon. Then down the ladder to the vault to bring up the treasure and valuables need- ed for the day's work. The room was divided into an inner and outer apartment by a handsome mahogony counter. In this inner room was a high desk and a round table and a goodly num- ber of comfortable arm chairs for the accommodation of the directors at their regular meetings. The whole aspect of the place was dignified and respectable. Mr. Clarke was succeeded in the presidency by Mr. Samuel HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1095 King, who held the office until his failure in 1827, when Doctor Charles Eldredge was chosen in his place, and held it up to the time of his death in 1838. Notices of Air. King and of Doctor Eldredge are to be'found elsewhere in this volume. Mr. Casey resigned his office in 1835 on account of advancing age, and Christopher W. Greene was elected to fill the place. Mr. Greene was of good family, the grandson of Colonel Chris- topher Greene, of revolutionary fame, and the grandson, on the mother's side, of Colonel William Arnold. He had been engaged in business with his brother-in-law, Daniel Greene, and was thought to be eminently fitted for the position by his careful habits of business and by his strict integrity, and so he was ; but unfortunately he permitted himself to yield to the importuni- ties of his former partner and relative for some temporary ac- commodation which would not permit of the delay of a formal directors' meeting, and this entering wedge led on to absolute ruin to himself, great losses to the bank, and endless disaster to the town, which it would be painful to record as an item of in- terest in a local history like this. After this, with reduced capital, the bank passed into the hands of Thomas Rhodes as cashier, and William Reynolds president. Under this management, it was removed to the house on the cor- ner of Division and Main. Mr. Rhodes, after a few years, resigned, and was succeeded by the Reverend Lemuel Burge, of Wickford, who held the place for ten or twelve years, until the institution passed into the hands of adventurers, from whom it was taken by the court and placed in the hands of a receiver. Other Banks. — The East Greenwich Institution for Savings was incorporated in 1849. The incorporators were : Lemuel Burge, Joseph J. Tillinghast, A. E. Bradley, Albert A. Hall, Ste- phen Greene, William Boyd, Samuel S. Whiting, Albert J. Cong- don, John P. Roberts, Stukely Underwood, William R. Tilley, John Higgins, William Bodfish, Christopher Hawkins, John G. Reynolds, Russell Vaughn, Silas Weaver, Ebenezer Slocum, Thomas R. Dawley, Joseph Winsor, Ashbel Wall, William G. Weaver, Benjamin W. Hendrick, James B. Pierce, William P. Salisbury, George J. Adams, James H. Eldredge, Josiah West- cott, Horace Tillinghast, William G. Brown, Isaac S. Whitford, Ezra Pollard, Thomas Bateman, and Robert B. Hall. John C. Harris, the first president, held the office from 1849 to 1860. He was succeeded by John P. Roberts, who held the office from 1860 1096 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to 1872; Samviel Wall Pierce to 1885, when Russell Vaughn, the present incumbent, assvimed the duties. The treasurers have been: Lemuel Burge, Thomas R. Tilley, to February 29th, 1860 ; Silas A. Crane, to :Slay, 1864, when Samuel M. Knowles, the present treasurer, was elected. The vState Bank of East Greenwich was incorporated in 1856, and was changed into a national bank in 1866. Henry Sweet was the first president of the company, and held the office until his death in September, 1888, when he was succeeded by James Davis. Samuel j\I. Knowles has been cashier of this bank from its incorporation. The Exchange Bank was established in 1852. It did a lively business until 1860, when it failed, owing to the defalcation of its cashier. Fire Department. — The first fire engine company was or- ganized under " An Act of the General Assembly, February ses- sion, A. D. 1797," and the following -named persons were the incorporators : William Greene, Jonathan Salisbury, Thomas Arnold, Andrew Boyd, David Pinniger, Caleb Coggeshall, Clarke Brown, William Sweet, Edward Spencer, John Sprague, Benja- min Rowland, John Casey, Othniel Wightman, Daniel Peirce, Daniel Taylor, Gideon Mumford, Caleb Greene, Philip Peirce, William Arnold, Richard Mathewson, Ezra Simmons, Micah Whitmarsh, Oliver Wickes, Peleg Olin, Peter Turner, James ]\Iiller, Henry Niles, James Pierce, Samuel Tripp, Benjamin Win.slow, John Glazier, Nicholas R. Gardner, Jonathan Niles, James Greene and Caleb Weeden. The " Act of Incorporation " was accepted at a meeting held the 5th day of June, 1 797, and the following officers were elected : Samuel Tripp, moderator ; William Greene, captain ; Clarke Brown, lieutenant ; Richard Mathewson, treasurer ; Thomas Arnold, clerk. At the same meeting Richard Mathewson and Earl Mowry were appointed a committee to procure an engine for the company on the most reasonable terms possible, and they were authorized to draw on the treasury for that purpose. The engine procured consisted of a water-tight box mounted on wheels, with a double-acting force pump placed in the center of the box, which was operated by brakes on the sides ; the water was procured from wells, and conveyed to the engine in leather water buckets by hand. The old well and town pump originated with the " Fire En- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1097 gine Company ;" at a meeting of said company held the 3d day of June, 1805, it was "voted that Clarke Brown, AVilliam Arnold and Jonathan Salisbury be appointed a committee to appl}' to the Town Council for liberty to dig a well in the street where most convenient, and when they get liberty, to proceed and dig the well and stone the same.-" The well was very properly lo- cated in front of the present court house, which was built about the same time (1805). The well is large and commodious, evi- dently designed for afire well, being stoned up eight feet across, holding a large quantity of water ; and after suction hose was introduced, an engine placed at the well would draw the water and force it through a line of hose to a fire, doing great exe- cution. At the June session of the general assembly, 1820, the original " Act of Incorporation " was amended as follows: "That said Engine Company be authorized to assess and levy taxes for the purpose of repairing the well and pumps belonging to said company in the same manner that they are by their char- ter authorized to assess and levy taxes for the purchase and support of their Fire Engine." The charter has been amended from time to time as the need of increased powers ap- peared, to facilitate and make more aggressive the appliances for extinguishing fire, until we now have a formidable fire de- partment, with an ample supply of water, with a pressure suffi- cient to reach any extremity desired within the East Greenwich Fire District, which includes a part of the town of AVarwick ad- joining East Greenwich. Water Works. — The National Water Works Syndicate Com- pany in 1886 put in water pipes leading from a large well (thirty feet across) near Hunt's river, on the old turnpike road, and the little village is now supplied with the best of water. The offi- cers of the company are George Alexander, president, and B.C. Mudge, secretary and treasurer. The company put in fifty-five hydrants and three drinking fountains. The water is forced into a large tank, located on an elevated place in the village, by two engines, one of forty horse-power, the other of fifty-five, and from there it is drawn out by pipes as it is needed. The well from which the water is drawn is eighteen feet deep, and is well constructed with filtering material, giving the inhabitants this natural beverage in its purest form. 1098 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Electric Light. — Joseph Dews, a majiufacturer in East Green- wich, has added materially to the place by his presence. He not only operates a large woolen mill both night and day, in which he runs seven cards and sixty-two looms and employs a large force of hands, and is the owner of an extensive coal yard, but by his enterprise and ingenuity he has provided the village with electric light. At the present time the village has erected twenty-six lights, and in addition to this number the public places of worship, halls, etc., have put them in. Societies. — The Fanners Miittial Fire Insurance Company of Rhode Island was incorporated in January, 1851 , located in East Greenwich. The incorporators were : Joseph Winsor, AYilliam G. Bowen, Joseph J. Tillinghast, John C. Harris, Lemuel Burge, William Boyd, James H. Eldredge, Thomas Phillips, John Mawney, A. V. Dawley, Elisha S. Winsor, A. J. Congdon, Ashbel Wall, Thomas R. Tilley, Isaac S. Johnson, Nathan ^M. Spencer, Hollis K. Jenks, Richard G. Howland, Jeffrey Davis, Samuel A. Coy, Joseph Spencer, S. H.Vaughn, William HoUoway, Jr., Charles Allen, Thomas J. Johnson, B. W. Hendrick, Thomas H. Rhodes, Alexander Huling, William P. Salisbury, Samuel Peirce, David W. Hunt, Job Card, E. Weeden, George J. Adams and John Place. The company was organized soon after, and the follow- ing officers elected : Benjamin B. Thurston, president ; Nicholas S. Fry, vice-president ; Silas Weaver, treasurer ; Joseph Winsor, secretary. The charter required that no policies should be issued until applications should be made for insurance on property to the. amount of at least two hundred thousand dollars. And in order to procure the requisite amount of applications to enable the company to issue policies it was thought necessary to offer such inducements as would facilitate the object; thus a uniform rate was fixed at 33^ cents on one hundred dollars for five years. The company was organized as a Farmers' Insurance Company, insuring only farm buildings and other buildings in the country not more hazardous, and the contents in said buildings. Evi- dently, it was the design of the managers of this company to do a Rhode Island business exclusively, and, with a few exceptions, this was the rule. The farming interest in the state being com- paratively small, and very many of the farmers not inclined to insure their property, it was soon discovered that an insurance company could not be maintained under these restrictions, and. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1099 consequently, after about twelve years' experience, the company was wound up, all claims being amicably liquidated. Ladies Soldiers Aid Society. — In Alay, 1861, or soon after the fall of Sumter, the loyalty and patriotism of the ladies in East Greenwich were aroused. A meeting was called through the The Rhode Island Pcnduhnn, and work commenced for the soldiers. It was considered unnecessary at that time to organize a society, as a speedy settlement of the unhappy difficulties which threat- ened our beloved country was anticipated. It was, however, deemed essential that a village treasurer should be appointed. Mrs. William N. Sherman received this appointment, and the contributions for the benefit of the Greenwich soldiers were placed in her hands. It was voted that a subscription paper be circulated, with the following heading : " Several ladies, feeling the importance of thoroughly furnish- ing our volunteers with such articles that are not provided, and which will be needed by them while away from home, we call upon the patriotic and benevolent to aid them by contributions in money." The sum subscribed on this paper was $93.25. A concert by amateur performers, conducted by Doctor Eben Tourjee, for the same object, was held. The avails of the concert were $51.68, making the whole sum received by the treasurer $144.93. Although no society was formed, ladies from all the religious denominations co-operated and harmoniously labored for the general cause. At a regular meeting, which was held December 6th, 1861, it was proposed by Mrs. Reverend Dr. Crane that a society be formed and known as The Ladies' Soldiers' Aid Society. This proposition was seconded by Mrs. Louisa D. Mumford. The meeting was organized for business by the choice of Mrs. Clara A. Ludlow as president, and Mrs. Mumford, secretary. The officers of the society represented five religious denominations, and were as follows : Mrs. William P. Greene, president ; Mrs. William G. Bowen, vice-president; Mrs. William N. Sherman, corresponding and recording secretary ; Miss Sallie G. Allen, treasurer ; Mrs. Sheffield Arnold, collector. It was "Voted, that the object of the society shall be to fur- nish the soldiers with useful articles of clothing and sanitary comforts ; " and also " Voted, that any lady may become a member by donations in money or work." 1100 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Various means were adopted to obtain funds to carry forward the object of the society. Exhibitions of paintings, curiosities, tableaux, fairs and festivals, were brought into requisition. Liberal donations in money and materials for work were grate- fully received from ladies and gentlemen who were not con- nected with the society. Among this number we would refer to the late Mrs. Silas W. Holmes, whose unobtrusive charities were frequent and liberal, and to Robert H. Ives, Jr., Esq., who was killed at the battle of Antietam, and whose name may well be be classed among that list of noble martyrs whose valuable lives were sacrificed for their " country's good." Special donations were sent to Lovell Hospital, Portsmouth Grove, in our own state ; to ^Missouri, and through ]SIiss Dix to the Washington hospitals. The Second, Fourth and Eleventh Rhode Island regiments, and the First Regiment New York Mounted Rifles, received assistance from the society. Ten dol- lars were sent to the United States Sanitary Commission through Russell M. Earned, Esq., agent for Rhode Island. In November, 1862, about thirt}- young ladies — some of them members of the " Aid Society," organized a Knitting Circle, their special object being to labor for our volunteer soldiers. Gentlemen were permitted to attend the evening meetings by the contribution of monej^ or yarn. It was estimated b3-the Aid Society, that from the various organizations in which some of the members of that society were equally interested that East Greenwich ladies directly and indirectly aided the soldiers to the amount of more than three thousand dollars. This sum included money, rubber bed blankets, hospital garments, wines, jellies, ice, vegetables and reading matter. Over one thousand yards of bandages and compresses prepared from surgeons' directions were furnished by the society. Among other things which be- longed to General McClellan's grandmother and given to the society by his aunt Miss Lucy ^McClellan, was old linen from which a box of prepared lint was made and sent to the hos- pital. The society existed until October 29th, 1865, when it was unan- imously voted "to dissolve the Soldiers' Aid Society." On this occasion the secretary wrote : " The Society met agreeable to adjournment with our indefatigable co-laborer, Mrs. Charles W. Greene, whose unwearied exertions, self-denjang efforts and lib- erality have been devoted to the interests of the Society from its HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1101 foundation to the present time. May she live many years to bless the world with her kind benefactions." 'Y\i& Frccduicns Aid Society was organized October 29th, 1865, at the same meeting at which the Soldiers' Aid Society was dis- solved. Mrs. William P. Greene, president, occupied the chair, and Mrs. William N. Sherman was chosen secretary. Owing to the ill health of ISlrs. Greene, she deemed it unwise for her to at- tempt to hold any prominent position in the new organization. Devotion, faithfulness and zeal characterized her interest for her ■ country as the presiding officer of the former Society. The officers of the Freedmen's Aid Society were : President, Miss Sarah M. Clark ; corresponding and recording secretary, Mrs. William N. Sherman ; treasurer, Miss Sarah M. Clark, The Soldiers' Aid Society transferred to this society such ma- terials as remained on hand at its dissolution, including thirty- five dollars in money. The society sent several of its well filled boxes and barrels through the agency of Reverend H. G. Stew- art, general agent of the Rhode Island Association for Freed- men, to Mrs. Josephine S.Griffing, general agent of the Nation- al Freedmen's Relief Association at Washington, D. C. Harmony Lodge, No. 5, I. O. 0. R, chartered May 23d, 1872, is in a flourishing condition. The officers for the year 1888 were as follows : Noble grand, William E. Brown ; vice-grand, Wil- liam H. Heald ; recording secretary, Samuel A. Slocum ; treas- urer, Enoch W. Lovell ; permanent secretary, Abijah L. Brown. King- Solomon s Lodge, No. 11, A. F. & A. M., chartered Septem- ber 4th, 1810, is also located at East Greenwich. The officers for 1888 were as follows : William R. Sharpe, W. M.; I. H. Wad- leigh, S. W.; William U. Farrington, J. W.; J. C. Nichols, treas- urer; E. A. Gould, secretary; O. N. Carpenter, S. D.; N. T. Reynolds, J. D.; L. N. Fitz, S. S.; S. A. Slocum, J. S.; S. F. Crompton, chaplain; T. W. Bicknell, marshall; Daniel Bur- dick, sentinel ; S. F. Crompton, musical director; August Hall, tyler. Douglass Lodge, No. I/JS, L 0. G. T., was instituted November 4th, 1869, with ten members. Society of Friends. — The history of the society of Friends in East Greenwich begins properly with the first meeting held in the new meeting house ye 2d day of ye 7th month, 1700, and continued there on every First Day afterward for many years. The history of this church is largely the history of individuals. 1102 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Prominent among these in an early day were Benjamin Barton, John Briggs, Jabez Greene, William Knowles, Rowland Robin- son, Ebenezer Slocum, Samuel Perry, Thomas Arnold, Henry Knowles, Thomas Greenall, Joseph Hull, William Gardner, and others. The first house was erected on the lands of John Spen- cer, about half a mile southwest of the village and just west of Payne's grist mill. In 1704 the house and lot were conveyed to the society. Just one hundred years afterward a new meeting house was erected by John Smith on land purchased of Ethan Clarke by Sylvester Wickes. This house is still standing and is now occupied by a small remnant who profess the faith and fol- low these forms of worship. The house was awkwardly placed on the lot, with gable end to the street and very near to it, front- ing toward the south. In 1850 it was moved back, also turned around, and received some additions. In the year 1845 it was painted within and without for the first time. Mr. Wickes re- sided in a house now owned by Christopher Hawkins. Mr. Abel Kenyon, an able writer, has left upon record a few valuable sketches of the early preachers of this society, which may be found in Doctor Greene's History of East Green- wich. We refer our readers to these sketches and to our notes on the church in general for a full history of the society. Among those who are prominent now in this church are Abel Kenyon, Charles Earle, Solomon R. Knowles, Charles Kenyon, Edward Buffington, Mrs. Lydia MaCumber, Mrs. Mary Clapp, Mrs. Cath- erine Greene, Mrs. Julia Elman Freeborn and Lydia Peckham. First Baptist Church. — About the year 1700, a Six Principle Baptist Church was organized in the town of East Greenwich. A house of worship was erected at this time, in that part of the village known as Meeting House hill. It was overthrown by a gale of wind in 1725, and the congregation for some years after- ward worshipped in the adjacent school house, and also in the court house. In the Baptist cemetery, near the ancient house of worship, are the graves of many of the members of this church. Among others are the remains of Reverend John Gorton, ordain- ed in 1753, dying in the pastoral office thirty-nine years after- ward. In 1743, when Reverend Daniel Fiske was their pastor, the church had fifty-three members. There were altogether some three hundred members in the fellowship of this body. For many years theirs was the only place of worship in the village proper, the Friends and Episcopalians worshipping at HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1103 points about a mile distant. It will be seen, therefore, that Bap- tist principles have been more or less clearly taught in East Greenwich for upward of one hundred and eighty years. The author of this sketch enjoyed the privilege, a few weeks since, of conversing with the venerable daughter-in-law of General Nathanael Greene, of revolutionary fame, who still resides in Newport, in the full possession of her cultured intellect, at the age of ninety-seven years. This interesting lady related the fol- lowing incident that occurred in one of Elder Gorton's meetings ninety -one years ago, when she was present. The elder's sermon was finished, when, as the usual opportunity was given for ex- hortation, a woman arose and stated that, having been for some time under strong conviction, she entered the cellar of her house, when suddenly it seemed to be wonderfully lighted up, and at the same time her burden of guilt rolled away, and she became a new creature in Christ. The church then and there accepted her for baptism. She also refers to a well remembered scene in one of Elder Manchester's meetings a few years afterward. In the midst of his sermon he remarked that " when you can sprin- kle a few grains of sand upon the face of your dead friend, and call it a burial, you may sprinkle a few drops of water upon the face of a convert and call it a burial with Christ in baptism." As in other parts of the state the field has been relinquished by the old Baptists, so here the oldest have taken their place, and a more scriptural expression of baptistic faith and practice was found in the organization of the present Baptist church in the year 1839. Prior to this date, much valuable pioneer work was done by faithful men of fervent evangelistic spirit, who went everywhere along these Narragansett coasts, preaching the word. The earlier records of many of these churches present to us the names of Jenkins, Curtis, and Niles, whose labors here were greatly blessed, the ordinance of baptism being often adminis- tered by Dr. Gano, of Providence. Among the resident Baptists was an ordained minister of good report by the name of Thomas Tew. With excellent executive ability and a warm heart he devoted himself to the founding of a regular Baptist church. On the 30th of January, 1839, a coun- cil consisting of ten churches assembled at his home to consider the propriety of organization. Reverend Doctor John Dowling was moderator, and Reverend E. K. Fuller clerk. Delegates from the First and Pine Street churches. Providence, Westerly, 1104 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Union Branch, North Kingstown, Richmond, "Wickford, Paw- tucket, Exeter, Arkwright and Fiskeville, AVarwick and East Greenwich were present. The liouse of worship of the Metho- dists was offered for the services of recognition. The sermon was preached by Doctor Dowling, Pastors Palmer, of Westerly, Grofton, of Wickford, Baker, of Richmond, Johnson, of Ark- wright, Allen, of North Kingstown, Fuller, of Pawtucket, and Thomas Dowling, of Warwick and CoA-entry, assisting. The constituency of the church numbered seventeen, whose names were as follows : A. G. Littlefield, Thomas Tille}', Thomas Tew, Darius Hart, with their wives, besides Thomas R. Tilley, Joseph Greene, ^Nlaria Gardiner, Hetty Remington, ^Nlercy Miller, Eliza Miller, Isabella Aliller, Phebe Brown and Sophia Parkinson. A few weeks after the organization of the body they were pre- sented with a communion service by ]\Irs. Pardon ]\Iiller, of the First church. Providence, as a token of her deep interest in their welfare. From this time on the church was acceptabh- supplied with preaching by Brother Tew until the year 1S4.5, when Rev- erend O. C. Wheeler was invited to the pastoral office. He was introduced to the people by Reverend John Baker, of blessed memory, who was at this time a resident of the village. Brother Wheeler was called by the church October 30th, and was or- dained on the 12th of November, 1843. Deacon James Tilley was at the same time set apart to his office by the imposition of hands. ■ Contemporaneous with the settlement of their first pastor came the organization of a Sunday school. Hitherto the Bap- tists had labored with other denominations in union work, but they now gave themselves to the special denominational training of the young, and Brother Ashbel Wall was appointed superin- tendent by the church, a position which he Avorthily held for thirteen years. Brother A. J. Congdon succeeded Brother AVall, continuing in the office twenty years. Brother Abel C. Kenyon, Jr., is the present incumbent, having been elected in 1880. Its membership numbers 215. The school has always been remark- able for the large number of adults in its ranks, having four good-sized Bible classes. In April, 1846, a committee consisting of the pastor, Brother Wheeler, with brethren Ashbel Wall, W.J.Sheldon and William Bodfish, were appointed to erect a meeting house at an expense of not less than $3,000. The same was solemnly dedicated to HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1105 the worship of God in January, 1847, Reverend S. E. Jameson, of Providence, preaching the sermon. In the winter of 1846 the church secured from the legislature an act of incorporation. Brother AVheeler resigned in November, 1847, and took up his residence in California. His pastoral labors in East Greenwich were abundant, and fruitful of excellent results. On the 9th of February, 1848, the church extended a unanimous call to Rev- erend B. F. Hedden, a native of Stonington, Conn., whose labors in this field were specially noteworthy in a pastoral way. The congregation was so increased that the church enlarged their house of worship, adding twenty-four pews. A belfry was erected and furnished with a bell. The number of members was nearly doubled. Mr. Hedden's labors terminated in July, 1861, and in November of the same year the church unanimously called to the vacant pastorate Professor S. A. Archibald, whose rich endowments of mind and heart would, doubtless, have pro- duced the best results had it not been for the discouraging condition of the finances of the church at this time. He resigned April 3d, 1853, and is now an honored pastor in Vermont. On the 10th day of July, 1853, the church voted to unite with others in forming the Narragansett Association. The action was subsequently rescinded, and it was not until the 16th of June, 1861, that the church finally severed its relations with the Warren Association and united with the Narragansett, which assembled on the 25th of June in that year with the Wickford church. In October, 1853, the church extended 'a call to Reverend E. R. Warren to become their pastor, but he labored with them only as a supply for one year. Reverend Mr. Gilbert also labored in the same capacity from December, 1854, to May, 1855. For four months afterward Brother Sherman G. Smith supplied the pulpit, with such acceptance that he was unanimously called to the pastorate, his ordination occurring September 6th, 1855. Brother Smith was much blessed in his labors, his pastorate continuing five years. God visited his people with converting grace, and many were brought into the fold. The house of worship was frescoed and otherwise improved during his labors. In October, 1860, Reverend John C. Wood was called to the pastorate, but he labored only a few months. Brother George Howell, of Nantucket, was invited to supply the pulpit for three months, at the expiration of which time he was recognized as 70 1106 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pastor, Reverend Doctor Jackson, of Newport, preaching the sermon. At the same time Brother Bowen Vaughn was ordained to the office of deacon. Brother Howell resigned May 28th, 1862, but continued to supply the pulpit until October, when he left the community, and shortly afterward notified the church that he had resolved to join the Episcopalians. On the 12th of October, 1862, the church unanimously voted to call to the pas- torate Reverend Isaac Cheesebrough. He accepted the call and continued in the office until January 28th, 1866. He was a good pastor, and the church placed on record a testimonial of his useful, untiring labors. On the 14th of March, 1866, it was unanimously voted to call to the pastoral charge Reverend C. W. Ray, who had just left a successful pastorate in North Stonington, Conn. Brother Ray's labors continued very pleasantly for two years, during which the church was blessed temporally, the audience room being consid- erably improved. An excellent pipe organ was placed in the church through the enterprise of the Ladies' Society. On the 25th of October, 1868, it was voted to extend a call to Reverend Gilbert Robbins, of Grafton, Mass. Brother Robbins' pastorate continued ten years and one month, and was marked by peace, if not by great enlargement. The membership studied to be quiet, and were edified and built up in the faith by his faithful presentations of the Word. Upon retiring from the field, the church expressed in becoming resolutions their appreciation of one who had labored so long and so well. Brother Robbins is now, notwithstanding his advanced years, most pleasantly set- tled with the church at Cape Neddick, Maine. In March, 1879, the church gave a unanimous call to Reverend E. S. Wheeler, of Pawtucket, who became their pastor April 1st. At the beginning of this settlement there were some gracious tokens of the divine presence, and some were added to the church. The church increased its financial strength, and an earnest effort was made to secure a new house of worship, the congregation and Sunday school seeming to require enlarge- ment. The movement was most auspiciously begun, and would have succeeded but for the difficulty as to location. It is very desirable that the church should make this advance as early as possible, that they may hold such a position as Providence evi- dently designs they should in this community, where Baptist principles have prevailed so long. Near the close of the first HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1107 year of this pastorate, it was decided that, for the present, at least, some important repairs and improvements should be made, and the Sunday school and prayer-meeting rooms were refur- nished and decorated, the expense of which was easily met. The pastor resigned his charge in July, 1881, to accept a call from the church at Greenport, Long Island, where he resided at the time of his conversion, twenty-three years previous. At the time of resignation, as well as of the commencement of the pastorate, the most cordial and unanimous good feeling existed between church and pastor. Excepting the proceedings of the council at the recognition of the body in 1839, no records were preserved prior to 1845, which will account for any lack of exactness in statistics, but the num- ber of persons baptized into its fellowship is about four hundred. Of the constituent members only one survives, our beloved sis- ter, Harriet M. Tilley. The present number of members is 122. Five of our brethren have worthily held the office of deacon, namely, James Tilley, Bowen Vaughn, Joseph Vaughn, James L. Congdon, and Jesse R. Lillibridge. The first two have passed to their rest. Brother Joseph Vaughn is now a worthy officer in the Baptist church at Plainfield, Conn., while the last two are at present in the service of the church. Brother James L. Congdon also fills the position of church clerk. In her ecclesiastical views and relations the church still main- tains her position loyally in defense of the ancient faith. May the blessings of the Great Head of the church be upon us in the years to come. Approved by the church at a regular meeting, September 14th, 1881. The Catholic Congregational Church. — In October, 1872, the general assembly passed the following act, which gives the first information connected with this church : " Whereas a Number of the Inhabitants of East Greenwich, of the Denomination of Christians, called Presbyterians or Con- gregationalists, preferred a Petition, and represented unto this Assembly, That they have, for a long time, labored under the Disadvantage of having no House to meet in for the public Wor- ship of God ; And that they are unable, of themselves, to build one ; but have great Encouragement from their Brethren, in the neighboring Governments, that they will assist, in Case they, the Petitioners can obtain the Grant of a Lottery for that Pur- 1108 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pose. And therefore prayed this Assembly to grant them a Lottery, for raising the Sum of Fifteen Hundred Dollars, for building a Presbyterian or Congregational Meeting House in said Town, and that ^^lessrs. William Johnson, Gideon Mumford, James Searle, and Archibald Crary, may be appointed Managers or Directors of the same : On Consideration whereof, "// is Voted and Resolved, That the aforesaid Petition be, and the same is hereby, granted, under the usual restrictions : Provided that the said Lottery do not take place until the First Day of May, A. D. 1773 : And that the Colony incur no Expense thereby." The church edifice was erected in 1774, a sum sufficient for this purpose being procured from the proceeds of the lottery, but there are no records of a church organization until October 15th, 1815, when the following appears : " The Congregational Church of Christ in East Greenwich was organized the fifteenth day of October Anno Domini, one thou- sand eight hundred and fifteen by the Rev. Daniel AValdo, a mis- sionary from the Massachusetts Society for promoting Christian Knowledge. The persons who entered into covenant were : — j\Irs. j\lary Coggswell from the first Church in Newport, j\lrs. Ann Al. Greene from the Second Church in Newport, !Mrs. Ma- hala Salisbury from the first Church in Little Compton. Cap- tain Silas Holmes and his Wife made a profession of religion, and all of them united in giving their assent to the confession of Faith : There is nothing to indicate how long Reverend Daniel Waldo continued as pastor over the church, but the following entry on the record : " Augu.st 29th, 1829. Church J^leeting called and met at my house for the purpose of gii-ing a call to ]Mr. ^Michael Burdett to settle over us as our Pastor; adjourned to meet the first Satur- day of next September." " At a Church ^Meeting held at my house (agreeable to ad- journment) the meeting opened by Prayer by the Rev. Daniel Waldo." " Voted, That we give ]\lichael Burdett a call to settle with us as our Pastor. " Witness, John Brown." " The Society having held a meeting, unanimously concurred in the call of ^ix. Burdett, — of which ]Mr. Burdett being in- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1109 formed, accepted of the call." He was ordained September 23d, 1829. Mr. Burdett remained as pastor vintil Jul}^ lOth, 1833. " On the 6th of October, 1836. An unanimous Call was Given to the Rev. William G. Johnson, of Washington Village Church which was accepted ; from that time he regularly dispensed the Communion in this Church, and removed here on the 24th March, 1837. " A Sunday School was commenced by the Pastor on the 7th of May, 1837. A Sunday School Society was also formed and a Library commenced." This was the first Sunday school in East Greenwich.. " May 14th, 1837. Moses and Harriet Pierce were received members into this Church by letter from Fall River Church, it being understood that they had difficulties on Infant baptism, and Slavery but waited for more light upon these subjects, there- fore the Church agreed to admit them upon these terms, pro- vided they did not agitate these subjects in the Church." Wm. G. Johnson, Minister. It appears that Mr. Johnson changed the name from the Con- gregational Church of Christ to that of the Catholic Congrega- tional Church, of East Greenwich, as the new name now appears for the first time : " At a meeting of the Catholic Congregational Church, of East Greenwich, held at the house of the Rev. Mr. Johnson, June 7th, 1837, the committee appointed to draw up articles of discipline, not being prepared to report, it was " Voted, That in all our Church meetings four Members shall make a quorum for business. " Voted, That John Brown be a Delegate to attend the Conso- ciation to be holden at Bristol. " Voted, That we intend to purchase a lot and build a House for Worship as soon as funds can be acquired by our own exer- tions and the assistance of Friends." At a church meeting January 22d, 1838, it was decided if funds could be raised they would build and at the next meeting (Feb- ruary 1st) Mr. Whiting was chosen treasurer to receive any money that might be paid for building the house. About this time the old house was torn down in order that the new structure might be erected on that site, but the society, when they discov- ered that they were unable to build for lack of funds, concluded 1110 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. to sell the lot and materials of the old house to the Episcopa- lians. " February 12th, 1838. At a meeting of the members of the C. C. Church, proposals were made by them to corporation of St. Luke's church to give them a good deed of the place for $300 or for an equivalent in land equal to said sum. Gen. Nathaniel Greene and ]\Ir. Thomas Rhodes acted as delegates for the church to present our proposals to St. Luke's Corporation, which they did on February 15th, and were to receive an answer at the an- nual meeting in March next." " March 15th, 1838. The Catholic Congregational Church sold their Lot of land to St. Luke's Corporation for $250, and the agent was empowered by the C. C. Church to debate that sum to $244.46. This day the Deed was signed by the Church." "March 16th, 1838. At a Church meeting held at the Court House a vote of thanks was passed by the majority of the Church, to be given to General Nathaniel Greene and Nathan Whiting, Esq., for their kind services in assisting this Church in recover- ing her rights." " March 20th, 1838. A Note for $244.46 was delivered to Na- than Whiting, Esq., Treasurer, to the C. C. Church in East Green- wich to assist the Church in purchasing a lot of land, or for build- ing." Here commenced the difficulties and misunderstandings which finally ended in the dissolution of the society. The trouble be- gan at the adoption of the new government, articles of faith and covenant. " June 2d, 1838. A Church meeting was held at Capt. Andres's where ten were present. The new articles for reorganizing were read and approved of along with the covenant. The Arti- cles and Covenant were agreed to by all present as true and good, and some of the Articles of the old constitution were con- sidered erroneous ; but it was agreed that we would appoint an- other meeting, and examine the articles one by one, which meet- ing was held and the articles and covenant were approved of, but some objections were made to the Church rule 4th, therefore they were not unanimously approved of." " June 27th, 1838. A meeting of the Church was held at Capt. Jonathan Andres's at 3 P. M. when the Catholic Congregational Church was reorganized by the Rev. Wm. G. Johnson, Mission- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1111 ary of the Rhode Island Home Missionary Society and Member of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland." Form of Reorganization, June 27th, 1838. " We, the Catholic Congregational Church of East Greenwich and members of said Church organized by the Rev. Daniel Wal- do, in October 15th, 1815, Missionary from the Massachusetts Society for promoting Christian Knowledge — Do now volun- tarily recognize ourselves as the same Catholic Congregational Church, under the Pastoral care of the Rev. Wm. G. Johnson, Missionary of the Home Missionary Society of R. Island, and member of the established Church of Scotland with all our tem- poral immunities, property possessions, rights and privileges of every kind, temporal and spiritual which belong to us as said Catholic Congregational Society of East Greenwich, and for the better promoting the spiritual interests of the Church, we now renew and amend, our profession of faith, covenant and govern- ment and discipline, and reorganize said Church and are mem- bers of said C. C. Church by giving our assent to its Confession of Faith, Covenant, Discipline and Government as thus amended and reorganized." " Being fully understood that this is the same Catholic Congre- gational Church, on Congregational principles alone, with its spiritual constitution altered and amended, and should any of its members not unite with us, then we may become an Independ- ent Church." December 10th, 1838, the church met and protested against the advice of the Ecclesiastical Council that met at East Green- wich on the 13th of November, 1838, and passed the following act: " We, as a Church, have sold our Church property to the Cor- poration of St. Luke's Church on March 15th, 1838, and if we assent to the decision of the Council, then we nullify the deed which we gave the Corporation of St. Luke's Church, and also nullify the mortgage which we have upon said Church, neither of which we can do. Though the Council, through ignorance of our affairs and want of due inquiry and deliberation, have vir- tually recommended us to sacrifice truth, embrace error, sin against conscience, break covenant with God, and break our legal voluntary deed with St. Luke's Church, and deprive them of that property which we sold them by the unanimous consent and individual signature of each member of this Church." 1112 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. In describing the old church, Doctor Greene says ; "This church was a very large and convenient structure, two stories in height, with two rows of windows one above another, like a dwelling-house, the side of the building fronting on Pearce street, a square tower projecting from the north end of the build- ing, with a door opening on a small court (there was no street there then). The tower contained a winding stair-case leading to a gallery, which occupied three sides of the second stor}', with its rows of seats rising one above another like those of an amphitheatre. This part of the church might be termed the Court of the Gentiles, as it would seem to be intended for the use and convenience of those who did not choose to remain through the long and tedious sermons of those days. Such per- sons could pass in and out without disturbing the congregation below. The builders of churches in those days were certainly more accommodating to the public than at the present time. " The lower part of the church was furnished with slips in the centre of the floors, with square pews at the sides ; there were seats around the inside of these pews, so that a portion of the occupants sat with their backs to the pulpit, which was also of curious construction. It was a circular structure, elevated high in the air, with a long, winding flight of stairs leading up to it. There were two beautiful silver candlesticks at the sides of the pulpit, which once adorned a dwelling house in Portugal. " The church was never painted inside, and the awkward tower at the end of the building was left unfinished until about the year 1820, when a small, odd-looking spire, shaped like an old-fashioned extinguisher, was placed on its summit, while four strange-looking objects called urns were fastened to the corners of the tower. " Up to this time no bell had ever rung out its solemn peal from this old tower. The only bell in the village at that time hung in the belfry of the old Kent Academy, which then stood very near the old church. The congregation, like the man who borrowed his neighbor's knocker, had long depended upon the ringing of the academy bell to call them to meeting ; but on the completion of this steeple the citizens of the village raised, by subscription, a sum to purchase a small bell, which is now in the possession of the Episcopal Church. "The old meeting-house, as it was then called, continued to be used by all denominations who wished to occupy it, until the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1113 year 1836, when the building and the lot on which it stood were purchased by the Episcopalians, who, after pulling down the old structure, built on its site the first St. Luke's. " For a long time after the old meeting-house was built no clergyman preached regularly there, but old printed sermons were read there by different persons from the village. The good people of those days evidently supposed that since they pos- sessed a church they ought to use it, and that sermons read by the laity were better than no preaching. Among those who often filled the pulpit was an old revolutionary officer, Captain Thomas Arnold, who was not particularly pious, and was very much addicted to using strong language. One very warm day, after reading a sermon, he remarked, on coming out of the church, -while wiping his forehead, that it was ' hard work to preach.' " St. Luke's Church. — The parish of St. Luke's, East Greenwich, was organized on the 10th day of August, 1833, at a meeting of sundry of the citizens at the Kent Academy, the Reverend Syl- vester Nash being chairman, and John P. Roberts secretary. Charles Eldredge and Joseph J. Tillinghast were chosen war- dens; Daniel Greene, Rowland Greene, Wicks Hill, Silas Weaver, Kingsly Bullock, John G. Ladd, Emery Fiske, Wanton Casey and AVilliamG: Spencer vestrymen. Augustus Greene was chosen treasurer, and John P. Roberts was chosen secietary. Services had been held in the upper hall of the academy for some weeks previous, and they were continued there regularly until the consecration of the new church in April of the follow- ing year. The act of incorporation was passed at the January session of the assembly in 1834. This charter gives power to assess the pews for necessary repairs and for insurance on the building, but for no other purpose. This provision, or want of provision, has led to much embarrassment in the support of the services, the contributions for this purpose being entirely voluntary. On the 27th of August, the same year, it was voted " That Daniel Greene and John P. Roberts be authorized to take proper measures to procure a lot for the purpose of erecting a house of Public Worship, and to take a deed in trust for this Society." It was also voted " that John P. Roberts, Kingsly Bullock and Dan- iel Greene be a committee to erect an Episcopal Church on the lot which may be procured for that purpose." Also voted. 1114 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " That the wardens and vestry be a committee to solicit dona- tions to carry the same resolution into effect." Early in 1833, some time before the first-named meeting, the old meeting house belonging to the Catholic Congregational So- ciety had been taken down with the intention of building a more commodious house upon the same lot. But in consequence of some difficulty or dissension the plan was interrupted, and the lot with the materials of the old structure were sold to the new organization. The building committee set about their work with earnestness, and the new church was finished and ready for consecration on the 13th of April, 1834. Reverend Sylvester Nash was the first rector. His term of service began with the organization of the parish and continued until the spring of 1840. Before leaving he raised by solicitation from abroad a sufficient sum to pay off the indebtedness of the corporation, and thus cleared the property from incumbrance. Mr. Nash was an earnest worker in the church, had many warm friends here, and retained a warm interest in the affairs of the parish as long as he lived. His death took place in Wisconsin in 1863. Reverend William H. Moore was called to the rectorship in May, 1840. He first officiated on the second Sunday in July. After a residence here of a little more than a year he resigned the charge. In December, 1840, Reverend Silas A. Crane, made an engage- ment to supply the church for the winter, not contemplating a permanent settlement, but remained from that time until his death, on the 12th of July, 1872. The following is ivom. the East Greenzvich Pcndiihim: " The death of Dr. Crane leaves a broken link in our commu- nity that causes universal sympathy and regret. A good man has fallen. Dr. Crane was emphatically a man of good words and good works. For more than thirty years he was the highly esteemed rector of St. Luke's Parish, and very few rectors have left a better record. As a public Christian man he. discharged his duties faithfully, always doing his work strictly in accord- ance with a tender conscience and with the Word. As a neigh- bor and friend, we esteemed him as one of our choicest, and this was the general feeling of our community toward him. He died as he lived, strong in the faith, and ready to depart and be with Christ. He adopted and received strong consolation from St. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1115 Paul's words, ' To live is Christ and to die is gain.' He has gained the victory over death, gained a bright, immortal crown of glory, to be his forever. "The funeral service was read in St. Luke's Church, Thursday evening at 5 o'clock. The Church was draped in mourning, and over the chancel there appeared in bright letters, ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' Bishop Clarke accompanied the services with some brief and exceedingly appropriate remarks. The house was filled with attentive listeners, and a large delega- tion of clergy from abroad. "The Doctor rests peacefully in the church yard near the place where he so faithfully and for so many years proclaimed the peace of God which passeth all understanding." For some time after Doctor Crane's decease there was no set- tled rector. Reverend William S. Child, of Newport, officiated in the autumn of 1872, until the communication by way of Wick- ford was interrupted. Reverend Joseph M. Turner, of Philadel- phia, had charge for a time, and then left to fill a previous en- gagement, under Bishop Tuttle, in Utah. Reverend George P. Allen had charge from 1874 to 1879, when the Reverend Daniel Goodwin, the present rector, took charge. The Reverend Silas Axtell Crane, D. D., for more than thirty years the beloved rector of St. Luke's church, was born in Berke- ley, Mass., the 21st of October, 1799, and died in East Greenwich, July 16th, 1872. He was the eldest son of Benjamin and Alinda Crane, and received his preparatory instruction for college from the Reverend Thomas Andros, at that time pastor of the Con- gregational church in Berkeley. In the summer of 1819 he was entered, after a creditable examination, to Brown University, and graduated from that institution in 1823, with the second honors of his class. Just before entering college, he publicly professed his faith and love toward his Divine Master, and in 1825 he became a communicant in St. John's, Doctor Crocker then being his rec- tor, and in 1832 was ordained deacon by Bishop Griswold, in St. Mark's church, Warren, R. L The year before his ordination he married Mary Elizabeth, youngest daughter of the late Captain Martin. In 1833 he was called to the rectorship of St. Stephen's church, Middlebury,Vt., and in that quiet little town he passed some of the happiest and not least useful years of his life. In the summer of 1834 he was 1116 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ordained to the priesthood, and soon after this time he was in- fluenced by the Right Reverend J. H. Hopkins, Bishop of Ver- mont, to accept a professorship in the Theological Seminary at Burlington, Vt., but in 1839, after two years stay, he hesitated between accepting a call to the presidency of the College of Ann Arbor or to that of Kemper College, St. Louis, but finally re- moved with his family to Missouri, accepting the latter. Here Doctor Crane met with severe disappointments. Instead of a college in the New England sense of the word, he found himself at the head of a boys' school, and in the autumn of 1841, the ex- periment having cost him a pecuniary sacrifice, and desiring a small parish, he accepted the call to the rectorship of St. Luke's church, where he lived the remainder of his life, not far from his parents and the early friends of his wife, and in the hearts of all those who are likely to read this sketch. On the twenty-fifth anniversary of Doctor Crane's settlement over the parish of St. Luke's, at a social gathering of the parish- ioners and friends, a committee was appointed to prepare resolu- tions expressive of their appreciation of his successful labor of love and charity among them during his long stay, and the same being adopted by the wardens and vestry, were read and pre- sented to the Doctor with a substantial gift accompanying the same. On the thirtieth anniversary of his rectorship Doctor Crane issued a pastoral letter to his parishioners, which has since been embodied in a published memorial, and is worthy of the circulation it has received. He died in East Greenwich, July 16th, 1872, after a sickness of about six weeks, greatl}- lamented by the community at large. As a public Christian man. Doctor Crane discharged his duties faithfully, always doing his work strictly in accordance with a tender conscience and with the AVord, and died, gaining the vic- rory over death and the immortal crown, to be his forever. Methodist Episcopal Church. — The first Alethodist sermon preached in Rhode Island was in Charlestown, by the Reverend Jesse Lee, on the 3d of September, 1789, when on a missionary tour from New York to Boston. It is not known just when the Methodists began their career in East Greenwich, but it was probably in 1792 and up to 1807, when this town appears in the list of appointments as a part of the circuit. During the year 1831 the society erected their house of worship, on the corner of Main and Queen streets. Previous to this time they held their HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1117 services in the court house, an asylum for all societies which had no church edifice of their own. For a long time the Methodists struggled hard for existence, but are now, especially under their present pastor, in a flourishing state. In 1846 they built a handsome and convenient parsonage in the rear of the church. In the year 1850 they enlarged their church building, and an excellent organ, the gift of the Power vStreet church, Providence, was placed in the organ loft. Since 1807 the following persons have been the successive pas- tors at East Greenwich : 1807, Pliny Brett ; 1808-9, Theophilus Smith; 1810, A. Stebbins ; 1811, Elisha Streeter; 1812, Warren Bannister ; 1813, Daniel Wentworth ; 1814, Joel Steele ; 1815, Ed- ward Hyde; 1816, Elisha Streeter.; 1817, Daniel Dorchester; 1818, Jason Walker; 1819, Isaac Stoddard, Solomon Sias and Benjamin Sabin ; 1820, Hezekiah Thatcher ; 1821, Francis Dane ; 1822, Lewis Bates ; 1823, Elisha Frink and Caleb Rogers ; 1824, Elisha Frink and Ephraim K. Avery ; 1825, B. Hazleton and M. Wilbor; 1826, B. Hazleton and O. Robbins ; 1827-8, Francis Dane ; 1829, Amasa Taylor and John D. Baldwin ; 1830, Amasa Taylor ; 1831, Charles Virgin ; 1832, Robert Gould and Jonathan Cady ; 1833, Robert Gould and Hiram Cummings ; 1834-5, James Porter; 1836-7, Nathan Paine; 1838, B. K. Bannister; 1839, Francis Dane ; 1840, Joseph ]\IcReading ; 1841, Benjamin F. Teft ; 1842, George F. Poole ; 1843-5, Samuel C. Brown ; 1846, L. W. Blopd ; 1847-8, H. AV. Houghton ; 1849, J. M. Worcester ; 1850-1, Richard Livsey; 1852-3, William Cone ; 4854-5, N. Bemis ; 1856, W. H. Stetson ; 1857, William Livsey ; 1858-9, R. Donkersley ; 1860, Samuel W. Coggeshall and James A. Dean ; 1861, James A. Dean; 1862, C. S. Sandford ; 1863-4, A. P. Aikin ; 1865, E. S. Stanley ; 1866, A. A. Wright and J. T. Benton ; 1867, J. T. Ben- ton ; 1868, S. A. Winsor ; 1869-72, J. F. Sheffield ; 1873, James Mather ; 1874, Wheeler ; 1875, Wright ; 1876, J. O. Benton ; 1878, G. De Stoddard ; 1879, W. F. Steele ; 1880-1, Wal- ter J. Yates; 1882-4, William H. Starr ; 1885-7, S. H..Day ; 1888, J. B. Smith. The membership of the church now is one hundred and fifty. Marlboro Street Chapel. — " The ^Marlboro Street chapel was erected in 1872, at the sole expense of AVilliam N. Sherman, Esq. The dimensions are twenty -eight by fifty feet, and the edifice was built of the best materials the market afforded, high between joints, beautifully arched, and will seat about three hundred per- 1118 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. sons, and cost about $5,000. There are no pews, but settees enough to seat all who choose to attend, and the room is often crowded to its utmost capacity. It contains a pipe and a reed organ. " The desk has been regularly supplied by various ministers of evangelical denominations, and the Sunday school and library are supported almost entirely at the expense of i\Ir. Sherman. The sittings are free. Many persons in this village are unable to purchase a pew or hire a seat in any of the churches here, but at the Friends' meeting house or at the Marlboro Street chapel, they can worship whenever they choose, free of expense. The opening notice at the dedication, closed with ' whosoever will, may come.' " The mission has been successful. Introductory services were held in the chapel at its opening, November 10th, 1872. " A church, which is an Independent Baptist, of liberal com- munion, was formed June 13th, 1874, consisting of more than sixty members. In the belfry at the north end of the building, hangs the finest toned bell in the village, the sound of which can be heard more distinctly than the others, on account of its clear- ness and sweetness." Our Lady of Mercy. — The Roman Catholic denomination erected a church under the pastorate of Father Patrick Lanahan at the south end of the village on. Main street about the year 1853. The pastors have been Fathers Patrick Lanahan, M. A. Wallace, John A. Couch, William Hart, Thomas Cain, and W. Halligan, the present pastor. Swedish Church.— The Swedish church was erected in 1874 on Spring street. This is a small church (Lutheran) and the ser- vices are conducted in the Swedish language. Manufactures. — Doctor Greene, in speaking of the manufac- tures of East Greenwich, says : "At the commencement of the Revolutionary war, a man by the name of Upton came from Nantucket to East Greenwich, and manufactured earthen ware for a number of years. The pottery where the articles were made, and the kiln where they were baked, stood on the lot now occupied by the dwelling house of John Weeden, on the corner of King and Marlboro streets. The articles made there consisted of pans, bowls, plates, cups and saucers. As there were no porcelain manufactories in America at that time, and the war prevented the importation of such arti- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1119 cles from Europe, many of the people here were obliged to use these coarse clumsy plates, cups and saucers for want of better. They were made of the coarse red earthen ware, which we see at the present day in the form of milk pans, jars and jugs. A table set out with such rough looking specimens of crockery would look very strange at this day, but we presume that many a good dish of tea was drunk out of those thick, heavy cups and saucers, and many excellent dinners were eaten off of those red earthen plates. The clay for making those articles was brought from Quidnesett at a place called Gould's Mount, on the farm now belonging to Henry Waterman, and where great quantities of the same kind of clay still remain. Shortly after the termin- ation of the Revolutionary war Mr. Upton returned to Nantuck- et, and no earthern ware has been made here since. "The Narragansetts, or some other race who inhabited this country previous to the Indians, manufactured articles of earth- en ware from this same deposit of clay. Directly opposite the village of East Greenwich is a tract of land called Potowomut, and at the north end of this tract are vast quantities of quahaug shells. It is evident that these shells were carried to this spot by the former inhabitants of this continent, as they still bear the marks of fire. Among these shells are found great numbers of stone arrow heads and fragments of ancient pottery. These pieces of pottery contain the same coarse gravel which is found in the clay from Gould's Mount, showing that the people who made this earthern ware, were not possessed of the conveniences for sifting and grinding the clay, as the moderns do when pre- paring it for use. The articles thus made were unglazed, and evidently made from the clay in the same state as when dug from the deposits. The writer has a number of fragments of this pot- tery in his possession, and once had a complete jar or vase found in an Indian grave, which is now in the possession of Doctor Parsons. The late Doctor Usher Parsons said it was made by covering a crookneck squash with a coating of clay and then baking in a wood fire until it was sufficiently hard to retain its shape. In this deposit of shells are found quantities of arrow and spear heads of stone. These arrows and spears are made of a kind of flint called horn-stone, which is not found in Rhode Is- land, and we believe nowhere south of New Hampshire or Maine — where it is very abundant. The race, therefore, which used them, must have had some traffic with those who inhabited 1120 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. these northern regions, or otherwise they must have traveled a great distance to procure them. " Extract from Judge Staple's ' Annals of Providence : ' 'About the year 1788, John Fullam worked a stocking loom in Provi- dence, and in 1794 Messrs. Schaub, Tissot and Dubosque, were engaged in printing calicoes ; they used cotton cloth imported from the East Indies and wooden blocks to impart the desired figures and colors. Previous to this, however, by several years, calico printing in the same manner was carried on at East Greenwich ; this it is supposed was the first calico printing done in America. The Rhode Island Historical Society have, in their cabinet in Providence some of the calico first printed, and some of the blocks first used.' " It appears, then, that our village has the credit of establish- ing the first calico printing works on this continent. A man by the name of Dawson first set up the business of printing calico in East Greenwich, and the print works were in an old building which formerly stood on the lot now belonging to ]Mrs. Phebe Davis and Mrs. Ruth Brown, at the north end of the village, and which was torn down within a few years. The printing was done on linen cloth, which was spun, woven and bleached by the women of our village and its vicinity. The linen thread of which this cloth was made was spun by hand on the small linen wheel operated by the foot, then woven into cloth on the com- mon hand loom, and then bleached in the sunshine. This bleach- ing was a long and tedious process, and entirely different from the chemical bleaching of the present day. The long web of linen cloth was laid on the grass, stretched out and fastened to the ground by wooden pegs, and then constantly sprinkled with water, until the sun's rays, acting on the cloth, changed the brown tow-cloth into pure white linen, ready for the calico printer. A calico, or as it was then called a chintz dress, was at that time a rare and costly article, and ranked as high in the scale of fashion as the silks and velvets do now. As there was little or none of the calico in the shops for sale, every family made their own cloth, and then carried it to the printing estab- lishment to be printed, each person selecting their own pattern and colors. The patterns were very neat and pretty, and the colors remarkably brilliant, much more so than the calico of the present day ; but those brilliant tints were owing to the material on which they were printed, as linen will take color better than HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1121 cotton. There are a number of specimens of this linen calico printed here more than ninety years ago, in this village at the present time." " During the Revolutionary War saltpetre became a very scarce article. Previously, all the nitre used in this country was im- ported from Europe ; but at the beginning of hostilities the supply from this source was cut off. Nitre being an essential ingredient in the composition of gunpowder, the general govern- ment gave its attention to the encouragement of the manufac- ture of saltpetre. Richard Mathewson united with others in the undertaking of manufacturing it. The saltpetre works were erected near the old windmill grounds on Division street, on a lot still called the saltpetre lot. The earth which produced the nitre was collected from cellars and from the dirt under the foundations of the old buildings in the village. " About the time of the erection of the saltpetre works, Richard Mathewson began the business of making wire. The war preventing the importation of the article, wire was very scarce and expensive. Mr. Mathewson used horse-power for drawing the wire, and the building occupied by him for this purpose stood on the lot at the corner of Main and Meeting streets, " About the year 1790 Richard Mathewson and Earl Mowry commenced the manufacture of woolen cards in East Greenwich, and this was the first establishment of the kind in this country. " Earl Mowry invented and constructed all the different machines necessary for the business ; those for puncturing the holes in the leather and those for cutting and shaping the teeth. Although at the present time machines are used for this purpose which puncture the leather, cut, shape and insert the teeth in the card, yet at that time a number of different processes were required to produce a card. First, the leather, after being cut into suitable dimensions for the cards of different sizes, was put into the machine which made the holes for the reception of the teeth. These teeth were made by another separate machine, which cut, bent and shaped the wire into the proper form of card-teeth. The wire, which was of different sizes, suitable for cards which were to be used for fine or coarse wool, came in the form of skeins like skeins of yarn. It was placed on a reel, whence it was wound off by the machine as it made the teeth. The machine itself was a very complicated and curious affair, 71 1122 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. and five or six of this description were required in the business of card-making, which was then a tedious process, while at pres- ent tlie requisite apparatus occupies a space of only two or three feet. Then, after the leather was prepared, every card-tooth was inserted separately by the fingers of women and children. This card factory at that time furnished employment for a num- ber of persons in the village and vicinity, and many families depended on it as their only means of support. They were paid by the dozen cards for inserting the teeth into the leather, or, as it was called, ' setting cards.' " So common was this employment then, that when the women went out to ' spend the afternoon' or evening with their neighbors, instead of their sewing, embroidery or knitting, they carried their cards and tin-pan of teeth. A number of young girls also found constant employment at the factory, occupied in examin- ing the teeth, pulling out all that were crooked and defective and inserting perfect ones in their places. " When i\Iessrs. Mathewson and Mowry commenced the busi- ness of card making they made what were called ' hand cards,' used principally by the farmers' families for straightening the fibres of wool and forming it into rolls, read)' for spinning. But when the carding machines, driven by water power, went into operation, and still later, when the business of carding and spinning cotton was begun in this country, they turned their attention to making the larger and more expensive kind of cards required for this purpose. They furnished all the cards used in this country for a number of years after the cotton manufacture was introduced, and indeed until the machine which does all the work itself was invented. The card manufactory was in the dwelling house now owned by Mrs. LeBaron, nearly opposite the Updike House. "As early as 1780 a number of tanneries were established in East Greenwich. The earliest one was by Nathan Greene, on the lot now owned and occupied by Doctor James H. Eldredge ; another, owned and worked by Caleb Greene, was located a short distance above the Orion ^lill, on the stream which supplies the fountains for the use of the mill ; another on Queen street, be- tween Marlboro and Duke streets, was owned by jNlartin Miller, and another at the north end of the village, on Main street, belonged to Robinson Pearce. The process of tanning at that period was entirely different from the present method. It is HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1123 now done in a short time by the use of chemicals and machinery ; then it required several months by hand labor to complete the process. Most of the bark used in tanning was brought from Maine and sold by the cord like firewood. The manner of grinding the bark was a ver}- clumsy and inefficient one. A circular platform, with a deep groove on its outer edge, was laid down; then a large, heavy stone, shaped like a grindstone, was made to revolve on its axis, with its edge in the groove, until tne bark was crushed sufficiently for use. Afterwards a bark mill was invented, similar in its operation to the old-fashioned coffee mill, which ground it much finer, with less time and labor. The tan-vats were wooden tanks sunk in the earth, level with its surface, filled with alternate layers of bark and hides, and left to soak until the salts of tannin had converted the skins into leather. The process was completed by saturating the leather with a horrible-smelling oil, called gurry, the same which is now used for medicine under the name of cod-liver oil. These tan- neries supplied the surrounding country with all the leather then used." Thomas May, an inventor in machinery for calico printing, came from England to America in 1850, and has identified him- self with the business in this country in new methods for rain- bow printing. Mr. jNIay has crossed the ocean twenty-one times; fourteen times his passage has been paid by manufacturers in quest of his services in this particular line of business. " The first cotton mill in the town of East Greenwich was in the western part of the township, about three miles from the village. It was built, I have been informed, by Dr. Tillinghast, and was called the Tillinghast Factory. It was on a small stream at the head of Hunt's river, and is still there, though enlarged. It was built as early as 1812 or 1814, and the cotton yarn spun there was woven into cloth by the farmers' wives and daughters, who resided in the vicinity, on hand-looms. "In the year 1827 a company under the name of The East Greenwich Manufacturing Co., built a steam mill at the foot of King street near the Jail. It was a stone building four stories in height, and in size about fifty by a hundred feet. The com- pany consisted of Daniel Harris, agent; Ezra Pollard, superin- tendent; and Dr. Charles Eldredge, Albert C. Greene, Fones and Wicks Hill, C. W. and Daniel Greene and James P. Austin. The mill contained about seven thousand spindles and twenty 1124 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. looms. The enterprise was not a sticcess, and in a few years the company became bankrupt. Previous to the failure of the con- cern, Ezra Pollard left it, and built a woolen mill on Duke street. The cotton mill was destroyed by fire February, 1839. The ru- ins, with the site, were purchased by J. C. Sanford, of North Kingstown, and Waterman & Arnold, of Providence. After laying the foundation for the present mill, they abandoned the concern and sold it to the firm of Pierce, Salisbury & Co., who erected the mill now standing there. The present mill when first built, was about the same size as the first one, but it stands in a reversed position. In 1845, Pierce, Salisbury & Co. sold the mill with the other property connected with it, to J. C. Peckham, of Providence, who filled it with machinery and worked it about four years, and then, after removing the machinery to Olney- ville, sold the whole concern to Thomas J. Hill, who is the owner at the present time. ]\lr. Hill afterward built an addition on the south side nearly as large as the original building, and named the factory 'The Bay ]\Iill.' " In 1836 C. W. and D. Greene, William P. Salisbury, and others of New York, built a large brick mill on ]\Iain street, at the south end of the village — then outside of the compact part — it was filled with machinery for the manufacture of fine broadcloths and called 'The Union Mill.' The company, being unable to com- pete with foreign production, soon failed, and after removing the machinery the mill was closed for a number of years, when it was purchased by Benjamin Cozzens. 'Mr. Cozzens built a a large addition on the west end of the mill, and importing ma- chinery from England put it in operation as a cotton mill. After Mr. Cozzens failed in business, the property was purchased by Adams & Butterworth, who now operate it for the manufacture of print cloths. The mill is now called ' The Orion Mill,' and runs about L'l.OOO spindles. "During the year 1836 Ezra Pollard built a woolen mill on Duke street and manufactured Kentucky jeans. It was a two- story wooden structure, standing at the north end of the village, and operated two sets of machinery. It afterward passed into the possession of Richard Howland. In the year it was de- stroyed by fire and the next year Mr. Howland built a larger brick mill on the site of the old one. The second mill contained three sets of machinery, and was operated by i\Ir. James Waterhouse until the year 1868, when it was again destroyed by fire. It was HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1125 rebuilt by Mr. Howland on a still larger scale, but was never put in operation, and still remains vacant. " The ' Green's Dale Bleachery ' was built by the East Green- wich Manufacturing Co., Moses Pearce and others. It was on a small stream at the south end of the village, called the Masker- chugg, but was operated by steam power. It was used as a bleach- ery for a time by a Mr. Thornly, and soon after came into the possession of George J. Adams, who converted it into a ' print works' for printing muslin delaines, where were printed the first goods of this kind in the United States. These delaines were a rich and beautiful article, and were sold in Boston, New York and other cities as of French manufacture, very few people be- lieving such elegant fabrics could be produced in this country. Mr. Adams taking this hint, had tickets printed in the French language attached to the prints, and many people wore dresses which were printed in East Greenwich, supposing they were of foreign production. The printing was done with wooden blocks, by Scotch and English workmen, some of whom were fine artists in arranging and combining various rich tints. Soon afterward Mr. Adams was induced to remove to Taunton, Massachusetts, with his same workmen and manager (Mr. Monoch), but there the business was a complete failure. For some reason (perhaps want of purity in the water), he could not bring out those clear and beautiful colors he was able to produce at East Greenwich, and the result was he abandoned the works at Taunton and re- turned to Maskerchugg. After his return the ' calico printing machine ' coming into use, he turned his attention to calico print- ing, which he prosecuted with success until the year 1850, when the whole establishment, with the exception of the dry sheds, was burned to the ground. The works were soon rebuilt, and operated by George J. Adams for ' Blue Printing ' until 1863 ; from 1853 to 1856 they were operated by Adams & Butterworth in ' Madder Printing ; ' from 1856 to 1858 they were operated by James C. Butterworth alone, when they were again destroyed by fire. Undismayed by these calamities, the owners rebuilt the works on a larger scale, and leased them to Mr. Theodore Schroe- der, who operated them until August 2d, 1862. Mr. Schroeder, who was a native of Copenhagen, Denmark, continued to reside on the premises until his death, in the year 1867. vSince 1862 the print works have been operated by Adams & Butterworth. 1126 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. "About sixty years ago Cromwell Salisbury operated a foun- dry for making brass andirons, shovels, tongs, and supporters, on Marlboro street. He was a very ingenious mechanic, manu- facturing his own metal, inventing his own patterns, and mak- ing the iron portion of his articles at his own forge and anvil. These articles were very rare at that time, and he supplied the country around for a number of years. His patterns were very beautiful ; many of them are still in existence and highly valued. Some of our readers, perhaps, may not know what supporters are. They are s^iall pieces of brass in a semi-circular form, and fastened each side of a fire-place to support the shovel and tongs in an upright position. Mr. Salisbury made many other useful articles, which, at that time could only be procured by importa- tion. " In the year 1873 Mr. John Earnshaw commenced making coir mats and brushes, on Duke street. He invented and pat- ented his own machines, and at present he is the only manufac- turer of coir brushes in the United States. Coir is made from the fibrous portion of the husk which covers the cocoanut. It is principally imported from Calcutta, although large quantities are made by the natives on the coast of Africa. " The fibrous portion of the husk, after being separated from the nut, is macerated in water, until by fermentation all the gel- atinous portion is dissolved, leaving the fibres in a state to be spun into a coarse kind of yarn. The natives spin the fibre by rolling it on the knee with the hand until there is twist enough to form it into a coarse thread, which is then made up into skeins ready for export. It is imported in bales, each weighing about two hundred and fifty pounds, in the form of small skeins, very tightly packed, and will make four brushes to the pound. " The first process in manufacturing the brush consists in reel- ing the skeins on spools. These are placed on a frame in front of a folding machine, then a boy with this machine folds the yarn into layers for two brushes, then compresses them and cuts them apart at the rate of four hundred brushes per day. The next process consists in binding around the brush and stitching it on, and it requires two binders to one folder. The brush is then finished by shearing and trimming. They are used mostly for scrubbing floors, and are called the ' coir scrubbing brush.' " Mr. Earnshaw is also the inventor of the flour sifter, on which he receives a royalty on every one sold, and a machine HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1127 called the ' Earnshaw needle loom,' for weaving ribbons ar.d other narrow fabrics, which he sold to a firm in New London, Connecticut. " In the year 1845 a two-story wooden building was erected at the corner of Division and Marlboro streets, by Asa Arnold, for a machine shop. Mr. Arnold was a descendant of the Smithfield Arnolds and the Greenes of Potowomut. He was well known throughout New England by the past generation, for his inven- tion of the compound motion, or differential wheels, applied to the cotton speeder. This invention has been in use on all cot- ton speeders throughout the world for over fifty years, and has never been superseded or improved upon. "The machine shop was used for the first four or five years for the building of cotton machinery, mechanics' tools, machines for making pressed brick, and doing repairs for the mills and print works. Since 1850 to the present time it has been occupied by his son, Mr. Benjamin Arnold, for building machinery in- vented by him for knitting seines and fishing nets." The Bolton Manufacturing Company was organized to succeed Adams & Butterworth in the bleachery in 1885. The capacity of the plant is sufficient to bleach and finish six tons of cotton cloth per day. The Bolton Manufacturing Company is a stock company of which E. P. Mason is president, C. F. Mason, treasurer, and N. H. Baker, vice-president and general manager. These three are Providence gentlemen. Their superintendent is William W. Farrington, of East Greenwich, a native of England, who was educated as a finisher of cotton fabrics at Manchester, England. He came to the United States in 1876 for W. F. & F. C. Sayles to superintend the finishing of fancy cotton goods — a class of work not before done in America. The bookkeeper, John F. Straight, is also a resident of this village. He was born in Ex- eter, where his father Aaron Straight, a son of Solomon Straight, resided. He was educated as an accountant and was eleven years at Attawanagan, Conn., as accountant for a firm operating- three mills and two stores. The superintendent and bookkeeper have been here since July 1st, 1885. In 1885 the Coir Brush Manufactory passed into the hands of Pierce & Wadleigh, who are continuing that business with marked success. Julian Hawthorn, in the Herald of Health, says: "A cocoanut fibre brush is the best, and to get at your back it is a 1128 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. good plan to have a cocoanut mat hung against the walls to rub yourself against. Keep up this friction at least ten minutes. You could not invest the same amount of time more usefully." BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Colonel William Bodfish. — William Bodfish, who was of English birth, resided in Sandwich, Mass. His son William, a native of the latter town, followed a seafaring life, and at the early age of nineteen was master of a ship sailing from Boston and engaged in the West India trade. His death in 1835 was the result of a fever contracted during his' last voyage. He married Deborah T. Hatch, whose children were : Mary, wife of Edward Landers, of Newport, and William, a native of Falmouth, Mass., whose birth occurred February 22d, 1815. Here his youth was passed, though deprived in infancy of the affectionate care of a mother. The common and private schools of Falmouth afforded excellent opportunities for a thorough training in the English branches, after which at the age of sixteen he removed to Prov- idence and began his apprenticeship to the trade of a tailor. At the expiration of the fourth year he returned to his native place, spent several years at his trade, and again made Providence his home. In February, 1843, Colonel Bodfish became a resident of East Greenwich, and was for two years employed at his trade, after which he established himself as a merchant tailor and dealer in clothing. In 1855 he was tendered the cashiership of the Rhode Island Central Bank, which he filled until the financial crisis of 1857 caused a suspension of the bank. He then embarked in the tailoring business in Providence and continued thus engaged until 1861, meanwhile retaining his home in East Greenwich. The latter place again found him one of its prominent business men from 1861 to 1866, when Taunton, Mass., afforded an open- ing for a dry goods and millinery store, which was four and a half years later removed to East Greenwich. This he continued until 1880, the date of his retirement. In 1878 he built the Bod- fish Block and occupied it until his discontinuance in business, when George H. Fuller became the lessee. Colonel Bodfish was in 1835 married to Elizabeth S. Synya, of Providence, who died in April, 1863. They had eight children as follows: William S., born in 1837; Joshua L., in 1839; Mary A., in 1841 ; Celia C, in 1844 ; William E., in 1846 ; Frances E., ARTOTYPE, E. BIER8TADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1129 in 1848; George W., in 1851, and William H., in 1852. Joshua L. and William H. are the only survivors of this number. He was a second time married October 2d, 1865, to Abbie Frances, daughter of the late Sidney S. Tillinghast, of East Greenwich. Colonel Bodfish began his political career as a whig, later be- came a republican, and is now an earnest prohibitionist. He held the office of clerk of the court of common pleas for the years 1850 and 1852, and was elected to the state senate in 1873 and 1874. He was a charter member of the East Greenwich Savings Bank, as also of the East Greenwich Mutual Insurance Company, of which he was both treasurer and agent. He is an active mason and was master of King Solomon's Lodge, No. 11, of East Greenwich. In 1843 he joined the Kentish Guards elsewhere spoken of in this volume, was the following year made paymas- ter of the company, and in 1846 held a commission as colonel of the organization, in which capacity he served for eleven years. Under the militia law of 1862 he organized one of the county regiments of which he was made colonel and held the position until the repeal of the law. Colonel Bodfish was originally a member of the Baptist church in Providence, and aided in es- tablishing the church of that denomination in East Greenwich. He was one of the building committee on the erection of the first edifice and chairman of the same committee when the pres- ent beautiful house of worship was constructed in 1884. He at present fills the office of deacon, has been for a long period clerk and treasurer, and for twenty-five years chorister of the church. General Thomas W. Chace. — On the 22d of June, 1834, on the southern shores of Rhode Island, in the town of Charlestown, a son was born to Isaac and Celina (Littlefield) Chace. They gave their son physical and intellectual vigor, christened him in the name that heads this article, and to-day he is the widely and favorably known General Thomas W. Chace, of East Greenwich and Providence. His mother, as the daughter of Captain Na- thaniel Littlefield, of New Shoreham, had in her veins some of the best blood of that island, while his father, the son of Maxon Chace, a soldier of the war of 1812, had lineally descended from William Chace, one of the early settlers of the colony. The general's father was born in Westerly, R. I., in 1807, and died in New Shoreham, R. I., in the thirty-eighth year of his age. Soon after the death of his father, Thomas W. removed to Westerly. In September, 1846, he went to live with his uncle, 1130 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. T. W. Foley, of Providence, with whom, after receiving a good common school education, he learned the business of a merchant tailor. On attaining his majority, he purchased the stock and good will of the business of Mr. Foley. Since 1856 he has car- ried on business successfully in Providence. He still continues business on Westminster street, under the firm name of T. W. Chace & Co. For several years he was prominently identified with the mil- itary organizations of the city and state. In 1857 he enlisted as a private in the First Light Infantry Company of Providence, and in 1861 he assisted in the formation of the Burnside Zou- aves, now known as the United Train of Artillery, and .served as adjutant and major of that command. At the May session of the general assembly in 1874 he was elected brigadier general of the Fourth Brigade, Rhode Island Militia, and in 1873 and in 1875 was chosen to command the Third and First brigades respect- ively. He was mustered out of the service on the reorganization of the militia in June, 1879. "The Governor and Commander- in-Chief, in general order No. 11, series of 1879, returned thanks to Brig.-Genl. Thos. W. Chace for his valuable services and con- stant devotion to the interests of the State Militia." At the May session of the general assembly, 1879, " It was voted to present to Genl. Chace the colors and standards of this Brigade for his efficient services in the State Militia." In 1874 he was elected member of the republican state central committee, and from that time until the present he has held an influential position in the party councils, and after serving ably as chairman of that committee he declined a re-election in 1888. In June,' 1888, he was chosen for a term of four years to repre- sent Rhode Island on the Republican national committee. He was an alternate to the national republican convention in 1876 and a delegate to Chicago in 1880. While giving much of his at- tention to state and national politics, he has frequently taken part in the more local affairs of East Greenwich, which town is his present home. In 1882 and in 1883 he was elected to repre- sent East Greenwich in the general assembly, and in 1885 and again in 1886 he was elected to the state senate from that town. In the January session of 1887, on the floor of the senate cham- ber, he demonstrated his strength as a debater and a leader, and took a position on a great public question, by which he became AUTOTYPE, E. BIER8TADT, N. Y. -^^^^:^^£^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1131 at once better known throughout the state. The bill, now chap- ter 634 of the Laws of Rhode Island, was then on its passage, and General Chace was credited by the friends of the prohib- itory amendment with well directed efforts in the best interests of the cause. He has belonged to the great brotherhood of Masons since 1859, and in the fraternity has filled important offices. In 1857 he united with the Central Baptist church of Provi- dence, with which he is still connected. He assisted in the form- ation of the Rhode Island Baptist Social Union in 1871, of which he was for several years treasurer and vice-president. From 1863 to 1872 he served as vice-president of the Young Men's Christian Association, of which he was president from 1872 to 1875. He married in February, 1865, Emily S. Starkweather, of Windham, Connecticut. Joseph Dews was born May 13th, 1843, in Horbry, Yorkshire, England, and when five years of age emigrated with his parents to America. He first located at Trenton, three years later re- moved to East Greenwich and at the expiration of the third year made Westerly his home. When a lad he entered as an appren- tice the Pollard Mill at East Greenwich, and until the age of six- teen continued to serve in various mills between school seasons. He attended the public schools, but being desirous of more thor- ough opportunities than were possible in that limited educational field, became a student of .the East Greenwich Academy. In 1859 he entered the employ of Messrs. H. N. Campbell & Co., in their factory store at Westerly and remained thus occupied for seven years, in the meantime taking a vacation for the purpose of securing a commercial education at Poughkeepsie, New York. He then became a partner with them in the purchase and sale of wool. In 1876 he made an engagement with Alessrs. Brown, Steese & Clarke, wool commission merchants, of Boston, Mass., and continued this business relation until 1882. His ambition from boyhood to become the owner of a woolen mill was now grati- fied, as two years previously Mr. Dews had started a small mill in Westerly, which he managed until his lease of the American Mill Company's property at East Greenwich. He had already experienced some of the vicissitudes peculiar to the manufac- turer, but nothing daunted, thoroughly equipped the latter mill with new and improved machinery and began operations with 1132 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. eighteen looms. Under his successful management the demand for his products greatly increased, sixty-three looms were intro- duced and two hundred and eighty hands employed in its vari- ous departments. The sales during the last year reached the sum of $535,000 net. This is entirely the result of the ability and judgment evinced by Mr. Dews in the management of everj^ detail of his increasing business, and places him among the lead- ing manufacturers of the state. He has recently established in East Greenwich the Phoenix Electric Light & Coal Company, of which he is the sole owner, and is a director of the Hope Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Providence. He has never been di- verted from the field of business to the arena of politics, but given his thought and attention more especially to church mat- ters as one of the vestry of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal church in Providence, of which he is a member. Mr. Dews was in 1866 married to Anne M., daughter of Levens Shumway of Oxford, Mass. Their children are : Fred. S., Mary L., Annie Louise, Joseph Howard and Bessie S. Thomas G. Fry. — Mr. Fry is of English descent. His grand- father, Joseph Fry, spent his life on the homestead in East Green- wich still in possession of the family. Among his sons was Thomas, born on the above spot, in the vicinity of which his days were passed in the congenial pursuits of a farmer. He was not, however, indifferent to the demands made upon his time and ability as a good citizen, and devoted much attention to the public interests as member of the state legislature, judge of the court of common pleas, and justice of the peace. In these varied offices he indicated that strong common sense and prac- tical knowledge which enabled him to maintain an influential position in the county during the whole of his active life. He married Hannah, daughter of Nicholas Spink, of Quidnes-sett. To this union were born children: Nicholas S.; Eleanor, wife of Doctor Charles Eldredge ; Anna, married to Gordon W. Nichols ; John ; Ruth, wife of Joseph Arnold ; Joseph ; Thomas G., and a son Richard, who died in infancy. Thomas G. Fry was born on the 13th of August, 1810, on the farm which is his present home. He became a pupil of the dis- trict school, mastered there the elementary branches, and as a lad helped in various ways in the work of the farm. The whole drift of his mind and the constitution of the man tended toward the life of an agriculturist, and in obedience to his tastes he ARTOTYPE, e. BIERSTAOT, te£<^ a is; n . <; ^ 1 ? ii, s w 1') z ill w rt Q W HI w K HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1133 followed his father's -pursuits. On the death of the latter, in 1831, he succeeded to the estate, each of the brothers receiving a farm as their inheritance. Uv. Fry continued thus actively em- ployed until 1877, when, having gained by industry and appli- cation a respite from further care, he relinquished the manage- ment of the property to his son-in-law. He was on the 10th of February, 1841, married to Miss Hannah A. U., daughter of Jonathan Reynolds and sister of Hon. John J. Reynolds, of Wickford, whose family is more fully mentioned elsewhere in this volume. Three daughter.?— Hannah, Susan Elizabeth and Helena — are deceased, and a daughter, Lydia, is the wife of William A. Vaughn. Mr. Fry cares little for the busy scenes of public life, and has, therefore, never sought office. Positions of trust, both of a civil and business character, have always been gratefully declined by him. Formerly a whig, he now supports the republican party. During the turbulent period of the Dorr war he joined the law and order party, and was a member of a company enrolled for the defense of the state gov- ernment. He was reared in the faith of the Society of Friends, and worships with the East Greenwich Friends' meeting. Lauriston H. Greene. — Elisha Greene, the great-grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, settled in Apponaug, where he was, during the greater part of his life, one of its most representative citizens. His son Stephen was drafted during the war of the revolution, and, not finding it convenient to respond, secured a substitute. He engaged in farming pursuits in East Greenwich, and married Elizabeth Whiteman, of Quid- nessett, whose children were four sons : George, who was lost at sea; Elisha, Valentine and William ; and four daughters : Mary, wife of James Beattie ; Isabella, Betsey and Tabitha. William Greene, who was born in 1784, spent his life as a farmer, residing upon the homestead now the property of his son Lauriston H. Greene, who has greatly improved the estate and remodelled the dwelling, a view of which is given in this volume. Mr. Greene was prominent in public affairs, served for successive terms in the state legislature, and filled various town offices. He mar- ried, in 1810, Abagail, daughter of John Reynolds, of Warwick, who survives him and, in her ninety-fifth year, still resides with her son upon the homestead. Their children were : John R., deceased; Thomas T., also deceased; William C, a manufactur- ing jeweller in Providence ; George F. and Henry C., deceased ; 1134 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Lauriston H.; Elisha and Elizabeth, deceased ; Hilary, Mrs. Joseph Fry ; Elizabeth I., Mrs. John Pitcher, and two who died in infancy. Lauriston H. Greene was born on the 19th of JvAy. 1833, on the homestead which is now his property. He applied himself to study in youth and readily mastered the ordinary English branches. Not at that time preferring the laborious pursuits of a farmer to the busy life of a large cit}', he repaired to Provi- dence and learned the trade of a manufacturing jeweler with his brother. This he diligently followed for ten years, much of the time acting in the capacity of foreman. On the death of his brother George F., who had meanwhile managed the farm, he re- turned to East Greenwich, settled the estate, and having pur- chased the interest not already his own, began the life of a farmer. It may be proper to add that in taking this step he was largely influenced by filial affection to relinquish the attractions of a city home for the daily routine of toil incident to the life of a farmer. Mr. Greene has given his support to the republican party and been jnore or less prominent in its local councils. He has held various town offices but given little time to political affairs, his private business requiring his exclusive attention. Mr. Greene was on the 12th of December, IS.iS, married to Abby A. V., daughter of Bradford Ripley of Providence. Both he and Mrs. Greene are members of the Baptist church of East Greenwich. Thomas E. Kenyon. — George Kenyon, the grandfather of the subject of this sketch, resided in the town of Hopkinton in Washington county, Rhode Island. To his wife, formerly a Miss Hoxie, were born thirteen children, one of whom was Solomon, a native of Hopkinton, who married Eunice Sheffield, of Ports- mouth, in Newport county, in the same state. Their children were: Martha, Peleg, vSolomon H., Catherine, George C, JohnT., Eunice S. and Thomas E. The youngest of this number, Thomas E., was born April 21st, 1807, in Richmond, Washington county, where a private school, conducted during the winter months, afforded the only oppor- tunities for education he enjoyed, the remainder of the year being devoted to work upon his father's farm. He continued to reside with his parents until 1836, meanwhile for several years leasing the property. During the year above mentioned, he pur- ZJfLJryrutiJ U cMx^m^^^^'^t.. ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, N. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1135 chased a small farm at Pawtucket, cultivated the land until the fall of 1838, and returned to Richmond, where his first experi- enc3 as a farmer occurred. In 1842 llv. Kenyon became the owner of his present home in East Greenwich, then embracing thirty-five acres, which by industry and thrift he has since fully doubled in area. He has made farming the business of his life, and is ranked among the most successful agriculturists of the town of East Greenwich. He was many years since a director of the Rhode Island Ex- change Bank of East Greenwich, and has borne a somewhat con- spicuous part in affairs connected with his town and county. A whig of positive opinions during the existence of that party, and afterward a republican, he has been a member of the town coun- cil and held other local offices. He has twice been elected to the state legislature, and been each time assigned to various impor- tant committees. He was educated in the faith of the Society of Friends and still maintains his allegiance to that belief. Mr. Kenyon has been thrice married. To his first wife, Mary L. Pierce, of Richmond, were born two children, Peleg G. and John R. He was married a second time to Mary Ann Gardner, whose only son, Thomas E., is deceased. His present wife is Elizabeth N. Austin, of Coventry, whose children are Thomas E., Albert A. and Mary E. John R. Kenyon was born in 1834 and married Clara, daughter of Charles Nichols. Their four living children are : John H., Frank T., Eunice N. (wife of Lewis A. Walton of Cranston) and Solomon H. Thomas May, of Mayville, in East Greenwich, is a conspicuous example of success in life as the result of industry and thrift. The son of Thomas and Mary Mercer May, he was born in Milton, near Clitheroe, Bowland, Yorkshire, England, on the 31st of May, 1819, and spent the first four years of his life at this point. Removing with his parents to Whiteash, near Blackburn, his father there started the first power loom and operated it for a period of two years. The town of Acerington then became his home, where at the age of seven he entered the weaving room, and was there engaged in carrying cops to the operatives, at half a crown a week. While residing here he was left father- less and largely dependent upon his own exertions. Enjoying no opportunities for education, he was taught to read in the Sunday school. 1136 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. On the death of his father he lived for three years with a farmer, and, returning again to his home, entered a spinning factory, where he soon became conversant with the spinner's art. At the age of sixteen the young man entered the print works near Bolton, in Lancastershire, first in the dye room, and second in the department of printing. Here he served an apprenticeship of seven years, at eleven shillings per week for two years, twelve shillings for the succeeding two years, thirteen shillings for the two j-ears following, and fifteen shillings for the final year. Having been married on the 20th of March, 1839, this apprenticeship was begun the day following. On its con- clusion he received thirty-six shillings, and later two pounds per week. He was then employed at Belmont, near Bolton, and as foreman printer here introduced the then new style of rainbow printing, at a salary of fifty shillings per week. Mr. May has crossed the ocean twenty-one times, during seven of which his wages were paid while absent, and on several occa- sions his passage. The first of these trips occurred in 1850, in response to a summons from the Bunnell Print Works at Paw- tucket, Rhode Island, where he was employed for one year. The last was on the occasion of the Queen's jubilee, with a wife and two children. He returned again to England, remained a year, and in 1852 settled in Manchester, New Hampshire, his wages at this point being twenty-five dollars per week. The year 1853 found him again in England, at Syddall's Print Works at Chad- kirk, near Stockport, in Cheshire. Mr. May had meanwhile become thoroughly imbued with the American spirit, and in 1854 accepted an engagement at Crompton, Rhode Island, as foreman for Abbott & Sanders. His voyage, with a wife and eight small children, on accepting this offer, was an eventful and perilous one. Shipwrecked off Cape Race rock, and detained amid many inconveniences at St. Johns, Newfoundland, for three weeks, at the expiration of the seventh week their destination was reached in safety. Mr. May spent the period between 1861 and 1862 in England, was for a brief time in Dover, New Hamp- shire, and then engaged in machine printing for the Richmond Manufacturing Company at Providence. The year 1866 Mr. May spent in Cranston, and in 1867 made East Greenwich his residence, having closed a contract as fore- man for Messrs. Adams & Butterworth. With the exception of brief intervals of absence, this village has since been his home. (S^^-'^'-*^*-'^*-^^^ AHTOryPE, E. BltHSIAOT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1137 His wages have at times been as high as forty dollars per week, indicating the appreciation in which he was held by his em- ployers. Having by prudence and unceasing industry gained a competence, he has retired from active labor and invested his savings in real estate at Mayville, which hamlet is being con- stantly improved. Mr. May is the father of nineteen children, thirteen being daughters and six sons. Fifteen of these are liv- ing. On the 15th of October, 1888, he raised the stars and stripes in celebration of the birth of the nineteenth child, a daughter. He is not attached to any political party, but enjoys the privilege of the franchise and votes for the best man, irrespective of party ties. He was educated in the faith of the Wesleyan Methodist church, and still worships with that body. Mr. May is in his seventieth year, though still hale and hearty as a boy. Richard Spencer.— John Spencer, who came from England on the 24th of March, 1633, and died in 1648, leaving no children, was uncle to John Spencer, the progenitor of the family in East Greenwich. The latter participated in the King Philip's war, and was one of forty-eight settlers who purchased the territory now embraced in East and West Greenwich. His son John born in 1666, married Audrey Greene, daughter of Deputy-Governor John Greene. Their son William, born in 1695, was the father of William, whose birth occurred in 1723 and his death in 1777. His son John, born in 1760, and representing the fifth genera- tion in line of descent, was the father of the subject of this biog- raphy. He was drafted during the revolutionary war and finding it impossible to leave, secured a substitute. By his marriage to Huldah Johnson were born five sons — John, William, Hezekiah, Oliver and Richard — and two daughters — Huldah and Betsey. Richard Spencer was born May 9th, 1798, on the farm where he has during his lifetime resided. His education was received in the school house his father assisted in building, after which he began active life as a farmer. In consideration of the care bestowed upon his parents in their advancing years, he was given one half the farm, and purchased the remainder. This embraced originally ninety acres, but was reduced in its dimen- sions by the sale of twenty acres with which a substitute was se- cured for revolutionary service, when his father was drafted. Richard Spencer has added to this until his landed possessions now embrace three hundred acres, much of which is under a high state of cultivation. He has been industrious and frugal, 72 1138 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. realizing that diligence and integrity in business are the pre- requisites to success. Always a democrat in his political convictions, his voice has been heard in the meetings of the town council, and the offices of auditor, overseer of highways for over twenty years, and man- ager of the town asylum have been filled by him. He was ap- pointed justice of the peace but declined the honor, and likewise refused all offers of legislative preferment. Frequently made executor and administrator, his judgment no less than his stern integrity, have made his services invaluable in the settlement of estates. Mr. Spencer regards the business aspect of his life as of little moment beside that larger religious experience which has been to him the support and comfort of his later years. He was "born a second time," as he graphically describes it, in 1838, was chosen deacon of the Six Principle Baptist church of French- town in East Greenwich the same year, and ordained to that office in March, 1839. His life has since been a beautiful exam- ple of the virtues which should adorn the Christian character. Deacon Spencer married April 3d, 1817, Roby, daughter of Joseph Tarbox. Their children are : Richard Anthony, Audra E., Joseph J., William A., Huldah E., E. Amanda, and two who died in infancy. Richard Anthony died at the age of twenty- seven, leaving one daughter, Anna M., wife of John J. Spencer, whose children are : Richard Augustus, William J. B. and Alfred Earnest. Audra E. is now the widow of Benjamin Spencer ; William A. is married to Mary E. Harrington ; Huldah E. is the wife of Daniel C. Bailey ; and E. Amanda is married to Job Briggs. Silas Weaver. — The Weaver family, having originally emi- grated from Wales, first settled in Newport. Dutee Weaver, the father of Silas Weaver, and a revolutionary soldier, was born February 11th, 17.38, and resided in East Greenwich, where he first pursued his trade as a tailor, and later engaged in the sale of groceries and cultivated a farm he owned. He filled the of- fice of justice of the peace, and held other positions of local im- portance. He married Almy Andrew, of East Greenwich, whose children are : Phebe, married to Thomas Howland ; Arnold, Lydia, wife of Christopher Weaver ; Jonathan, Paul N., Eunice, married to Lewis CoUings ; Silas and Simeon. The death of Du- tee Weaver occurred May 9th, 1842, in his eighty-fifth year. jC-~^~- I tO^ ARTOTYPE, E. BIERSTADT, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1139 Silas Weaver, the youngest, with one exception, of the above children, was born March 2d, 1802, in East Greenwich. He re- ceived private instruction, chiefly at evening schools, and until the age of twenty availed himself of any opportunities that af- forded an honest livelihood. Then entering his father's shop he began the tailor's trade, and concluded the period of his ap- prenticeship at Nantucket and Providence. Returning to East Greenwich in 1822 he opened a shop, and soon found himself at the head of a prosperous business. This he continued until 1842, meanwhile working assiduously at his trade, and finally for a series of years abandoning any active pursuit. He early es- poused the principles of the democracy, and has since been an active and influential member of the party. Mr. Weaver deter- mined in 1835 to enter the arena of politics, and was, in October of that year, elected a representative to the general assembly, and again for the two succeeding terms. To this office he was again chosen under the new charter on the 5th of April, 1865. In June, 1849, he was made town clerk, and acceptably filled the office until 1865. He also held various other town offices pre- vious to and after 1835, on many occasions receiving the si;f- frages of the opposite party. He was appointed surveyor of the Port of East Greenwich, R. I., in June, 1845, and continued to hold the office for four years, having been appointed by James K. Polk, then president of the United States. He has also been and is a leading spirit in the business affairs of the town, having been chosen a director of the Rhode Island Central Bank of East Greenwich, and held the same position in the Greenwich National Bank since its organization. In 1842 he embarked in the business of a real estate broker, which was successfully con- tinued until 1870. Mr. Weaver was, on the 28th of July, 1868, married to Sa- rah E., widow of Bradford C. Shaw, of Providence, and daughter of the late Nathan Whiting, Esq., a native of Massachusetts, who graduated at Brown University, and practiced law for many years in East Greenwich. Although reared in the faith of the society of Friends, Mr. Weaver and his wife worship with the congregation of St. Luke's Protestant Episcopal church. CHAPTER XXIII. TOWN OF WEST GREENWICH. General Features of the Town with Points of Interest. — Division of the Lands and Settlement of the Town. — Sketches of the Thirteen Original Purchasers. — Town Organization, Etc. — Industries. — Education. — Theophilus Whaley. — Sketches of Some of the Leading Men of West Greenwich. — Nooseneck, its Manufacturing and Mercantile Interests. — Escoheag. — West Greenwich Cen- tre. — Robin HoUow. — Liberty. — The Churches. THIS town is an agricultural township, but its lack of easy communication with Narragansett bay and its uneven sur- face have proved obstacles to its growth and prosperity. The town is about twenty-five miles southwest of the city of Providence, and is bounded on the north by Coventry, on the east by East Greenwich, on the south by Exeter, and on the west by Connecticut. The surface of this town affords a pleasing di- versity of hill and dale. There is one eminence called Hopkins' hill, from the summit of which the eye rests upon an interesting landscape, interspersed with farms and hamlets beautiful to be- hold. The principal places of note in the town are as follows : J'illagcs. — Nooseneck, West Greenwich Centre, Escoheag, sup- posed to signify origin of three rivers. Hills. — Hopkins', Nooseneck, Raccoon, Weavers', Bald, Esco- heag, Breakheart, Hanging, Fisher. Ponds. — Carr's, Mishnock, Bailey, Wickerboxet, Tippecansett, Nooseneck, Fry. Rivers. — Mishnock, Nooseneck or Fry's, Congdon, the three main branches flowing northerly into the Pawtuxet ; Great, Muddy Brook and Hazard Brook, main branches of Wood river flowing southerly into the Pawcatuck. Swamps. — Mishnock, Cedar, Willow, Bear, Buffington, Ragged. Rocks. — Rattlesnake, Threshing, Saddle, Patience. The singular feature in the water shed of this town is that while the length east and west is three times its width, yet a line drawn from north to south dividing the town into two halves HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1141 will show that the general course of the water in the easterly part of the town is toward the north, while that in the westerly section is toward the south. Thus the branches of the Great river drain the entire eastern section with the single exception of the small territory around Mishnock pond, whose waters flow north through the Spring Lake brook, and the branches of Wood river the western section. There are no important public enterprises in the town. No telegraph nor railroad, nor any very extensive manufacturing establishments ; no secret societies, nor have any ever been or- ganized; no post office until 1846, no stately town edifice in which the freemen assemble to exercise their inalienable rights, and no town asylum. The town has, however, facilities for tak- ing care of the poor according to the old custom of letting them out to the lowest bidder. There does not seem to be any need of further consideration than following the old system in vogue, as the overseer of the poor for the year 1888 reports but two cases needing attention. The schools of the town are good. There are twelve districts, and in each is a good house and a com- mendable spirit prevails, the results of a true education, that of the sacredness of all financial obligations. In 1888 the sum of $3,118.43 was paid out for the support of the schools of the town. In 1833 an effort was made to establish a banking institution at Nooseneck to be called the West Greenwich Farmers' Bank. The stock was partially subscribed but not enough to warrant the successful operation of an institution of this character, and the project failed. This portion of Rhode Island was not settled as early as some other sections. It belonged to what is known as the Vacant Land Tract. It consisted of 35,000 acres and was sold for ;£'l, 100. The purchasers of the town of West Greenwich were all from the towns of Warwick and East Greenwich. For the sale of the lands of West Greenwich, June 30th, 1709, and for the division of the same among the purchasers, the reader is referred to the history of the town of East Greenwich in this volume. The fol- lowing sketches of these purchasers, thirteen in number, were prepared for this work by Mr. Charles W. Hopkins,* of Provi- dence, R. I. * Valuable information has been obtained from "Austin's Genealogical Dic- tionary of Rhode Island " in the preparation of these sketches. 1142 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Benjamin Barton.— Benjamin Barton's name appears first in the list of the thirteen original proprietors of the thirty thousand acres of land now comprised in the town of West Greenwich. The deed conve}ang this tract of land to them was executed June 30th, 1709, and the sum to be paid was i^l,100. Benjamin Barton was the son of Rufus and Margaret Barton, and was born in 1645, and married, June 18th, 1672, Susannah, daughter of Sam- uel and Elizabeth Gorton, and resided in Warwick. His father came from New York to Portsmouth about 1640, and later re- moved to Warwick, where he died in 1648. The early records show Benjamin Barton to have been a man of considerable wealth and prominence. He was a member of the assembly either as as- sistant or deputy for many years during the period from 1674 to 1717, and speaker of the house of deputies 1703-4, and a member of the committee on the boundary line between the colonies of Rhode Island and Connecticut. He died in 1720. In his will he gave his daughters, Phebe and Naomi, land in East Greenwich, and to his eldest son, Rufus, all lands, buildings and orchards not otherwise disposed of. The inventory of his estate included ;^503 silver money, plate and bonds, fourteen cows, horses, sheep, swine, and a number of Negro and Indian servants. Thomas Fry, son of Thomas and Mary (Griffin) Fry, was born in 1666, married, February 1st, 1688, Welthian, daughter of Thomas and Elizabeth (Barton) Greene. She was a neice of Benjamin Barton, the first on the list of original proprietors of West Greenwich. He was deputy from the town of East Green- wich, with the exception of a few years, from 1696 to 1732 ; justice of the peace from 1698 to 1704; in 1709 was appointed on a committee to run a boundary line between Rhode Island and Massachusetts ; speaker of the house of deputies for a number of years ; was appointed, with Andrew Harris, in 1715, by the as- sembly, to transcribe and prepare the laws of the colony for the press, and in 1727-28-29 was deputy governor. He died Sep- tember 3d, 1748. His inventory amounted to ^22,309, viz. : silver, and plate, i^228 ; bonds, ;^1,390 : groceries in shop, apothecary wares, silk, &c., books, ^20; 23 bbls. cider, cider mill, 4 Negro boys, ^850 ; Negro woman Juda and her three children, ;^450 ; 40 sheep, &c. Each grandchild was to have a Bible and silver spoon. James Carder, son of Richard and Mary Carder, was born May 2d, 1655, and married Mary, daughter of John and Mary HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1143 (Olney) Whipple. His father was of the number who, in 1643, bought of Miantinomo, for 144 fathoms of wampum, the tract of land now comprised in the town of Warwick, and later in the same year, with others, was overpowered by the ^Massachusetts soldiery and taken to Boston, where he was tried before the court for heresy and sedition, imprisoned at Roxbury, and finally released and banished the colony. James Carder was for a num- ber of years deputy for Warwick, was appointed on a committee to run the boundary between Rhode Island and the colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut, and was appointed in 1707, with John Mumford, to survey vacant lands in Narragansett. He died April 25th, 1714. He is mentioned as " Captain James Carder." John Spencer, son of John and Susannah Spencer, was born April 20th, 1666, and married Audrey, daughter of John Greene, deputy governor, and his wife, Ann Almy. John Spencer, Sr., was one of the original proprietors of the township of East Greenwich. John Spencer was deputy from East Greenwich for a number of years, and a portion of the time speaker of the house. In his will he gave to his son John the homestead and his tanning utensils ; to his son William a farm in East Green- wich ; to each of two grandsons and two granddaughters, a house lot. He died in 1743. Benjamin Greene, son of John Greene, who removed from Kingstown and became a resident of East Greenwich about 1705, seems to have been the Benjamin Greene who became one of the original proprietors of West Greenwich. His father, John Greene, came to Narragansett about 1639, and lived with Rich- ard Smith at Wickford. Benjamin Greene was, previous to his removal to East Greenwich, a deputy to the general assembly, surveyor of highways, member of town council, and ratemaker. In his will he mentions his wife. Humility, and twelve chil- dren. To his five sons he gives the homestead and other farms. He died in 1719. Pardon Tillinghast, born February 16th, 1668, was the son of Elder Pardon Tillinghast, who was for many years pastor of the first Baptist church in Providence. He bought land and settled in East Greenwich, about the year 1700. He was appointed justice of the peace, represented the town in the general assem- bly, and died in 1743. He was a man of wealth, and in his will made many bequests to his children and grandchildren. To his 1144 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. grandson Pardon, son of John, the farm where he dwelleth, of 260 acres, a pair of oxen, black mare, and negro Caesar for six years, and then to have his freedom. To son Philip all the homestead, he paying legacies. To well-beloved brethren of Baptist church, tinder care of Timothy Peckham, his silver cup, for their use for ever, and £2~) "towards defraying their necessary charges in spreading the gospel." To the poor of Baptist church, under care of Richard Sweet, i^25. His inventory amounted to ;£'3,089, viz.: his wearing apparel, i^49 ; bonds, ;^1, 586 ; plate, ;^22 ; two negro men, ii'120 ; cattle, cooper and carpenter tools, etc. His grandson. Pardon Tillinghast, son of John, known as " Molasses Pardon," was a wealthy resident of the eastern part of West Greenwich. John Waterman, son of Resolved and Mercy (William's) Waterman, was born about 1666. His mother was the daughter of Roger Williams. He married Anne, daughter of Thomas Olney, and received by deed of gift from his grandfather, Richard Waterman, who was one of the original purchasers of Warwick, one-half of all the grantor's lands in Warwick. He resided in Warwick, and was frequently elected a member of the general assembly, either as deputy or assistant, from 1706 to 1728. In 1710 he sold to Edward Greene, of Kingstowne, all his lands in the tract west of East Greenwich. He died August 26th, 1728. Amount of inventory, £1 ,238, including 40 or 50 head of cattle, 17 horses, 160 sheep and lambs, 1,(H)() pounds tobacco, etc. Thomas Nichols, son of Thomas, was born August 6th, 1660. He married Mercy Reynolds and resided in East Greenwich. He was appointed deputy to the general assembly from the town of East Greenwich for a number of years, and died in 1745. His father was one of the number to whom was granted 5,C0O acres of land to be called East Greenwich. In the will of Thomas Nichols, Jr., the homestead was given to his grandson Thomas, son of Thomas ; Joseph Edmunds, of Warwick, to be his guard- ian, and to cause him to be learned to read, write and cipher suitable to his degree. Lands were also given to other grand- children. John Wickes, of Warwick, R. I., was born August 8th, 1677. He was the son of John and Rose (Townsend) Wickes, and the grandson of John Wickes, of Middlesex county, England, who, with his wife Mary, set sail from London in September, 1635, was a resident of Portsmouth in 1637, and in 1643, with ten HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1145 Others, purchased of Miantinomo, Shawomet or Warwick, for 144 fathoms of wampum. John Wickes, the subject of this sketch, was for nearly thirty years town clerk of Warwick, and for many years represented the town in the general assembly. His wife, Sarah Gorton, was the daughter of Benjamin, son of Samuel Gorton, of Warwick. John Wickes. died December 27th, 1742. The inventory of his estate amounted to ^^1,947, and consisted of bonds, book debts, a number of slaves, cattle, horses, sheep, etc. John Nichols, of East Greenwich, was born April 16th, 1666. His father, Thomas Nichols, was one of the number of persons to whom was granted 5,000 acres of land to be called East Green- wich. John Nichols received from his father in 1689, 1703 and 1708 deeds of land in East Greenwich for love, etc. He was ap- pointed deputy to the general assembly, and died in 1725, having bequeathed lands to his sons, John, Thomas, Robert and Joseph. Malachi Rhodes, a resident of Warwick, was the eldest son of Malachi and Mary (Carder) Rhodes, and grandson of Zachariah Rhodes, one of the earliest settlers of Rehobeth, Mass., and later, in 1646, a resident of Pawtuxet, R. I. Malachi Rhodes married Dorothy Whipple, daughter of John Whipple. He re- ceived by will from his father all housing and lands in Warwick, and represented that town as deputy in the general assembly. He died August 17th, 1714, having by will distributed lands in various localities to his wife, his two sons and three daughters ; his wife to bring up the children and give them suitable learning. James Greene, of Warwick, was the son of James and Deliv- erance (Potter) Greene and grandson of John Greene, surgeon, who sailed from Southampton, England, April 6th, 1635, and ar- rived in Boston on the 3d of June following and two years later became one of the early settlers of Providence. The subject of this sketch was doubtless the James Greene named as one of the pur- chasers of the tract of land now comprised in the town of West Greenwich. He was born June 1st, 1658. He resided at Nau- sauket, where in 1687 he built the old James Greene homestead, a fine, historic building now standing near Buttonwoods and owned and occupied by Henry Whitman Greene, Esq., a descend- ant of John Greene, the surgeon. James Greene was a deputy to the general assembly and was appointed a member of a com- mittee on lands in Narragansett. He died March 12th, 1712. He gave to his wife Mary one half of his house and farm, which 1146 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. after lier decease was to belong to his son James ; the other half was given to his son Fones Greene. Simon Smith, son of Benjamin and Lydia (Carpenter) Smith, married Mary Andrews and resided at Warwick. His father was a member of the general assembly for nearly forty years and upon his retirement from public life in 1704, his son Simon was elected as his successor to represent the town of Warwick in the general assembly, which office he held until his death, which occurred March 4th, 1712. At various times during this period he held the office of clerk of the assembly, speaker of the house of deputies and attorney general. He served on the committee appointed to revise the laws and was lieutenant and captain. By will he gave to his son Christopher, land at Westquanaid, to hjs son Simon, land at Mashantatack, to his daughters Hester, Mary and Phebe, land at Narragansett. Town Organization, etc. — This town originally belonged to East Greenwich and was incorporated as a separate town in April, 1741. An act for incorporating the west end of the town of East Greenwich into a township, the same to be distinguished by the name of West Greenwich, was passed by the general as- sembly at its session in April of that year. " Whereas several of the inhabitants of the aforesaid town of East Greenwich by petition to this Assembly did set forth the great disadvantage they labor undet on account of the great ex- tent of said town ; and as it is conceived, it will be more for the ease and benefit of all of its inhabitants in transacting and ne- gotiating the prudential affairs thereof to ha^'e a division made. " Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly and by the authority thereof it is enacted that from the westerly line of the old township unto the Colony line, be set off and incorporated a township and the same be distinguished and known by the name of West Greenwich ; and that the inhabitants thereof from time to time shall have and enjoy, the like benefits, liberties, privi- leges and immunities with other towns in this Colony according to our charter. And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that John Spencer, Esq., a justice of the peace living within the aforesaid new town, remain in his office till the first Wednesday in May next, and that he grant forth a warrant to call the inhabitants of said town together on the third Tuesday of this instant April, to elect such town officers, as they shall have occasion for and the law directs, and to appoint the time of their HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1147 town meeting and the places, and to clioose and elect two depu- ties to represent them at the next General Assembly and as soon as by the charter is directed. " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that said town shall send one petit juror to the superior court of judi- cature, court of assize and general jail delivery, and one grand and one petit juror to the inferior court of common pleas and general sessions of the peace. " And it is further enacted that there be two trustees appointed for the said new town, for the letting out of its proportionable part of the $20,000 order to be emitted, Voted and resolved that John Spencer, Esq., and Mr. John Greene, be committee men for the town of West Greenwich, to let out their proportionable part of the bank money." Soon afterward a town meeting was held to perfect an organi- zation, at which meeting Ishmael Spink, John Greene, John Case, Samuel Hopkins, Joseph Vaughn and John Greene, Jr., were elected councilmen ; Benjamin Sweet, town clerk and Henry Matteson, treasurer. The first meetings were held at the house of Joseph Nichols. Most of the town meetings have been held at Nooseneck. John Greene and Joseph Slocum were the first deputies from this town to the general assembly. In 1744 Jere- miah Ellis, Joshua Spink, William Hall and Joseph Case were appointed a committee to run out the boundary between Exeter and East Greenwich. Benoni Hall was surveyor. The following list gives the names of the treasurers of the town of West Greenwich beginning from the organization of the town in 1741: 1741, Henry Matteson, Jr.; 1753, Preserved Hall ; 1766, Thomas Rodgers ; 1767, Preserved Hall ; 1777, George Dyer ; 1778, Jonathan Niles ; 1780, Elisha Greene ; 1784, Abel Matteson; 1786, Elisha Greene; 1788, William Nichols; 1792, Elisha Greene ; 1797, Job Spencer; 1801, Levi Whitford; 1806, Thomas Manchester ; 1809, Elisha Greene ; 1818, Silas James ; 1830, Christopher Carpenter ; 1835, Jason P. Stone ; 1836, George Dawley ; 1857, Thomas A. Waite ; 1859, John T. Lewis ; 1860, Thomas A. Waite ; 1861, John T. Lewis ; 1864, Vernum Weaver; 1865, John T. Lewis; 1883, Pardon Hopkins, present incumbent. The following list gives the names of the town clerks of the town of West Greenwich since the organization of the town : 1741, Benjamin Sweet ; 1743, Joseph Slocum ; 1744, John Spencer ; 1750, Griffin Sweet; 1761, Thomas Rodgers; 1763, Job Spencer; 1148 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1775, Thomas Gorton ; 1776, Jonathan Dean ; 1780, Gideon Waite ; 1789, Benjamin Johnson; 1813, Benjamin Nichols; 1834, Benja- min R. Hoxsie ; 1838, John James ; 1857, Pardon Hopkins; 1861, William N. Sweet; 1862, Pardon Hopkins; 1866. William N. Sweet ; 1867, Pardon Hopkins ; 1879, William N. Sweet, the pres- ent incumbent. The town officers elected May 26th, 1888, were : Moderator, Thomas J. Knight ; town clerk, William N. Sweet ; town council, Benjamin R. Hoxsie, John A. Brown, Thurston Capwell, Orman E. Tarbox, Burrill F. Hopkins ; town treasurer, Pardon Hopkins ; town sergeant, Stephen H. Kittle ; justice of the peace, Charles F. Carpenter ; auctioneers, Searles Capwell, Charles J. Matteson ; assessors of taxes, Charles F. Carpenter, Searles Capwell, John Rathbun ; overseer of poor, William R. Matteson ; town auditor, Charles F. Carpenter ; town sealer, Isaac C. Andrews ; constable, Benjamin H. Shippee ; collector of taxes, Samuel Kettelle ; school committee, Charles F. Carpenter, 3 years ; Charles S. Hazard, 2 years ; John W. Rathbun, 1 year ; pound keepers, Harrison G. Nichols, at Nooseneck; Benjamin F. Burdick, at Escoheag; corders of wood, John T. Parker, John W. Howard ; fence view- ers, Benjamin F. Tarbox, Andrew B. Stone ; senator, Benjamin R. Hoxsie ; representative, Alanson M. Albro. Industries. — There have been various kinds of industries car- ried on in the town of West Greenwich during the past fifty or sixty years. Farming has been the chief occupation of the people, and nearly all other industries here have originated from tilling the soil. The town is a thinly settled one, the popula- tion being in 1885 but 863. In 1748 it was 766. A considerable portion of the town is covered with a forest growth, the prevailing timber being white pine, oak, chestnut, and birch. These extensive forests have always claimed the at- tention of their owners, and have been a source of considerable revenue. There are a dozen saw and shingle mills doing a good business. Mr. Jason P. Hazard erected a fine one in the western part of the town some years since. Mr. George B. Vaughn has a good one near Nooseneck Hill, and the mills of Moses Barber and others might be mentioned. Education. — The pioneer school in this town was kept at Kit's Corners, on the road north of Nooseneck. Schools then and prior to that time were held at private houses. Jonathan Nichols, son of Judge Nichols, of Nooseneck, was among the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1149 first teachers. His school at the Corners numbered twenty-five pupils. Wages at that time were five dollars a month, the teach- ers boarding "around." Each pupil was supplied with a copy- ing-book, into which were copied the examples as they were solved. In 1828 there were eleven schools kept in the town, and in May, 1829, the town was divided into twelve dis- tricts, the present number. In 1839 there was expended for school purposes $575 ; in 1888 $3,118.43 was expended for the same purpose. The school buildings in this town, as a general thing, will compare favorably with those of other towns. Theophilus Whaley.*— The story of the life of this early settler of North Kingstown is invested with an unusual and ro- mantic interest. Although a gentleman of attainments and of a wealthy and prominent family, he for many years lived a se- cluded life in the Narragansett woods. It has been generally supposed that he was a secreted judge of Charles I., but the true history of his life is unknown, and a mystery surrounds his re- markable career, which for more than two centuries has remained unsolved. Wilkins Updike, Esq., in his " History of the Narragansett Church," published in 1847, presents the following statement in regard to Whaley : " Who this Mr. Whaley really was is still shrouded in mystery. Until Doctor Stiles' ' History of the Three Judges ' appeared, there never had existed any doubt in Rhode Island, and particularly in Narragansett, that the Whalley who lived in concealment at the head of the Pettaquamscut Ponds in Narragansett was the real Colonel Whalley, one of the regicide judges, with the change of the Christian name of Theophilus for Edward. His children and descendants believed it, and those now living believe it and are confident of the fact." Reverend Ezra Stiles, D.D., above referred to, a learned anti- quarian, and president of Yale College more than a century ago, carefully gathered from aged persons then living who had known Whaley, all the facts that could have been obtained concerning him, which were published in 1794 in his volume entitled " A History of Three of the Judges of King Charles I., Major Gen- eral Whalley, Major General Goffe and Colonel Dixwell, who at the Restoration, 1660, fled to America and were secreted and concealed in Massachusetts and Connecticut for nearly thirty years, with an account of Mr. Theophilus Whale, supposed to * By Charles W. Hopkins. 1150 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. have been also one of the Judges." The facts and circumstan- ces recorded by Doctor Stiles throw much light upon the true character of Whaley and his manner of life at Narragansett and must form the basis of any authentic account of his career. The more important of these statements are therefore presented in brief in the following sketch. Theophilus AVhale, or Whaley, as the name is now written by his descendants, came from Virginia and settled at Kingstown in the Narragansett country soon after King Philip's war, about 1680. He located at the head of Pettaquamscutt pond, near the spot now celebrated as the birthplace of Gilbert Stuart, where he built a small house or hut near the shore of the pond and pro- vided for himself and family by fishing and weaving, and writing for the settlers. A slight depression in the hill side and a few of the foundation stones still mark the site of his humble dwel- ling. Although he lived in great obscurity and was very reti- cent in regard to his previous history, it soon became apparent to his neighbors that he was a man of tense and ability, and it became a matter of wonder to them that a man of such talents and attainments should live in so reduced a manner. He was early suspected of being the regicide on account of his name, and when questioned concerning it his answers were so obscure and ambiguous that they confirmed his acquaintance in that be- lief. The farm upon which Whaley settled was owned by Andrew Willett, a son of Thomas Willett, Esq., who was the first mayor of New York city. Andrew had been a merchant in Boston un- til 1680, when he removed and settled at Boston Neck and died there in 1712, leaving the estate in the possession of his son Col- onel Francis Willett. Colonel Willett used to relate many anec- dotes of the good old man, as he called Whaley, of whom he talked with great pleasure. When a boy, he said, some of the most distinguished men of Boston, who were the owners of the fine tract of land at Boston Neck, used once a year to visit their estates and his father's house. As soon as they came they always inquired after the welfare of the good old man, and his father used to send him, when a boy, to call him to come and spend the evening at his house. As soon as Mr. Whaley came in, the gen- tlemen received him with great ardor and affection and treated him with great friendship and respect. They spent the evening together, and the colonel said he never saw any gentlemen treat HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1151 one another with stich cordiality and respect. He used to won- der at it, and could not account for it. They kept shut up in a room by themselves and there seemed to be an air of secrecy about the matter. Their interviews were in the evening only and continued late in the night. Colonel Willett adds that when the gentlemen were gone Whaley always had plenty of money. In Queen Anne's war a ship of war anchored in the bay. The name of the captain was Whaley, and he was a kinsman of Mr. Whaley, who lived but one mile off, and made him a visit, when they recognized one another. After an agreeable interview the captain invited Mr. Whaley to dine with him on board ship. He accepted the invitation and promised to come, but, upon further consideration, did not venture on board, rendering as a reason that this was truly his cousin, yet he did not know but possibly there might be some snare laid for him to take him. These and similar stories confirmed his acquaintance that he was a secreted regicide. Judge Samuel Hopkins, a grandson of Whaley, who was about eighteen years of age at the time of his grandfather's death, well remembers his grandfather ; that he was a Hebrew, Greek and Latin scholar, and that he was a constant student of his Greek Bible : that he wrote much in the Pettaquamscutt purchase, and that he was a large, tall man, six feet high when one hundred years old, and that he then walked upright ; that he had been a captain in the Indian wars in Virginia, and an officer in the par- liamentary army in England ; that he would never tell his true history. The most he talked about as to himself was that he was of good descent and education in England ; that in Virginia he was much in the Indian wars, and an officer ; that he there mar- ried a young wife when he was old, but no tradition that he was ever married before ; that he was a Baptist, and had some trouble in Virginia about the manner of worship. Doctor Stiles' unpub- lished diary in the Yale College library also states that Whaley practised medicine in Virginia, but that he gave it up, rendering as a reason that he had not been regularly trained for the pro- fession, and that his conscience would not allow him to continue the practice. Theophilus Whaley's family consisted of his wife, Elizfabeth Mills, whom he married in Virginia, and his children : Joan, who died aged 60 or 70; Anna, who died single; Theodosia, who married Robert Spencer; Elizabeth, who married Charles Hazel- 1152 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ton ; Martha, who married Joseph Hopkins, father of Judge Samuel Hopkins, and then married Robert Spencer; Lydia, who married John Sweet ; and Samuel, who married first Hopkins, second Harrington. Some two or three of the first children were born in Virginia. After some thirty years his children settled off and left him alone, and, his wife dying some years later, he left his old home at the head of the Pettaquamscutt river and went to live with his daughter Martha at Greenwich, on what is now known as Hopkins' Hill, in the easterly part of the town of West Greenwich, where he died about the year 1720. aged 103, and was buried with military honors in Judge Hopkins' burial ground, where his grave may now be found. The farm whereon his grave is located was at one time owned by Whaley, having been transferred to him by the original proprietors in 1709, and was by him transferred to his son Samuel in 1711, and by exchange with Samuel, who removed to Kingston, where many of his descendants now reside, became the property of Joseph Hopkins, son-in-law of Theophilus, since which exchange it has remained in the possession of the Hopkins family until the present time, its present owner and occupant being Henry Clarke Hopkins. The descendants of Theophilus Whaley are numerous, especially in Rhode Island, and are favorably known for their ability, enterprise and industry. They are largely represented by the Whaley, Spencer and Hopkins families. Notwithstanding the many inquiries of his neighbors and the members of his own family, he would never reveal himself, and his secret was buried with him. The conclusion of Doctor Stiles is that " there is a mystery in Theophilus' character which can never be cleared up, further than to ascertain that he was not one of the judges ; " and that " it is most probable that, like Axtel and others, he had a command among the guards that attended the king's trial and execution, and was very active in compassing the king's death." A careful study of the life of Theophilus Whaley, and of the additional facts which have been brought to light since the pub- lication of "The Three Judges," nearly a century ago, enables the writer to form the following conclusions : that Theophilus Whal6y had been an officer in the parliamentary army in the civil war, and had taken an active part in the execution of the king ; that he was of the Whalley family, a wealthy family closely allied to the Cromwells, and prominent in the civil war ; HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1153 that he was born in England about 1617, and was the son of Richard and Frances (Cromwell) Whalley, and that he was iden- tical with Robert Whalley, a brother of Edward, the regicide, who is said to have been "a lieutenant under Cromwell" and "an officer in Hacker's regiment." Hacker commanded at the execution of the king, and was himself executed in 1660. In support of this theory the following evidence is adduced : 1st. His name, verified by the account of the visit of his cousin, Captain Whaley, of the war ship, which anchored in Narragansett bay in the time of Queen Anne's war. 2d. His account of his family, their opulence, and of his early life, verified by his education and general deportment. 3d. The mysterious visits from the wealthy and prominent men of Boston, who secretly visited and supplied him with money from time to time, and who had so favorably received Whalley and Goffe upon their landing in Boston a few years be- fore, and who were probably the agents through whom the regi- cides received their remittances from England, as stated by Gov- ernor Hutchinson in his history, and who knew Theophilus to be of the same family. 4th. The age of Theophilus, 103, and the date of his death, not far from 1720, attested by three persons — Hon. Francis Willett, who wrote his will ; the aged Mr. Hamilton, who attended his funeral, and his grandson. Judge Samuel Hopkins, fixes the date of his birth near 1617, some two or three years later than the birth of Edward Whalley. Robert Whalley was a brother of Edward, and is believed to have been a few years younger than Edward. Goffe's journal mentions Robert. 5th. The recurrence of given names is noticeable. The ma- ternal grandmother of Robert Whalley was Joan Warren, and his mother, Frances, had a sister Joan Cromwell and a brother Robert Cromwell, who was the father of Oliver, and who also had a daughter Joan. Theophilus' oldest child was named Joan, and a grandson, the son of his daughter Martha, with whom he passed his declining years, was named Robert Hopkins, a name given him presumably by his grandfather, Theophilus [Robert]. Of "the family of Richard Whalley and his wife, Frances Crom- well, the following account is given. They had four sons and two daughters, viz. : Thomas, who married ]\Iary Peniston ; Ed- ward, the regicide, who married, first, Judith Duffel, and second, Mary Middleton ; Henry, who married Rebecca Duffel, sister of 73 1154 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Judith ; Robert, " Lieutenant under Cromwell, died unmarried ; " Elizabeth, Jane. There is no mention made of children of Thomas. Edward's eldest son, John, was born in 1633. Henry had a son John, who died in 1691. Elizabeth married William Tiffin, of London. Jane married Reverend William Hooke, M. A., Trinity College, Oxford. Robert alone remains unac- counted for, aside from the meager record of the Harlean Soci- ety, that he " was a Lieutenant under Cromwell " and " died un- married." Upon the accession of Charles IL in 1660, his friends would naturally endeavor to screen him from the threatened danger, and after a prolonged absence of years, the report that he had died would gain credence. The plain inference must be., that at the restoration he was forced to flee for safety, and so escaped the fate which befell Hacker and others who had taken a prominent part in the exe- cution of the king, and that he doubtless tied from England and secreted himself in America, and that his subsequent career can only be traced in the record of the life of Theophilus Whaley in Virginia and in the Narragansett country. It is believed that the foregoing presentation of the subject is a more satisfactory solution of the mystery which has hitherto surrounded the life of Theophilus Whaley than any yet present- ed, and that future investigations will more fully verify the con- clusions here set forth. Pardon Hopkins. — Among the early settlers of the tract of land now comprising the town of West Greenwich the Hopkins family was prominent, and by its enterprise and integrity con- tributed in no small degree to the welfare and prosperity of the town. Joseph Hopkins, the ancestor of this branch of the fam- ily, is believed to have been the son of William and Hannah (Goffe) Hopkins, residents of Roxbury, ]\Iass., and members of Reverend John Elliott's church at that place. He married for his second wife Martha Whaley, a daughter of the noted The- ophilus Whaley, of Narragansett, and after a few years' resi- dence at Kingston, R. L, removed about the year 1713 to the locality now known as Hopkins' Hill, in the easterly part of the town of West Greenwich, where he resided until his death, which occurred May 15th, 1735. Samuel Hopkins, the second son of Joseph and Martha, was born in Kingston January 6th, 1703-4, and died in AVest Green- wich April 14th, 1790. He resided at the homestead on Hopkins' ■^^-^^^'/^i^ HISTORY OF ^YASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1155 hill and was familiarly known as " Judge Sam." In addition to his farming interests he was actively engaged in public affairs. He was at various times, from 1743 to 1767, elected a member of the general assembly from West Greenwich and was for a num- ber of years a justice of the court of common pleas for Kent county. President Stiles of Yale College, who visited him Sep- tember 24th, 1785, for the purpose of obtaining information con- cerning his grandfather Theophilus Whaley, in his " History of Three of the Judges of King Charles I," speaks of him as fol- lows : " I visited in 1783 [5] Samuel Hopkins, Esq., aged 81 of West Greenwich, a grandson of Whaley and living on his grand- father's farm. He was a man of good sense and accurate in- formation, had been in civil improvement, a member of the as- sembly and Judge of the Court." Samuel Hopkins married April 23d, 1729-30, Honor Brown, daughter of Alexander and Honor (Huling) Brown, of North Kingstown, and granddaughter of Beriah and Abigail (Phenix) Brown and Alexander and Elizabeth (AVightman) Huling, fami- lies of wealth and influence. Beriah Brown was a prominent member of the Society of Friends and the AVightmans, accord- ing to tradition, were the descendants of Edward Wightman, who was the last to suffer martyrdom in England in 1611. Samuel Hopkins, Jr., the second son of "Judge Samuel," was born October 15th, 1734. He also represented the town of West Greenwich as deputy to the general assembly and was ap- pointed to fill various other town offices. Rufus Hopkins, the eldest son of Samuel, Jr., was born in 1773. He was one of the pioneers in the manufacture of cotton goods in this region of the state. His family of nine children were somewhat remarkable for their vigorous constitution and long life, the youngest having nearly reached the age of sixty years before the first death occurred. The average age of the nine children was seventy-five years. Their names were: Phebe, Layton, Halsey, David, Elizabeth, Mercy, Samuel, Cynthia and Polly. Layton Hopkins, the eldest son of Rufus and Amey (Shippee) Hopkins was born April 19th, 1793. He was a farmer and re- sided in the eastern part of the town of West Greenwich, where he was widely known and respected for his excellent judgment in business matters and for his kind and social disposition. 1156 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. vSuch was the ancestry of Pardon Hopkins, the son of Layton and Elizabeth (Whitford) Hopkins, who was born in the town of West Greenwich February 12th, 1815. His early years were spent on his father's farm and in acquiring the rudiments of an education, such as the common schools of those days afforded. Later in life he learned the trade of a house carpenter. He has, however, devoted the greater part of his life to the public affairs of his native town, which he has almost uninterruptedly and faithfully served in one capacity or another for nearly half a century. For twenty years he was town clerk and was subse- quently elected to the office of town treasurer, which position he now (1888) holds. He also officiated as postmaster a number of years, and from time to time has served his fellow townsmen in various other offices pertaining to their government, all of which duties have been performed by him in a reliable and trustworthy manner, as his frequent re-election to each office abundantly tes- tifies. Mr. Hopkins is an enterprising, self-reliant man, retain- ing much of the vigor and activity of his earlier years ; interest- ed in the passing events of the day and the welfare of those around him, and endowed with those sterling qualities of mind and heart which have won for him the confidence and respect of a wide circle of friends and acquaintances. He married first April 2d, 1837, Lydia A. Lillibridge, who died January 5th, 1843. He married second September 1st, 1844, Phebe A. Palmer, who died February 13th, 1857. He married third February 11th, 1858, Hannah C. Bailey. He has two sons Charles W. Hopkins, born August 8th, 1839, now residing in Providence, R. I., and William P. Hopkins, born July 10th, 1845, residing in Lawrence, Mass. Thomas T. Hazard, son of John Hazard, was born March 2d, 1792, and died August 1st, 1874. He was a man of limited edu- cation but possessed of good native talents and ability. He was frequently offered honorable positions by his fellow townsmen, but invariably declined the favor with a single exception, that of representing his native town of West Greenwich in the general assembly of the state, which position he occupied either as sena- tor or representative for thirty-two years. He was a member of the senate of ten, elected with other state officers during the Dorr war, under the new constitution. He represented the town in the senate until he withdrew from publ,ic life. He has three sons: Jason P., born February 21st, 1823 ; Robert HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1157 J., born August 1st, 1826, and Alexander L., born January 25th. 1836. They all have families. Jason P. is located on the homestead in West Greenwich, R. I., and has represented the town in the general assembly. The other two are in California. Charles Tillinghast James, son of Silas and Phebe James, was born in West Greenwich September 15th, 1805. He received a common school education, learned the carpenter's trade and became a skillful mechanic and inventor. His mechanical talent and executive ability were of a high order and soon placed him in important positions. He became superintendent of the Slater Cotton Mill in Providence, built the Atlantic De Laine Mill at Olneyville, R. I., and furnished plans and superintended the con- struction of mills at Newburyport and Salem, Mass., at Reading, Penn., and in the states of New York, Maryland and Tennessee. He was chosen major general of the militia of Rhode Island, re- ceived the honorary degree of A. M. at Brown University in 1838, and in 1851 was elected a senator of the United States as a pro- tective tariff democrat for the term of six years, by the legisla- ture of Rhode Island, and served as senator from March 4th, 1851, to March 3d, 1857, a period marked by the passage of the Kan- sas-Nebraska bill and the consequent rescinding of the Missouri compromise and the organization of the republican party at the north. He published pamphlets on the cultivation and manu- facture of cotton and on rifled cannon. The extraordinary abil- ities and usefulness of General James were soon lost to his na- tive state and to the nation. He invented a rifle cannon and while experimenting with one at Sag Harbor, lost his life by the explosion of a shell October 17th, 1862. William N. Sweet, son of Burton and Eliza (Nichols) Sweet,was born in West Greenwich in 1833. His ancestors are to be found among the most prominent and substantial of the early settlers of the town, notably the Sweet, Nichols, Matteson and Hall fam- ilies. His maternal grandfather, Jonathan Nichols, well known throughout the town as "Judge Nichols," was born in 1778 and died in 1856. He was the seventh of the ten sons of William and Sarah (Hall) Nichols. He resided on Nooseneck hill and was town clerk of West Greenwich for a period of twenty-one years from 1813 to 1834, and an excellent penman, as the pages of the town records testify. He was also judge of the county court and for many years prominent in the public affairs of the town. The 1158 HISTORY or WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. early years of the subject of this sketch were spent upon his father's farm, where he became familiar with the active duties of a farmer's life, an occupation which in later years he has indus- triously and successfully prosecuted. He attended the public schools of the town and by his studious habits readily acquired a knowledge of the branches there taught, excelling in some, particularly mathematics, and proficient in all. The knowledge thus acquired was supplemented by a course of study at the Providence Conference Seminary at East Greenwich. With this preparation he devoted himself for a number of years to teach- ing in the public schools of his native town with marked suc- cess ; his talent in this field of labor, his love of music and his genial disposition winning for him universal favor. He is the present town clerk of West Greenwich, an office which he has filled acceptably for eleven years. He married Miss Abby A. Gorton, daughter of Benjamin T. and Amy (Greene) Gorton and resides at Nooseneck Village, R. I. John James, the son of Judge Silas and Phebe (Tillinghast) James, was born in West Greenwich, R. I., May 7th, 1802. His father was a soldier in the war of the revolution, and was present at the battle of Bunker Hill. His maternal grandfather, Charles Tillinghast, was a resident of North Kingstown, and during the war was taken prisoner by the British and imprisoned at New- port. John James was educated in the common schools of his native town, and at Plainfield 'academy. Conn. He was a farmer by occupation, but devoted the greater part of his life — a period of nearl}^ fift}'- years — to the public affairs of his native town, and by his talent and address became a leading spirit in matters pertaining to town government. He was elected representative to the state legislature from the town of West Greenwich, August 30th, 1831, which office he held until April 17th, 1833 ; also from April, 1836, to August, 1838 ; was president of the town council and court of probate from IVlay 27th, 1834, to 1837 ; was town clerk from May 29th, 1838, to Alay 25th, 1857 ; auctioneer from 1833 to 1852 ; surveyor of highways from 1832 to 1857, and from 1861 to 1875. August 31st, 1841, he was appointed a delegate to the convention which met at Providence to form a constitution, and again, August 30th, 1842, was appointed a delegate to the convention which met at Newport for the same purpose. He has twice held the oifice of sheriff, the second time in 1842 and 1843 ; was appointed postmaster in 1848, which office he resigned HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. llf-Q in 1860 ; was appointed commissioner to purchase the site for the new custom house in Providence, and was disbursing agent for the government until the building was finished. He was a brother of the late Silas James, M. D., and of General Charles Tillinghast James, United States senator. John James was in politics a life-long democrat. He died in West Greenwich, Jan- uary 24th, 1875. Benjamin Reynolds Hoxsie, the son of Joseph and Elizabeth (Spencer) Hoxsie, was born in West Greenwich, R. I., April 24th. 1809. His father, Joseph Hoxsie, born October 11th, 1781, was the son of Benjamin and Mercy Hoxsie. For many years Joseph Hoxsie kept the tavern on Nooseneck Hill. He was county judge, and represented the town of West Greenwich in the gen- eral assembly of the state from 1816 to 1818, and from 1825 to 1828. His son, Benjamin R. Hoxsie, was educated in the com- mon schools of the town and at the high school or academy at Kingston Hill, R. I. He was elected town clerk of West Green- wich in 1834, and served the town in that capacity four years ; also as a member of the general assembly from West Greenwich from 1839 to 1843, and for the years 1857 and 1868 ; and as pres- ident of the town council and court of probate from 1849 to 1851, and from 1857 to 1859. He was for many years engaged in the manufacture of cotton goods at Nooseneck, and in 1859 re- moved to Providence, and died at Nayatt, R. I., July 5th, 1878. He was well versed in the public affairs of the town, a fine pen- man, and of an affable and gentlemanly deportment. He married Betsey Ann Ellis, daughter of Allen Ellis, of West Greenwich. His son, Benjamin R. Hoxsie, Jr., was elected a member of the town council of West Greenwich in 1885 ; pres- ident of the town council in 1887 and 1888, and senator from the town of West Greenwich to the state legislature in 1888. He was married in 1869 to Susan B. Eldredge, who died, leaving five children. He was married again in 1884, to Hannah C. Perkins. Charles Tillinghast was born at West Greenwich September 16th, 1787. He was the oldest of a family of twelve children born to Deacon Pardon and Mary (Sweet) Tillinghast, who were among the first settlers of the town. The children of this large family all lived to old age, as did also their mother, who was four score and four years old when .she died. Charles Tilling- hast died in his ninety-fifth year. Charles assisted his father in 1160 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. clearing the farm where the latter had settled, about a mile to the south of the plain, and during his long, eventful life was noted for his great industry, his frugal and strictly temperate habits, and his utter abhorrence of laziness in others. He was justice of the peace for many years, and was known as " Squire Charles." He early professed the Christian religion, and was for nearly seventy years an active and honored member of the Baptist church, of which his brother, Elder Johr, was pastor for about forty years. Deacon Allen Tillinghast, son of Deacon Pardon and Mary (Sweet) Tillinghast, was born in West Greenwich, May 20th, 1796. He was the fifth of twelve children, and was reared amidst the rough, and at that time almost wild surroundings of his parents' home. That old-fashioned, sterling integrity and love of the right, which were prominent virtues with his parents and grandparents, seemed to be born with him, and grew with his growth and strengthened with his strength, until his name amongst his neighbors became a synonym of Christian manli- ness and truth. He united with the West Greenwich Baptist church in December, ISIT), and was elected a deacon of said church June 21st, ]824, and held that office till the day of his death, which event occurred .at the age of eighty -three j^ears. He was laid to rest in the West Greenwich Cemetery, located on his farm adjoining the Plain meeting house, and one of the most beautiful cemeteries in the state, which was laid out and a most substantial stone wall built around it at his own expense. David Hopkins, son of Rufus and Amey Hopkins, residents of Coventry, was a manufacturer in the town of Exeter, and subse- quently at Nooseneck Hill, where he remained as long as he continued cotton manufacturing. He finally moved to Cranston, where he died March 17th, 1881. At the outset of his career Mr. Hopkins established a character for integrity and punctuality, being moved thereto b}- a deep sense of moral obligation. In the first years of his residence in West Greenwich he paid but little attention to public and political affairs. Gradually, hew- ever, he was led to take a decided stand in politics, and upon the side that has arrayed in its ranks nearly all the textile manu- facturers in the country. West Greenwich was for a long time a very Gibraltar of democracy. Mr. Hopkins and a few friends began a spirited opposition to it, however, and after some hard battles for a few years, they succeeded in routing completely HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1161 the democratic forces, and from that time until he left town Mr. Hopkins ^d his friends remained masters of the situation. He repeatedly filled town offices and represented the town a number of times in the state senate. Lymax Rhodes Hopkins.— The subject of this sketch is the son of David and Sarah (Franklin) Hopkins, born in West Green- wich, R. I., April 2d, 1824, and in early life worked in his father's cotton mill, g-oing to school in the winter, and in that way receiving a common school education. At about the age of sixteen he went to work for his brother-in-law, William S. Harris, attending his store, for a salary of fifty. dollars per year and board. While in this store he learned, by himself, the art of cutting and making men's clothing, and for three or four years carried on the tailor- ing business. About the year 1846 he built what is known as the Robin Hollow cotton mill, near Nooseneck Hill, and engaged in the manufacture of cotton warps and twine, which he followed for several years. About the year 1858 he went to New York and opened a small store at No. 46 Beekman street, for the pur- pose of selling his own goods. Soon after he went to New York he commenced to furnish cotton and supplies for some two other mills, one at Coventry Centre, and one at Richmond, R. I. About the year 1865 he sold out the Robin Hollow mill to William Pot- ter. Since that time he has been largely interested in the man- ufacture of spool cotton thread at Holyoke, Mass., in connection with the Merrick Thread Company, and in 1878 was elected its president, which position he now (1889) holds. He is also a di- rector in the Norfolk and New Brunswick Hosiery Company, of New Brunswick, N. J. He represented the town of West Green- wich in the state legislature of Rhode Island in the years 1857 and 1858. He married, first, Eunice, daughter of George Gardner, and had three children : Charles, Mary L., and George L., of whom George L. is the only survivor. Charles died in childhood ; Mary L. married Bryant Drew and died, leaving a daughter, Elsie Gardner Drew. After his removal to Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1865, his wife, Eunice, died, and he married, March 12th, 1874, Miss Rosalie Mercine Gilmore. His residence at this time is at 391 Cumberland street, Brooklyn, N. Y. Edwin W. Hopkins, son of David and Sarah (Franklin) Hop- kins, was born in West Greenwich, R. I., May 7th, 1831. He re- ceived his education in the public schools of the town, supple- 1162 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIE?. mented by a course of study at the Worcester Academy. At the age of twenty-one, he entered into partnership with his father who was engaged in the manufacture of cotton warp at the vil- lage of Nooseneck, R. L, in which business he continued until the year 1865, when the manufacturing property was sold to Jonathan L. Spencer & Co. In 1866 he commenced the manu- facture of carpet warp and twine at Nooseneck Village, where he has been engaged in business until the present time (1889), and is now manufacturing sash cord. He was elected senator from the town of West Greenwich to the state legislature in 1860, and re-elected to the same office each successive year, until the year 1867, when he removed to the city of Providence and was suc- ceeded in office by his father David Hopkins. He married Celia E. Woodmancy, daughter of Mr. Samuel Woodmancy, and re- sides at 249 Broadway, Providence, R. I. He has a son, Byron F. Hopkins, who is engaged in stock raising at Cheyenne, and a daughter Julia Annabel, wife of Mr. Fred. A. Sutton of Provi- dence, R. I. George T. Brown was born in West Greenwich, near Noose- neck hill, June 29th, 1848. His father's name was Peter T. Brown, his mother's maiden name was Roxalana Potter. He attended district schools in the town until he was seventeen years of age, went two or three terms to East Greenwich Academy, then en- tered the Newport High School, where he graduated in June, 1869. In September, 1869, he entered Brown University and graduated in 1873. In September, 1874, he entered the Albany Law School, graduating in iSIay, 1875. In October, 1875, he was admitted to the bar of Providence county, R. L, where he has practiced law ever since, and in 1879 was admitted to practice in the United States courts. In April, 1877, he was elected repre- sentative to the general assembly from his native town. In April, 1887, he was elected representative to the general assem- bly from the city of Providence. In June, 1888, he was a dele- gate from Rhode Island to the democratic national convention at St. Louis, which nominated Cleveland and Thurman. He is now chairman of the democratic city committee of Providence. Ezra Knight Parker, son of Joseph and Mary (Knight) Par- ker, was born in Scituate, R. I., December 29th, 1832. His boy- hood was passed on his father's farm at "Summit," a beautiful location in the town of Coventry, R. I., whither the family had removed in 1836. He received his early education in the public HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1163 schools of the town and made such progress in his studies that he commenced teaching school at fifteen years of age. Later, he was fitted for college at the University Grammar School in Providence, R. I., and at Smithville Seminary, North Scituate, R. I., and at the latter place gave the valedictory address upon graduation. He entered Dartmouth College, Andover, N. H., and graduated in the class of 1857, having achieved the honor of being first in rank of scholarship in his class of sixty-five gradu- ates. The speakers were chosen by lot. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa and Alpha Delta Phi fraternities. During the years 1859 and 1860 he read law with Virginius O. Carroll, in Portsmouth, Va. Soon after the opening of the war, September 4th, 1861, he enlisted as private in Battery D, First Rhode Is- land Light Artillery, and was promoted to second lieutenant in the same year. He was appointed A. A. General of Artillery Brigade, 1st A. C, Army of the Potomac, and in the spring of 1864 was promoted to first lieutenant and transferred to Battery E of the same regiment. Army of the Potomac and 6th A. C, and commanded said Battery E for the last six months of service, until mustered out the last of June, 1865. The official reports show that these two batteries, of which Lieutenant Parker was at times commanding officer, were engaged in some of the mo.st memorable battles of the w^ar, and that they were prompt and efficient in performing the duties assigned them. The war hav- ing closed Mr. Parker returned to the old homestead in Coventry, where he engaged in the more peaceful occupations of farmer and teacher until 1881, when he resumed the study of the law and was admitted a member of the Rhode Island bar in 1883 and a few months later a member of the bar of the United States court, and is now practicing law in Providence, R. I. He married Mary M., daughter of David Hopkins and has a son and a daughter : George B. Parker, representative from Cov- entry in the state legislature 1887, and Grace H. Parker, a student of Boston University. Nelson E. Church was born in West Greenwich, R. I., November 1st, 1851. His father, Eben G. Church, now living, is descended from a family long resident in Washington county, R. I., and his mother, Eliza, also now living, is the only daughter of Layton Hopkins, deceased, who, during a long and active life, was a man prominent in the affairs of this town. The subject of this article received his early education in the public schools 1164 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of Providence, his parents having taken up their residence in that city upon their removal from West Greenwich. When about seventeen years of age he became a student at Lapham Institute, Scituate, R. I. During the three years of his attendance as a scholar at this institution he assisted in the instruction of the various classes in order to help defray the expense of his edu- cation. He was here prepared for college, graduating at the head of his class in July, 1871, and in the following year entered Yale college. In 1874 a serious inflammation of his eyes com- pelled his immediate withdrawal from college, and for more than two years prevented him from resuming his studies. Seeing that the completion of his course at Yale was imprac- ticable, he entered the law office of Pierce & Hallett, attorneys, of Providence, and in 1879 was admitted to the bar of Rhode Island. He has practiced law at Providence ever since. In 1882 he was elected a member of the school committee of Providence from the Eighth ward. After his change of residence to Crans- ton, in 1883, he was elected twice to serve in the town cotincil. In 1885 he was chosen trial justice of the town, and in 1887 was elected representative in the general assembly, serving one year. Charles Wvman Hopkins, who has kindly furnished us the MS. of the preceding sketches, is the son of Pardon and Lydia Ann (Lillibridge) Hopkins, and was born in Exeter, R. I., Aug- ust 8th, 1839. He received his education in the public schools, and at the Providence Conference Seminar}^ at East Greenwich, R. I. He taught in the public schools from the age of sixteen to twenty-two, when he enlisted in the Seventh regiment Rhode Island volunteers, and was assigned to duty at brigade head- quarters, as chief clerk of the commissary department, First brigade, Second division, Ninth arm}' corps, and for three years participated in the campaigns in which the Ninth corps was engaged in Virginia, Kentucky and ^Mississippi. After the close of the war, as soon as his health, which had been serious!)' im- paired, would permit, he purchased the stock of goods in the village store at Nooseneck, was appointed postmaster, and car- ried on the business until he removed to Providence in 1869. For a number of years he was in the employ of the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company, having had charge of their store at Central Falls, R. I., and since 1874 has been in the employ of the Providence Gas Company. In 1886, in anticipation of the celebration of the SHOth anniversary of the settlement of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1165 Providence, he made some original investigations in regard to the early settlement of the town, which before had been deemed impracticable on account of the destruction of the early docu- ments of the town, the result of which he embodied in an attractive quarto volume entitled " The Home Lots of the Early Settlers of the Providence Plantations, with Notes and Plats," the importance and value of which has been acknowledged by those interested in historical and antiquarian researches. He married, May 1st, 1860, Jane Frances Knight, daughter of the Reverend Daniel R. Knight, of Exeter, R. I., and resides at 54 Richardson street. Providence, R. I. He has a daughter, Anne Miller Hopkins, a graduate of the classical department Provi- dence High School, and a music teacher. NOOSENECK.— Nooseneck is a post office in West Greenwich. There have been several definitions given of this name, but the following, by Sidney S. Rider, of Providence, R. I., is worthy of credence. He says : " The word Nooseneck is said to have been derived from the setting of running nooses for catching deer in the Nooseneck Valley. Whatever may be the derivation of the word, this ex- planation is, of course, nonsense. I therefore propose advancing a theory of my own concerning it. The tract of land designated by the name Nooseneck is a narrow neck lying between two small streams, which unite and become tributary to the Pawtuxet. As you approach the sources of these streams, the land rises to a considerable height, and is known as Nooseneck hill. The nar- row neck, which consists of the lands through which the streams flow, is an exceedingly beautiful valley. The name Nooseneck is affixed to this locality on Benoni Lockwood's map of Rhode Island, made in 1819, where it is printed as here written. I have been peculiarly struck by the pronunciation by the resi- dents, of this name, and I have frequently inquired the name of the locality for the purpose of observing this singularity. They invariably pronounced it Noozeneck, pronouncing the s like z. This appears to me to possess peculiar significance. There was once held in the Narragansett country, a large tract of land by Harvard University. On the tract was a fresh water pond, which appears in the old records (1676) by the name Nooza- poge. This word, Mr. Trumbull informs us, came from two In- dian words, noosup and pang, which mean beaver pond. Mr. Wil- liams, in his Key, defines noosup as a beaver. The corrupt spell- 1166 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ing in the old. record indicates the pronunciation, which the in- habitants of Nooseneck have unconsciously preserved down through generations. Their name arose no doubt from this In- dian word iwosiip, beaver. The small rivers with their beautiful valleys became the home of the beavers. The sites of their dams are very numerous. Hence the locality became known as Noosup iicck, corrupted in time as we now see it. I have noted this pro- nunciation by peculiarity in spelling, in a pamphlet printed here in 1831, thus, Nciisncck. That this spelling is corrupt appears from the Lockwood map cited abo\^e, and printed thirteen years previously. Hence it is significant only as indicating the pro- nunciation of the period. " There is one other point upon which I wish to touch. There has been a suggestion to me that the name arose from the trans- mission of ncix's by means of signals on top of the hill. Had this been the case how came the word neck to be used in naming a hill ? Moreover, this hill is far inland and not in the line for communication with any specially important point ; and more- over, it is quite clear that the term ' Nooseneck Hill ' followed the use of the term ' Nooseneck Valley.' The valley was first named, hence the use of the word neck was a rational use. This, ■of course, is simpl}' a theory sustained by such arguments as could be easil}- brought to bear upon it, but it seems plausible, and certainly worth consideration until something better can be set up." Nooseneck is the largest collection of houses in the town. The river flowing through this valley has made a valuable privilege, owing to the rapid fall. Of the early manufacturing at Nooseneck Charles W. Hopkins writes : "About the year 1800, perhaps at an earlier date, a small wooden building was erected at the village of Nooseneck, in the town of West Greenwich, for manufacturing purposes. It was located on the north bank of the river thirty or forty rods above the spot recently occupied by the ' Stone Mill ' owned by David Hopkins. The site is overgrown by brush and trees but can ■easily be identified, as the wheel pit and stone wall remain plainly visible. This building was occupied as a carding mill at first and supplied the woolen rolls from which were spun and woven the clothing of the people of that locality. It was oper- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1167 ated by a ' flutter' or ' float wheel,' and was known as the ' Bum- ble Bee Mill.' " This seems to have been the first attempt made to manufac- ture cotton or woolen goods in this part of the town by means of water power. Later, about 1810 or 1812, Hall Matteson & Co. purchased the mill and commenced the manufacture of cotton yarn. The machinery used for this purpose was manufactured by Simon Reynolds and Solomon Arnold, resident mechanics of considerable skill ; it must, however, have been very imperfect and of primitive design. There were but two or three spinning frames which were operated at a low rate of speed and spun but one size of coarse yarn, about No. 12. This yarn sold readily to the people at eighty-four cents per pound, which at that time was considered a low price. The cotton was prepared for the machinery by being ' picked ' by hand at a cost of fifty cents per dozen pounds. " The manufacture of cotton yarn in this mill was discontin- ued after four or five years and a company formed and a larger building erected upon the site of the old Stone Mill already re- ferred to. The persons engaged in this enterprise were Henry R. Greene, son of Clark, Havens Hall, son of Caleb, Jeremiah Lewis, son of Stephen of Exeter, Simon Hall, and perhaps others. The work was done by Martin Whitman of Washington Village, who also erected the wooden building standing near by, known as the old store. The cotton yarn manufactured in this mill during the war of 1812 was transported to New York in ox- teams by Ezekiel Whitford. Goods at this time did not sell for enough to pay expenses and the property was sold to different parties and failure followed failure until the old mill was burned about 1834 or 1835. Samuel Hopkins, son of Rufus, was the owner at this time and at once commenced the work of erecting a larger and more substantial building, which has since been known as the ' Stone Mill.' David Hopkins purchased the mill of his brother Samuel before its completion, finished the build- ing and let it to his son-in-law William S. Harris. Looms for weaving cotton cloth were first operated in this mill about the year 1840. This business was carried on by Harris for a number of years and finally the mill was destroyed by fire about 1857. " The site of the stone mill was occupied one hundred years ago or more by a blacksmith shop, which contained a trip-ham- mer operated by water power and at which a flourishing business 1168 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was done. At that time nearly all the tools used for farming purposes, as well as other kinds, were made by hand. John and Caleb Hall, two brothers, were the proprietors and workmen. After awhile John sold out his interest in the business and re- moved to the Royal Grant in New York state. Slocum Sweet, son of John, came into possession of the shop and after occupy- ing it many years it was finally sold to the cotton company before mentioned. "The two mills known as the 'Hoxsiemill' and the 'Yard mill,' located farther up the stream, were built about the year 1812, and used for the manufacture of cotton yarn. Joseph Hoxsie, Simon Reynolds and Joseph Wood built and owned the Hoxsie mill, but the venture proved unsuccessful and after sev- eral years of litigation the property came into the possession of Nicholas and Benjamin R. Hoxsie, sons of Joseph. Nicholas sold to his brother Benjamin R., who continued the manufacture of cotton yarn for a number of years and finally disposed of the property and removed to Providence, R. I. " The mill was subsequently owned and run for a number of years by Rhodes K. Edwards, who built a new mill a short dis- tance below the old one and otherwise improved the property. The site of the ' Yard mill,' so called, was originalh' occupied by a saw mill owned by Abel Matteson and his son Hall Matteson and Silas Matteson. The ' Yard mill ' was built and owned by Silas and Royal Matteson, Jonathan Nichols (who was town clerk), and Caleb Bailey. It was located about a mile above the road. Nichols and Bailey soon ceased to be partners and Royal Matteson continued the manufacture of cotton yarn until about the year 1850, when, having failed, the property fell into the pos- session of Christopher Matteson. After Matteson's death his heirs sold the estate to Nelson Andrew. The mill was subse- quently run for a number of years by Gideon Reynolds and later by Charles Tripp and John Tillinghast. It was finally destroyed by fire and the site again occupied as a saw mill. " The ' Old Red Mill ' was built about 1822. The site was for- merly occupied by a blacksmith shop owned by Slocum Sweet, a rough building where work was all done by hand. David Hop- kins fitted up the old shop and put in a few spinning frames and commenced spinning cotton yarn. The enterprise proving suc- cessful, the building was enlarged and more machinery put in operation. After some years the mill was destroyed by fire and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1169 Mr. Hopkins purchased and finished the stone mill of his brother Samuel as before mentioned. " The mill on the hill above the bridge was built by David Hopkins about 1838 and used for the manufacture of cotton warp. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt about 1852, and in 1865 was sold to Jonathan L. vSpencer & Co., and later to Rhodes K. Ed- wards. " The mill below the road was built by David Hopkins aboutv 1867 and is now in the possession of his son Edwin W. Hopkins, i who is engaged in the manufacture of braided sash cord, warp' and twine." There are two stores at Nooseneck Hill, and it is probable trading has been carried on in that place almost ever since the beginning of the present century. Mr. William S. Harris, a son- in-law of David Hopkins, went to Nooseneck in 1837. Judge Jonathan Nichols, George Dawley, Nathan Carr, David Hopkins and Joseph Hoxsie were then among the prominent men of that vicinity. David Hopkins, Joseph Hoxsie and others had traded in the place prior to that time. Joseph Hoxsie had been there probably in business some ten years before. He kept a store as long as he lived, and then his son Benjamin R. after him, until he died in 1883. Benjamin R. Hoxsie, Jr., is living now at Nooseneck. Nathan Carr kept a store opposite Joseph Hoxsie, and also traded there in a general way for many years. His father, Jesse Carr, was a farmer, and the family moved from Exeter. This store was afterward wholly changed into a dwelling house and another store built, where he afterward lived. He died in Sep- tember, 1869, aged seventy-three years. Subsequently this same store was kept by his son, Willis Carr, for a time, but in 1880 it was closed and the business moved on the hill, where Mr. Carr is now. Mr. John T. Lewis came to Nooseneck Hill in 1846 and kept store there till 1883, when he died. He was the son of Colonel Moses Lewis, a farmer of Exeter. They moved to Noose- neck and settled where Moses R. Barber now lives. In 1849 he married Miss Sarah Lewis, and Willis Carr, son of Nathan Carr, married Miss Annie M. Lewis, their daughter, May 3d, 1880, and after the death of the father in 1883, took entire charge of the old store on the hill. Mr. Carr has a good trade, and he carries a good stock of goods for a country store. He is also postmaster at Nooseneck. 74 1170 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The original store in the hollow was a little old building now standing near the residence of Mr. William N. Sweet. It was used for a store, both before and since Mr. Harris went there in 1837, and he kept store there himself at one time. The second store was built by David Hopkins. Following him in this store came W. S. Harris, Lyman R. Hopkins, Edwin W. Hopkins, Charles W. Hopkins, who went into business there just after the war, and left for Providence in 1869; Daniel Hall, Joseph Arnold, John H. Edwards, when it was burned. The property then across the way was sold to A. R. Andrews in 1876, and in 1887 Isaac and Byron Andrews took possession. W. S. Harris owned the building before mentioned, and which stands near Mr. Sweet's residence. He himself first became en- gaged in the manufacturing business in Nooseneck, and rented his store building to Dexter Stone, who traded there some two or three years. In 1851 Mr. Harris moved to New York and sub- sequently took up his residence in Providence, R. I., where he still resides. Robert Hall built the house now owned and occupied by William N. Sweet in 1822. He also built the grist mill now used as a store. The building was first used for a mill, then a store, then changed into a tenement and a store, the last time about fifteen years ago, when John H. Edwards first used it as such after the burning of the store opposite. Mr. Edwards was then pastor of the church at Nooseneck. He is now pastor of a Bap- tist church at Exeter. EscOHEAG. — This is a small hamlet in the southwestern por- tion of the town and contains a post office, a store and a church. The post ofSce was established in 1848, and is now kept by Ben- jamin Tillinghast. The store, which is an extensive one for country trade, is owned by Charles AV. Brown, who has been there a dozen years. Jason P. Stone was also a merchant at this point. Asahel Matteson, father of Judge Matteson, also traded here formerly, but afterward moved to Coventry. The Hazards have been prominent business men in this vicinity for many years. Many years ago John Hazard had a molasses factor)' here, pressing syrup from cane. It was not a very successful en- terprise, however, and was abandoned. Jason P. Hazard erected a mill in this part of the town which has been a successful un- dertaking. The acid woi^ks in this part of the town have been a source of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1171 income, and an industry well worthy of mention. The first of these was erected by William Pike about the year 1863, and sub- sequently operated by his son James Pike. Bela P. Clapp & Co., of Pawtucket, also have a pyroligneous acid works in this vicin- ity and they extract hundreds of gallons of acid daily. The class of goods manufactured here finds a ready market. There was formerly a hotel at Escoheag but travel from this point has been so diverted since the coming in of railroads that tavern stands here, as in many places similarly situated, have become a thing of- the past. West Greenwich Centre. — This is a small hamlet containing a store, a post office and a church, and is situated in the north- western portion of the town. Among the older merchants here and in this vicinity should be mentioned Stephen Weeks, who used to keep store one fourth of a mile east of the Centre. Mr. Weeks traded many years and at one time kept the post office which was established at this place in 1848. In 1863 Deacon Pardon T. Bates took the post office and has kept it ever since, in connection with his store. Mr. Bates is a nephew of Elder John Tillinghast, and has been one of the leading members of the religious society in this place. John A. Brown has also been a trader in this vicinity. Jacob Weaver, John Fry and his son Joseph Fry, were early settlers of this vicinity. Jacob Weaver owned a large estate on Weaver's Hill. Doctor George D. Wil- cox, now of Providence, was a son-in-law of Joseph Fry, and at one time practiced medicine in this part of the town. Liberty. — This place is the center of a manufacturing indus- try and is located about three quarters of a mile northwest of West Greenwich Centre. About the year 1808 John Manchester built a mill here which was burned in 1822. He spun cotton, dyed wool and fulled cloth. The mill was rebuilt and the busi- ness continued by Mr. Manchester until his death, which oc- curred about the year 1843. In 1866 W. V. Phillips purchased the property, altered the lower part of the mill, making out of it a saw and shingle mill and a box factory. Mr. Phillips operated it until it was destroyed again by fire in 1871. It next passed into the hands of Albert Wells. Just below this privilege Mr. Wells built a carriage shop in 1866. The next year he put in a saw and saws out cloth boards, picker sticks, etc. Robin Hollow is situated one mile west of Nooseneck Hill. Lyman Hopkins improved the privilege at this place in 1845 by 1172 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. building a small mill for spinning yarn. He sold it to William Potter, who sold it to a McGuinness, who operated it a short time, when he sold to Richard Briggs, who ran it until it was destroyed by fire in 1875. George B. Vaughn erected a mill here in 1887 for turning bobbins and sawing shingles. There is a blacksmith shop near the place. There is also a steam portable saw mill near Nooseneck Hill, which does a good business. It is owned by Moses Barber. Churches. — There have been religious organizations in the town of West Greenwich almost ever since the first settlement of the town. Probably one of the first was a society of Calvinist Baptists, at West Greenwich Centre, which held meetings as early as the year 1750. This society continued to exist many years, and its influence left an impress upon the hearts and con- sciences of men that became good and lasting, though the organ- ization, as such, has long since been extinct. There was also an organization similar to the above at Nooseneck Hill, though of more recent date. It was a branch of the East Greenwich Society, and flourished greatly till about the year 1845, when, under the pastoral teachings of Reverend Caleb Greene, the society divided, evolving Free Will Baptist churches in its place. Of the churches in the town now dominant the oldest is " The Union Meeting House" at Nooseneck Hill. This church edifice was an outgrowth of the West Greenwich and Exeter Union Society, which must have been chartered in 1808. Iilarch 9th, 1808, it was voted at this meeting that Stephen Allen, Thomas Hall and Caleb Bailey should take a deed of the land " where the meeting house should stand, in behalf of the society." This house was commenced in 1809, and was finished in 181] , Stephen Allen preaching there first. The society was composed wholly of subscribers, of whom there were one hundred and thirteen. Each one subscribing five dollars was considered a stockholder in the concern, with rights corresponding in the management of the religions consociation. Stephen Allen, Beriah Hopkins, Peleg Arnold (all stockhold- ers), for themselves and others, petitioned the general assembly for an act of incorporation. According to the by-laws of this society, " the said meeting house shall be free for the use of any Christian societ}- to hold meetings, whose speaker shall believe in the doctrine of rewards and punishments after death, accord- ing to the deeds done in the body, and who shall also be of good HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1173 moral character." These by-laws were subscribed to by each member, and the amount given affixed after the name. The list stands headed by Stephen Allen, who gave $200, which was the largest donation made. The others gave various amounts Oliver Spink, $40; John Wood. $.34; Jonathan Nichols, $22 Beriah Hopkins, $20 ; Henry Weaver, $30 ; Joseph Allen, $20 Abel Matteson, $20 ; Richard Boon, $19 ; Caleb Bailey, $16 Thomas Tillinghast, and many others, $10 each, and a greater number still amounts varying from one dollar up to seven and eight, according as each had ability. This house, still standing, was built on lands given by Jonathan Weaver. It was erected two stories high, 32 by 38 feet on the ground, with 19 feet posts. Among those who preached here was Elder Thomas Tillinghast, who was pastor of the East Greenwich Society from 1834 to 1844. There is no pastor at the present time. The Six Principle Baptist churches have been quite an impor- tant factor in the town, although at present they are in decline, through want of pastoral care. The JVest Grcemvich Six Principle Baptist Church was organized in 1823. It was located near the centre of the town. The Nooseneck Six Principle Church was organized in 1856. Pardon Hopkins has been the clerk of the latter for many years. Neither, of these churches have a settled pastor at the present time, if indeed they have an organization. The Free Will Baptist Church is located in the Sharp street dis- trict. This society was an outgrowth of the old church on Nooseneck Hill, and it erected its building in 1862. The mem- bership is small, but it is energetic, and a good work is being accomplished. There is no regular pastor at present, but a good Sabbath school is constantly maintained by the society. The church is under the watchful care of Reverend E. M. Wilson, state missionary. Reverend Joseph Carpenter, the present supply from Exeter, has conducted services here during the last two years. He succeeded Reverend John Edwards. The mem- bership of this society is about thirty. The Second Free Will Baptist Church, an offspring of the old Nooseneck society, was organized about the year 1873, at Button Corners. The late Reverend James Greene was pastor here for some time. He was followed by Reverend Charles C. Shippee, who lives in Exeter. 1174 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The IVest G^-ccmvicli Church, a free house, was erected in 1826. Reverend William C. Manchester was the first pastor, and under his administration and one or two of his successors the society- was in a most flourishing condition. He was succeeded by- Elders Daniel and William Slocum and John Gardiner. From that time the society has continued Calvinist Baptist. Elder John Tillinghast was the first and only pastor of this last-named society, and this venerable preacher continued his labors for many years, and until his death, which occurred March 10th, 1878. There is no pastor at the present time. Deacon Pardon S. Bates, a well-known citizen of the town, is a prominent mem- ber of this church. The Advent Church is located at Escoheag Hill, and was erected in 1870 by Jason P. Hazard, a distinguished member of this de- nomination. This society is flourishing and maintains the usual and necessary organizations for spiritual growth and for the moral welfare of the community, which gives it a liberal sup- port. Elder Wood of Exeter officiates occasionally for this people. CHAPTER XXIV. TOWN OF COVENTRY. Description.— Incorporation, etc.— The Coventry and Warwick Dividing Line.— Town Officers.— Town Asylum.— Coventry and Cranston Turnpike.— Educa- tion.— Secret Societies.— Greenwood Cemetery.— Quidnick.— Tin Top Church. —Anthony.— Coventry Company.— Stores.— Central Baptist Church.— Maple Root Church. — Washington Village and its Industries.- Washington Metho- dist Church. — Coventry Manufacturing Company. — Coventry Centre.— Spring Lake.— Whaley. — Barclay.— Summit.— The Christian Church.— Greene.— Fairbanks. — Hopkins' Hollow. — Harris. —Arkwright.— Black Rock.— Bio- graphical Sketches. THE town of Coventry is situated in the northwestern part of the county of Kent, and was incorporated August 21st, 1741. It is the second town in the state in area and con- tains 58.6 square miles. It is bounded on the north by Foster, Scituate and Cranston, on the east by Warwick, on the south by East and West Greenwich, and on the west by Connecticut. The greater portion of this township is rocky and hilly. Some sec- tions, however, are level and possess comparatively fertile soil. The following is a list of places of interest found in the town : Villages. — Washington, Anthony, Quidnick (formerly Taffs Factory), Harris (formerly Harrisville), Coventry Centre (for- merly Shoethread and Central), Spring Lake, Summit, Greene, Rice City, Hopkins' Hollow, Potterville, Arkwright, Whitman. Hills. — Waterman's, Bowen's, Carbuncle, Harkney, Perry, Wickes', Boston, No Man's, Fiske. Rivers. — Pawtuxet, Flat, Big, Moosup, so named in honor of the son of Miantinomo, Mishnock, Quidnick. Brooks. — Dyer, Buck's Horn, Bear, Log Bridge, Black Rock, Turkey Meadow, Peep Toad, Cook's, Salisbury's, Abbot's, Rac- coon, Wickes'. Ponds. — Quidnick, Tiogue, Fones', Gibbs', Maple Root, Grass, Whipple's. Reservoirs. — Flat River, Potter's. Sivamps. — Mishnock, Maroon, Grass Pond. 1176 HISTORY OF WASHIXGTOX AND KENT COUNTILS. Historic. — Old French Camping Ground, Lafayette's Well ; Tifft's Fort, projected by Joshua Tifft, the renegade, 1675. Ledges. — Foster Ledge (opened by Horace Foster in 1863). The stone is of a granite formation and is excellent for building pur- poses ; Nipmuc Ledge. The rock is of a brownish color, is quite seamy, but Avhen quarried and exposed to the air has a dingy appearance. The principal streams in the town are the south branch of the Pawtuxet river and some other smaller streams which furnish some excellent sites for manufacturing purposes. The Pawtuxet Valley Gleaner republishes a sketch by Noah J. Arnold in the " Narragansett Historical Register," which fully describes Flat river and its tributaries, and as the sketch is worthy of perma- nent record we here insert it : " This stream (the southwest branch of the Pawtuxet river) rises in the town of Foster, about one mile north of the little vil- lage of jNIount Vernon, n«ar what is called Howard hill. Another stream of about the same size rises in the southern part of Fos- ter and unites with it in the town of Coventry, and the united streams assume the name of Flat river. Two other small brooks rise in the central part of Coventry and empty their contents in Quidnick pond, or what is now called Quidnick reservoir. A small river runs from that into Flat river about a mile east of Coventry Centre. These streams and several others make Flat river quite a large stream, which now pursues a southerly course to Washington village. Five other streams rise in the town of West Greenwich, three others in Coventry and one in the town of Exeter, called Raccoon brook. One of the five streams named above rises from Carr's pond, a natural pond of water almost as handsome as Moswansicut pond or lake, as we have already said, is one of the handsomest sheets of Avater in Rhode Island. These united streams form in West Greenwich what is called Big ri\er, which pursues a northerly course for about three miles, and unites with Flat river about two miles west of Washingfton village and form what is called the southwest branch of the Pawtuxet river. A large reservoir of one thousand acres was made some over thirty years ago just below the junction of these rivers, by factory own- ers on the southwest branch and atNatick, to furnish their mills with water during the dry season. This reservoir and Tiogue below and Quidnick a few miles above, have added greatly to the water power of the southwest branch of the Pawtuxet, and of the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1177 Pawtuxet after the union of those streams, adding several thou- sand more looms to the factories, with the accompanying ma- chinery. Another stream rises in Mishnock pond, a small but handsome natural pond of pure water in the northeasterly cor- ner of West Greenwich, about half a mile long by one-quarter of a mile wide. This stream pursues a northerly course, and unites with the southwest branch about one mile west of the Washing- ton village. The southwest branch then runs easterly through Washington village, Anthony, Quidnick, Crompton, Centreville, Arctic, River Point, and a few rods below there the southwest branch unites with the northwest branch, and these united streams form the beautiful and useful Pawtuxet, which now runs through Natick and Pontiac to fide-water at Pawtuxet. " This is the famed streain that supplies the good city of Provi- dence with water. This river and its branches cover the water shed of about one-third of the land part -of Rhode Island. Its tributaries rise from nine of its towns. It draws the water of nearly half of the town of Glocester, two-thirds of the town of Foster, all of the towns of Scituate and Cranston, two-thirds of the towns of Johnston and Coventry, more than half of the town of West Greenwich, half of the town of Warwick and a portion of the town of Exeter, comprising, as before stated, about one- third of the land portion of the state. Not a single tributary of it rises in Connecticut. It is therefore emphatically a Rhode Island river. This river and its branches have probably been the means of adding near one hundred thousand to the population of the state, and with the noble and beautiful Blackstone, Pawca- tuck and Woonasquatucket, have added to the population, wealth and enterprise of the state, and made Rhode Island what she is, one of the most populous and wealthy states in this nation in proportion to its territory." The northwest branch of the Pawtuxet, in its course from Hope Village to Clyde, where it unites with the southwest branch, a distance only of two miles, runs through eight vil- lages, viz.: Hope, Jackson's Factory, Fiskeville, Arkwright, Harris, Phenix, Lippitt and Clyde. Two of these villages are in the northeastern portion of the town of Coventry, The Flat river for more than six miles above Washington Village does not fall more than sixteen inches to the mile, and it is from this fact that the stream derives its name. The Providence and Hartford railroad runs through this town 1178 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. from east to west. The soil north of this road and in the western portion of the town is stony ; while south of the road is a large section of wood and swamp lands. In this portion of the town is the large reservoir, which was constructed by the manufacturers. It is said the irregular circumference of this pond is some forty-three miles. Town Organization, etc. — Several of the inhabitants of the town of Warwick deeming the town too large, petitioned the general assembly to have the western part set off and a new township established. The general assembly, on the third Tuesday in August, 1741, passed the folloM'ing act: " An act for incorporating the west end of the town of War- wick into a township, and the same to be distinguished and known by the name of Coventry. "Whereas, Several of the inhabitants of the town of War- wick by petition to this Assembly did set forth the great disad- vantages they labor under on account of the great extent of said town, and it is conceived it will be more for the ease and benefit of its inhabitants in transacting and negotiating the prudential affairs thereof to have a division made. " Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, and by the authority thereof it is enacted that the western part of the town of Warwick be divided and set off from the eastern part thereof by a north and south line drawn^from the most western bounds of the westernmost of the Coweset farms and incorporated a township, and the same to be distinguished and known by the name of Coventry ; and that the inhabitants thereof from time to time shall have and enjoy the like benefits, liberties, privi- leges and immunities with other towns in this colony according to our charter." The freemen of the town met in town meeting a few days after the incorporation act, and organized by the election of the following persons as town councilmen : Francis Keats, Aaron Bowen, Joseph Bucklin, John Nichols, Elisha Johnson, John Lawton and Christopher Knight. Abel Potter was chosen clerk. The names of the town clerks since the organization of the town are as follows: Abel Potter, August, 1741; Amos Stafford, August, 1744; Caleb Greene, August 25th, 1747; John Rice, August, 1767; William Stone, August 25th, 1789; Daniel C. GofE, August 25th, 1804; John Remington, August, 1807; Nathan Bowen, June 6th, 1814; George Arnold, June, 1S18; Asel HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1179 Stone, December 4th, 1820 ; Samuel Arnold, June 6th, 1836 ; Anthony Tarbox, November 2d, 1840; Samuel W. Griffin, June 3d, 1861, still in office. From the organization of the town almost to the present time the dividing line between the two towns seems to have occa- sioned no little concern. A committee seems to have been appointed, for the general assembly on Wednesday, October — , 1741, take the following notice into consideration : " Whereas, The General Assembly of the colony aforesaid at their session held on the third Tuesday in August last, did among other things, enact that the west end of the town of War- wick in the county of Providence, should be set off and incorpo- rated into a township, and the same to be distinguished and known by the name of Coventry, and for that purpose appointed Daniel Abbott, John Potter and Thomas Spencer, Esqs., a com- mittee to divide the same, who have made the following re- port: "We having met in said Warwick on the 24th day of August last past and proceeded to run said line, beginning at the west- ernmost part of the Coweset farms in said Warwick, and from thence run one line south seven degrees west until we came to the north bound of East Greenwich and the south bounds of said Warwick where we made a large heap of stones, making several heaps of stones in the said line and marking several trees in said line with the letter W on the east and the letter C on the west ; then beginning at the first mentioned bounds and run north seven degrees east until we came to the north bounds of said Warwick and the south bounds of Providence, making a large heap of stones on the east end of a rock in said bounds, and made several heaps of stones and marked several trees in said line as aforesaid ; the which we now make as our return for the fixed and certain bounds between the aforesaid town of Warwick and the aforesaid town of Coventry, and that the said town of Coventry be bounded east on the town of Warwick, south on East and West Greenwich, west on the line that divides the col- ony of Rhode Island, &c., and the colony of Connecticut, and north on the south bounds of the towns of Providence and Scit- uate, which report is voted to be accepted." William B. Spencer, in an article written in 1888 for the Gleaner, says : " When the town of Coventry was set off from Warwick in 1741 there were no permanent bounds erected to mark the line nSO HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. between the two towns. The committee marked several trees and made large heaps of stones at each end of the line, and made several heaps of stones in said line, and marked trees in said line with the letter W on the east side and the letter C on the west side of the trees. As the land became cultivated the trees were cut down, and the heaps of stones could not be distinguished from those made by the farmers in cultivating the land one hun- dred years after the land was marked out, and on the northern part of the line many buildings were erected and the inhabitants were desirous of knowing whether they were living in the town of AVarwick or Coventry. At the town meetings held in said towns on the 31st day of August, 1847, the .subject was brought be- fore said town meetings, and William D. Brayton was appointed bj' the town of Warwick and David S. Harris by the town of Cov- entry a committee to run the dividing line between said towns and set the monuments thereon. The committee met in Octo- ber thereafter and again in November and run a line between said towns, but made no report until November 5th, 1882, when they reported as follows : "'To the Electors of the towns of Warwick and Coventry: The undersigned, who were appointed on the 31st day of xVugust, 1847, by the towns of Warwick and Coventry, respectively, a committee to run the dividing line between said towns and to set up monuments thereon, respectfully report that in pursuance of their said appointment they proceeded to examine the Colon)* Records to find the act of the general assembly authorizing the division of the town of Warwick into two towns.' The commit- ■ tee appointed by the towns as aforesaid met October 29th, 1847, near the south end of the reported line, accompanied by Judge George A. Brayton, and examined the lands near that part of the line for any traces of boilnds, and called on Daniel Tiffany, an aged man, who had always resided near the line, for information of any traditions relating thereto. He stated that the line at that end had been twice run, but did not know when or why it was run the last time, but was said to have been run by Job Greene. Job Greene was a land surveyor, who died about 1808." From the time of the first survey in 1741 to that of 1850, there were a number of committees appointed at different times and many attempts made by surveyors to establish the line, but with- out avail. Mr. Spencer's discussion of this subject in the Gleaner is exhaustive, and we refer our readers to those articles for the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1181 complete reports of each survey. The last survey above men- tioned, though not satisfactory to the two towns, established the following facts, as given by Mr. Spencer: " Mr. Harris com- pleted the measurement to Cranston line next morning, found the whole distance from Coweset corner to Cranston line to be (estimating width of river from stake on west bank at Phenix to corner of abuttment east bank at 150 feet) 12,640 or 2,080 feet over two miles and making the entire length of the line from Cranston to East Greenwich line 25,018 or 4i miles, less 62 feet (error of 1,000 feet). Dec. 11, 1850, the committee met with S. B. Cushing, surveyor, and assistant, and with two chain men, run a line from Cranston line course south 7| deg. west moving bound on the rock 2^ feet west and leaving stubs at points in the line throughout the short distances of which minute record was made to Coweset corner, near Centreville, and it being sunset, adjourned to next day. December 12, resumed the running with the same force and run through to East Greenwich line, com- pleting the line and came out at a point 494 feet east of old re- puted bound 200 feet east of M^alling's line in 1847. "This survey did not satisfactorily change the result reached by the survey of the 12th. As in the survey by Walling, the line run by Cushing crossed the reputed line twice in the distance from Coweset corner to East Greenwich line, a distance of some- thing less than 2-J- miles, and if adopted would have required a change of a large tract of land and some dwellings, with the in- habitants from Coventry to Warwick for residence and taxation, with an additional highway to be maintained and many acres of wood and pasture land from Warwick to Coventry. A severe illness of one of the coinmittee at that period the next year pre- vented operations for that year and for several successive years afterwards, and in consequence of other and pressing engage- ments of the committee during subsequent years, and notably from the fact that questions as to residence and taxation which had arisen among citizens residing at Phenix village and south- erly and which had led to the action by. the towns, had been solved and put to rest by the line as run and marked by the committee there, the work has never been resumed." The test oath passed by the general assembly at its June session in 1776 was generally subscribed to by the citizens of the town, and among others by Nathaniel Greene. The oath reads as follows : "We the subscribers solemnly and sincerely declare. 1182 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. that we believe the war of resistance and opposition in which the United States are now engaged against the fleets and armies of Great Britain is on the part of said States just and necessary, and that we will not directly or indirectly offer assistance of any sort or kind whatever to the said fleets and armies during the continuance of the present war, but that we will heartily assist in the defense of the United States." The town assemblies were originally held at the house of Thomas Waterman, a celebrated tavern stand in its day. It was in the possession of Jonathan AVhaley for many years. When the French army rode through the town they encamped oppo- site this old tavern. In 1835 the town erected a commodious town-house at Whaley, about two miles distant from Coventry Centre. The town meetings were held in this place until the erection of the present neat structure in Washington village in 1881. The records of the town had been kept twenty years previous to this time in the basement owned by John A. Chase, the present postmaster. Stephen W. Griffin, the present town clerk, has filled this office to the satisfaction of his townsmen for the past twenty- seven years. He came to the village of Washington in 1856, and began working in the mills for B. H. Horton & Co. He has also been superintendent of the town schools for the past fifteen years. The town officers of Coventry elected June 6th, 1888, were : Moderator, Charles E. Potter ; town clerk, Stephen W. Griffin ; town council, Horatio H. Calvin, Christopher Gushing, Henry A. Sisson, Charles C. Whitford and Pardon S- Peckham ; town sergeant, David W. R. Bennett ; auctioneer, William A. Stone ; town treasurer, Pardon S. Peckham, Jr.; assessors of taxes, Thomas G. Whaley, James H. -Brown, John Brown, Joshua M. Knight, Horatio H. Colvin and James H. Sweet ; overseer of the poor, Reverend Nicholas Battey ; constables, Hiram Lindall, James Franklin, Jr., and Charles H. Owens ; town auditor, Warren M. Greene; town sealer, Warren M. Greene; fence viewer, Leonard D. Greene ; collector of taxes, David M. Knight ; surveyor of land, Albert W. Goff ; school committee, Charles L. Ormsbee, M.D., George B. Parker and Stephen W. Griffin. In the year 1851 the town purchased four lots of James Briggs for $2,200, on which a poorhouse or asylum was located. The HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1183 farm is situated near the center of the town and has been im- proved, and at present furnishes ample accommodations for the town's dependent citizens. The disbursements made in 1887, according to the report of the overseer, Horatio H. Colvin, were $673.38. The Coventry and Cranston Turnpike.— The Coventry and Cranston turnpike was built in 1814. The old highway was more circuitous and less direct than the route desired and laid out by the turnpike. It crossed the north branch of the river at Ed- mond's bridge which was kept up till that time at least and then probably carried away by a freshet. This old highway has been relaid and the northern portion changed and enters the high- way that was formerly the Coventry and Cranston turnpike, op- posite the railroad station on the Pawtuxet Valley railroad at Phenix, and extends northwesterly passing the house built by William C. Ames, running into Lincoln avenue, thence north- erly, crossing the river near the Lanphear machine shop, enters the highway running through Harrisville. Many dwelling houses have been erected on both sides of this highway and on Lincoln avenue. Previous to 1813 the people residing on the south branch of the Pawtuxet river and those living farther south had no direct road leading from their place to Providence. There was a high- way leading from Washington and Anthony villages to Appo- naug and another road past Hope furnace. After the factories were built the proprietors were anxious for a more direct road leading to Providence and united with the proprietors of the Roger Williams and Lippitt Manufacturing Companies and others, and petitioned the general assembly to have them lay out a road that would be more convenient and direct to Provi- dence. At the session of the general assembly held on the fourth Monday of February, 1812, the following action was taken on their petition : " On the petition of Joseph Manchester and others praying for certain reasons therein stated that a public road and highway may be laid out from the factories belonging to the Coventry Manufacturing Company, by or near the factories of the Lippitt and Roger Williams Manufacturing Companies toward Monkey- town and Providence. Resolved, that said petition be received, and that Charles Brayton, Jeremiah Knight and Theodore A. 1184 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Foster be and they hereby are appointed a committee with full power and authority to lay out and establish the said road upon the route aforesaid in such manner as may be most for the ad- vantage of the public and as little as may be to the injury of in- dividuals ; and that the road thus to be laid out by said commit- tee on report of said committee of their doings in the premises being made to the general assembly, shall be a lawful highway to all intents and purposes as if the same had been laid out under the statute in such case made and provided ; provided, neverthe- less, that said road shall not be laid out through the land of any person who shall object to the same, and provided that no ex- pense be incurred herein by the state." At the meeting of the general assembly in June, 1812, the committee reported and were discharged. At the session of the general assembly held the third ^Monday in February, 1813, a charter was granted to " Theodore A. Fos- ter, Richard Anthony, William Anthony, Elisha Wightman, Reuben Wightman, Christopher Lippitt, Christopher Lippitt, Jr., Caleb Atwood, Benjamin Aborn, Amasa Mason, Elisha Williams, Caleb Williams, James D'Wolf, Philip M. Fisk, Richard Jackson, Jr., William Valentine, James Burrill, Jr., Samuel Arnold, Wil- liam Baker, Peter Levalley, and others their associates, succe,s- sors and assigns, shall be and they are hereby created a corpor- ation and body politic by the name of the Coventry and Crans- ton Turnpike Company and by that name shall be and hereby are made able and capable in law as a body corporate to pur- chase, have, possess and enjoy to themselves, their successors and assigns lands not exceeding fifty acres, tenements, rents, tolls and effects of what kind or nature soever, in establishing, mak- ing, securing, maintaining and keeping in repair the road herein described and in collecting the tolls hereinafter mentioned." The general assembly decided that the road should be laid out two and one half rods wide, and that the capital stock of the said corporation should be divided into shares of not more than fifty dollars each, and that "James B. Mason, Thomas Holden and Jeremiah Knight be the committee to lay out said road and as- sess the damages." Schools. — The first school house in the town of Coventry was erected about the year 1765. The work of education, however, began with the period of settlement and prior to the year named above, schools were kept in private houses. In the earlier HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1185 days of school houses it is presumed children went two and three miles to school. The teacher received from five to ten dollars a month, and " boarded around " or among the patrons of his school. The citizen who furnished the room in his house for the accom- modation of the school received as compensation the tuition of one scholar. About the year 1775 there were at least three school houses in the town, and these were used at irregular periods for religious worship. One was located at the foot of the eastern declivity of Waterman's hill, on the main road ; another near what is known as Spring Lake, probably on the present location of the public school house, and the third on the main road leading from Washington, over Harkney hill to the Con- necticut line, and southwest from Summit station. The men who were especially prominent in the matter of education at this period were the three brothers Aaron, Israel and Ichabod Bowen, Richard Waterman, Joseph Matteson and Caleb Vaughn, Jr. In 1828 the general assembly had re-established free schools throughout the state, at which time there were fourteen schools in winter and seven in summer; inhabitants, 3,139. All houses built before 1846 were held in shares, and the owners were called proprietors. Before 1800, Masters Crocker and Knox, natives of Ireland, taught school at Bowen's Hill and vicinity. Master Lemuel Spaulding, from Plainfield, Conn., taught for a period of years in a number of school houses. Besides the common branches of education Master Spaulding also taught surveying and navi- gation, and was a strict disciplinarian. Mr. James Mathewson, a native of West Greenwich, taught a school at Whaley Hollow, at five dollars per month. Mr. E. K. Parker, former superintendent of the schools of Coventry, in speaking of the early teachers of that town, says : "At a later date there came along a teacher known by the nom de plume of Mr. A. B. It is a mystery to this day unexplained what the true name of this man was. He came like a phantom, proved himself a superior teacher, received no compensation, furnished his scholars with books, won the hearts of old and young, and at the close of his school disappeared as mysteriously as he came." " Soon after the re-establishment of free schools other branches were introduced, such as English grammar and geography. Among the foremost teachers to encourage these new studies were the Reverend James Burlingame, now living, who taught 75 1186 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. evening- schools, for his older pupils' benefit, two or three nights in the week, and for which he received no extra pay ; Charles Horton and his brother Benjamin ; Asa Stone, son of Asa, who was for a long time town clerk — all, with the exception of Bur- lingame, having been pupils of the Reverend Richard Stone, a native of Coventry, and who for a number of years taught a select normal school at Bridgewater, Mass. Thus the free schools continued to increase gradually in efficiency and interest." " The next important date in the history of educational affairs is 1846. Radical reform was introduced at that time by the enactment of the new school law. To the credit of the town, it can be said that but few of its citizens made any effort to ob- struct the execution of this law. The people were generally enthusiastic in its support. The school'houses were mostly pur- chased by the school districts, thoroughly repaired and entirely reseated. In some instances new houses were built, and fur- nished with a degree of elegance before unknown in this part of the state. An efficient school committee was appointed, which carefully examined candidates for teachers' places, and generally lent its aid in carrying out the various'changes that the new law enjoined. Better wages were paid teachers, better talent was engaged in the work, and better schools resulted. The citizens of the town who were especially active, indefatigable and self- denying in educational affairs at this period were : Elisha Harris, Peleg Wilbur, Thomas Whipple, John J. Kilton, James G. Bowen, Stephen Waterman, Caleb Waterman, Isaac G. Bowen, Israel Wilson, Robert N. Potter, in addition to the members of the first school committee under the new law, whose names were : Samuel Arnold, Cromwell Whipple, Oliver G. Waterman, James A. Fenner, Caleb Nichols." In 1846-7 district school libraries were established at Wash- ington village and at Bowen's Hill, and complete school appa- ratus in several of the schools. Among the former pupils of the schools of Coventry who have become distinguished should be mentioned the names of Honorable Henry B. Anthony, senator in congress ; Reverend Harris S. Inman, Reverend A. K. Potter, Charles Matteson, late associate justice of the state supreme court ; Samuel H. Albro, Eugene Warner, all graduates of Brown University, and Ezra K. Parker, a graduate of Dart- mouth College ; Tully D. Bowen, Christopher Whitman and HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1187 David Hopkins, manufacturers ; William Bowen, lawyer ; John McGregor, the surgeon, and Thomas A. Whitman, the banker. Secret Societies.— There are a number of lodges and socie- ties in the town of Coventry. The great temperance reformation was commenced in the valley of the Pawtuxet in 1827 and 1828. A temperance society was formed in every village on both branches of the Pawtuxet, and most of the respectable people joined them, and did all they could to reform the people from the pernicious habit of intemperance, and they succeeded most gloriously. The approbation of heaven seemed to rest upon their efforts. Most all the foremost business men joined these societies, and great good was accomplished by them. The moral atmosphere was improved in the whole state. The Coventry Temperance Union was organized in the village of Anthony in May, 1828. At its first meeting thirty-four members signed the covenant of organization. Doctor Henry Cleveland was chairman, Moses D. Snow was secretary, Perez Peck, Hiram Cleveland, William Hammond and Peleg Wilbur, Jr., were appointed a committee to draft constitution and by-laws. In 1840 this society had a membership of five hundred and fifteen. It afterward merged into the State Temperance Union. Riverside Lodge, No.S9. I. O. G. T.,wa.s instituted February 17th, 1867, at Anthony, with Andrew Potter W. C. T. In 1872 the lodge discontinued its meetings, but reorganized in 1875, with Albert Potter W. C. T. Manchester Lodge, No. 12, F. 6f A. M., was instituted November 28th, 1808. First officers were: M., Richard Anthony; S. W., Joseph Rice ; J. W., William Anthony. The society is flour- ishing. Ionic Lodge, No. 28, F. & A. M., was instituted January 15th, 1870. The first master was W. V. Phillips ; L. Tillinghast, sec- retary. This lodge meets in Ionic Hall, in the village of Greene. The lodge is free from debt and owns some property. Anthony Lodge, No. !31, L O. 0. F., was instituted January 28th, 1872, with twelve charter members ; N. G., John J. Kilton. This society possesses property to the value of $5,000. The Knights of Pythias Lodge was instituted at Anthony, August 17th, 1871, with eighty members ; Otis Reynolds, C. C. The so- ciety holds meetings in Odd Fellows' Hall. Eugenia Lodge, No. 13, D. R., was instituted at Anthony, Febru- ary 16th, 1875, with twenty charter members. The first officers 1188 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. were : N. G., William F. Potter ; V. G., Mrs. Sarah J. Potter; R. S., William H. Jordan ; treasurer, Mrs. Emily L. Freeman. The lodge meets in Odd Fellows' Hall. Greenwood Cemetery. — This beautiful cemetery covers in area thirty acres of land that was purchased by William B. Spen- cer April 23d, 1858, that a suitable place might be prepared for the repose of the dead. Prior to 1857 this ground was covered with pines, oak, chestnut and other trees, which were cut down, boulders removed and a substantial stone wall, 172 rods in length, encircling a twelve-acre lot, was built, avenues laid out, etc., the whole being the work of a gang of men for two years' time, and at an expense to Mr. Spencer of ten thousand dollars. After the grounds were prepared, avenues were marked out and a plat made showing six hundred and nine lots, nearly all of them twenty by thirty feet and all fronting on an avenue. The entrance to the grounds from the highway is in the center. The carriage way passes between two granite posts, 24 by 28 inches, nine feet high above the ground ; the passage way is closed by two iron gates. On each side of these posts is an entrance for persons on foot, also closed by iron gates attached to stone posts two feet square and eight feet high. Two hundred and sixty feet from the highway, in front of the entrance, is built a receiv- ing tomb of sufficient size to hold forty bodies. The front is built of hammered granite, the door of the entrance is of North river stone, the outer surface planed. The tomb is surrounded except in front with evergreen trees. There were many pine and other trees left standing in differ- ent parts of the grounds, and it was named Greenwood Ceme- tery. The first body was put in the tomb October 23d, 1858 ; since that time to August 1st, 1887, there had been 505 bodies entombed, some remaining in the tomb one month and others several years. One man deposited the body of his wife in this tomb September 2d, 1866, and it now remains there, he having paid more than one hundred and twenty-five dollars for entomb- ing the body, and continues paying. Another man deposited the body of his daughter in this tomb October 14th, 1877, and continued paying for her body remaining there ten years. The first lot was sold September 21st, 1859. There have been one thousand and twenty-five bodies buried within the enclosure, ninety-one lots have been enclosed with granite curbing, and sixteen lots have monuments placed upon HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1189 them, and two lots have sarcophagtis placed on them, one of marble, the other of granite. Up to the present time the ceme- tery has been owned by the person who laid it out, but it should be incorporated and the lots placed under perpetual care, so that they may be taken care of when the owners have all passed away. The cemetery is located in the town of Coventry near the Warwick line, about one-third of a mile south of the village of Phenix. QuiDNiCK. — Stephen Taft formerly owned the property about Quidnick. He had three factories and ran about a hundred and twenty-five looms, and James M. Kimball, now a wealthy busi- ness man, was one of the overseers. Previous to Mr. Taft's owning this property it was a paper mill, but it was altered into a cotton factory. Stephen Taft at one time was reputed worth $150,000, but he undertook the calico printing business and failed. He afterward went to California, and died there poor. The property was purchased by the firm of A. & W. Sprague, and Emanuel Rice became one of the company. Two large factories were built, containing 25,000 spindles and 600 looms. The old village was completely renovated, many new and larger dwelling-houses were erected, and it became one of the hand- somest villages in the valley of the Pawtuxet. Sprague named it Quidnick, after the Quidnick reservoir. After the failure of A. & W. Sprague, the mills in 1873 fell into the hands of the Union Company, who sold, April 17th, 1884, to a corporation of whom William D. Davis and Henry A. Hidden are the largest owners. They run 31,460 spindles and 877 looms. They em- ploy 500 hands, and manufacture print cloths, sheetings and twills. Between this place and Anthony was the forge in which Gen- eral Nathanael Greene worked when a boy. The old Sprague store was established at Quidnick in 1849. The superintendents of the Spragues were Daniel Maguire, George Burton, Israel Potter, James Matteson and Joseph Cong- don. After the store left the hands of the Spragues Charles Sweet, then Albert Knight took it. The managers of the store were Mr. Wilson, William Hopkins, Frederick Cowperthwaite, Caleb T. Bowen, J. C. Page and Thomas Clarke, who is now of the Centreville Bank. The store business was then wound up, and no more was done until the mill property was sold to 1190 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. William Davis, when the store was rented to Hoxie Brothers. Mertz & Valentine are now carrying on one of the most en- tensive mercantile trades in the town. The firm is composed of George Mertz and George Valentine. ]\Ir. Mertz began busi- ness in Anthony in 18.57 as a machinist, but on account of losing an eye about thirteen years ago changed his business, at which time he erected a part of the present store. Mr. George Valentine was also a machinist, working in the same place — Peck's Machine Shop — commencing there in 1863 and continu- ing up to 1866, when he left the state, but returned in 1883, after which the present partnership was formed. The post office has been kept in this store since June 1st, 1886. Henry Matteson, the former postmaster, held the office a number of years. Gushing & Girard, dry goods and groceries, started up in the old Sprague store in 1882. They also do a lively business in hay, wood, coal, etc. The Quidnick store, now operated by Hoxie Brothers, was established by them in 1884. The brothers are Nathan E., Stephen J- and Presbary. They also own stores in Phenix, Lippitt, Harris and Arkwright, and are among the most enterprising men of the town. The Tin Top Church.— The history of this church dates back to October 21st, 1805, " on which date a number of converts be- longing to East Greenwich, Warwick and North Kingstown, met at East Greenwich, at the house of Mr. Caleb Mathews, and after due consideration, decided ' to unite together under the name of the United Brethren and Sisters of East Greenwich, Warwick and North Kingstown.' On the 11th of November following, a council consisting of delegates from the First and the Second Baptist churches of Providence, the one at Rehoboth and the one at North Kingstown, assembled, and after the usual examina- tions, recognized them as a Christian church, with the title of 'The Baptist Church of East Greenwich, Warwick and North Kingstown.' Thirty-seven persons, nine -of whom were men, composed the organization. With the exception of Deacon Shaw and his wife, who were received by letter from the First church, Providence, they appear to have been at the time but recently converted. Asa Niles, an unordained brother, had been preach- ing in East Greenwich and Centreville, and revival blpssings had followed his earnest labors. Quite a number of persons had been converted, who afterward united in the formation of this church." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1191 The church worshipped at East Greenwich, a portion of the time in the court house and also in the old meeting house that has since been destroyed. At Centreville they worshipped in the school house, a building erected for both school and religious purposes. " The larger portion of the church residing in the region of Centreville, it was finally decided to erect a suitable sanctuary where they would be better accommodated, and Quidnick being a central position, was chosen as the place. In view of this the church voted on the 27th of February, 1808, to change its name to the Baptist Church of Warwick and Coventry, which it still retains. This closes the first period of its history. " The first event of importance in the second period is the erection of the new meeting house, which soon became widely known as the ' Tip Top,' so called from the steeple or cupola being covered with tin. Its dimensions were sixty by forty feet, with a commodious vestry. Its galleries extended around three sides of the building. The building was framed in Providence, and rafted down the river and around to Apponaug, and thence drawn by teams to the place of erection. It is said to have been raised and completed in two months, and cost $3,300. The land on which it stands was given by Mr. Jacob Greene. Probably no building erected in Kent county ever awakened so much interest as this. People living miles away, with curiosity excited, came and viewed it with wondering delight. Boys from the neighbor- ing villages ran away from school, attracted by its glittering tower. Large congregations gathered for worship within its walls, and the church, with grateful pride, viewed the result of their toils and sacrifices. They had assumed, however, more pe- cuniary responsibility than they felt able to bear, and, in accord- ance with the custom of the times, they applied for and received of the general assembly permission to raise $2,000 by a lottery. The plan did not succeed as well as was expected. After linger- ing along for years, the grant was sold to ' Peirce & Burgess for $500, and John Allen was authorized to spend the money in re- pairing the house.' The ' Tin Top,' at this period, occasionally resounded with the voices of other ministers beside that of the pastor, and there are those now living who remember hearing Doctor Stephen Gano, the pastor of the First church. Providence ; President Asa Messer, of Brown University ; Doctor Benedict, of Pawtucket; Reverend J. Pitman, and others, within its walls. 1192 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTILP. On the 10th of September, 1810, the church joined the Warren Association. The cliurch held their stated Sabbath worship in the meeting house until about 1830. Up to this time various places were used for evening worship, and frequently, upon the Sabbath, in Crompton. Among the buildings used for such pur- poses was the old ' Cotton House,' a building since removed, which stood just back of the Crompton Company's stable, and the old ' Weave Shop,' not far from Deacon Spencer's store, on the opposite side of the road. Elder Curtis taught an evening school there, as well as held meetings, and man}' of his pupils were there converted. The ' Hall ' house, that has since been removed farther south on the turnpike, opposite the site of the old Cotton house, was also used for religious purposes, and other buildings as they could be obtained, up to the time when the ' Store Chamber ' was fitted up for a place of worship. It is said that the place where the church was worshipping, at the time Elder Ross was the pastor, 'became too straight for the people, and especially so for the minister,' and larger and better quar- ters were provided in the Store Chamber. This item fixes the time at about 1830, when they entered the latter place. The church, from this time, held its regular Sabbath services in Crompton, instead of Ouidnick. The ' Tin Top ' was leased for a time to other worshippers, and was finally sold at public auc- tion to William B. Spencer, Esq., in trust for the Rhode Island Baptist State Convention, for the sum of $320." In 1851 Reverend Jonathan Brayton began preaching for the Quidnick Society and remained there and at Crompton three years, preaching in both places. At this time Reverend Mr. Brayton, Pardon Spencer, Samuel Eldred, Oliver Howard, Elisha Andrews and some others secured an act of the general assem- bly at the January session of 1852, incorporating the society un- der the name of the Quidnick Baptist Society of Coventry. Reverend Mr. Brayton was succeeded by Reverend Thomas Terry in 1854. He was succeeded by the following pastors: Reverend T. C. Tingley to August 16th, 1869; Ira Bates; H. S. Inman to 1875 ; supplies by Reverends Fuller, Shepherd and others to 1877 ; C. L. Frost to April 29th, 1877; Thomas Crud- ginton (Crompton and Tin Top churches) from July 18th, 1878, to April 19th, 1879 ; A. C. Bronson October 15th, died April 8th, 1883; N. B. Wilson, September 28th, 1884. He resigned in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1193 April, 1885, when the present pastor, Reverend O. R. Hunt, took charge. In 1858 the house was thoroughly repaired. The galleries were cut down and the new pulpit put in. In 1885 the old Tin Top building, that had stood the storms of seventy-seven win- ters, gave way to the new edifice, which was dedicated Decem- ber 1st, 1886, and cost about $6,000. The present membership of the church is one hundred and seven. The vSabbath school is under the superintendency of Miss Ella Mitchell. Doctor John Matteson has been clerk of the church since 1878. Anthony. — This is a flourishing village a short distance above Quidnick on the Flat river. These places taken together form one of the largest villages in the town. They are connected. The mechanical and mercantile interests are well repiesented. The place has a fine library, chartered in 1808, under the name of the Coventry Library Association. Senator Anthony was one of the leading spirits of this enterprise and gave the society a number of valuable books. At this village was located the celebrated machine shop of Perez Peck. It was built by the Coventry Company in 1810, and let to Perez Peck, Cromwell Peck and John Trueman. In 1814 Cromwell Peck and Mr. Trueman sold out to Perez Peck and re- tired from the concern, and Perez Peck ran it alone. He carried on the business of making machinery for many years success- fully, and acquired a handsome property. He was an honored and devoted member of the Society of Friends. He spent his days in the village, living to be nearly ninety years old. Perez Peck, Cromwell Peck and Jonathan Tiffany made the machinery in the old grist mill on the premises. These men were all mechanics., but knew nothing of the construction of machinery except what they learned as they went along in its construction under the guidance and instruction of William Anthony, the then superintendent, who was a good mechanic and ingenious man. The machine shop was subsequently removed to Clyde and the old building converted into a store and hall. The Messrs. Capwell about the year of the centennial erected a planing and turning mill in the village. The Coventry Company erected one of the first cotton mills in the state. The men who composed the company were some of the pioneers of cotton manufacturing in the country. Samuel Arnold was their agent in Providence, Richard Anthony agent 1194 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'J' COUNTIES. at the mill, and William Anthony superintendent of the mill. William and Richard Anthon}' and others were the proprietors. Work was begun in the autumn of 1805, at which time the trench was dug. The first mill was eighty feet long and was finished in 1806. A subsequent addition of thirty-one feet made the entire length one hundred and eleven feet. It operated fif- teen hundred spindles and was a large mill for those days, when cotton spinning was in its infancy. In 1807 there was a great freshet, and another in March, 1822, when serious damage was threatened to the property. The Coventry Company built their second or new factory in 1810. It was six stories high at the south end and the building one hundred and twenty-five feet long. It was said to be the highest building in the state, and was an object of attraction to all who saw it. Three stories were of stone and the three upper ones of wood. In 1812 the cotton manufacturers coined money, but after the war many of the young manufacturers had to stop, for the coun- try was flooded with foreign goods. In the early days of cotton manufacturing the whipping ma- chine, for cleaning cotton, had not been invented. It had to be cleaned by hand. Women and children took the cotton to their several homes in bundles of twelve pounds each, and after pick- ing and cleaning it they would return it to the mill and receive fifty cents for the twelve pounds. Women and children could be seen daily carrying cotton from and returning with it to the mills. The power loom was invented at this time, and started in 1817. Previous to this the yarn which was spun in the factories was woven on hand looms. All cotton factories, as soon as they could get them, put the power looms in their mills, and they started again and once more commenced to make money. Some factories went to work fifteen minutes before sunrise and worked for fifteen minutes after sunset, making fourteen and a half hours labor for all. The smallest children had to work these hours with the other help. In winter they went to work as early as they could see in the morning and worked until eight o'clock in the evening. Richard Anthony sold his right to the company in 1816, and removed to North Providence. William Anthony became the agent and sole manager of the mill in Coventry, and remained such until his death, which occurred May 17th, 18-^5, aged seventy HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1195 years. Not one of the original owners, or any of their descend- ants, own any part of this great property now. It passed into the hands of the late TuUy Bowen and Cyrus and Stephen Harris. It is now owned by a corporation. Henry W. Gardiner is a large owner and Stephen Harris is agent. John Warner, the superintendent, has been in charge of the mills twenty-three years. Both of the old factories were taken down and a new first-class mill was built in 1873 on the premises, a few rods south of the old ones, with a capacity of 33,132 spindles and 736 looms. The late Senator Anthony was one of this company when he died, and was the last of the descendants of the original pro- prietors. The new mill, an elegant brick structure of five stories, is 80 by 360 feet, with an L at each end. The Coventry Company store was built in 1807. It was burned down in 1857. The company did not run the store after 1848. It was then conducted by Asahel Matteson & Co. and two nephews of Asahel, who retired in 1884, succeeded. The Mat- tesons kept it to 1887, when it passed into the hands of John B. Allen, the present owner. Daniel R. Whitman, formerly of River Point, for the Greene Manufacturing Company, was the last superintendent of the mills of the Coventry Company. William Round & Son traded in the village for a number of years, but recently sold out. J. C. Johnson, dealer in men's furnishing goods, has been here since 1885. His store is in the building erected by C). R. Matteson, who also keeps a grocery store in the same building. Doctor Ira C. Winsor and his brother. Doctor John Winsor, came to the village in 1869, and the latter in 1878 established his drug store. Cxcorge H. Sterrat is his clerk. The store has been recently enlarged. Byron Read erected his large and elegant store in 18K2. It is 40 by 100 feet and has two stories and basement. It contains in all 16,000 square feet of flooring. It is the largest building in the town, and so creditably arranged and well managed that it does great credit to the town. The bu,siness is furniture and undertaking, which he began twenty-two years ago. He began with his brother, Henry Read, Jr., in 1866, and in 1872 com- menced for himself. Isaac Aylesworth, one of the earliest settlers of the town, established the furniture and undertaking business in Anthony. Henry Read, Jr., brother of Byron, began working for Aylesworth in 1848, and continued thereafter for eighteen years, and then as Aylesworth's successor for six years. 1196 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Henry Read, Sr., was a farmer. He was born in Coventry in 1801, and died August 11th, 1887. In the undertaking business Mr. Read buried a horse named "Old Tom," a few years ago, which had attended over eleven hundred funerals. The horse died May 2d, 1886, of dropsy. During the past twelve years Mr. Read had been in business alone "Old Tom" had been with him. He was widely known as a horse of exemplary character and sobriety, and he appreciated fully the dignity as well as the solemnity of his position at the head of the procession. From the day of his birth, twenty-four years before his death, he had never known a day of illness. Mr. Read has four costly hearses, and at times they are all at work. His barn and house are models of architectural beauty and arrangement. The barn, for convenience, ingenuity of arrangement, for cleanliness and com- pleteness in every detail, excites the admiration of every one who has seen it. C. E. Bowen, dealer in hardware, came to the place in 1883. He had been formerly engaged in the hardware trade at Washington and River Point. His brother, Henry Bowen, also his father, were traders in River Point. Mr. A. W. Manchester built the store now occupied by B. L. Richmond. Albert Potter was the first to occupy this store, on the 8th of March, 1857. After trading here awhile he went into the old store owned by A. W. Manchester, but in two and one-half years later sold out to B. L. Richmond, who kept in the old store about eight years, then came to the present location. Central Baptist Church. — This church is situated between Anthony and Washington. The church was formed in 1840, with forty-seven members. Elder Pardon Tillinghast was its first pastor. April 22d, 1849, he preached his last sermon. In 1850 the church had a membership of one hundred and eighty- four, but soon after this a contention arose among the members, and the Six Principle Baptists now control the building. Elder Jeremiah Potter preached here many years. He was a native of Scituate, was born August 17th, 1815, and began preaching in April, 1848. In 1869 he moved to Washington village. He now preaches at the Maple Root church and at Bethel, River Point and Kent place, Scituate, at each place once a month. Elders Jacques and Young are the regular preachers now at this church. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1197 Maple Root Church.— This society was organized October 14th, 1762, with twenty-six members, and was one of the most prominent of the early churches in the county. In 1763 Rev- erend Timothy Greene was called to the pastorate, and William King was chosen deacon. In 1780 Elder Reuben Hopkins, of Scituate, was called to the pastorate. In 1782 Elder Thomas Man- chester succeeded, at which time the church numbered seventy- five members. In 1797 the society built a new house, now known as the Maple Root church. It is located in the southern part of the town. In 1811 Pardon Tillinghast assumed charge of the society, which had increased to one hundred and eighty mem- bers. In 1815 the membership was three hundred ; in 1821 four hundred, and continued increasing until it had as many as six hundred names on its roll, when numerous branches began to be set off from this, the mother church, and organized into other societies. The church now has a membership of two hundred persons. Elder Jeremiah Potter is one of the pastors of this church, and although the membership is less than formerly, yet they still continue to worship in the same simple and unosten- tatious manner, and exerting the same good as formerly upon the hearts of the community. Washington Village. — This village is situated upon the Flat river, also on the line of the Providence, Hartford and Fish- kill railroad. The company have here a turn table, an engine house, a water tank, a freight house, and station. The first post office established in the town was at this place, and is still known as the Coventry post office. The village was formerly called Braytontown, from Thomas Brayton, who owned the land now covered by the village. The business that was done in the village at that time was by the grist, saw and fulling mills belonging to the Braytons. Another fulling mill was built and run by Judge Stephen Potter, a man of much note in those times, who did much in forming the good character of the village. He died November 20th, 1796, aged 75 years. Jonathan Brayton sold to Henry Whitman, in 1797, for $1,100, a lot of land on which were two grist mills, one saw mill and one fulling mill, with one-half of the water power at this village. The other half was owned by Judge Isaac Johnson and William F. Potter. Whitman sold the same in 1809 for $500, and three acres of land with it, it being his half of the privilege, to Peleg Wilbur, Colonel George Arnold, and 1198 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. others. The name of the concern was then called the Washington Manufacturing Company. This gave the name to the village, which name it has since borne. The village a few years ago had six small factories, but now only four are running. The Washington Manufacturing Company built their first mill in 1812. It contained 1,500 spindles, and was a large mill for those times. Colonel Peleg Wilbur, an able business man, a good politician and a representative of the town of Coventry in the legislature for a number of years, was chosen agent, a posi- tion he held for three years until 1815. The capital stock of the company was divided into thirty-two shares. Among the share- holdei's were Caleb Kilton and John Bissell. Mr. Bissell was a miller and a man of more than ordinary natural abilities, and for those times much of a mathematician. His opinion was much sought, and his decisions were generally final. The mill was burnt down in 1826, together with a saw mill, grist mill, dwelling house, which was a tavern, and a calendering mill on the opposite side of the river. It was a great fire. The Washington Company owned twenty-four shares, and John J. Kilton six shares. These thirty shares comprised the whole stock, two shares having been previously sunk. Colonel Peleg Wilbur, Oliver C. Wilbur and Thomas B. Wilbur, three brothers, now constituted the Washington Company, owning twenty-four shares of the original privilege. They erected a stone factory on the site of the one burnt in 1826, one hundred and twenty-five feet long, two stories in front and three stories on the river side, with a good attic room, and started it with one hundred and four looms and between 4,000 and 5,000 spindles. This mill has stood most of the time idle since 1873. George N. Jacox afterward leased it for a period of four years, when, he failed. The mill on the opposite side of the river was owned by Col- onel Peleg Wilbur and Hon. Thomas Whipple, who did business under the firm name of Wilbur & Whipple. They had a store on the main street of the village and carried on business for many years. Hon. Thomas Whipple was elected several times on^ of the senators under the old charter government and the present con- stitution, and elected lieutenant-governor of the state on the ticket with Hon. Henry B. Anthony, from 1849 to 1851. He was HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1199 an able man, a shrewd politician and a good statesman ; a gen- tleman of great integrity and of noble principle. As a man of sound judgment he had few superiors in the state. He was the father of the somewhat famous Cromwell Whipple, who for a few years figured so prominently in the politics of Kent county. This company manufactured yarn and cotton cloth. James & Bowen in 1839 purchased the mill and continued the business, but it has stood idle now for many years. George H. Tyler & Co. are dyers and bleachers of woolen yarns. They employ about thirty hands, and are operating in the factory built by John J. Kilton in 1832. The factory was built sixty by thirty-six feet, two stories high, and ran thirty- two looms and about thirteen hundred spindles. It now has four sets of cards and thirteen hundred and forty-four spindles. The mills had stood idle a number of years. Mr. Kilton was the son of John Kilton, who went down the bay with Commodore Abra- ham Whipple and burned the British sloop of war "Gaspee " in June, 1775. John Kilton operated the mill in a small way till 1856, then his son John J. took the business and continued till 1873, when nothing more was done with it till it was leased to the present firm, George H. Tyler & Co., in 1882. Hines & Arnold about the year 1813, erected a machine shop, about one hundred feet long and two stories high, but a few rods below the Washington dam, with about six feet fall, and rnade machinery for the factories in the valley of the Pawtuxet. They employed sixty men, which for those times was a large number. The factories and this machine shop made Washington one of the liveliest villages in Rhode Island. Hines & Arnold failed, and their machine shop was turned into a factory. It was first owned by Russell Chace and Martin vS. Whitman, but not prospering in their business, Mr. Whitman sold his half to John Greene, of Centreville, about 1833, and in a few years after the Chace family bought Greene's half, and they run it them- selves till 1840. The firm consisted of Russell Chace and his two sons, Daniel and William Chace. They did not prosper. A few years afterward it was sold to Tully Bowen. After his death it was sold to a . Mr. Higgins and others, who ran it a few years, when it was burned some four or five years ago. Russell Chace came here when a young man and lived in the village until he died July 18th, 1855. In 1821 he went into the manufacturing business. William Chace went into business 1200 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. with his father and his brother Daniel T. Chace in 1840 and re- mained till 1855, when he went out. The Moon mill stands on the site of the old Bine mill built by Thomas Whipple about sixty years ago. The original mill was 50 by 26 feet, one and one half stories high. It was leased to Joseph James, who operated it a few years for the manufacture of stocking yarn. He was succeeded by Vaughn & Warner and they by Vaughn & Angell. The mill was subsequently leased to different parties. In 1859 Benjamin Moon purchased the property, the name of the mill was changed to Moon mill, and the present structure was erected. In 1872 Welcome R. Arnold leased the property and operated it a number of years. Mr. Moon also bought another small factory on the opposite side of the river for a steam saw and shingle mill. Mr. Moon has a machine shop in connection with the mill. He manufactures carpet warps, twine, etc. He employs about twenty hands. He was born in West Greenwich in 1827. The Washington store was of very early date. Thomas Whip- ple and Peleg Wilbur, Ray Johnson & Co., and Charles Moss were traders in Washington Village, some of them very many years ago. Joseph Cappell kept tavern in those days, but the house was burned about sixty-five years ago. In later times B. H. Horton & Co., in 1849 erected the building now used by G. W. Cutting. Colonel Wilbur, a gentleman of the old school, was a member of the firm of Horton & Co. He began business a few years before on the opposite side of the street, and traded there awhile. Benjamin H. Horton was originally a school teacher from Scituate. He was also active in Sabbath school work. He died of apoplexy. B. H. Horton & Co. remained in business some twenty years, when Mr. Horton bought up all Colonel Wil- bur's interest and continued the business some years. John Chace & Co., consisting of Chace & Kilton, old under- takers, succeeded in the store in March, 1881, and kept the post office. They staid two years and more, then moved where they are now in 1883. In March, 1884, G. W. Cutting came into the old store. In 1887 Walter A. Kilton sold his interest to Mr. Chace, who is now alone. Mr. Chace took the post office in 1883. George J. Andrews and B. A. Sweet began trading in the village and in 1884 Ralph & Shippee came, and in 1886 Peckham & Tucker, the present owners. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1201 The Bank of Kent was located at the village of Washington and was incorporated in June, 1818, with a capital of $50,000. Caleb Fiske was the first president and Jenks Randall was elected cashier at the same time. The bank ceased discounting paper in February, 1867, and closed up its business immediately after- ward. The stockholders received about fifty-four dollars on a share, the par value being fifty dollars. The Coventry National Bank was organized in 1852 with a capi- tal of $30,000, and with Christopher A. Whitman president, and Thomas A. Whitman cashier. In 1865 it was reorganized under congressional enactment as a national bank, with a capital stock of $100,000. The Coventry Savings Bank was organized in 1872. The officers cohsisted of eight directors, president and treasurer. John Pot- ter, Jr., was the first president, and Edward B. Williams treas- urer. The annual statement, made in 1887, by Mr. Williams to the state auditor, reported the bank in liquidation. The Washington Marble Granite Works were established by Or- rin Spencer in 1832, at which time he occupied a site near the Old Washington store building ; in 1868 he removed to the pres- ent location near the railroad. Mr. Spencer carried on the busi- ness until about 1878, when Stephen F. Richmond purchased the property. Mr. Richmond was married in 1852 to Mary E. An- drews and has five children. Washington Methodist Church. — This church is located in the eastern part of Washington village. The society was origin- ally chartered (in June, 1823) as the First Congregational church and dedicated in October, 1831. The church was organized with a membership of six. The first pastor was Reverend Giles Pearce. He continued his labors for about four years. A new charter was obtained in 1856 under the style of the Christian Union church, but for the last fifteen years or more it has been known as the Washington Methodist church. Reverend Alex- ander Anderson is the present pastor and is also superintendent of the Sabbath school. Mr. Anderson succeeded Reverend Fred- erick Baker. Coventry Manufacturing Company.—" The Coventry Manu- facturing Company is one mile from Washington. The Coven- try Company bought their privilege of Jacob Greene, a brother of the celebrated General Nathanael Greene of the revolutionary army, for the sum of $1,500, October ]4th, 1805. 76 1202 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. " The stock of the company was divided into sixteen shares. The following gentlemen composed the company, and owned the number of shares placed after their names : James Burrell, three ; Richard Jackson, John K. Pitman, William Valentine, Richard Anthony, William Anthony, Nathan Jackson, two each ; Samuel Arnold, one. " Hon. James Burrell, by general consent was classed among the first men of the state. He was chosen for seventeen years attorney general of Rhode Island, for several 3^ears speaker of the house of representatives, chief justice of the supreme court, and afterward senator in congress ; a member of which he sickened and died in the city of Washington, December 25th, 1820. " Hon. Richard Jackson, another of the proprietors of the Cov- entry Company, ably represented this state in congress from November 11th, 1808, to 1815. He was president of the AVashing- ton Fire Insurance Company from its organization to the time of his death. He was a gentleman of decided opinions, of sound judgment, and at all times a reliable man. The late governor, Hon. Charles Jackson, George Jackson, once editor of the Provi- dcncc Journal, and Rev. Henry Jackson, D.D., were his sons. The late pious Phebe Jackson, lately deceased, was his daughter. " Nathan Jackson, another owner, was a brother of Richard, and likewise a noted man. He held the office of town clerk of Providence for many years. Every official document that ema- nated from the town authorities was signed ' Nathan Jackson, town clerk.' He was an honored member of the Society of Friends. "Samuel Arnold was an eminent merchant in Providence. He was the father of the late Hon. Samuel G. Arnold, and grand- father of Arnold Greene, Esq., of Providence, a distinguished law- yer of this state. " William Valentine, another owner, was likewise an eminent merchant of Providence, and acquired a large fortune for those times. He was one of the founders of the Fall River Iron Works. " Richard and William Anthony were sons of Daniel Anthony, a noted surveyor and mathematician of his day. He, too, was a member of the Society of Friends. William Anthony was the father of the late General James G. Anthony, and of the late Senator Henry B. Anthony." HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1203 Coventry Centre.— This little village is situated in, the cen- tral part of the town, on the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill railroad. It is the seat of the Peckham Manufacturing Company. Coventry Centre was originally known as the Central Factory, which was built in 1809. Previous to this a grist mill and a saw mill were running here. These were blown down in the great September gale of 1815. Quidnick Reservoir furnishes the water power for the mills at this place and others on Flat river beloM^ The reservoir is a natural pond of water, covering about four hundred acres of land, and is about one hundred and fifty feet above the village. It is fed by two brooks. The river descends rapidly from the pond, and in running one mile falls seventy feet and unites with an- other brook running from the south. The two run east to Cov- entry Centre, where there is another large reservoir, overflow- ing what is called Maroon swamp. Joseph Weaver owned the land here, on which were a saw mill and a grist mill, probably erected as early as 1750. In 1770 he sold his interests to Israel Wilson, with fourteen acres of land, for four hundred dollars. Wilson afterward bought of Nathan Greene sixty-nine acres additional, with two houses, for one hun- dred dollars. He bought other lands, and in all owned one hun- dred and twenty-three acres. He owned and operated a grist mill and fulling mill. His grandson, Israel Wilson, in 1845 sold the pond and the fourteen original acres to the Quidnick Reservoir Company for thirty-five hundred dollars, for which his grand- father paid seventy-five years before four hundred dollars. The Quidnick Reservoir Company enlarged the pond, and it now fur- nishes a constant supply of water for the mills below during all the seasons of the year. A forge was in operation here a hundred years ago, which smelted bog iron dug in Maroon swamp. The forge and the Wilson mills constituted the chief industries of the place prior to the year 1800. Benjamin Arnold was born in 1749. He was the father of Lowry, Elisha, Welcome, Thomas and Owen Arnold, and great- grandfather of Hon. Warren O. Arnold, the member of congress from the Western or Second district of the state. Lowry Arnold built the Central Factory in 1809, which was the first cotton mill here. It was subsequently purchased by Benjamin Morse, who continued the manufacture of yarn. Gilmore, Kimball & Allen 1204 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. leased the property, and it subsequently passed into the hands of Charles Morse, and afterward burned. Thomas Whipple was manufacturing here in 1845. In 1848 Pardon S. Peckham came into the village, and he and his brother, Thomas C. Peckham, who subsequently arrived, have been the leading men of the place since that time. In 1848 Mr. Pardon S. Peckham formed a partnership with Mr. Spencer, and Peckham & Spencer continued the manufacturing business. In about one year Mr. Spencer sold out to Mr. Card, and the busi- ness was continued by Peckham & Card four 3^ears longer, when all interests were purchased by Pardon S. Peckham, and he op- erated it alone from 1854 to 1859. During the year last named above the new mill was erected. It was 90 by 38 feet, three sto- ries, and of sufficient capacity to give employment to about fifty hands. In 1864 an addition was erected 40 by 50 feet, and the number of sets increased to eight. About the year 1861 Thomas C. Peckham entered into partnership with his brother, Pardon S., but subsequently the latter bought the former out and again continued the business alone, Thomas C. going to Spring Lake. In 1865 there was a new corporation formed under the style of the Peckham Manufacturing Company. It consisted of Pardon S., Thomas C. and John G. Peckham, and Hartwell & Co. The mills owned and operated by the new firm were the two at Coventry Centre and the mill at Spring Lake, which had been purchased by Thomas C. Peckham. In 1870 Pardon S. Peckham traded his interests in the mills at Coventry Centre for the mills at Spring Lake, and from that time became the sole owner there. From this time the Peckham Manufacturing Company has continued the business at Coventry Centre. They now manu- facture about $25(\000 worth of woolen goods per annum. They are running four sets in the upper mill and eight sets in the lower one. They make cloth in the upper mill and yarn at the lower, and employ about one hundred and twenty-five hands. The officers of the company are as follows: T. C. Peckham, president; H. F. Richards, treasurer, and M. H. Hartwell, sec- retary. This company is a serviceable one to the village. They not only give constant employment to a large force of help, but in a public-spirited way much has been done for the village in the erection of tenement houses, a public hall, and the maintenance of a well-stocked general store. When Pardon S. Peckham came to the village in 1848, he pur- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1205 chased of Samuel Arnold his store and his little grist mill. The latter was turned into a one-set woolen mill, and the store turned into a tenement house about twenty-five years ago. George R. Bowen & Co., who operated the upper mill from 1845 to 1855, had a store. Bowen & Reynolds began trading soon after the war, and are still in business. The Peckham Manufacturing Company has kept a store since the year 1878, and kept the post office for some time. Israel Whaley also does a thriving trade here. He commenced in 1883, and is the postmaster. He is a descendant of Thomas Whaley, who came here among the very first settlers in the town, probably one hundred and sixty years ago. The Public Hall was built by Pardon S. Peckham about the year 1853. The various societies in the place use it for stated purposes, as also the different churches. There is no church building in Coventry Centre, but preachers of different denomi- nations frequently hold services here. The hall is 30 by 40 feet. There is a flourishing Sabbath school in the village which meets in this hall. Spring Lake. — This place is situated about one mile south of Washington, on the Spring Lake brook, a tributary of Flat river. A mill was built here by Ezra Ramsdell about the year 1818, and was used for making warps. It burned in 1830, and was rebuilt by Christopher A. Whitman, who admitted Gideon B. Card as a partner, giving him a quarter interest in the busi- ness. They manufactured cotton yarn. In 1865 Thomas C. Peckham & Co. purchased the property and improved the mills. In 1866 the Peckham Manufacturing Company, of Coventry Centre, took Thomas C. Peckham into their company and pur- chased all rights in the mills at Spring Lake, and the business was then conducted by this large firm until 1870, when the property again changed hands. In 1867 Pardon 8. Peckham gave up the business and moved to Watch Hill, where he remained five years on account of his health. In 1870 he traded his interest in the mills of Coventry Centre for the one at Spring Lake, and in 1872 went into business with his son, Samuel D. Peckham. They began with two sets. In 1875 they put in the third set, and other sets in 1877, 1880, 1884, until now there are six sets in all in the mill. In 1884 they built the new mill for four sets, making ten sets in all. They employ one hundred and fifteen hands at the present 1206 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. time. P. S. Peckham and his sons have carried on the business under the firm name of P. S. Peckham & Co. The mills are now- owned by Pardon S. Peckham, Jr., and Samuel D. Peckham. The products of these mills is knitting and stocking yarns of all kinds. Whaley. — This place is located about two miles distant from Coventry Centre in a northwesterly direction. Thomas AVhaley was the original settler there, coming to the place when every- where around was a wilderness and without a habitation. Thomas Whaley was a descendant of Theophilus, whose history has been given in the preceding chapter. There are two branches of this family, the south branch and the Coventry branch of Whaleys. Both branches descend from Samuel, son of Theophilus. The south branch contains in parental line : Theophilus, Samuel, Jeremiah, Joseph and Ezekiel, who died in March, 1888, aged 96. The Coventry branch is asfollow'S : Theophilus, Samuel, Thomas, Reuben and Israel Whaley, the present postmaster of Coventry Centre. Samuel Whaley had two sons and one daughter. Thomas Whaley, the son of Samuel, took up a large tract of land here and probably built the saw mill. This mill went down in the time of Job Whaley, who was a very small boy when his father settled here. Jonathan Whaley at one time had possession of the old tavern now used as a residence, which originally be- longed to Thomas Waterman and was where the town assemblies were usually held. In 1835 the town erected their commodious town house at this place, and the business of the township was transacted here until the records were removed to Washington village. Barclay. — This is a small hamlet, about one mile southeast from Washington. In an early day Fones Potter manufactured cotton yarn here in a two-story building, 30 by 40 feet. The Anthonys then came in and extended the business. Jabez Anthony first manufactured ropes and bandings, and was suc- ceeded by his son William, in the same business, and he by Edwin L. Anthony. The Anthonys own a large reservoir here, and have made important improvements and additions to the little old wooden building used by the Potters. Su.M.NHT. — The trading interests of this point date back to the building of the depot here in ISfni. j\lr. Nichols built his residence here in 1855, and the next year the store. He was station agent from IS-^iO to 1884, when he was succeeded by HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1207 Halsey M. Tillinghast, the present agent. The following lif-.t gives the storekeepers in the place, beginning in 1856 : G. M. Nichols, five years ; Christopher Carpenter, two years ; G. M. Nichols, five years ; H. S. Vaughn ; G. M. Nichols, five years ; A. H. Cornell, since 1885. Mr. Nichols had the post office twenty- nine and one-half years, and was succeeded by Chester Franklin. Mr. Nichols built the public hall in 1888. It is used for various societies, meetings, etc. The Order of Patrons of Husbandry, Summit Grange, No. 15, meets here. It was organized November 9th, 1887, and now numbers forty-one members. The chaplain is Mrs. Lucius A. Cappell. Mrs. Alida Sweet is secretary, and E. A. Hall treasurer. G. M. Nichols was the first chaplain. Albert R. Johnson is blacksmith in the place, and Leonard R. Matteson has a saw and shingle mill. James Matteson had a saw mill near Summit as early as 1812. The Christian Church at Summit was organized September 29th, 1869. Giles and Betsey Nichols, Hiram and Hannah Greene, Sarah Vaughn, Cynthia A. Waterman, John H. Austin, Layton E. Seamans and Mercy Seamans were among the original members. Elder Caleb Tillinghast came here and preached, and was ordained here, at which time thirty-one were baptized, and soon afterward ten more. William O. Sweet, now of Broad street. Providence, was the next pastor. He was elected Feb ruary 22d, 1870. Following him came A. D. Blanchard, two years, then supplies until 1887, when the present pastor, John H. Carr, took charge. The church building is owned by a stock company. Subscriptions were started in 1859, the building erected in 1862 and finished in 1863, at a cost of $600. Greene. — This hamlet is in the western part of the town, and is a station on the Providence, Hartford and Fishkill railroad. The station was established here in 1856, and the business at this point has had its growth since that time. It was named in honor of General Nathanael Greene by the officials of the road. In 1867 Whipple V. Phillips, an enterprising citizen, erected a saw mill, in which he put a shingle machine, a planer, and started a box factory, and carried on the business successfully for some years. In 1873 he erected a wooden structure 40 by 60 feet, two stories high. The lower story was used for a store- room and the upper one was converted into a hall for religious purposes. In 1877 the entire building was leased to the Gold- 1208 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. smith & Wheatley Manufacturing Company, who occupied both stories in the manufacture of horn whalebone. This company employed some forty operatives, and turned out nearly 2,000 pounds of bone per week ; but the business finally decreased, and has been discontinued for years. Mr. Phillips also kept store for a time in the house built by S. G. Wood. The house was built just before the war, but Mr. Phillips did not take charge of the store until 1863. During the war he lived in a house now owned by Daniel Tillinghast. He kept store in all six years, and was succeeded by Leonard Til- linghast, who kept store about ten years ; then Amasa Tabor for two or three years. Following him came Benoni Lewis, where Mr. Whitman keeps now. This store was built by Caleb Jor- dan. Of those trading in the hamlet now Mr. C. T. Stone has the largest store, and is doing a good business in the old Phillips building. He began in 1886. H. A. Whitman has been trading in Greene since April 6th, 1882. C. S. Brown succeeded Oliver Lewis in a grocery store in 1882, and since January, 1886, has kept the post office. The Ionic Lodge was organized here January 15th, 1870. They have a large society and are in a flourishing condition. A Methodist church building was erected in Greene in 1875, but the society dates back to October 3d, 1873, when they had their first meeting. At that time George W, Rider, Lois A. Ri- der, Stephen S. Damon, Hannah A. Damon, Edward R. Rider, Lyman Davis, Serena Davis, Edward Pierce, Emeline E. Hop- kins, Bessie A. Rider, Emeline N. Griffith, Horace B. Wood, Mary F. Wood, Robie A. Phillips and Mr. Whipple Phillips formed themselves into a church society for the purpose of holding religious services. Reverend George Hunt was their first pastor. They worshipped first in IMasonic Hall, before the meeting house was built. The}? have no pastor now, but enjoy occasional preaching by pastors of other churches. The station agent at Greene is N. M. Kennedy. The building used for a depot was moved from a short distance below where it now stands. Years ago this building was used as a wood station. Mr. Thomas Wilcox operates a saw mill. It was put up in 1887. Mr. B. G. Wood owns a blacksmith shop, and carries on wagon making to a limited extent. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1209 Fairbanks. — This is a little hamlet where the Moosup river crosses the Providence and Norwich road. Mr. Thomas Blanch- ard commenced business here about 1800. He owned a saw mill, a grist mill, a carding machine and a fulling mill. In 1825 be sold out to E. G. Fairbanks. Colonel McGregor, who command- ed at the execution of Major Andre, kept a tavern a short dis- tance west of here in an early day. The sword he used on that occasion is still kept in the family. Jeremiah McGregor, his son, succeeded to the business, and in 1831 hung out his temperance sign, and this was known as the first temperance tavern in the town. Jeremiah S. McGregor now owns the estate. He is also in possession of a museum of valuable relics, most interesting to those who have had the pleasure of seeing them. Hopkins' Hollow. — This hamlet is situated about two miles south of Greene Station. It consists of a small collection of dwellings, has a store, a grist and saw mill, and a church, built in 1869, being a branch of the Rice City church. This part of the town was first settled by the Rices. Captain Rice built a saw mill, also a g.rist mill, near the present one. He erected the first house in the vicinity. His first mill was torn down to make room for the second one, which was taken away in 1847, for the third one. His mill was replaced about the year 1825 by one built by Jeremiah Hopkins and his son Samuel. Ambrose S. Hopkins bought out his father and brother, and built another mill fur- ther down the stream. S. Rathbun and William Pierce more recently came into possession of this property. Harris. — This important manufacturing village is situated a short distance above Phenix. It received its name from Governor Elisha Harris, who represented his town of Coventry in both branches of the legislature under the old charter government, and was governor of the state from 1847 to 1849. His brother, John Clarke, was a social and gentlemanly man, and rose in the militia to be a brigadier-general. Governor Harris first started manufacturing here in 1822. In 1809 Nathan Potter was the owner of a farm where the village of Harris is now. His dwelling house was located where the residence of Mrs. Christopher R. Greene is situated. It was the only house from the house near the Lanphear machine shop to Arkwright village. When Harris village was built he sold the company a number of acres from the northeast part of his farm. At his death the property descended to his heirs, who 1210 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. occupied the place a number of years, when it was sold to the Harris Company. Elisha Harris resided in the house standing on the north side of the highway opposite the store in his village, until he built a more commodious house at the northwest side of the village, where he resided until his death, which occurred February 1st, 1861, in the seventieth year of his age, leaving a widow and two daughters. Sarah Taylor Harris, widow of Governor Harris, died in July, 1883. Governor Howard improved the house and grounds by raising up the house and building another .story under it. Caleb Atwood & Sons built a small stone mill building, two stories high, where the Lanphear machine shop is now, about the year 1813. The stone building was used for a cotton factory, and for some cause was called the Dumplin' Mould. In 1822 the estate was divided between Caleb and Daniel Atwood, and a few years afterward fell into Daniel Atwood's possession, and he built a two-story house nearly opposite where Harris & Com- pany's office is now. He died June 4th, 1841. This property was purchased also by the Harris Company, and in 1851 David Harris erected a fine house on the site from which this house was moved. August 2d, 1821, Elisha Harris bought of George Burton one undivided half of a lot of land in Coventry on the north side of the north branch of the Pawtuxet river, containing five acres and eight rods ; also one-quarter of an acre on the south side of the river, between land of Nathan Potter and Esick Edmunds, for the sum of $300. November 4th, 1821, William Hines sold to Elisha Harris one undivided half of two lots of land and water privilege in the town of Coventry. After securing a water privilege he built a dam on the north- west part of his purchase, and dug a trench some 500 feet long to convey the water from the pond to where he built a factory, about 34 by 50 feet, on the southeasterly part of his purchase near the Atwoods' land, and commenced the manufacture of heavy cotton sheetings for family use, which had a ready sale. In the northeast end of the factory he had a store where were kept groceries for supplying the persons working in the factor}'. As the business proved successful additions were made to the factory until it now measures 34 by 106 feet, with two ells, one HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1211 of which is 26 by 44 feet, the other 46 by 37 feet. When the room occupied by the store was wanted in which to place ma- chinery, a stone building was erected between the factory and the highway, fronting northerly on the highway, and the goods moved from the factory into it, and is now used for a store. September 1st, 1825, he sold to his brother, John C. Harris, one undivided fourth part of all his right, title and interest unto two lots of land both containing five acres and forty rods on both sides of the river, dam, trenches, cotton factory and machinery thereon, for the sum of $4,000. August 12th, 1825, George Burton, administrator on the estate of George Atwood, sold to Elisha Harris thirteen acres and eighty rods of land. January 15th, 1844, John C. Harris sold to Elisha Harris all his right, title and interest in the factory and lands. May 11th, 1841, the property of Daniel Atwood was sold, in- cluding the factory privilege and buildings, and came into the possession of Elisha Harris, who had the dam removed and the factory building torn down, and the stone used in building the foundation for the machine shop, which was built in 1846 by the Harris Manufacturing Company, and occupied January 1st, 1847, by Levalley, Lanphear & Company. In 1851 Elisha Harris built a new stone mill, 48 by 174 feet, with an ell 42 by 43 feet, some distance below his old mill on the north side of the highway. He was several years engaged in preparing the trench to take the water from the same pond that supplied his first mill, allowing it to run past the mill and around the side hill and crossing the highway above the Lan- phear machine shop. In 1860 and 1861 the Harris Company built a stone dam about 400 feet below the old one. In the flood of 1886 this dam was damaged by washing away one of the abutments, and in repairing it the roUwa}' was lengthened 40 feet, making it now 150 feet in length. At the May session of the general assembly, 1865, an act of incorporation was granted to Henry Howard, David S. Harris, Albert S. Gallup and Edwin C. Gallup, incorporating them as the Harris Manufacturing Company. Subsequently Mr. Harris and the Messrs. Gallup retired, their interest being ac- quired by the family of the late Governor Harris, since which time, though the bu.siness has been carried on as a corporate enterprise, the ownership has been in the family. The officers at this writing are ; H. Howard, president ; E. C. Bucklin, treas- 1212 HISTORY OK WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. urer, and E. H. Howard, agent. In 1883 an addition of stone 75 by 175 feet was built to the stone mill and used for weaving. The preparation of both mills, which contain 16,928 spindles, the weave shop having 408 looms, making both plain and twilled cloth. Both mills are heated by steam, and each has a Corliss engine for use in the summer when the water fails. The head and fall of the old privilege is less than that at the stone or new mill; that being further down the stream, includes what was the Atwood privilege, and has 201!^ feet head and fall. The Lanphear Machine Shop is the most extensive manufac- tory of this kind in town. Elisha Lanphear first bought land op- posite the Harris Company's mill and machine shop November 11th, 1848, and on December 11th, twenty acres of this land was conveyed to David S. and Elisha Harris. March 20th, 1867, Elisha Lanphear bought of William C. Ames land lying east of his former purchase and adjoining it, and then sold one half of the same to Henry Howard and they platted this land into house lots and laid out Lincoln avenue. After Mr. Babcock had removed from Phenix, Robert Leval- ley, Thomas P. Lanphear, Elisha Harris and Giles Spencer formed a copartnership by the name of " Levalley, Lanphear & Company," and continued the building of machiner}^ in the same building vacated by Mr. Babcock until January 1st, 1847, when the Harris Manufacturing Company having erected a building on the land where the Atwood factory formerl}' stood, Levalley, Lanphear & Co. moved to this building and the old machine shop was moved by Benjamin C. Harris on the lot he owned op- posite Spencer Block and fitted up for btisiness purposes, where it remained until May 24th, 1871, when it was destroyed by fire. Levalley, Lanphear & Co. continued the building of machin- ery at the latter place until May, 1867, when Thomas P. Lan- phear, Horatio A. Stone, Edwin Johnson, Henry Howard and Thomas J. Hill were incorporated by the name of "The Lan- phear Machine Company," and the business continued by the new company, Robert Levalley and Elisha Harris having died prev- ious to the company being incorporated. After the company was incorporated the business became depressed and after con- tinuing a number of years the Lanphear Machine Company gave up building machinery and some of the stockholders sold their stock. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1213 Arkwright. — This flourishing manufacturing village derives its name from Richard Arkwright, the great English inventor and manufacturer. It is situated in the extreme northeastern part of the town. April 3d, 1809, James De Wolf, of Bristol, Doctor Caleb Fiske and his son Philip M. Fiske, of Scituate, and Asher Robbins, at- torney-at-law, residing in Newport, bought of Elisha Arnold four and a half acres of land in the northeast corner of the town of Coventry. April 6th, 1809, another purchase was made of Jabez and James Burlingame of twenty- five acres, " with the mill seat and water privilege thereon, partly in Cranston and partly in Cov- entry, and on both sides of the river and including the whole stream." April 25th, 1809, another purchase was made from Nathan Potter of 12 acres 47 rods. Having obtained the whole water power of the river having a head and fall of 23x11% feet, a dam was erected across the river on the westerly part of the land purchased, and a factory built on the southeasterly part on the south side of the river in the town of Coventry, and put in oper- ation in 1810. A little below the dam a picker house was built, where the cotton was prepared for carding and carried down to the factory. The picker house stood between the trench and the river and used the water from the trench to operate its wheel. The parties formed themselves into a company to be known as the Arkwright Company and named the village Ark- wright. November 29th, 1832, James De Wolf sold to William M. Cooke a bleach house and other improvements for the sum. of $17,000, " together with all the shafts, drums, calendars, boilers, presses, wheels, fixtures, machinery and appendages of every name or nature, attached to or belonging to said bleach house ; also a dwelling house and other buildings on the opposite side of the highway; also, the fountain used for supplying said bleach house with water, which said fountain is situated about half a mile from the works, together with the leaden pipes leading to said bleach house ; also, the right to use and draw from the pond all the redundant or surplus water after fully supplying the two cotton mills and two picking houses belonging to the grantor ; the said grantee immediately to stop drawing water from said mill pond when the same is needed for said cotton mills and 1214 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. pickers ; the grantor shall, at his own expense, keep the dam in repair, reserving the right to fill up the mills with machinery. And it is further understood, that the grantee, his heirs or as- signs, shall erect no grist mill, saw mill, nor keep any tavern, except a boarding house for his own people, nor keep any store or shop for retailing goods of any kind (except that he may fur- nish his work people with provisions and groceries for the use of their families) upon said premises, nor use nor occupy any building now erected for any of the above purposes." Mr. Cooke continued the bleaching business and added thereto the printing of calico, and associated with himself George J. Adams, and they carried on the business until July, 1849, when the works took fire and were entirely consumed and were not rebuilt. In 1822 another factory, 100 by 32 feet, 4i stories, was built near the first factory and put in operation in 1824. After the death of James De Wolf the factories were rented to Crawford Allen & Company. August, 1851, the first mill that was built was destroyed by fire and was not rebuilt. Several dwelling houses were built on the north side of the river in the town of Cranston. December 3d, 1858, William A. Howard, senior, bought of William Bradford DeWolf for $8,150, one undivided quarter part of the Arkwright estate, and of Mark Anthony DeWolf another quarter part of said estate for $8,150, and purchased of the other heirs of James DeWolf the remainder of the Arkwright estate, and commenced manufacturing, his son, William A. Howard, Jr., residing in the village in said house as agent of the estab- lishment. .After the death of his father, an act of incorporation was obtained at the May session of the general assembly in 1871, incorporating William A. Howard, Henry T. Grant, Henry How- ard and their associates by the name of the Arkwright Manu- facturing Company, for the purpose of manufacturing cotton and other goods. After the death of William A. Howard, Jr.. the estate passed into other hands, and at the May session of the general assembly, 1883, another act of incorporation was obtain- ed, incorporating " Edward C. Bucklin, Elisha H. Howard, Wil- liam F. Sayles, Frederick C. Sayles and Henry Howard by the name of the Arkwright Company, for the purpose of transacting a general business in the manufacture and sale of textile fabrics, the buying, selling and grinding of grain and other business in- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1215 cidental thereto." The sum of $180 paid by the Arkwright Com- pany in 1871 as a state tax on the charter, was appropriated toward the tax on this charter, to pay $20 more, the general treasurer to give receipt in full. May 5th, 1883, the name of the company was changed to " Interlarkin Mills," and is now known by that name. A new dam has been built of stone further down the river, nearly opposite the old school house, taking the place of the dam built to operate the gfist mill and saw mill. The machinery operating the saw mill has been taken out, and the grinding of grain only remains. In 1883 buildings of brick were erected be- tween the grist mill and the dam, which are used for dyeing and finishing the goods made in the mill above, which has 6,656 spindles and 140 looms, making 64x64-44 inch goods ; which, after being colored and finished, are used for book cloth and Holland shades. A. S. Ordway is president and E. C. Bucklin treasurer. A building for a store was built several years since near the grist mill and occupied by Hoxie Brothers, who furnish dry goods and groceries to the workmen of the mills and others. Black Rock. — This place is situated between Anthony and Arkwright on the east side of the public highway. Fones pond is on land now occupied by Charles Stone. This farm in 1814 was owned by Fones Greene. March 14th, 1814, William Greene, William F. Greene, Samuel Greene, William Greene, Jr., and Jeremiah Greene agreed to enter into the manufacture of cotton by the name of the Black Rock Cotton Manufacturing Company. William F. Greene was appointed principal agent at Providence, and William Greene, Jr., was appointed agent at the factory. To secure all the water needed the company entered into agreement with Fones Greene to ditch his pond for their benefit. The Black Rock Company erected a small wooden building and used it several years, but did not find the business profitable, and April 6th, 1824, William F. Greene, Samuel Greene, James Greene and William Greene, for $900, sold the factory privilege and buildings to Nicholas G. Potter, who used the factory for a machine shop, and the estate is now owned by his son, Edwin W. Potter. The stream of water, after passing this place, sup- plies the power for operating the machinery in Pearce Brothers' factory, and empties into the north branch of the Pawtuxet river, opposite the Lanphear machine shop. 1216 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES. Stephen Wats( )N Griffin. — Benjamin Griffin, the grandfather of Stephen W. Griffin, was a farmer in the town of West Green- wich. By his marriage to ]Mary Watson were born two children, a son, Benjamin, and a daughter, Dorcas, who became the wife of Jesse Wood. Benjamin Griffin, who was born December 14th, 1798, in West Greenwich, settled on a farm in Exeter, and mar- ried Elizabeth, daughter of David and Elizabeth Gardner, of South Kingstown. Their children wer^ : Nicholas, Benjamin, Joseph. Stephen W., Lewis, Elizabeth, Thomas J., Mary A., Gard- ner W., William W., George A., and Abby A. Air. Griffin's death occurred April 20th, 1879, and that of his wife October 14th, 1851. Their fourth son, Stephen Watson, was born August 3d, 1826, in Exeter, Washington county, at that time the residence of his parents. In early youth he removed to Cranston, his home un- til the age of fourteen, when the family located in Foster. Here he was variously occupied for four years, when the young man at the age of eighteen began the battle of life, with no other cap- ital than a sturdy will and a sufficiently vigorous constitution to enable him to render his labor self-supporting. His first effort was in the direction of farm labor, with the fall and winter months devoted to school. He thus acquired more than a mas- tery of the English branches, and was soon fitted to take charge of a neighboring school. He at this time learned the trade of brick making. Mr. Griffin, however, early found another avenue of usefulness open to him, and abandoned his trade to become a town official. As a republican he was elected to the office of town and probate clerk of Coventr)^ and has each succeeding year been re-elected. He has, by his fidelity, accuracy and courtesy, won the regard of the public, and stands in trusted and confidential relations with many of his townsmen. He has also for twelve years been clerk of the school committee of Coventry. He is a member of Massachusetts Lodge, No. 12, of Free and Accepted Masons, of Anthony, and of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, of the Inde- pendent Order of Odd Fellows. He at the age of seventeen be- came a member of the Baptist church of Sterling, Conn., and now worships with and aids in the support of the Methodist Episcopal church of Washington. Mr. Griffin, in the winter of 1852, married Adeline A., daugh- ter of Hazard and Sarah Champlin, of Washington. Their chil- ^ ARTOTYPE, E. 8IERSTADT, H. f. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1217 dren are : Ella Frances, born July 29tli, 1855, and Sarah Eliza- beth, whose birth occurred July 7th, 1857. Their nephew, Gard- ner W. Griffin, who resided with them, was born April 29th, 1869, and died May 27th, 1886. John J. Kilton.— The Kiltons came from England and settled in Providence. At a conflagration of their dwelling house in Providence the early records of the family were destroyed. Some of the family were buried in the North Burial Ground. Thomas Kilton resided in Providence, where he died May 11th, 1749, aged ■ fifty-nine years. His son, Thomas, was born in Providence, and married Sarah Pearce, sister of Samuel Pearce, of Prudence island, who was the father of Dutee J. Pearce. Thomas Kilton, like many ambitious young men of his time, chose a seaman's life, and rose by the usual gradations to the commaind of a vessel. During a tempestuous gale his bark was, in 1753, wrecked on Cape Breton. As the unfortunate seamen were washed ashore by the breakers they were surrounded by savage Indians, and all, excepting the mate, barbarously mur- dered. Sylvanus Hopkins, son of Stephen Hopkins, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, was one of the crew, and suffered death. The mate returned to the colony with the sad news of the slaughter of his comrades. The widow of Captain Thomas Kilton, with her only child, a son, resided in Providence, and was teacher in a school, of which Silas Downer was the principal, whom she afterward married and had four daughters. Mr. Downer was a man of literary taste and ability, and was prominent in the early history of Providence, where he delivered a discourse at the dedication of the Tree of Liberty. Extravagant in his habits, he soon spent the property left his wife by her first husband. Consequently her son was in early life thrown upon his own resources. John Jenckes Kilton. only son of Captain Thomas and Sarah (Pearce) Kilton, was born in Providence March 1st, 1749, and there learned the trade of a tailor, at which trade he worked most of his life, and by which and farming he supported him- self and family. He was one of the heroes who opened the great drama of the American revolution. In June, 1772, he, with a brave party disguised as Indians, and led by John Brown, of Providence, boarded the British revenue sloop "Gaspee" and set her on fire. He was frequently in service during the war which followed, and was in Sullivan's expedition to the island of 77 1218 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Rhode Island in 1778. He moved from Providence to Scituate in 1772, and afterward removed to Coventry, upon a farm a mile north of Washington, where, with his family, he spent the re- mainder of liis life. In 1771 he married Sarah, daughter of Francis and Sarali (Phillips) Brayton. Francis Brayton, when a lad, migrated with his elder brother, Thomas, from the island of Rhode Island. They were the first settlers in Washington, and from tliem it was first called Braytontown. Here he resided till he died. May, 1784, aged sixty-three years. His body, with those of his wife, children and grandchildren, three infant sons of his daughter, Sarah (Brayton) Kilton, are interred in the yard of the Methodist Episcopal church in Washington. John Jenckes Kilton died February 28th, 1824, aged seventy-five years. He was buried on a spot selected by him on his own land as his family burial place, and now lies in Woodland cemetery. His wife Died December 1st, 1832, aged eighty-one years, and was buried by his side. They had twelve children, of whom three sons died in infancy. Jolm J. Kilton was born January 24th, 1788. His childhood was spent at his father's home on the farm. He attended the common schools in his neighborhood, of which at one time his sister Betsey was teacher, and afterward spent one or two terms at the academy in Plainfield, Connecticut. He worked on the farm, and later became an apprentice under his eldest brother, Thomas, to learn the carpenter's trade, boarding in his family in Washington. He worked at this and the machinist's trade till over forty years of age, living in Arkwright a portion of the time. In December, 1827, he married Jane McMurray, only child of Alexander and Hannah (Bennett) McMurray. In April, 1829, he, with his wife, removed to Washington, being employed as machinist by the Washington Manufacturing Company, who owned a mill on the north side of the river, with four-fifths of the water power. He afterward purchased the remaining one- fifth of this water power and land on the south side of the river, in 1831 built a mill, and the next year commenced weaving cot- ton cloth. By the advice of his friends, Governor Elisha Harris and Mr. David Whitman, he commenced the manufacture of a style of goods unlike any in the market, carefully selecting and using the best kind of cotton. The Kilton sheetings soon gained a wide reputation, and orders were received faster than could be filled. For them he received many diplomas from the Rhode /^/ ARTOTYPE, E. BIER3TADT, N. Y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1219 Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry, of which he was for many years a member; and also from the American Institute, New York. The latter, in 1852, awarded him a silver medal for the best brown sheeting then made. He had, by economy, been able to save only an amount of money sufficient to pay for the land and water privilege, and when the mill was built and filled with machinery was in debt; yet he had no difficulty in purchasing all the stock and supplies needed to commence work, giving his note for eight months, without indorser or security. For twenty years he had the entire man- agement of this business, employing no agent or bookkeeper. He bought the supplies for the mill, kept the books, and paid the help, depending upon no watchman, but going through the mill twice each night after work had ceased. He prospered, and was soon able to pay his entire indebtedness. Mr. Kilton then pur- chased an estate near the mill, and in 1840 erected a house, where, with his family, he lived during the remainder of his life. After conducting the business about twenty years he re- linquished the management to his son, who bore his father's name, and who finally leased the mill property. The last years of his life were devoted to farming, for which he retained his early fondness. He was for many years a director in the Bank of Kent, which position he held until the institution was closed. He was also a director in the Warwick Institution for Savings. He was a whig and republican, and a law and order man at the time of the Dorr rebellion. He was neither a politician nor an office seeker. He was identified with the anti-slavery reform when to be an aboli- tionist rendered a man unpopular. He was always interested in the temperance cause, and a member of the first temper- ance society in his native town. Mr. Kilton took a deep in- terest in the cause of education, was many years a trustee of the public school, and did much toward its improvement. He was not a member of any church, but a believer in the truths of di- vine revelation and a reader of the Bible. He was a constant attendant on public worship, and never absent from the church on Sunday unless detained by sickness. He preferred the Meth- odist Episcopal church, of which his wife and his three elder sis- ters were members, and mainly through his influence the church property in Washington, of which he at the time owned nearly one-fourth, was given to the Methodist Episcopal church. 1220 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. He gave liberally for the support of the church and for benev- olent and charitable purposes ; was modest, unassuming and cautious. His word was as good as his bond. He was not bril- liant, but displayed good common sense and business capacity. He was hospitable, felt a strong attachment for his family and friends, and was a kind husband, father and brother. His death occurred July 7th, 1873. He was buried in the family burial lot, now in Woodland Ceijietery, where a plain granite monument is erected to his memory and that of his wife, who died July 27th, 1877. A son and daughter survive their parents. Charles Matteson, of Providence, associate justice of the su- preme court of the state, is a native of the town of Coventry, and was born March 21st, 1840. He is a son of Asahel and Julia M. (Johnson) Matteson, of Anthony. Asahel Matteson, a native of West Greenwich, was a merchant at Escoheag, afterward at Rice City, where the subject of our sketch was born ; and subsequently in the city of Providence. He now resides in the town of Cov. entry, where he enjoys the confidence of the people, and where he has held several important trusts. He was president of the Cov- entry National Bank of Anthony for ten or twelve years, trustee of the Coventry Savings Bank, and also state senator from that town for a number of years. Mrs. Julia M. Matteson is the daughter of Uzal Johnson, who was a resident of Lyme, Conn. Judge Matteson received a liberal education, both in the lit- erary and legal departments of learning, being a graduate of Brown University and a student of Harvard Law School, He took his preparatory course of instruction in the Providence Con- ference vSeminary, now East Greenwich Academy, and in the University Grammar School, Providence, graduating from the latter institution in lS.i7. In the meantime he clerked for his father in his store in Anthony for two years. The oppor- tunities here afforded the young student for reading character from the multitude of faces that came and went from that place of business, modified by so many conditions and "circumstances in life, were not only educational in their tendencies, but the advantages herein afforded did much to qualify the judge for that high position he has so long and ably filled on the bench. In the fall of 1857 he was matriculated for Brown University and in 1861 he graduated from that institution with the degree of A. M. In the year 1861 he entered the office of Wingate Hayes, U. S. district attorney, and began the study of law. He ^'f-'fy^ HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1221 was with Mr. Hayes two years and then entered Harvard Law school. Here he remained another year and then returned to the office of Mr. Hayes, and on January 9th, 1864, he was admit- ted to the bar of the supreme court of the state of Rhode Island. From this time until his election as associate justice he prac- ticed law, part of the time on his own account and then as a member of the law firm of Hayes & Matteson. His success at the bar gaining for him the confidence of his brothers in the profession led to his election as associate justice of the supreme court of the state February 11th, 1875. On February 28th, four- teen years ago, he took the oath of office qualifying him for the duties of the bench, and he has held that position ever since. August 2d, 1872, Judge Matteson was married to Miss Belle, daughter of Paul and Sally (Covil) Hines of Warwick. Her father was for many years superintendent of the Brayton Foun- dry at River Point. Three children were the result of this mar- riage : Archibald C, George A., and Paul. At the time of his marriage Judge Matteson resided in Coventry, and from that town was elected senator in 1871, and re-elected in 1872. In 1872 he removed his residence to Providence. His acquaintance- ship with members of the general assembly, by reason of his re- cent service in that body, probably contributed largely to his election in 1875. In 1885 he erected his present residence in the city of Providence. Pardon S. Peckham.— The Rhode Island Peckhams are de- scended from English ancestors. Judge Samuel, the grandfather of Pardon S. Peckham, resided in Charlestown, Washington county, where he cultivated a farm, and also followed his trade of cooper. He married Hannah Stanton of the same county, to whom were born eleven children. The birth of Daniel, the youngest of this number who grew to mature years, occurred September 10th, 1796, and his death in April, 1862. He was both a farmer and boat builder, occasionally engaged in contracting, and was one of the most active and enterprising men of his town. He was much interested in local military affairs, attained the rank of captain of militia, and was familiarly known among his friends as " Captain Daniel." He married Olive, daughter of Pardon Kenyon, of Hopkinton. Their children were: Pardon S., Samuel, Daniel, Olive A. F., Thomas C, and John G. Mr. Peckham married a second time Maria Ennis, of Cranston, whose children were Leander W. and Luther A. 1222 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. The eldest of these sons, Pardon S. Peckham, was born Octo- ber 2d, 1821, in Charlestown, Rhode Island, from whence he removed at the age of twelve years with his parents to Westerly. His education was obtained under difficulties, the winter months only being devoted to study at the nearest school, located nearly two miles distant and requiring a tedious walk to and from his home each day. vSuch, however, was his determination, that a thorough- knowledge of the English branches was soon obtained, and later a mastery of elementary mathematics, that contributed greatly to his success as a business man. At the age of seven- teen he removed to Warwick, in Kent county, and was employed to tend woolen cards in a mill near Pawtuxet. His skill and fidelity to the work assigned him soon placed him in charge of that department, where he remained three years, when it ceased operations. Removing to Apponaug, he entered the employ of Festus L. Thomson as superintendent of the carding room, and later assumed the management of the mill, which he purchased in 1846, forming a co-partnership with E. S. Peckham under the firm name of E. S. & P. S. Peckham. This business as- sociation lasted for two years, the product of the mill being woolen stocking yarns, which found a ready sale and soon established a reputation for the " Peckham Yarns " as the most popular and desirable goods of their kind in the market. Sell- ing his interest in the spring of 1848, he removed to Coventry Centre and established the firm of Peckham & Spencer, which a year after became Peckham & Card. This firm continued four years in business, woolen yarns being their specialty, when the senior partner in 1853 purchased the entire interest and con- ducted the mill alone until the year 1861, when his brother, Thomas C. Peckham, was admitted to a quarter interest. This relation existed for a brief time, when the subject of this biog- raphy again became the exclusive owner and purchased in addi- tion a cotton mill which underwent material changes and was devoted to the manufacture of woolen yarns, his selling agents at this time being Messrs. Tafft & Co., of Providence. In the year 1865 a corporation formed under the title of the Peckham Manufacturing Company operated the two mills above men- tioned and a third, located at Spring Lake in the town of Coventry. In 1870 Mr. Peckham became sole owner of the Spring i:^^.^^^^^^^-^^^^ ARTOTYPE, E. BIER5TADT, N. Y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1223 Lake property, a year after dissolving his connection with the Peckham Manufacturing Company. In 1881 his two sons, Samuel D. and Pardon S., Jr., were ad- mitted to a partnership under the firm name of P. S. Peckham & Co., and have since assumed the management of the business. To them is attributable in a large degree its success, the senior partner giving it little attention aside from a general super- vision of the business of the concern. In 1884 a new and com- modious mill was erected on adjacent ground. Ten sets of woolen machinerj- are now used, the amount of business for- merly done multiplied by six representing the present capacity of the establishment. This indicates the growth and success of the woolen mill under judicious and successful management. Mr. Peckham is a democrat in his political views, and a firm believer in free trade principles. He has been for three years a member of the town council and is now its president. He has been actively interested in the cause of education, and for a long period held the office of school trustee. He was formerly a di- rector of the Coventry Savings Bank. He was formerly identi- fied with the Free Will Baptist church of Warwick and has since espoused the belief of the Second Adventists. Mr. Peckham in 1841 married Hannah E., daughter of Gardner Gorton, of Apponaug, who died in the fall of 1847. He the fol- lowing year married Sarah J., daughter of George W. Bates, of Warwick. Their children are : Samuel D., Ellen F., wife of George H. Tyler, who has two children ; Mary Jane, deceased, wife of George E. Rounds ; Pardon S., Jr., Olive A., married to Mason Dewitt, who has five children; Sarah G., wife of N. B. Yars, who has one child; William H., Charles H., deceased ; Eva A., Emily B. and Walter W. Samuel D. Peckham was born at Coventry Centre in 1847. Af- ter having spent five years at Westerly on a farm which his father owned, he began in business with the Peckham Manufac- turing Company. His wife is Eugenia, sister of George H. Tyler. They have one son, Irving Peckham. Pardon S. Peckham, Jr., was born in 1855. His wife was Ella Tucker, of Hopkinton, R. I. He was educated for business as was also his brother, Samuel D., at the Bryant & Stratton Busi- ness College at Providence. William H. Peckham was born in 1863, was married in 1881 to Eunice A., daughter of Stephen and Mary Cornell, and has two sons. 1224 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Thomas C. Peckham. — The name of Peckham is largely iden- tified with the growth and development of the town of Coventry, and equally so with its manufacturing interests. Thomas C. Peckham was born December 21st, 1836, in Westerly, R. I., where his parents at that time resided. At the age of fifteen he remov- ed to Coventry Centre, and from that date until the present his life has been one of unceasing industry. His education was chiefly acquired during the winter months, his time and services for the remainder of the year being of more value on the farm and in the saw mill. He also sought employment in the imme- diate vicinity, and thus at an early age became self-reliant and independent. Removing to Coventry Centre in 1851, he entered the woolen yarn mill owned by an older brother. Pardon S. Peck- ham, where he was assigned to the pickers and cards, receiving for this service seven dollars per month and his board. Two years later he was placed in charge of the carding room, and in 1861 his industry was rewarded with a quarter interest in the business. This copartnership existed for a brief period, when Mr. Peckham, on retiring, established the firm of T. C. Peckham & Co., removed his business to Spring Lake in the same town, and there purchasing a cotton mill, materially improved the structure and converted it to the purposes of a woolen mill. He made many important changes in the property and its surround- ings, placed in the mill four sets of machinery and continued the manufacture of woolen yarns. In 1865 the Peckham Manu- facturing Company was organized, its stockholders being Thomas C. Peckham, Pardon S. Peckham, and the firm of Hartwell Rich- ards & Co., of Providence. Three mills were operated, two at Coventry Centre and one at Spring Lake. Pardon S. Peckham in 1870 withdrew from this corporation and purchased the Spring Lake property. The subject of this biography, who had previ- ously acted as agent of the company above-mentioned, now as- sumed the management of its mills at Coventry Centre, which are devoted to the manufacture of worsted and stocking yarns, fine underwear and tweeds. Mr. Peckham is the president of this corporation, and Hartwell Richards & Co. its agents. A more detailed description of the mills of the Peckham i\Ianufacturing Company will appear on another page of this volum.e. Their successful operation and the excellence of their products is largely the result of the master mind at their head, who has added ex- tensively to the property, erected a commodious and well equip- % ■s ^''W-Pr-esmn ^. C'Mi' ^ ^, /^^^^'^^^^^-^-^y HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1225 ped store, numerous buildings for the comfort of his employees, and infused into the little hamlet the spirit of progress and busi- ness. Through his influence a post office was established, as also a station on the New York & New England railroad. He is be- sides interested in the Oneco Manufacturing Company in Con- necticut, of which he is secretary and treasurer. Mr. Peckham is an earnest champion of the principles of the republican party, and has learned from practical experience the necessity for protection to home industries. He was a delegate to the republican national convention convened at Chicago in 1884, represented his town in the general assembly, as a member of the house of representatives during the sessions of 1875, 1876 and 1877, and as a member of the state senate for the years 1882, 1883, 1884, filling among other positions that of chairman of committee on accounts and claims. He is actively interested in all measures affecting the town, has been a member of the town council, president of the board of assessors, and for fifteen years a school trustee. He has also attained to rank and in- fluence in the Masonic fraternity, with which he has for years been identified. Mr. Peckham was on the 8th of March, 1858, married to Mary v., daughter of the late Daniel Reynolds and Hannah H. Gardner of Washington village, and granddaughter of John G. Reynolds of East Greenwich. Their children are : Daniel W., born January 26th, 1859, who died April 18th, 1881 ; Annie F., wife of Louis L. Angell, born July 23d, 1860; Mary E., wife of Sylvester L. Tillinghast, born June 15th, 1862, who died April 10th, 1883; Grace G., wife of Frank W. Tillinghast, born March 27th, 1864; Hattie, born December 24th, 1865; Amie G., No- vember 14th, 1868 ; Susie E., March 30th, 1870, who died October 17th, 1881; Bertha V-, born August 13th, 1872, whose death oc- curred October 16th of the same year ; Bertha E., born March 3d, 1874, who died on the 3d of the following October; Isabella B., born March 21st, 1871, and Charles Herbert, born December 29th, 1875. The Peckham family are largely represented in Rhode Island, and presumably trace their descent from the common ancestors, John Peckham and his wife, who was a daughter of one James Clark. Their son William was born in 1675, and married Mary Clark, whose birth occurred in 1680. To this union were born two sons, William and Samuel, one of whom is the direct pro- 1226 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. genitor of the grandfather of the subject of this biographical sketch, Judge Samuel Peckhatn. By the marriage of the latter to Hannah Stanton were born eleven children, one; of whom, Daniel, married Olive, daughter of Pardon Kenyon, of Hopkin- ton, Washington county. Their fourth son in order of birth is Thomas C. Peckham. Byron Read, the subject of this sketch, whose portrait ap- pears in this volume, is the youngest son of Henry and Phebe (Wait) Read, and grandson of Joseph and Sabria (Knight) Read, and was born in Coventry, Kent county, R. I., April 7th, 1845. His father was born in Coventry, R. I., April 7th, 1801, and died August 11th, 1887. His mother was born September 6th, 1804, and is still living. They had a family of thirteen children, whose names are as follows : Almond, Levi B., Julia A. (the last two twins), Rebecca W., Henry, Jr., Sheffield W., Sybiel W., Joseph, Sheldon, Christopher J., Phebe W., Jane W., and Byron. Those deceased are Henry, Jr., Sheldon and Jane W. The father was a farmer, and the son, Byron, also followed that honorable calling until he became twenty-one years of age. His early education was such as could be obtained in the district schools of his native town. He showed, however, at a very early age, that he possessed both industrj' and perseverance, and the lessons learned, both on the farm and in the school, have not been forgotten. In the year 1866 he entered the employ of his brother, Henry, Jr., who was at that time engaged in the busi- ness of undertaking, furniture and small hardware, in the village of Anthony. He continued with his brother until 1872, at which time he bought a half interest in the business, and the firm was known as H. Read, Jr., & Co. In March, 1873, his brother died, and Byron at once purchased of the heirs their interest in the business and became manager of the same, although the old firm name was allowed to be used for seven years, when it was changed to that of his own. The increasing trade demanding larger quarters and better facilities, and as the btiilding where he was located belonged to the estate of Isaac B. Aylesworth.who originally began the business, Byron decided to erect buildings of his own, sufficiently large and con- venient to meet the demands. Having previously purchased of the Coventry Manufacturing Company a lot of land just opposite the old stand, he proceeded in the year 1878 to build a barn 40 by 80 feet, with an L 20 by 21 feet, with compartments specially arranged and adapted to the needs of the trade. In 1882 woi-k i^^^tit^^^L^^. ARTOTYPE, E. B1ER3TA0T, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1227 was begun on the store, a building 40 by 100 feet, with three stories and basement. Instead of giving out the work to a con- tractor and having an architect to superintend the work, Byron secured the services of his brother-in-law, Horace N. Foster, to plan and execute the work, giving it his own supervision. In the basement is the workshop and store room, where all goods are received, also a room especially designed for em- balming purposes. By means of an elevator the goods are taken from the store room below to the various compartments above, while telephone, speaking tubes and call bells provide for conversation with workmen in and about the various rooms and adjacent business centers. In the center of the first or main floor, as you enter from the street, is the office and salesroom. On the right is the carpet and paper-hanging room; while on the left of the office is a room, second to none outside of Boston and New York for convenience in the display of funeral furnishings. The second and third floors are reached either by elevator or easy flights of stairs and are used for household furniture of every description. The entire building is heated by steam, and thoroughly furnished with all modern appliances for extinguish- ing fire. In June, 1870, Mr. Read married Julia A., daughter of Edward S. and Eleanor (Johnson) Pinckney, of Coventry Centre, and granddaughter of Jacob and Sarah (Fowler) Pinckney, of Prov- idence, and by this union has two sons: Herman Byron, born February 17th, 1878, and Charles Sheldon, born November 23d, 1879. It now seemed desirable that he should have a more commo- dious dwelling place, and in 1887 he purchased of Eliza F. Briggs, the estate of her father, Oliver Matteson, and removing the old house to another lot, to be used for tenements, erected on the old site, the house 33 by 44 feet, with all modern improvements, where he now resides. Thus, by his industr)', perseverance and economy, Byron Read has acquired a competency, and gained the confidence of all with whom he has been associated. He is a member of Manchester Lodge, A. F. and A. M., and of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, 1. O. O. F. In politics he has always supported the principles of the re- publican party. He has declined all public trusts tendered him and giving his undivided attention to his business, has become one of the leading business men in the county. CHAPTER XXV. PERSONAL PARAGRAPHS. NORTH KINGSTOWX. Daniel G. Allen was born in 1810, and is a descendant of Wil- liam Allen who was from Wales and came to Prudence island in 1660, and died in 1685. The descent from William, the emi- grant, is through John, Thomas, Thomas, Judge John and Thomas Gould Allen, who was the father of Daniel G. The latter took a course of study at Middletown, Conn., and in 1839 bought the old Kent Academy, and was its principal until it was succeeded by the East Greenwich Academy. John Allen, born in 1827, is a son of James, son of Silas, son of Christopher, son of Thomas, son of John, who came to North Kingstown from Prudence island about 1700 and settled in Quidnessett Neck. He was a son of William Allen who was born in Wales about 1640 and came to Prudence island in 1660. Mr. Allen spent eighteen years as a tin, copper and sheet iron worker. He has been a farmer twenty-six years. He has been two years in the town council and three years town auditor. He was married in 1848 to Esther A., daughter of Albert H. Alex- ander. Their children are : John Albert, Ella F (died in in- fancy), William S., Henry T., Ray James and Richard F. Joseph Allen, born 1825, is one of a family of nine children. His father, George, was a son of Silas, mentioned in the pre- ceding paragraph. Joseph was raised on the farm and married in 1868 to Fannie G., daughter of Joseph Brown, of Rensselaer county, N. Y. Mr. Allen has been justice of the peace three years. William H. Allen was born in North Kingstown in 1811. His father was Samuel D., son of Matthew, son of Benjamin, son of Matthew Allen, who emigrated from England to Dartmouth, Bristol county, Mass., about 1700. In 1712 he purchased and settled iipon a tract of land in North Kingstown. Mr. Allen has HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1229 been in mercantile business nearly all his life. In 1886 he re- tired from the firm of Allen & Page of Wickford. He built the store in 1870 that is now occupied by Page & Potter. Mr. Allen bought a store at Allenton in 1857 and kept it several years, then sold it to John R. Nichols about 1878. When a young man he clerked about ten years. He was married in 1842 to Mary W., daughter of James Greene. Their children were : Samuel D., who died in West Virginia aged 23 years, and William H., Jr., who is in the commission business at 108 and 110 Franklin street, New York city. James H. Arnold, born in 1855 in Exeter, is a son of Stephen, he a son of Josiah, whose father was Josiah, son of Joseph, whose father Samuel was a son of Josiah, he a son of William, he a son of Caleb, whose father Benedict was a son of William Arnold, who came from England in company with his brother'Thomas in 1635. Mr. Arnold came to Lafayette in 1883, and with his brother Josiah S., built a barn and started a livery stable, which they are carrying on at the present time. He was married in 1877 to Olive B., daughter of William Tisdale of Exeter. They have had one son, Arthur, who died at the age of seven. Warren G. Arnold, born in 1838, is a son of George and grand- son of Peleg, whose father, Caleb Arnold, it is said, came from England. Warren G. was married in 1881 to Jennie L., daughter of Samuel Oatley. They have one son, Clifford. Mr. Arnold owns and occupies the old homestead of his grandfather, Peleg. He is a democrat. Fones Austin was born in 1812 in North Kingstown. He is a son of Russell, who died in 1847, aged 72 years. The latter was a son of James, who died in 1826, aged 84 years. James' father was lost at sea. Mr. Austin worked eleven years in a cotton mill and several years on the railroad in early life. He has been a farmer about forty years, and occupies the old home- stead of his grandfather, James. He was married in 1845 to Elizabeth B. Arnold, who died in 1875, aged 61 years. Their children are : George R., Henry W., Emily (deceased), Charles (deceased), Mary M. (Mrs. Oscar Greene), and Fannie E. (de- ceased). Henry W. Austin, son of Fones Austin, was born in North Kingstown in 1847, and is a farmer and gardener. He was mar- ried in 1872 to Anna, daughter of Rowland Perry. Their chil- dren are : Julia B., George F., Mary E. and Kate R. 1230 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Lyman Aylesworth, born in 1838, is a son of Samuel D. and grandson of Arthur, who was a son of Arthur, whose father was Philip and whose grandfather was Arthur. Lyman married Matilda, daughter of Charles T. Hunt, and they have one daugh- ter, Sarah Maria, now Mrs. Moses Shippee, of East Greenwich. The first Arthur Aylesworth settled on Quidnessett Neck and built his house one-fourth mile north of Lyman's residence about 1679. He was then 25 years old. He was of Welsh de- scent, born in England. He died in 1725. Lyman enlisted October 11th, 1861, in the First Rhode Island Cavalry. He re- sided in Portsmouth for four years after the war, then moved to the Greene farm in East Greenwich and lived there sixteen years. He came to North Kingstown in 1886. He is master of the Davisville Grange, and has been noble grand of the Odd Fellows' lodge in East Greenwich. He is also a Mason. James B. Brayman, born 1841, is a son of Benjamin W., born 1810, and grandson of Solomon Brayman. He was married in 1861 to Caroline A., daughter of Joseph H. Brown. They have two children, Benjamin L. and Hattie, now jNIrs. J. Irving Rose. Mr. Brayman has been a member of the prohibition state central committee five years. He is a member of the Royal Arcanum Society, He has carried on the meat and ice business about twenty years in Wickford. Prior to that he was a farmer. Joseph Brown", born 1801 ; Stukley", born 1754 ; Ebenezer', Alexander", Beriah', who is the same Beriah that built the house where Joseph now lives. Mr. Brown has always lived in the house where he was born. He was married to Betsey N., daughter of Esquire Benjamin Lawton. Mr. Brown has been surveyor of roads twenty-six years in succession. Politically he is a republican. Oliver R. Brown, born in 1832, is a son of William and grandson of Stukley. He was brought up on a farm. He opened a black- smith shop in Wickford in 1856, and has since carried on business there. He was married in 1861 to Abbie E. Hunt, who died in 1871. He was married again in 1873 to Sarah W. Tisdale. His children are : Walter O., Elisha P., Frank E. and Ella j\l. James Burlingame, born 1819, is a son of Henry and grandson of Nehemiah. He was married in 1848 to Abbie E., daughter of Robert Sweet. She died several years ago. Mr. Burlingame has always been a farmer. He is a democrat in politics. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1231 Samuel Carpenter, born in North Kingstown in 1806, is a son of Nathaniel Carpenter, who died in 1859, aged eighty years, and Martha Carpenter, who died in 1869, aged 88 years. His grandfather was Daniel E. Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter was in Providence three years as house carpenter, and has been a farmer in North Kingstown about 55 years. He was married in 1829 to Elizabeth Pierce, who died in 1876, leaving four children: William P., Henry E., Charles J. and Bradford. His present wife's maiden name was Cornell. William P. Carpenter, son of vSamuel, was born in North Kings- town in 1830. He is a farmer, and occupies the old homestead of Nathaniel, his grandfather. He was married in 1873 to Harriet, daughter of Joseph Congdon. He has been a member of the Quidnessett Baptist church for nearly thirty years. Timothy Carroll, born in Ireland in 1848, came with his father, Nicholas Carroll, to Rhode Island in 1852. In 1874 he married Cordelia E. Blanchard, widow of Alfred Sanford. Her children are : Mary Sanford, Alfred A. Sanford, William Sanford, Cordelia Sanford, Timothy E. Carroll and Florence Carroll. Mr. Carroll is a farmer. He buys horses, cattle and sheep in the West and in Canada, and fits them for Rhode Island markets, making a specialty of good coach and draft horses. He is serving his third year in the town council. • Charles F. Chace was born at Centreville in the town of War- wick, in 1845. His father, Carlton Chace, was station agent at Davisville about twenty-eight years. He was a son of Daniel Chace, of New Hampshire. Charles F. was in the war of the re- bellion nearly three years, in company F, Seventh regiment. Af- ter the war he was a farmer for a few years. In 1873 he went to work on the New York, Boston & Providence railroad, and has been conductor since 1876. He was married in 1869 to Lydia Dyer who died leaving one daughter, Minnie Belle. He married again in 1877 Sarah E., daughter of Charles F.Brown. Mr. Chace is a member of the Order of Railroad Conductors, Providence Division, No. 151, and of the Royal Arcanum, No. 442, Pequot Council, and a member of the Coweset Council of Good Fellows, No. 52, of East Greenwich. He is a member of Baker Post, No. 16, G. A. R. of Wickford. Henry T. Chadsey was born in 1806 and married in 1830. His five sons are John W., George H., Jeremiah G., Nathan B. and Frank W. He has three daughters. 1232 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Benjamin H. Congdon, born 1821, is a son of Benjamin S., grandson of Daniel, and great-grandson of William. He and his wife Abbie A. have four children : Adaline (Mrs. John A. Gar- diner), Alphonzo, Emma, who died at 35 years of age, and Mary A. Mr. Congdon is a republican and farmer. Eliza A. S. Congdon was born in 1808 in North Kingstown. She is a daughter of Boon Spink, and granddaughter of Nicholas Spink. She now lives with her daughter Ishs. Martha S. Wall. She was married to Thomas Congdon (now deceased) in 1825. They had five children : Henry B. (deceased), Mary E. (deceas- ed), Martha S. (widow of Daniel Wall), Anna E., and Thomas, Jr. Mr. Daniel Wall was for several years prior to his death en- gaged in the tinware business in Wickford. William W. Congdon, born in 1831, is a son of Stanton, grand- son of Daniel and great-grandson of William Congdon. Mr. Congdon has kept a livery stable in Wickford about thirty years. He used to run a stage to what is now Wickford Junction. He was conductor on the Newport & Wickford railroad fifteen years. He was married in 1855 to Frances A., daughter of George Gar- diner. He is a republican and has been deputy sheriff one year. James U. Cooper, born in 1819, is a son of Edmund, and grand- son of Gilbert Cooper. Mr. Cooper has been a painter in North Kingstown about forty years. He was married in 1842 to Eliza- beth Cook. They have six children living: Mary E., Lydia S., John B., James U.,Jr., Henry A. and William D. They have lost seven children. Hon. George T. Cranston has been representative since 1881 as a republican. He has been a merchant here since 1877, when he succeeded Absalom N. Gardiner. He was born here in 1844. He is a son of Cyrus N. Cranston, grandson of Samuel, great-grandson of Thomas and great-great-grandson of Caleb. He enlisted for three years in Company E, Third R. I. Heavy Artillery and served eighteen months ; was then transferred, and was eighteen months a member of Horse Battery B, First U. vS. Regular Artillery. Thirty days after his discharge he re- enlisted in the Tenth Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. He was 17 years old at his first enlistment. His wife is Elizabeth P. Gardiner. They have one son and one daughter. The daughter is a student in the Rhode Island State Normal School. Charles T. Crombe has been town clerk since June, 1885. He HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1233 is a Democrat. He married Clara N., daughter of Joseph Bailey of Exeter. They have two daughters. Mr. Crombe was born m Connecticut in 1824, and came here with his father, Charles, about 1830. He was at sea (whaling and in merchant service) till 35 years old, and was ten years railroad agent. He was president of the town council several years, and has represented North Kingstown in the general assembly. BurriU H. Davis was born in Exeter in 18.'54, and resided there until sixteen years ago, when he came to Lafayette as clerk for A. C. Taylor. In 1887 he became a partner with Mr. Taylor at the same point. He is a deacon and clerk of the Advent Christian church of Exeter now. His wife is Emma F. Brown. Daniel Dyer, born 1808, is a son of Samuel D. and grandson of Captain Daniel. Mr. Dyer spent several years in early life in a mill, after which he worked fourteen years in Providence as a house carpenter. He has been a farmer about thirty-two years, occupying a part of the homestead of his father. He was mar- ried in 1858 to Sallie Merrill, now deceased. Their children are : Carrie D. (who died in infancy), Sarah H., John C, Lucy E. and Ruth R. He was married again in 1881 to Lucy Angell. Mr. Dyer is a republican. He has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church over fifty years. William A. Eldred is a son of Ishmael, who came to Wickford in 1826, and built a house and started the harness making business, and grandson of Thomas. Ishmael Eldred was married in 1830 to Caroline, daughter of Thomas G. Allen. They have three children, William A., Sallie and Alfred. William A. Eldred carries on the harness making business with his father. He was married in 1857 to Hannah, daughter of Henry J. ■ Congdon. Mr. Eldred is a member of the Wickford Baptist church. Albert F. Ellsworth was born at Tarriffville, Conn., June 15tli, 1843. He is a son of Alexander Allen Ellsworth, son of Henry, son of Alexander Allen Ellsworth, who is in the same line as William Martin, once governor of Connecticut, and Oliver, who was chief justice of the supreme court for five years (1796-1800). Colonel Elmer E. Ellsworth (1837-1861) was a grandson of this Alexander Allen Ellsworth. Alexander A., father of Albert F. Ellsworth, was a woolen manufacturer for a number of years. He is the father of three children, two of whom are living — Albert F. and Eliza A. (Mrs. Melbourne C. Trow, of Providence). 78 1234 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Mr. Ellsworth first located in the town of North Kingstown in 1864. He has held several offices in the town. He was married in 1866 to Hannah, daughter of Jonathan and Ruth (Gardiner) Arnold. They have had five children : Mary E. P., Mary A. P., Frank A. and George W. P., who are deceased, and Ray Elmer. He is a member of the following orders : Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. & A. M. ; Franklin Royal Arch Chapter, No. 7 ; (Dis- trict Deputy Grand jNIaster Fifth Masonic district) ; Beacon Lodge, No. 38, L 0. of O. F.; Uncas Encampment, No. 14, of Wickford. Absalom N. Gardiner, born 1828, is a son of Samuel Gardiner (a soldier in the war of 1812), who was many years a blacksmith at Collation Corners. Prior to 1851 the son was engaged at the shop with the father. From 1851 to 1876 he was a merchant at the same point. The store was burned in 1876, since which Mr. Gardiner, with a fair competence from his twenty-five years' business, has lived somewhat retired. He has been a prominent member and officer of the Odd Fellows Lodge here, and treasurer of the lodge ten years. His wife is Phebe A. Carr. Their only child living is Walter H. Gardiner. Benjamin Frank Gardiner, born 1835, is a son of Jeremiah and grandson of Amos Gardiner. His wife is Caroline F. Bur- lingame. Their children are : Sarah P. (now Mrs. Stephen F. Tefft), Izitt (Mrs. P. AV. Tefft), and Frank A. Mr. Gardiner's farm is the valuable property formerly owned by his uncle, the late J. A. Browning. Daniel T. Gardiner, born 1840, is a son of Pardon T., who died in 1888, aged eighty-four years. The latter was a son of Ezekiel and grandson of Ezekiel. Mr. Gardiner lives on the homestead with his mother. He is a democrat. Harrington N. Gardiner is a son of Zebulon N. and grandson of Benjamin Gardiner. His mother was Elizabeth Rathbun, sis- ter of Nathan D. His farm is part of the old Rathbun place once owned b}^ his mother's grandfather, John Rathbun. On this place are the graves of the earlier generations of the Rath- buns. Here also is the large spring, the source of water supply for the Rodman Mill. Mrs. Gardiner is a daughter of Randall Gardiner. They have an adopted son, Herbert. Mr. Gardiner spent two years coasting and for twelve years was section mas- ter on the railroad. He worked for several }'ears as a house car- penter and has, since 1877, been engaged in farming. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1235 Owen G. Gardiner, born 1845, is a son of Captain Joseph, grand- son of Gould, great-grandson of Huland, and great-great-grand- son of Nicholas Gardiner. He was married in 1866, to Susan A., daughter of William Tisdale, and has four children : Eleanor G., Clarence E., Owen G., Jr., and Linwood A. Mr. Gardiner has been town auctioneer two years. He was business manager of the Rhode Island Telephone three years, and has been engaged in the wholesale confectionery business several years on the road. He is a member of Harmony Lodge, I. O. of O. F. John S. Gladding was born in 1817 in Newport and is a son of Henry and a grandson of Henry Gladding, who was of Scotch descent. His mother was Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Taylor, and granddaughter of Robert Taylor of Scotch origin. Mr. Gladding is a cabinet maker, having worked at that trade since 1833. He has a shop in the rear of his residence, where he does some repair work. He was married in 1842 to Hannah E., daughter of Benjamin F. Spink. The house where they live was built in 1806 by William Pierce for a tavern. Mr. Gladding is a prohibitionist. He and his wife have been members of the Bap- tist church of Wickford since 1850. Abram B. Greene, born 1817, is a son of Nathaniel and grand- son of Abram Greene. He married Abbie E., daughter of George Arnold. She died leaving two daughters — Abbie Frances and Almira, now Mrs. Oliver Joslyn. The only son of A. B. Greene was George N., who at his death left three daughters and a son George Walter. Mr. Greene at the age of seventeen learned the trade of a carpenter and worked at it fifty years. He was two years on a merchant ship and went to the West Indies. He kept the light house at Poplar Point in North Kingstown six years. James A. Greene, treasurer of the Hamilton Web Company, is a son of Joseph W. and grandson of Captain James Greene, a name well known in Warwick, R. I., where James A. Greene was born. Mrs. Greene was a Brooklyn lady. They have five chil- dren living. Their three sons are with the Hamilton Web Com- pany. Mr. Greene was formerly to 1866 in the jewelry business with his father in New York city. Reynolds Greene, deceased, was born in 1794 and died in 1881. He was the son of David Greene, born 1728, and grandson of David, born in 1701 and died in 1757. Reynolds Greene was a wealthy farmer. His wife was Sarah W., daughter of Oliver 1236 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Watson, of South Kingstown. Three of their children are living: William, Oliver W. and Rachel Richardson Greene, named for her mother's grandmother, Rachel Richardson. Edward S. Hall, born 1825, is a son of Slocum Hall, whose father, Slocum, was born in 1748. The latter was a son of Wil- liam, born 1723, grandson of John, born 1681, and great-grand- son of William. Edward S. married in 1846 Hannah F., daugh- ter of Chandler Newell. Their children are : Ann F. (Mrs. Charles H. Phillips), Alzadah (Mrs. Benjamin F. Snow), and Slo- cum. Mr. Hall followed railroading about thirty-five years, the first seven years at track work and the following twenty-eight as station agent at Wickford Junction, during which time he was absent from the station but one week day. He has retired from active service and resides at La Fayette. Henry S. Hall, brother of Edward S., was born in 1833, and married Abby A. Brownell. He is a farmer and occupies part of the old Hall homestead. William L. Hall, born 1837, is a son of Isaac, grandson of Ben- jamin and great-grandson of William Hall. He married in 1883 Susan Lawton. His mother was Am}^ Brown", daughter of Beriah' (Beriah\ Beriah^ Alexander', Beriah'). Beriah Brown' built the house where Mr. Hall lives. Mr. Hall has a table that was new when his great-grandmother began housekeeping in 1758. Mr. Hall is a democrat and is serving his third year in the town council. He has been assessor of taxes two years. Horace P. Hammond, born 1834, is a son of Cranston and grandson of Benjamin who built the Hammond mill. Benjamin was a son of William and he a son of Joseph Hammond. Mr. Hammond has been a carpenter ever since he was seventeen years of age. He learned his trade in Providence with John F. Pitts. He worked in Providence fifteen years, then came to this town. He built the wood work for the Belleville mill, the Wick- ford mill, the Wickford National Bank, and repaired and built the steeple on the Episcopal church. He was married in 1858 to Eunice, daughter of Cary D. Slocum. Their only son Edgar died aged two years and seven months. Rebecca Hammond, widow of George Hammond, was born in New York. Her father was Joseph Girand, who was a descend- ant of the French Huguenots who came from France. George Hammond was a son of William, grandson of William and great-grandson of Joseph Hammond, who was born in Eng- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1237 land. George spent several years in New York as a commission merchant on Front street. The latter part of his life was spent in Wickford, where he died in 1879. Mrs. Hammond's grand- mother's brother on her mother's .side, Ebenezer Hazard, was a lawyer by profession and was an aide of General Washington and was appointed by him as the first postmaster general of the United States. Mrs. Hammond's father was in an artillery com- pany in the war of 1812 for the defense of the city of New York. Verrano V. Hart, born in the town of Cranston in 1860, is a son of Ephraim B. and grandson of Darius Hart. Mr. Hart came to North Kingstown in 1878, and bought the farm where he now lives in 1886. In politics he is a republican. Joseph R. Horton was born at Pawtuxet, R. I., in 1827. His father Amos, born 1785, died 1861, was a carpenter by trade and a son of Simeon Horton. Joseph R. is a carpenter by trade. He was married in 1864 to Laura B. Baker, and has one daughter Mary L. He is a republican. He came to Wickford about thirty years ago. Albro S. Kingsley, born 1826, is a son of Dyer, born 1789, and grandson of Jonathan Kingsley. He was married in 1853 to Ann I., daughter of Jesse Bicknell, and has two children, Lydia (Mrs. William C. Davis) and John H. Mr. Kingsley has been connect- ed with the Hamilton Mill about 37 years. He is a republican and a Mason. Albert E. Kingsley, born 1828, is a brother of Albro S. He married Mary E., daughter of Sylvester Himes. She was born in 1834. They have had five children. Mr. Kingsley has been a machinist in the Shady Lea Mill about 25 years. Prior to that time he was a mill hand, carpenter and farmer. Horace C. Kingsley, born 1833, is a brother of Albro S. and Albert E. In 1853 he was married to Amy, daughter of Jeffrey H Gardiner. Their children are : Ann Sarah (deceased), Amanda (Mrs. Charles Carr), Nellie (Mrs. Thomas Carr), Abbie A. (died aged 8 months), Albro L. and Ivia E. (deceased). Mr. Kings- ley has been a mill hand all his life, and has been connect- ed with the Hamilton Mill about 37 years. He is a member of Beacon Lodge, No. 38, I. O. of O. F. Philetus N. Lawton, born 1841, is a son of Isaac H., born 1813, died 1858; grandson of Benjamin, born 1773, and great-grandson of Benjamin. His mother was Mariah W. Nichols. He was mar- 1238 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. ried to Mercy E. Gardiner in 1863. They have one daughter, Laura M. Lawton, now Mrs. Daniel Eugene Wilcox. Mr. Lawton has always been a democrat. He now owns the homestead of Benjamin Lawton, Esq. Joseph Slocum Madison, born 1860, is a son of John Harris Madison, born 1828, died 1887. The latter was a son of Joseph and grandson of Ezekiel Madison. John H. married Elizabeth A. , daughter of Slocum Godfrey and Sarah Reynolds. The latter's mother was Mary, daughter of William Hall, and granddaugh- ter of John Hall. This John Hall's parents were William Hall and Alice Tripp. Alice Tripp came in the "Mayflower." Joseph S. Madison graduated in 1881 from the Greenwich Academy. The family name is variously spelled Madison, Mathewson and Matteson. Joseph S. Madison married in 1888 a daughter of Nathaniel S. Allen, and granddaughter of the late Elder Allen, of North Kingstown. William G. Madison, born in East Greenwich, is a son of Green Madison, and a grandson of Ezekiel. He spent his early years in a cotton mill until 25 years old, at Valley P'alls, R. I. He then came to North Kingstown to aid his then feeble father on the farm. He has been seven or eight years in the North Kingstown town council as a democrat. Mrs. Emily A. Madison was born in Cumberland, Providence county, in 1847, and is a daughter of George S. Havens. She was married in 1879 to Thomas E. Madison, who died in 1885, aged 55 years. He was a son of Joseph Madison, and grandson of Ezekiel. ^Nlr. and Mrs. j\ladison's two children are George E. and Thomas E. Isaac Nichols*, born 1815 (John", John\ John'}, is a farmer. His wife, to whom he was married in 1841, was born in South Kings- town, and is Elizabeth R. Brown, a granddaughter of Governor George Brown. They have three children living : Ruhamah, (Mrs. Oliver Nichols, of South Kingstown) ; John R. Nichols, of Providence ; and William E. Nichols, of Lincoln. Mr. Nichols is a retired farmer. His father was a blacksmith. George W. Northup, born in 1809, is a son of Samuel Northup and grandson of Zebulon Northup. He was married in 1838 to Mary T., daughter of Benjamin W. Gardiner. They have eight children: Eliza A., Stephen G., Mary P., Waity J., George T., Susannah W., Samuel C, and Lydia H. Mr. Northup lives on the homestead of his father. He has always been a farmer. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1239 Sally Smith Northup, now Mrs. Daniel L. Arnold, was born in 1831, in the house where she now resides. She is the daughter of Abial Palmer Northup, who was born in 1800, and grand- daughter of David Northup, who was born in 1778. She has lived at this place all her life except about twelve years. The house and chimney that now stand on this site are said to have been built about 200 years ago. William H. Nye was born in 1833 in Coventry, and is a son of George W. and grandson of John Nye. Mr. Nye has been a railroad employe about twenty-five years of his life prior to 1881. He was married in 1866 to Abbie A., daughter of John W. Jackson. They have two children, Amy Frances and Lewis Allen. He is a member of the Advent Christian church of Providence. Colonel Thomas J. Peirce, son of John B.' (John", Giles', Giles*, John', Giles', Richard'), was born in 1857, and is married to Sarah, daughter of Captain Peleg Wightman. He has been deputy town clerk ever since he was a voter, and justice of the peace since 1879. He was a delegate to the democratic na- tional convention in 1888. Peleg F. Pierce, born in North Kingstown in 1835, is a son of William, who was a son of Giles", mentioned in the preceding paragraph. Peleg F. married Harriet Newell Rodman. They have two children living — Walter Rodman and Harriet San- ford. Mr. Pierce taught school several terms in early life, and has given much of his leisure time to the study of local history. He is engaged in farming. John W. Phillips, born 1819, is a son of Peter (1781-1865) and grandson of Thomas. He was married in 1846 to Abbie A., daughter of Willet Himes. She died in 1881. Their children are: James E., John W., Jr., and Ada. Mr. Phillips has always been a republican. He was formerly a railroad employee, and is now engaged in farming. Thomas Phillips, born in 1815, is a brother of John W., men- tioned above. He was married in 1860 to Melissa, daughter of William Hall. Their only son is George T. Mr. Phillips' farm is a part of the original Phillips homestead. George L. Prentice was born in 1843 in Lawrence, Otsego county, N. Y. He is a son of Joseph S. and grandson of Joseph Prentice. His mother was Sarah S. Hull. Mr. Pren- tice has been engaged in the livery business about twenty 1240 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. years and opened the Wickford House in June, 1886. He was married in 1872 to Henrietta S. White, who died in December, 1876. He was married again in 1881 to Ellen D. Days, daughter of Anton Lucas, of Provincetown, Mass. He has one son, George L., Jr., born 1883. The west part of the house in which Mr. Prentice now lives is said to have been used in the days of the revolution for the enlistinent of soldiers. Thomas W. D. Rathbun, born in 1844, is a son of Nathan D." (John', John', Samuel'). Samuel Rathbun was born in 1702. He gave one-half of his land to his son John, and part of this is still in the family name, being owned by Lorenzo D. Rath- bun. Thomas W. D. was married in 1868 to Hannah D. Lewis. They have three children : Hannah M., Nathan C. and Martha Alice. ISIr. Rathbun was a member of the town council one year and member of the school committee nine years. He has been conference delegate of the Advent Christian church one year. He is a carpenter and farmer. The Rathbun family came to New England about 1660, to Block Island later, and from there to North Kingstown. Lorenzo D. Rathbun, born in 1846, is a brother of Thomas W. D. mentioned above. He married Roxana Simons and is engaged in farming. His great-grandfather, John, was a soldier in the revolution. John H. Remington, retired, P. O. Wickford, was born in 1814, in Coventry, R. I., where his father, Daniel, died in 1815. His early years were passed in East Greenwich, where his mother contracted a second marriage. There Mr. Remington was mar- ried to Lydia Arnold, of Exeter, R. L His active life has been passed in railroad business as contractor and as superintend- ent of repairs for the Union Railroad Company, of Providence. Since 1872 he has resided in North Kingstown. Calls A. Reynolds, son of Albert S., grandson of James, great- grandson of Benjamin, and great-great-grandson of John Re}'- nolds, is proprietor of the Sand Hill woolen mill and store. His wife was a Miss Jencks, of New York state. Lucian B. Reynolds, born in Wickford in 1843, is a son of Henry R., who was a son of Eldred, who was a son of John, whose will, bearing date 1794, Lucian B. Reynolds how has. Mr. Rey- nolds now owns a farm in this town that is said to have been in the Reynolds family about two hundred years. He was once a postal clerk on the Boston, Providence and New York railroad HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1241 14 months. He was married in 1877 to Jennie F., daughter of Albert Reynolds Johnson. They have two children— Mary Emma Green and Oral Munn. In politics Mr. Reynolds is a republican. Lucretia S. Reynolds, widow, is a daughter of Alfred and granddaughter of Benjamin Smith, whose father, William Smith, died in 1745, aged 82 years. She was married to Wilbur T. Reynolds (deceased) in 1849. His father was Nathaniel T., son of George Reynolds. Their children are : Nathaniel T., Anna A. (now Mrs. George A. Spink), Alfred S., and Ella. Alfred S. was married in 1879 to Ida A. Lawton. They have two chil- dren—Wilbur T. and Fannie Louise. He is a member of the Davisville Grange, No. 8, P. of H. He was born in Rensselaer county, N. Y., and has always been a farmer. In politics he is a republican. John A. Rose was born in 1861, in South Kingstown. He is a son of Albert P. Rose and Mary A., daughter of John M. Tyler. Mr. Rose has been with George T. Cranston as clerk about four years. He was clerk in the store at AUenton prior to that about four years. He was married in 1882 to Ella J., daughter of George Wilcox. They have two children — Chester B. and Henry A. He is a member of Beacon Lodge, No. 38, I. O. of O. F., of Wickford. William N. Rose', born 1853, is a son of William G. Rose" (George Rose\ James Rose", John Rose", Thomas Rose"). Thomas was the first of the Rose family that settled here. William N. set- tled at Slocumville about twelve years ago. Since that time he has filled the office of station agent and postmaster, and has carried on a general store here. He was married in 1874 to Elmina F., daughter of Harrison Gardiner. Their children are : Mary A., who died aged three years ; Herbert B., who died in infancy, and Archibald G. Rose. Mr. Rose has been in the town council and held several other town offices. He is a deacon in the Slocumville Baptist church and a member of Reliance Lodge, No. 22, of Providence county, R. I. M. J. Ryan was born 1857 in Ireland, and came to Greenville, R. I., in 1861. He is a son of Morris Ryan. He has been a merchant in Wickford several years. In 1883 he was married to Mary, daughter of Patrick Cassidy. Joseph F. Sealy was born in 1859 at Newark, N. J., and is a son of Joseph Sealy. He is carrying on a news, book and 1242 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. grocery store at Wickford. He is a member of Beacon Lodge, No. 38, I. O. of O. F., and was one of the charter members of the Royal Arcanum here. Alpheus W. Sherman was bora in 1849. His wife is a daughter of David Greene. They have two sons : Irving and Thomas Albertis. Mr. Sherman is past chief of the Temple of Honor. James Sherman" was born in 1811, and is a son of James" (Silas', Eber', William^ Eber"). Mr. Sherman was married in 1840 to Phebe Arnold, who died in 1867. They have two children : Mary Jane, now Airs. Reuben D. Gevet, and Phebe Melissa, now Mrs. Orrin G. Thompson. James Sherman was formerly a mem- ber of the Free Will Baptist church of Slocumville. He is a democrat in politics, and has been assessor of taxes one year. Robert J. Sherman was born in North Kingstown in 1828, and is a son of Peleg and a grandson of James", mentioned in the preceding sketch. He is a farmer, and owns the homestead of his great-grandfather, Silas Sherman'. He was married in 1850 to Sarah Reed, and has two children : Peleg J. and Robert Frank. William G. Sherman was born in 1841 in North Kingstown, and is a son of Silas and grandson of Captain Silas. His great- grandfather was Silas*, previously mentioned. His mother is AmyA., daughter of Elisha Gardner. Mr. Sherman is a farmer and stone mason. He has lived about one mile south of Slocum- ville since 1874. He was married in 1867 to a daughter of Josiah F. Boss. They have five children : George W., Herbert A., Mary E., Ida L. and William G., Jr. William C. Sherman, Jr., born 1841, is a son of William C, grandson of Nathaniel and great-grandson of Marcus. He was married in 1863 to Harriet, daughter of Bowen ^Mitchell. Their children are: William H., Walter A. (deceased), Walter G. (de- ceased), Mary E., Fred R., Frank H. and Hattie E. Mr. Sher- man has been a mill hand all his life. He has been clerk and trustee of the Advent Christian church of Lafayette. He is a member of Beacon Lodge No. 38, I. O. of O. F. Charles tl. Shippee' was born in 1855 (Horace Jl, William', Caleb', 1749-1838, Thomas A.', Thomas^ Samuel"). Samuel came from the valley of the Tweed. Adoniram J. Shippee and Mary E. Shippee are also of this seventh generation. Charles H. patented in 1880 a vertical car coupler. Probably his most valuable invention is an unpatented device for opening and closing house and car windows. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1243 Asa Sisson, born in Warwick, R. I., in 1815, is a son of Asa, grandson of Joseph and great-grandson of Richard Sisson, of Portsmouth, R. I. Asa Sisson has been a machinist since 1834. He became a partner in 1889 with Perez Peck & Co. in Coven- try, where he remained until 1861. He married Perez Peck's daughter Mary Ann, and has two children, Charles and Emily Sisson. In 1865 he came to Hamilton and manufactured yarn at the Anaquatucket mill. Later he was in a foundry and machine shop with Ambrose E. Vaughn at Wickford. Benjamin Smith, born 1817, is a son of Thomas and grandson of Benjamin Smith. He was married to Susan G. Pierce in 1842. Their children are : Thomas A., Lydia A., John N. and Sarah D. Mr. Smith was town commissioner one year. John S. Smith', born 1830, is a son of Harris' (Benjamin", Wil- liam', 1663 — 1745). Mrs. John S. Smith is Honor A., daughter of Captain Christopher L. Phillips' (Major Samuef, Christopher^ Samuel'). Christopher Phillips" was in the colonial legislature in 1740. Samuel' was born in 1660 and died in 1736. On the 26th of May, 1709, he, in company with Coloneljohn Eldred, William Cole and John Carr came from Newport to North Kings- town and bought a tract of 285 acres, including Mr. Smith's pres- ent home, and built the house. Mr. Smith is a machinist by trade and has been railroad engineer and fireman. His only child is Mary E., now Mrs. James E. Arnold. Jeremiah Smith, born 1825, is a son of William Smith and a grandson of Amos Smith. He was married in 1863 to Eliza A., daughter of George W. Northup. She died in 1873 leaving one son, William A. Mr. Smith was married in 1880 to Lucy B. Vaughn. His grandfather, Amos, was in the war of the revolu- tion and was wounded and received a pension the balance of his life. George H. Smith, born in 1847, is a brother of John S. He was one of eleven children, of whom there are seven now living. He has always been a farmer and occupies the old homestead. He is a republican and unmarried. Joseph E. Smith, brother of John S., was born in 1837. Mary Sullivan, his wife, was born in Castletown, Ireland, in 1840. Their children are: William A., Hannah A., Joseph E., Jr., Benjamin F., Mary E., John H., Thomas G. (died aged five months). Wes- son G., Walter J., and Bessie E. (died aged eight years). Joseph E. was a member of the town council one year as a republican. 1244 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and was supervisor of roads three years. His business is farm- ing. Nathaniel Smith, born 1827, was married in 1847 to Rebecca, daughter of James M. Gardiner. Their children are : Susan, now Mrs. George Suting ; Emma, wlio died aged three years ; Harriet, who is now Mrs. Joseph Madison ; Josephine, now Mrs. George Lewis ; Alvina and Gertrude. Mr. Smith has all his life been a mill hand and has been connected with the Hamilton mill some twenty-seven years. He is a republican. John W. Smith was born in 1833 in North Kingstown, and is a son of Charles Smith. He was in the war of the rebellion three years in Company H, Fourth Rhode Island Volunteers, and now receives a pension. He was married in 1854 to Mercy Mitchell. They have had eight children, five boys and three girls. William A. Spaulding was born in Connecticut. His wife is a daughter of Pardon T. Gardiner. They have one son, C. Eugene Spaulding. Mr. Spaulding has been two years in the town council as a democrat. In 1886 he succeeded Crandall & Ryan as merchants at Narragansett. Mrs. Spaulding's grand- mother was a Tillinghast. Albert Spink" (John^ Nicholas*, John^ Nicholas^ Robert') married Celinda", daughter of Nathaniel Spink' (Ishmael', John", Nicholas', Robert' ). They have raised three sons : Nathaniel, of Providence ; WilliamAlbert, deceased, and John Byron, who is with his parents at the homestead. This farm is a part of the tract of John.' Salma M. Spink°, son of Ishmael' (Ishmael*, John', Nicholas', Robert"), was born in 1817. His wife is Frances j\1. Brown, daughter of John Brown of Newport. They have three chil- dren : George B., in Dakota ; Agatha, at home, and Fannie L., now Mrs. George W. Madison of Warwick, Kent county. Mr. Spink has been a farmer here for thirty-two years. He had been a carpenter for twenty years prior. He has been m the town council three years and in the legislature once. George A. vSpink', farmer, born in 1844, is a son of Joseph", grandson of Samuel", and great-grandson of Ishmael*. The first Robert Spink in 1635 left London for Virginia. He was in Newport in 1648, in North Kingstown about 1678, and bought land in the Atherton tract. George A. married Annie. A., daughter of the late Wilbur T. Reynolds. They have one son and three daughters. Mr. Spink has been assessor several HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1245 years, moderator fifteen years, and has settled a number of estates for his townsmen. Samuel A. Spink, brother of George A., was born in 1828. He married for his first wife Mary Ann Eldred, and for his second wife her sister Mercy, by whom he had two sons, Henry Milton and Herbert B. Mr. Spink has always acted with the democratic party and has served in the town council some fourteen years, acting as president of that body a part of the time. His occupa- tion has been farming and carpentering. Silas Spink', born 1841, is a son of Samuel' and grandson of Silas'. He attended Schofield's Commercial College at Providence. He enlisted the day he graduated and was the first North Kings- town man to volunteer for the civil war. He has been in the town council one year as a republican. His business is farming. His wife is Phebe J. Luther, of Massachusetts. Their children are Walter E., Harriet A. and Minnie M. John Thomas Spink', born in 1836, (Thomas Gould "Allen Spink°, John', Nicholas') married Sarah B. Manchester, of Bristol, R. I. They have two children, Susie B. and Fannie. His farm of 70 acres is well located and is where his father lived. Jonathan A. Spink, brother of John Thomas, was born in 1881 in North Kingstown. His early days were spent on his father's farm. He was then two years at Boston in school and six years in the produce and provision business. He was four years in the oil fields ; was in Providence as contracting machinist three years ; then locomotive building for some time. He has been farming for the last four years. He is a republican. He has one son, Russell Spink. His wife was Sarah E. Damuth. She has taught school seven years on Quidnessett Neck and in the Wick- ford Academy as principal about three years, and in East Green- wich as principal four years. Benjamin W. Spink is a son of Nicholas N. Spink, of Wickford. He was born in North Kingstown in 1838. He went to Provi- dence at eighteen years of age, and three years later took one- third interest in the firm of Oliver Johnson & Co., of which firm he is still a member. He has one son, Nicholas Carr Spink. Daniel Spink was born in 1846 at North Kingstown. He is a son of Daniel, and grandson of Daniel Spink. Mr. Spink has carried on the butcher's business in Wickford about twenty-two years. He succeeded his father, who established the market at the same place about 1852. He was married in 1878 to Melissa, 1246 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. daughter of George Whitman. Their children are: Nellie A., Daniel Herbert, and Mabel. George N. Steere was born in 1843 at Sutton, MaSvS. He is a son of Horatio, and grandson of Nathaniel Steere. Mr. Steere came to this town in 1862 and entered the Hamilton Mills, where he has been employed since. He now fills the place of superin- tendent of the web department. He has been a member of the town council two years as a democrat. He was married in 1867 to Ann Eliza, daughter of Jeremiah Potter. Their children are : George N., Jr., William Vaughn, Harry Howard, Mary E. (de- ceased), and Edward H. (deceased). Mr. Steere is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M. Charles E. Sweet, born in 1837, is a son of William A. and Mercy (Arnold) Sweet. He has carried on the ice business six seasons, running one wagon to East Greenwich and one in North Kingstown. Mr. Sweet was in the war of rebellion nearly three years, in Company H, Seventh Rhode Island volunteers. He was married in 1857 to Mary A. Taylor. Their children are : Ida J., now Mrs. E. O. Titus, and Edgar A. Mr. Sweet is a mem- ber of the East Greenwich Post, G. A. R. He is also a member of Harmony Lodge. No. 5, I. O. of O. F. Daniel C. Sweet, born in Wickford in 1840, is a son of Rufus Sweet, and a descendant of the famous family of bonesetters elsewhere mentioned. Mr. Sweet has been an insurance agent here about thirteen years. He represents the Home, Phoenix and Liberty companies, of New York ; the Commercial Union and Imperial, of London ; the Travelers', of Hartford, Conn. ; the Commercial Life, of New York , besides several others. He was in an office in Providence two years before coming here. Mr. Sweet was married in 1880 to Harriet M., daughter of James B. Arnold. He has been a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M. about twenty-one years. Ambrose C. Taylor', born 1833 (Colonel William Taylor', born 1792, William Taylor", Joseph Taylor'), was married to Mary R., daughter of Potter Sweet, in 1860. Mr. Taylor has filled the office of postmaster at La Fayette about eighteen 3'ears, suc- ceeding Robert Rodman. He was a merchant at the same place seventeen years prior to 1887. Since that time he has been the senior partner of the firm of Taylor & Davis. In 1882 he caused the building to be erected which they now occupy. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1247 Azel W. Tefft, born 1831, is a son of Joseph and grandson of Thomas. He was married in 1871 to Alma S., daughter of David H. Wightman. They have had three children : Arthur R., Jud- son C, who died in infancy, and Eliza Alice. He is a member of the G. A. R. and bears the title of aide-de-camp. He was a naval officer in the war of the rebellion two years as gunner's mate of U. S. Ordinance ship "St. Lawrence." He has been a republican since the party was formed. Roxanna Titus, wife of N. G. Titus, was born 1826. She is a daughter of George Greene (Elijah Greene\ Elisha Greene"). She was married in 1851 to N. G. Titus. They have one son, Benjamin G. Titus. Mr. N. G. Titus is a farmer at Hamilton, where he also carries on a variety store. George W. Tourjee, born 1812, is a son of Benajah, who was a son of John, and he a son of Peter, who came to Rhode Island from France. Mr. Tourjee was married in 1839 to Ann Eliza, daughter of James Capron. Their children are : Celia N., Me- lissa A., George A., John A., Jane A., Louise E., Anna L. and Eulalie D. In politics Mr. Tourjee is a republican. Thomas H. Tourgee,born 1828, is a son of Philip Tourgee and grandson of William Tourgee. He was married in 1852 to Eliz- abeth Hille, now deceased. He was married in 1857 to Susan A., daughter of James Gardiner. He had two children by his first wife. They died in infancy. He was in the war of the rebellion about three years, in Company H, Fourth Rhode Island Volun- teers. William Tourgee was in the revolutionary war as a min- ute man. Jacob Turck, who was born in Germany in 1810, is a son of Martin Turck. Jacob came to this country in 1854 and settled in Wickford in 1855, and started a boot and shoe store, where he has been ever since. He was married to Anna Ossmann in 1856. They have five children : Frank, Margaret, Cornelia, Anna and William Martin. Mr. Turck has always been a democrat. Sarah A. Waldron and Mary E. V. Brown are daughters of John Brown, a son of Daniel, who married Elizabeth Aylesworth in 1796, and he a son of Joseph Brown. Their mother was Phebe", daughter of John Dimon', John', whose father was Thomas', who came to America from England. His father was John', and his father John', who spelled his name De Mont. Sarah and Mary were educated at the East Greenwich x\cademy from 1853 to 1248 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1856. Sarah A. has taught school nine years, and Mary E. V. has taught fifteen years. They kept a millinery store at Westerly seven years. Mrs. Waldron now keeps a fancy and variety store in Wickford. Sarah A. was married to Henry Waldron, of Brook- lyn, N. Y., who deceased the same year. Robert W. Watson was born in 1844 in North Kingstown. He is a son of Hazard C, son of Robert, son of Robert, son of Ben- jamin Watson. His mother is Margery, a daughter of Benjamin F. Spink, son of Isaac, son of Ishmael Spink. ]Mr. Watson is a farmer. He has worked on a farm near Wickford Station, in the village of Wickford. He is the oldest of six children, five of whom are now living. He was married in 1871 to ]\Iary J. Be- mont. William A. Weeden, born in 1837 in North Kingstown, is a son of William S. Weeden and Elizabeth, daughter of Jonathan Arnold. Mr. Weeden worked as a machinist seven years, and since that time has been a farmer, working at the mason's trade a part of the time. He has a farm of sixty acres, near AUenton, where he has lived since 1867. He built the house where he now lives at that time. He was married in 1864 to Emeline Crans- ton, sister of George T. Cranston, of North Kingstown. They have have had two children — George Albert, who died aged 18 months, and Lillie Belle. He is a democrat. Amos Whitford, born 1816, is a son of Samuel S., grandson of Amos and great-grandson of John. His mother was Clarissa, daughter of Amos Mowry. He was married to Lydia T. Gardi- ner in 1842. They have one adopted son — Edwin A. S. Whit- ford. He has been in the town council twelve years as a demo- crat. He is a farmer. A. A. Wilbur was born in Providence, R. I., in 1849. His father was Thomas E., son of Wanton Wilbur. Air. Wilbur lived several years in Smithfield, R. I. From there he went to Massachusetts, from there he entered the Fourth Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, Company A. He was in the service of the United States fifteen months. He came to Allenton in 1885, and with F. R. Frissell keeps the Allenton store and post office. Mr. Wilbur was married in 1873 to Harriet M., daughter of Cal- vin Pratt. They have one daughter — Lorena R. He is a re- publican. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1249 SOUTH KINGSTOWN. John Hoxsie was iDorn in 1807 in South Kingstown. He is a son of Thomas, grandson of Hon. Samuel, and great-grandson of Stephen Hoxsie. Mr. Hoxsie lived in Exeter about forty years prior to 1875, when he moved to Glen Rock in the town of South Kingstown, where he now resides. His vocation has been farm- ing. He has been in the general assembly three terms, in the town council several terms, and assessor of taxes several years. He was married in 1830 to Penelope, daughter of Ezekiel James. She died in 1867. They had nine children. He was married again in 1868 to Amanda B. Wilcox, daughter of Othenial and Nancy (Tillinghast) Wilcox. HOPKINTON. Herbert N. Phillips was born in Richmond and is the oldest son of Alfred B. Phillips, son of Benjamin, son of Joseph Phil- lips. His mother is Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas H. and Mary (Johnson) Phillips. Joseph Phillips, spoken of above, was in the war of the revolution. Mr. Phillips is the editor and pub- lisher of the Sentinel-Advertiser, a weekly paper published at Hope Valley. EXETER. Joseph R. Arnold, born in 1818 in Exeter, is a son of Oliver" (Oliver', Joseph', Samuel', Josiah Arnold"). Mr. Arnold is a farmer occupying the homestead of his father and grandfather. He kept a grocery store at Wickford Junction about nineteen years prior to 1883. He built the house where he now lives in 1843. He was married in 1838 to Hannah, daughter of Moses Mawney of East Greenwich. They have two sons, Edwin T. and Frank H. Peleg A. Arnold was born in 1826 in North Kingstown. He is a son of George Arnold" (Peleg', Joseph', Samuel", Josiah^ Wil- liam*, Caleb', Benedict', William', who came with his brother Thomas from England in 1635). His mother was Charlotte, daughter of Amos Gardner. Mr. Arnold is a farmer and has lived on his present farm since 1853. He was married in 1851 to Han- nah W., daughter of Judge William Browning, of North Kings- town, who died in 1856, aged sixty-five years. He was senator and representative from North Kingstown several years. He 79 1260 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. was judge of the court of common pleas for several years. His wife was Maria, daughter of John and Hannah Watson. They have three daughters: Hannah M., Emily C. and Mary J., all married. Willet H. Arnold, born in 1847 in Exeter, is a son of Benjamin L.'°, son of Benedict", son of Josiah", son of Joseph' (see preced- ing paragraph). Willet H. attended school at East Greenwich Academy several terms. He is a farmer. He has taught school eight terms. He was state senator in 1887. He has been on the school committee and school superintendent four years. He was married in 1872 to Mary E., daughter of Jesse P. Clark. They have one son, Horace J. He is a democrat and a member of the Baptist church of Exeter. George F. Barber, born in 1838 in Exeter, is a son of George, and grandson of Ellery, whose father, Reynolds, was a son of Moses Barber. His mother is Hannah M., daughter of Nathan B. Lewis, who was grandfather of the present Judge Nathan B. Lewis. I\lr. Barber is a farmer, and has spent the most of his life in Exeter. He has been in the town council about ten terms, and constable several years. He was married in 1864 to Mary F., daughter of James Lewis. They have eight children: Ella F., Mary A. (Mrs. Walter F. Bliven), George L., Charles S., Fred C, Anna J., Arthur S., and Phebe A. Mr. Barber is a member of Hope Valley Grange, No. 7, P. of H. He is a republican. Manfred C. Barber was born in 1849 in Exeter. He is a son of Hazard, whose father, Peter B., was a son of Benjamin Bar- ber. His mother is Phebe W., daughter of Tillinghast Gorton. Mr. Barber is a farmer, and has lived on the homestead of his wife's grandfather, Thomas C. Barber, since 1877. He was mar- ried in 1870 to Mary A., daughter of Henry C. Barber. He is a member of Hope Valley Grange, No. 7, P. of H., and has been overseer of the organization since it was formed in 1887. He is a prohibitionist and a member of the West Exeter church, which is a branch of the West Greenwich church. John Bliven, born in 1824 in Exeter, is a son of " Judge " Wil- liam B., and a grandson of William Bliven. His mother is Amy, daughter of Nathan Taylor. Mr. Bliven is a farmer and lives on the homestead of his father. He has lived in the same house since 1826. He was married in 1846 to Hannah C, daughter of .Sheffield Barber, whose father, Daniel, was a son of Daniel Bar- ber. They have had fourteen children, seven of whom are liv- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1251 ing,viz. : John S., Charles E., AmosT., Hannah F., Amy, Horace B., and Mary. The names of those deceased are : Fanny M., Jo- seph B., George L., William R., Harriet, Mary, and William Byron. Issac C. Barden, born in 1850 in Scituate, is a son of William M., whose father, Isaac, was a son of John Barden. His mother was Susan P., daughter of Lewis Peck. Mr. Barden was a mill operative until 1884, since which time he has been a farmer, own- ing a farm near Slocumville, in Exeter. He is one of seven children, five of whom are now living. He was married in 1880 to Anna J., daughter of Charles West. Charles H. Boss, born in 1856 in Exeter, is a son of Ezekiel J., and grandson of Joseph Boss. His mother is Almira, daughter of John Richmond. Mr. Boss was a farmer prior to 1882, when he took the rake manufactory which his uncle, Joshua Boss, had carried on for many years. He carries on a small farm in con- nection with the business. He was married in 1877 to Martha P., daughter of George J. Sherman. They have one son, Joshua. He is a member of the " First Exeter " church. Albert Briggs, born in 1831 in North Kingstown, is a son of William and grandson of William Briggs. His mother was Electa Baker. Mr. Briggs is a farmer and has lived on the farm that he now occupies about thirty-three years. He' has lived in Exeter about forty years. Prior to that he lived in North Kingstown. He was married in 1866 to Jane, daughter of Simon Jordan. They had six children : John, Su- san, William, Joseph, Clarke and Mary. His wife died in 1878. He was married in 1880 to Mrs. Elizabeth M. Greene, daughter of Resolved Wilcox. He is a member of the West Exeter church. Alton E. Briggs, born in 1859 in South Kingstown, is a son of Edwin T. and grandson of John Briggs. His mother is Almira C, daughter of Ebenezer Briggs. She was married in 1853 to Edwin T. Briggs, who died in 1869. Mr. Briggs is one of three children. Ebenezer Brown, born in 1814, is a son of James E., and grandson of Benedict Brown. His mother was Hannah Thomas Brown, sister of Coggeshall and daughter of George Thomas. Mr. Brown is a farmer, having lived in the same place since 1846. He was married in 1839 to Alma G., daughter of Water- man Franklin. They have had four children : Joshua F., Albert 1252 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. G., Joseph p. and Sarah M., now Mrs. Isaac H. Gardner. Joshua F. and Albert G. were both in the war of the rebellion, in Com- pany F, Seventh R. I. volunteers. They both died. Stukely Brown (deceased), son of James E. and grandson of Benedict Brown, was married in 1857 to Martha, daughter of Ebenezer Slocum and granddaughter of Eleazer Slocum. Mr. Brown died in 1884, aged 68 years. They have two children, Mary Lucy, now Mrs. Herbert Baton, and S. Everett. S. Everett Brown was born in 1863 in Exeter. He is a farmer, occupying the homestead of his father and grandfather. He has a farm of about 200 acres. He is a prohibitionist. George W. Corey, born in 1842, in Exeter, is a son of William and grandson of Clarke Corey. He was married in 1876 to Jessie P. A., daughter of Benjamin Carr, of West Greenwich. They have five children : Alice M., Jennie V., Bertha E., Ever- ett B. and Oscar M. Mr. Corey and his wife are members of the Exeter Baptist church. John Corey was born in 1827 in Plainfield, Conn. He is a farmer and has lived on Exeter Hill since 1859. He has been commissioner of the town asylum twelve years. He was mar- ried in 1858 to Mary, daughter of Varnum W. Gardiner. He is a prohibitionist and a member of Exeter Grange, No. 12, P. of H. Willard H. Dawley, born in 1822 in Exeter, is a son of Benja- min and grandson of Benjamin Dawley. Mr. Dawley was mar- ried in 1847 to Abiah Ballou. She died in 1859, leaving two children : William H. and Anna B. He was married again in 1859 to Lydia, daughter of Samuel Pinkham. He has lived in Exeter since 1862. Prior to that he lived in Westerly about twelve years. He was a mill operative about twenty years, and has since been a farmer. Edwin P. Dutemple, born in 1848 in Exeter, is a son of Nathan Dutemple, whose father came from France. Nathan Dutemple is a blacksmith by trade. He operated a blacksmith shop from 1843 to 1869, when Edwin P. became a partner. In 1874 they added carriage making and repairing, which was continued in the name of N. Dutemple & Son until 1887, when Edwin P. bought out his father's interest and now carries on the business alone. Edwin P. was married in 1869 to Mary L., daughter of James F. Vaughn. They have one son, Frank E., born in 1873. He is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 5, A. F. and A. M., is a charter member of Exeter Lodge, No. 48, I. O. of O. F., a HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1253 member of Exeter Grange, No. 12, P. of H., and a member of Uncas Encampment, No. 14, of Wickford. He is a republican. Moses Essex was born in 1835 in Cortland county, N. Y. His father Daniel F., was a son of Benajah Essex. His mother was Hannah, daughter of John Vaughn, of East Greenwich. Mr. Essex is a farmer and speculator. He was married in 1854 to Rhoda A., daughter of William Proctor, of Providence. She died in 1869 and left four children : Samuel P., Rhoda Maria, Charlotte W., now Mrs. John E. Taylor, and Celia A., now Mrs. Daniel E. Stillman. He was married again in 1869 to Phebe J., daughter of William Tisdale. They have one daughter. Anna W. Gardner was born in 1827 in Exeter. Her father, Robert, was the son of Zebulon, and grandson of Ezekiel Gard- ner. Her mother was Mercy, daughter of John, and grand- daughter of " Molasses " Pardon Tillinghast, a descendant of the historic Elder Pardon Tillinghast. Miss Gardner is the young- est of eleven children and the only one now living. Robert T. Gardner, born in 1832 in Exeter, is a son of Stephen A., born 1810, and grandson of John Gardner, born in 1754. His mother was Mercy (Gardiner) Gardner, daughter of Robert Gar- diner. Mr. Gardner is a farmer occupying the farm that was settled by the Gardner family five generations ago. He has been member of the town council as a republican. He was married in 1867 to Mary A., daughter of Curnel Bailey. She died in 1872, leaving one son, Stephen B. He was married again in 1874 to Sarah E., daughter of Albert Sweet. They have one son, Irving S. He is a member of the First Baptist church of Exeter. Frederick Hadfield, born in 1833 in Cheshire, England, is a son of Edward and grandson of John Hadfield. Mr. Hadfield came from England to Rhode Island in 1848. He worked for the Spragues, at Quidnick, in the town of Coventry, twenty-seven years. He was overseer of the weaving shop about fifteen years. He came to Exeter near Millville in 1882 and bought a farm which he now works. He was married in 1857 to a daughter of John Moon. They have one son, Ira, born 1857. Mr. Hadfield was in the war of the rebellion in Company G, Twelfth Rhode Island Volunteers about nine months. George T. Hathaway was born in 1835 in Exeter. His father, Nathan, was a son of Nathan, and he a son of Caleb Hathaway. His mother was a daughter of Job Dawley. He is a farmer, hav- ing lived on the farm which he now occupies about twenty-three 1254 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. years. He was married in 1858 to Susan Phillips. She died in 1869. He was married again in 1861 to Susan jM. Dawley. She died in 1879. He married a third time in 1880, Mary R., daugh- ter of George W. Reynolds. They have two children, George W. and Susan E. He is a member of the First Exeter church. Thomas G. Hunt, born in 1845 in South Kingstown, is a son of Daniel and grandson of John Hunt. Mr. Hunt has kept the store at Exeter Hill since January, 1882, succeeding James H. Hendricks. He received a commission as postmaster February 13th, 1882. He was married in 1872 to Mary S., daughter of Al- bert Franklin of Exeter. They have two children, Clara M. and Mary E. He is a member of Exeter Lodge, No. 43, I. O. of O. F. Pardon T. Joslin, born in 1827 in Exeter, is a son of Russell, and grandson of Christopher Joslin. His mother was Mary (Hill) Joslin. Mr. Joslin is a farmer on the homestead of Rus- sell Joslin. He keeps a grocery store on the " Ten Rod road," about two miles west of Exeter Hill. He has been a member of the town council. He was married in 1849 to Harriet, daughter of William Mathewson. They have had eleven children: Stephen, Annie F. (died age thirty-two years — Mrs. Arnold Ben- jamin), Henry Herbert, Leonard, Hattie (Mrs. Samuel Parker), Lydia L. (Mrs. Olney Brown), Pardon, Oliver T., Ida E., Russell and Etta M. Amos A. Kenyon, born in 1852, is a son of Edward R., whose father Samuel, was a son of George, and grandson of Benjamin Kenyon, who came from England to Rhode Island. His mother is Eunice E. Kenyon, daughter of Russell Crandall, whose father Elijah was a son of Joseph Crandall. Mr. Kenyon was married in 1878 to Eunice E., daughter of Amos Whitford. They have one daughter, Mary E. Mrs. Kenyon died in 1884. Mr. Kenyon is a member of Exeter Lodge, No. 43, I. O. of O. F. Herbert E. Lewis was born in 1862 in Exeter. He is a son of Daniel C°. (Moses B'., James*, James^ James', John Lewis'). His mother was Lydia C, daughter of Edward Richmond. Mr. Lewis is a farmer, owning the homestead of his father. He has taught eleven terms of school. He has been justice of the peace two years, and was elected assessor of taxes in 1888. He was married in 1884 to Addie ]\I., daughter of Gardiner Barber. They have one daughter, Nellie M. His father died in 1878 and his mother in 1870. He is a member of Hope A^alley Grange, P. of H. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1255 Reynolds J. Lillibridge, born in 1837 in Exeter, is a son of Willet R., whose father Reynolds, was a son of Jonathan Lilli- bridge. His mother was Chloe (Barber) Lillibridge, daughter of John Barber. Mr. Lillibridge has been a farmer for the last fourteen years. He was a traveling agent several years prior to that. He is a member of Charity Lodge, No. 23, A. F. & A. M. He was married in 1870 to Lydia M. Clark. They have one daughter, Cora. Reverend George R. Northup, born in 1821 in Exeter, is a son of John, whose father, Anthony, was a son of Zebulon Northup. Mr. Northup was ordained as a Calvinist Baptist preacher in 1856. He has preached twenty-seven years in succession. The last five years he has had no regular charge. He was married in 1848 to Frances E. Peckham, who died in 1852. He was mar- ried to his present wife, Esther P., in 1854. They have two children : Imogene, now Mrs. Charles H. Cook, and Lillian, now Mrs. Thomas R. Rathbun. They have lost eight children. George W. Palmer, born in 1859 in Richmond, is a son of William H., whose father, Amos, was a son of Reverend Phineas Palmer, His mother was Caroline C, daughter of William Peckham. Mr. Palmer is a farmer, owning nearly six hundred acres of land. He built the house in which he now lives in 1886. He was married in 1883 to Melissa D., daughter of Seth W. Terry, who is a son of Moses, and he a son of Seth, whose father, Seth Terry, came from Dartmouth during the revolution. Mr. Palmer is a republican and a member of Queens River church. Elisha P. Phillips was born in 1827 at Plainfield, Conn. He is a son of Elisha P. and grandson of Nathaniel Phillips. His mother was Mary, daughter of Benjamin Northup. ]\[r. Phillips owns the lower mill at Millville, built by Job Reynolds & Son in 1834. They rented it the most of the time from then until Job died in 1852. There had been a store connected with the mill property since the time the mill was built. At the death of Mr. Reynolds, in 1852, Mr. Phillips bought the lower mill and store, which he still owns. The mill was burned in 1886, and rebuilt in 1887. He was married in 1848 to Lucy, daughter of Job Reynolds. She died in 1887. He has been a member of the general assembly three terms, in the town council about seventeen years, and superintendent of schools several years. He is a republican. He has been a member of Exeter church about forty years. 1256 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. William G. Rose, born in 1821 in Exeter, is a son of George W. and grandson of James Rose. He was a woolen manufac- turer until about ten years ago, when he engaged in farming. He has lived in Exeter, near Slocumville, since 1873. He has ' been a member of the town council several years and was in the legislature in 1857. He was married in 1844 to Martha F. Dixon, who died in 1863. They had eight children, seven of whom are now living. He was married again in 1866 to Mary A. G. Til- linghast, widow of Thomas W Tillinghast. Mr. Rose is master of Exeter Grange, No. 12, P. of H. He is a democrat. Caleb H. Sherman was born in 1833 in Exeter. He is a son of Eber, whose father, Eber, was a son of Eber Sherman. His mother was Catherine, daughter of Stephen Gardner. j\Ir. Sher- man is a farmer, occupying the homestead of the Shermans, which has been owned by four generations. He has taught school about twenty-five terms. He attended the Greenwich Academy three terms. He has been in the town council several terms. He was married in 1871 to a daughter of Gideon Brown. They have one son, Caleb AV. Eber J. Sherman was born in 1846 in Exeter. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were named Eber. Mr. Sher- man is a farmer, and has lived in Exeter all his life, except four years spent in North Kingstown. He was married in 1865 to Lydia H., daughter of Jonathan Record, who was born in 1800 in Newport and came to Exeter in 1861, where he lived until a short time before his death, which occurred in 1878. Mr. and Mrs. Sherman have seven children : Samuel E., Jonathan R., William T., Robert J., Charles H., Mary C. and Lydia R. Jonathan Rec- ord was a house carpenter until 1838, and from that time until 1861 was a merchant. George J. Sherman, born in 1820 in Exeter, is a son of Eber and grandson of Eber Sherman. His mother was Patience, daughter of George James. Mr. Sherman has lived in the town of Exeter all his life excepting two years. He is a farmer, and runs a grist mill and a shingle mill in connection with farming. His wife, Rebecca C, to whom he was married in 1841, died in 1881, leaving three daughters : Martha P , Rebecca and Estella B., all married. Mr. Sherman is a member of the First Exeter church. Winfield vS. Shearman is a son of Arnold C. Shearman, and grandson of Arnold, whose father, Robert, was a son of Jonathan. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1257 His mother was Hannah S., daughter of Robert Rose. His grand- mother, wife of Arnold Shearman, was Catherine, daughter of Josiah Arnold. Mr. Shearman is one of five sons, and lives with his father, Arnold C. Shearman, who owns the old homestead that has been in the family for about two hundred years. Jona- than Shearman's father was also named Jonathan, and he was a son of Benjamin, whose father, Philip, was born in England and came to Roxbury, Mass., in 1633. He, with a few other men of that state, was banished from the state, and settled in 1638 in Portsmouth. Eben Slocum, Jr., born in 1848 in North Kingstown, is a son of Eben, and grandson of Eleazer Slocum. His mother was Hannah Congdon. Mr. Slocum is a farmer, and has made buy- ing and selling cattle his principal business for the last fifteen years. He has lived in Exeter Hollow since 1880. He was mar- ried in 1870 to Kate A., daughter of Jeremiah T. Knowles. They have one son, Adelbert C. M. Jonathan Spencer was born in 1798 in Exeter. He is a son of Samuel, and grandson of Jonathan, whose father, Samuel, was a son of Michael Spencer. Mr. Spencer has been overseer of poor, town sergeant, and collector of taxes several years, as a republi- can. He was married in 1822 to Nancy, daughter of John Place. They had two children — John, who was in the war of the rebel- lion, in Company F, Seventh Rhode Island volunteers, and died at Camp Dennison, Ohio ; and Elizabeth, now Mrs. Alvin L. Knight. Her son, Herbert E. Knight, lives with his grandfather, Mr. Spencer. He was married in 1880 to Mary Matteson. They have three children. Mr. Spencer's wife died in 1882, aged 83 years. Aaron Straight was born in 1800 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Solomon, and grandson of John Straight. Mr. Straight is a farmer and has lived on the farm that he now occupies since 1831. He has been a member of the town council several years, and is a member of Arcadia Baptist church. Aaron Straight was married in 1830 to Abigail, daughter of Allen and Ruth Tilling- hast. They have had three children : Albert, who died in Fair- fax Seminary Hospital, in 1863 (he was a volunteer in Battery B) ; John T. and Abbie. Albert was married to Angeline Til- linghast, a sister of Judge Pardon Tillinghast. Abbie lives with her father. 1258 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Stephen Straight was born in 1814 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Solomon, and grandson of John Straight. His mother was Susan, daughter of Eldridge Austin. Mr. Straight is a farmer and has lived in this town about thirty-seven years. He was married in 1841 to Hopestill, daughter of Amos Bates. They have two children — Ann Eliza, now Mrs. William H. H. Wood- mansee, and John A., who was married in 1866 to Abbie F., daughter of Royal Phillips, and has had four children : Anna F. (deceased), Stephen A. R., Ella S. A., and Elwin W. A. John A. is a farmer and has lived in West Greenwich about twenty years. He is a member of West Exeter church. Ste- phen is a prohibitionist. He is a member of West Exeter church. James W. Sunderland, born in 1835 in Richmond, is a son of Nathaniel C. and grandson of George Sunderland. His mother was Emeline, daughter of Joseph Phillips. Mr. Sunderland is a farmer, and has lived in Exeter about thirty-five years. He has been town sergeant and con.stable. He was married in 1864 to Mercy B., daughter of Silas E. Moore. Mrs. Sunderland has been postmistress at Liberty since the office was established, about 1882. Olney Tanner, born in 1820 in West Greenwich, is a son of William and grandson of Stillman Tanner. His mother was Sarah, daughter of Noah Parker, whose father was Stephen Parker. Mr. Tanner is a farmer. He built the house where he now lives in 1860. He is one of eight children, three of whom are now living. In 1840 he was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Nathan Palmer, son of Stephen Palmer. They have had four children : Mary E. (deceased), Dorcas Ann (Mrs. Henry Austin), Ambrose O. (deceased), and Susan Abbie, now Mrs. Joseph T. Hopkins, of Coventry. James Tefft, born in 1809 in Richm.ond, is a son of Thomas, who was a son of Thomas Tefft. His mother was Lucy, daugh- ter of George Tefft. Mr. Tefft is a farmer and owns the same farm that his father owned at one time, a good many years ago. He has owned it since 1867. He was married in 1842 to Olive, daughter of Othenial Wilcox. They have had twelve children, eleven of whom are now living. Franklin P. Tefft, born in 1852, is a son of James, whose father, Thomas, was a son of Thomas Tefft. His mother is Olive, daughter of Othenial Wilcox. Mr. Tefft is a farmer, and built the house where he now lives in 1881. In 1880 he was married HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 125& to Sarah F., daughter of Seth W. Terry. They have three chil- dren : Silas F., Melissa J. and Cora. Mr. Tefft has been a mem- ber of the West Kingstown Agricultural Society about twelve years. George A. Thomas, born in 1840 in North Kingstown, is a son of William A., whose father Coggeshall, was son of George, and he a son of John Thomas. His mother is Betsey, daughter of William Brown. Mr. Thomas received most of his education in the district schools, and attended Greenwich Academy a short time. He is a farmer and has taught thirteen winter terms of school, beginning at the age of twenty -two. He was elected to the legislature in 1885, 1886 and 1888. He has been on the school committee about twelve years, and superintendent of schools about six years. He has been town auditor and assessor of taxes several years. He was married in 1865 to Harriet F., daughter of Amos Whitford. They have three children : Fran- cis W., Roy E. and Myra A. He is a member of the Exeter Grange, No. 12, P. of H., and a member of the Seventh Day Ad- vent church of Slocumville. His father William A., was captain of the state militia at one time. John Tillinghast, born in 1836 in Exeter, is a son of William B. and grandson of Job H. Tillinghast. His mother was a daughter of Richard Vaughn. Mr. Tillinghast is a carpenter and has worked at that trade about ten years. He has been super- intendent of the Millville Mill for David L. Aldrich about six- teen years. He was married in 1867 to Abbie E., daughter of George T. Collins. He was in the war of the rebellion thirty- nine months in the Third Rhode Island Volunteers. William B. Tillinghast, born in 1835 in Exeter, is a brother of John Tillinghast mentioned above. Mr. Tillinghast has been superintendent of David L. Aldrich's print works at Arcadia about seventeen years. Prior to that he was superintendent at Millville about five years. He is a carpenter, having worked at that trade about seven years. He was married in 1856 to Julia, daughter of Charles Thompson, and has two sons, George E. and Frank W., living, and one, Charles, that died aged five years. He was a member of the general Assembly in 1874, 1875 and 1879, and has been on the school committee several years. George H. C. Watson, born in 1836 in North Kingstown, is a son of Thomas C, whose father, Robert, was a son of Benjamin 1260 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Watson. His mother was Ruth, daughter of Benjamin and Ruth Northup. Robert Watson's wife was Amy, daughter of Thomas Champlin. Mr. Watson is a farmer and occupies the homestead where his father, Thomas C, lived from 1839 until his death in 1877. Mrs. Watson is still living in her 86th year, with George H. C. He is one of six children, three of whom are living. He is a republican. Thomas C. Watson was a stone mason by trade. He was in the war of 1812. Stephen B. Weeden, son of Samuel L. and Phebe Weeden and grandson of Anthony Weeden, was born in East Greenwich in 1821. Samuel L. Weeden was lost at sea when about thirty- three years old. Mr. Weeden has lived on his present farm since 1851, and built the house in which he now lives in 1854. He has been senator two years, member of the town council a number of terms, collector of taxes several years, overseer of poor fifteen years, and town moderator five years. He was mar- ried in 1845 to Dorcas, daughter of Benjamin, son of Benjamin Dawley. They have three children : Samuel L., Harriet F. (deceased), who was Mrs. Charles F. Brown, and Charles H. John W. Whitford was born in 1829 in Exeter. He is a son of Samuel S., whose father, Amos Whitford, was married twice. His second wife, Molly, daughter of " Molasses " Pardon Tilling- hast, was the grandmother of John W. His mother is Clarissa, daughter of Amos j\Iowry. Mr. \Vhitford is a farmer, owning and occupying the homestead of his father. The house where he lives was built by his father in the fall of 1828. He is one of seven children, three of whom are now living. He was married in 1856 to Mercy T., daughter of Charles Wilcox. She is also connected with the Tillinghasts. They have six children : AnnaG., Mrs. Jonathan N. Arnold; Mary T., wife of Lewis F. Whipple; Clarissa, now Mrs. Svlvester R.Gardiner; Abbie F., Hannah T. and Samuel S. Joseph L. Wightman was born in 1818 in Connecticut. He is a son of Reverend John, whose father. Reverend George, was a son of Reverend Timoth)', whose father, Valentine, was a son of George, who came from England. His mother, Bridget, is a daughter of Reverend Rufus Allen. Mr. Wightman has given some attention to agriculture all his life. He was ordained as a Baptist preacher in 1859. He was the pastor of " French- town " Baptist church about four years, and has been pastor of several churches in Washington county. He was married in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1261 1843 to Sarah M. Latham. She died in 1844, and he was mar- ried in 1854 to Laura Tefft, who died in 1879. John T. Willcox was born in 1852 in Exeter. His father and grandfather were both named Noah Willcox. His mother is Mary, daughter of Samuel W. Sherman. She was married in 1838 to Noah Willcox. They have had six children, four of whom are living. John T. Willcox is a farmer, occupying the homestead of his father and grandfather, his father having died in 1883. RICHMOND. George W. Aldrich was born in 1839 in Oxbridge, Mass., and is a son of Thomas J. Aldrich and Lydia C, daughter of Nathan Varney, son of Shubael. His grandfather was Abel, son of Jo- seph Aldrich. Mr. Aldrich is a farmer. He was in the war of the rebellion about three years, in Company G, First Massachu- setts cavalry. He was married in 1866 to Martha J., daughter of Matthew C. Card, son of Enoch, son of Benjamin Card. They have had two sons — Lucius, who died aged three years, and Jo- seph H. He is a member of Wood River Baptist church. He has been clerk of the church about two years. John W. Baggs, born in Charlestown in 1855, is a son of John F., and grandson of Joseph E. Baggs. His mother was Rebecca L., daughter of Solomon Drown. Mr. Baggs has been a mill op- erative about thirteen years at Woodville Mills, and has been boss finisher about six years. He is one of seven children, five of whom are now living. His father died in 1887. He was mar- ried in 1887. Emma Eldora Baggs, sister of John W., lives in a part of the house with her brother, and they own the homestead together, where John F. had lived for several years prior to his death in 1887. James C. Baker, born in 1811 in Richmond, is a son of Henry C, and grandson of James Baker. His mother, Elizabeth, is a daughter of Jonathan Kingsley. In 1845 Mr. Baker, in com- pany with Alanson Barber, began the manufacture of print cloths, which business was continued by them until 1866, when their factory in Hopkinton burned. Since that time Mr. Baker has been engaged in agricultural pursuits. He has been in the town council. He was married in 1836 to Sarah, daughter of Jared Barber, who was a son of Caleb, and he a son of Caleb Barber, who lived on the same farm where Mr. Baker now lives. They have three children : Joanna L., now Mrs. J. E. Dockrey ; 1262 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Sarah C, now Mrs. Thomas W. Kenyon ; and James H. The latter is married and lives with his father. Mr. Baker is a mem- ber of the Second Baptist church of Hopkinton, and has been a deacon about thirty years. Mrs. Baker died in 1888. Clarke Barber was born in 1826 in Exeter. He is a son of Thomas C, he a son of Moses, and he a son of Moses Barber. His mother was Susan, daughter of John Congdon. Mr. Barber has been a farmer. He has carried the Arcadia mail for about thirty-five years. He has lived in the same house since his mar- riage. He was in the general assembly in 1879, and has been a member of the town council several years. He was married in 1849 to Almira, daughter of Peleg Andrews. They have four •children: Leander M., Susan E. (Mrs. A. R. Andrews), Thomas H., and Hannah C, now Mrs. Moses P. Barber, of West Green- wich. Mr. Barber is a prohibitionist. He is a member of Hope Valley Grange, No. 7, P. of H. Smitum P. Barber, born in 1818 in Richmond, is a son of Peter and grandson of Benjamin Barber. His mother was Lucy, daughter of Smitum Potter. Mr. Barber lived on his farm in Exeter until 1869, when he removed to Arcadia, where he has kept the boarding house for David L. Aldrich since that time. He still owns and operates his farm in Exeter. He was married in 1841 to Phebe, daughter of Moses Lewis. They have one son, Moses P. Barber, of West Greenwich. He is a democrat. Solomon Barber was born in 1823 in South Kingstown. He is a son of Moses, son of James, son of William, son of Moses, whose grandfather James came from England in 1833 to Boston, and later to Newport. His mother is Elizabeth, daughter of Jo- seph Belcher. Mr. Barber learned the wagon maker's trade when a lad, but in early manhood he left the trade because he wished to be a manufacturer. He has been a practical manufacturer for about forty years, mostly in Connecticut. In September, 1887, he came to Richmond, near AVyoming, where he now resides on a small farm. He was married in 1844 to Maria Ellen M., a daughter of Asa Dye. They have had ten children. Mr. Barber is a member of the First Baptist church of Hopkinton. He is a member of the Masonic order. Thomas H. Barber, born in 1856 in Richmond, is a son of Clark Barber. Mr. Barber is engaged in farming and the lumber busi- ness. He built a saw mill at Barberville two years ago, which he now runs. Prior to that he operated, in partnership with HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1263 Moses p. Barber, a portable steam saw mill in West Greenwich about six years. He was married in 1880 to Lillian F., daughter of Samuel K. Barber, whose wife Hannah (Tillinghast) Barber, is a sister of William B. and John Tillinghast of Exeter. They have one son, Harold T. Mr. Barber is a member of Hope Val- ley Grange, No. 7, P. of H. Thomas Berth, born in 1847 in Massachusetts, is a son of Law- rence and Catharine Berth. Mr. Berth came to Plainville in 1881 and since that time has been boss dyer for W. A. Walton & Co. Prior to coming here he was thirteen years in Millbury, Mass., as boss dyer. He was married in 1872 to Bridget, daughter of Wil- liam Marondy. They have four children : Ellen J., William H., Mary E. and Frederick J. John W. Briggs, born in Jamestown, is a son of William, grandson of Sweet and great-grandson of Job Briggs. His mother was Rachel R., daughter of John Watson. Mr. Briggs has been a mill operative mostly. He lived here prior to 1864, and came back in 1880. He has a small farm with three acres of cranberries. He has been boss finisher in the Davisville mill for about a year. He was married in 1853 to Sarah E., daughter of Moses Barber and sister of Solomon Barber, of this town. Her father died in 1880, aged 98 years. Her grandmother Mar- garet died in 1849, aged ]03 years and 8 months. Mr. Briggs has two children : Elizabeth A., now Mrs. Henry D. Tucker, and John E., who is married and has two children. Elizabeth A. also has two children. Solomon K. Brown, born in Richmond, is a son of Benjamin, grandson of Benedict, and great-grandson of John Brown His mother was Lydia, daughter of Peleg Slocum. Mr. Brown, with a sister and a brother, lives on the homestead where their father, Benjamin, lived from about 1812 until his death in 1859. They have a large residence just south of Hope Valley, which they built in 1876. Mr. Brown is a farmer. He was married in 1857 to Sarah A., daughter of Amos Palmer, son of Phineas Palmer. She died in 1874. They had three children : Abbie A., Charles P., who died in infancy, and Edward S., also died in infancy. Mr. Brown is a republican. Walter E. Browning was born in 1850 in Charlestown. In 1854 he went from there to Hopkinton, where he lived until 1885. In March of that year he bought out the interests of Phil- lips & Perkins in Hope Valley, and came to Richmond, where he 1264 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. now lives and carries on the general store business. He had a store in Hopkinton about five years prior to coming to Hope Valley. He was postmaster at Canonchet until the post office was discontinued. He was married in 1873 to Emma A., daugh- ter of Peter P. Palmer. They have five children. He is a dem- ocrat. James K. Carpenter, born in 1847 in South Kingstown, is a son of William H. Carpenter and Hannah M., daughter of John Coswell. Mr. Carpenter has been overseer of the spinning department of the Hope Valley mill for D. L. Aldrich about fourteen years, and has worked in the same mill about twenty- four years. He was married in 1864 to Mary A., daughter of Benjamin F. Worden. They have two children : AUie J., now Mrs. James R. Briggs, and William H. He is a republican, a member of Hope Valley Methodist church, and a member of Charity Lodge, No. 23, A. F. & A. M. Nelson K. Church, born in 1825 in Hopkinton, is a son of Ebenezer K. and Sophia (Robinson) Church. Ebenezer K. was a son of Rufus, and he a son of Caleb Church. Mr. Church is a farmer and has lived at his present home since 186]. Prior to that he taught several terms of school. He represented the town in general assembly one year, has been on the school committee, and school superintendent several terms, and has been trial justice about ten years. He was married in 1852 to Marcy W., daughter of Jeremiah Whitford. He is a member of Wood River church, member of Hope Valley Grange. No. 7, P. of H., and a democrat. George H. Clark, born in 1847 in Charlestown, is a son of Simeon P. Clark. Mr. Clark is the present owner of what is known as Clark's mills. He was married in 1877 to Celia E. Carr, of Jamestown. They have four children : George P., Hat- tie S., Henry G. and Florence. He is a republican. George R. Clarke, born in 1850 in Richmond, is a son of Rey- nolds H. Clarke, grandson of Luke, and great-grandson of Joshua Clarke. His mother is Isabelle W., daughter of William Nye. Mr. Clarke is a wagon maker, blacksmith and farmer. He has a small farm of about seventy-five acres, and has lived here ten years. He was married in 1875 to Fanny, daughter of James C. Greene. Their three children are : Sidney W., Isa- belle N. and George R., Jr. He is a democrat. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1265 Halsey P. Clark was born in 1818 in Richmond. He is a son of David, son of David, son of Jonathan, son of William, son of Joseph Clark. His mother Susan was a daughter of George Perry, son of Edward, son of Benjamin Perry, who bought the farm where Halsey P. now lives at sheriff's sale in 1747. It was in the Perry family from that time until about 1828, when it came into the possession of Mr. Clark's father, and in 1867 it came into the possession of the present owner. Mr. Clark was married in 1841 to Mary, daughter of Job Allen. They have seven children living and have lost one son. Mr. Clark has been clerk of the town since 1852, and has served in the general as- sembly three years. His father David was in the assembly about twelve years. Amos J. Dawley was born in 1812 in Richmond, and is a son of John and grandson of Michael Dawley. His mother was Mary, daughter of William Harrington. Mr. Dawley has lived in Richmond since 1846 ; prior to that time he lived in Exeter. He was married in 1845 to Mrs. Sally TefEt, a daughter of Wil- liam B. Bliven. They have one son living, A. John Dawley of Providence. They lost three daughters, Angeline, Caroline and Sarah. He is a democrat. Warren Dawley, born in 1851 in Hopkinton.is a son of William H., grandson of Beriah, and great-grandson of Job Dawley. His mother was Tryphena H. Tanner. Mr. Dawley is a farmer. He was married in 1873 to Susan C, daughter of George W. James, son of George S., son of Ezekiel, son of George James. They have three children : Grace A., Edna E. and William J. Mr. Dawley is a prohibitionist. He and his wife and oldest daughter are members of Wood River Baptist church. August A. Dobbrow was born in 1861 in Westerly. He is a son of Frederick Dobbrow and grandson of William F. Dobbrow, of Germany. Frederick Dobbrow came to America about 1858 and shortly after settled in Westerly. The family came to Plain- villein 1876. August A. has worked in the mill here since that time. He has been overseer in the weaving department since April, 1886. He has been assistant superintendent of the Sunday school here for a number of years. He has had charge of the chapel about eight years. He was married in 1882 to Alice M. Wilbur, daughter of Fones G., he a son of Nathaniel S. and he a son of Jesse Wilbur. They have one daughter, Alice E. Fones G. Wilbur died in 1885. His wife now owns the old house where 80 1266 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Jesse Wilbur lived during liis life. Mr. Dobbrow is a republi- can. AVilliam F. Dobbrow was born in 1861 in Westerly, and is a son of Frederick Dobbrow. Mr. Dobbrow has been a mill oper- ative for many years. He has been boss dresser about seven years. He was married in ISS,") to Tryphena, daughter of AVil- liam Jackson, of Connecticut. They have one son, William Frederick. He is a republican. Charles Dobbrow was born in 1863 in Westerly, and is a son of Frederick Dobbrow. Charles began in the mills as a bobbin winder. He came to Plainville in 1876 with his parents, and be gan here in the card room where he worked about three years ; then he worked at weaving about six years, and has been boss designer about three years. He was elected assessor in 1888 as a republican. Henry R. Dockrey is a son of James E. Dockrey. His mother is Joanna L., daughter of James C. Baker, son of Henry C, son of James Baker. Mr. Dockrey has been in the machine shop of the Nichols & Langworthy Machine Company since 1885. James E. Dockrey and Joanna L. Baker were married in 1860. They have four children: Henry R., M. Ida, C. Edward and Elizabeth Lavergne, who is now Mrs. William A. Watrous. John C. Ennis, born in 1844 in Richmond, is a son of Thomas, and grandson of Paul Ennis. His mother was Abbie, daughter of Jonathan Tefft. Mr. Ennis has worked at wagon making about twenty years. He had a grist and shingle mill in Kings- town about four years. It was burned in 1887. He has been a member of the town council two years and justice one year. He was married in 1879 to Amy R., daughter of George A. Wells. They have three children : Mary A., Frederick T. and John G. He is a republican, a member of Carolina Baptist church, mem- ber of Charity Lodge, No. 23, A. F. and A. M., and a member of the Royal Arcanum of Stonington. Samuel AV. Farnum was born in 1838 in Smithfield, R. I. He is a son of Windsor, son of Noah, son of John Farnum, who was a native of Oxbridge. His mother was a daughter of Daniel A. Taylor, of East Greenwich. Noah Farnum married Lydia, daughter of Reverend Samuel Windsor. Mr. Farnum was a soldier in the civil war in Company I, Fourth Rhode Island Vol- unteers, from September, 1861, to October, 1864. He then fol- lowed farming for several years. He was superintendent of HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1267 schools for three years and was a member of the general assem- bly four years from Smithfield as a republican. In 1880 he went to Connecticut and worked four years at woolen manufacturing for D. L. Aldrich. He then came to Plainville, where he now works for W. A. Walton & Co., and keeps the factory boarding house. He was married in 1878 to Anna F-, daughter of Jesse S. Sweet, son of Albert B., son of Ethan, son of Matthew Sweet. They have one son, Ernest C. Stephen A. Field was born in 1812 in Connecticut. His father, Thomas, was a son of Joseph, and a grandson of Joseph Field. The first ancestor of the family settled in Providence in the early part of the seventeenth century. Mr. Field's mother was Abigail Emerson. He is a farmer and has lived in Rich- mond about fourteen years. He has been deacon of the First Baptist church of Norwich, Conn., about eighteen years. He was in the war of the rebellion about one year, in Company B, Eleventh Connecticut volunteers, under Burnside. He was married in 1835 to Ann E. Lathrop, who died in 1870. He was married in 1874 to Mrs. Mary A. Hiscox. He has one daughter, Emma M., by his first wife. He is a republican. Mary A. Gould is a daughter of George S. Gould' (George', Daniel", Thomas', Daniel*, Thomas', DanieF, Jeremiah', who came from England to Newport in 1637). George .S. came here from Cranston in 1849. He was married in 1844 to Anna A., daughter of John Knowles' (John*, John^ John\ William', who came from England). They have one son and two daughters. The son is married and lives in Rome, N. Y. George S. has been in the town council and assessor of taxes as a republican. John Hacking, born in 1820 in England, is a son of James Hacking. Mr. Hacking came to this country from Lancashire, England, in 1854, to Moosup, Conn. He came to Plainville in 1880, and in 1881 he built the house where he now lives. He has been a mill operative most of the time since he came to this country. He was married in 1850 to Nancy Brown. They have three children : Alice (Mrs. Nathaniel Westcott), Mary J. and John W. They have lost five children. E. A. Hayward was born in 1845 in Blackstone, Mass., and is a son of Enos Hayward. Mr. Hayward was educated in the dis- trict schools of Blackstone, Mass. He has been book-keeper for W. A. Walton since he came to Plainville in 1880. He has been engaged in book-keeping for twenty-five years. He was married 1268 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in 1869 to Susan M. Edwards, of Blackstone, Mass. They have one son. Charles A. Hoxsie, born in 1838 in Richmond, is a son of Thomas W., and grandson of Stephen Hoxsie. His mother was Tabitha Tucker. He lives on the homestead of his father. He came here in 1877 and started what is known as the White Brook Trout ponds. He has the advantage of a natural pond, besides eight artificial ponds. He has worked at railroading about twenty-three years. He ran a locomotive on the New York Central road about eleven years. He was married in 1860 to Mary A., daughter of William H. and Mary C. Davis. They have four children : Charles W. (died aged eight years), Ida M., Fred- die D., and Nellie M. He is a member of Temple Lodge, No. 14, A. F. and A. M., and Royal Arch Chapter, No. 5. Elijah Hoxsie was born in 1825 in Richrnond. He is a son of Job, grandson of Elijah, a descendant of Lodowick Hoxsie, who came from Scotland to Plymouth in 1658. The name at that time was spelled Hawksey. His mother was Martha, daughter of John Wilcox. Mr. Hoxsie is a farmer and owns and occupies the old Hoxsie homestead. He has been in the town council, assessor and collector of taxes, and overseer of the poor, as a democrat. He was married in 1856 to Abbie A. Woodmansee. Gideon W. Hoxsie was a son of Enoch, and grandson of Bar- nabas Hoxsie. His wife was Lucy Letson. Gideon W. died in 1884, aged 82 years, and his widow in 1886, aged 74 years. Mr. Hoxsie was a farmer, and since his death his daughter, Jane E., has carried on the farm with hired help. He was in the town council several years ; was a republican. He was a man of very decided opinions, and a strong anti-slavery man. Rowse F. Hoxsie, born in 1865 in Richmond, is a son of Franklin and Mary A. (Clinton) Hoxsie. His grandfather was Rowse Hoxsie. Mr. Hoxsie bought out the store of George N. Ennis in September, 1887. He was appointed postmaster in Jan- uary, 1888. He was married in 1888 to Susan O., daughter of John S. Potter. William C. Hoxsie, born in 1832 in Coventry, is a son of Sam- uel A., and grandson of Reynolds R. Hoxsie, who was clerk of the town of Richmond for forty years in succession. His mother was Malinda, daughter of Gardner James. Mr. Hoxsie has been a stationary and locomotive engineer. He was engineer on the Wood River Branch railroad from the time it was built until HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1269 1884, when he retired. His father was a machinist by trade. He was a manufacturer for a number of years prior to his death, which occurred in 1854. Mr. Hoxsie was married in 1857 to Lu- cinda M., daughter of John W. Tucker, of Charlestown. They have one daughter, Hattie E., now Mrs. Charles A. Whiting, of Providence. Mr. Hoxsie has lived at Wyoming about twenty- two years. He is a republican. George S. James, born in 1849 in Exeter, is a son of George W\ George S'., Ezekie?, George James'. His mother is Sarah, daughter of James Saunders. Mr. James is a farmer and runs a saw mill at Hillsdale. He built the house where he now lives in 1884. He has owned the farm about fifteen years. In 1875 he was married to Abbie Frances, daughter of Whitman Kenyon. He is a member of Hope Valley Grange, P. of H. Joseph James, born in 1824 in West Greenwich, is a son of Joseph, and grandson of Joseph James. Mr. James in com- pany with Jesse Potter, opened a general grocery store in Hope Valley in 1854, which they conducted under the firm name of Potter & James for two years ; then they moved to Wyoming, where they carried on the same business until 1879, when they sold out. Since that time Mr. James has been a farmer. He has been in the town council, and on the school committee, and town sergeant, as a republican. He was married in 1858 to Lucy E., daughter of Jesse Potter. She died in 1887. They had one daughter, Ellen J., who died aged three and a half years. Abial T. Kenyon, born in 1826 in Richmond, is a son of John T. Kenyon. His mother was Ruth, daughter of John Hoxsie. Mr. Kenyon is a farmer living on a part of the old Hoxsie home- stead, in the house that was built by John Hoxsie in 1784. He has been assessor of taxes and is a republican. He was married in 1854 to Phebe P. T., daughter of Henry Greene, and grand- daughter of Henry Greene. Her mother was Patience, daughter of Allen Greene. They have three children living: Ray A., Lucy C. and Henry T., and two that died in infancy. Mr. Ken- yon has been a member of the Wood River Baptist church about forty years and deacon about five years. His wife is a member of the Carolina church. David P. Kenyon, born in Richmond, is a son of George, grand- son of George, and great-grandson of Thomas Kenyon. His mother was Rachel Sheffield. Mr. Kenyon is a farmer and owns 400 acres of land, where he has lived since 1839. His father and 1270 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. father's brother owned the farms before he took them. He was miarried in 1838 to Sarah A., daughter of Silas Clark, son of Silas, son of Gideon Clark. They have had eleven children : David C, Charles G., George E., John H., Henry G., Lewis S., Albert W., Emma F. (Airs. George E. Hoxsie), Orrin F. and two de- ceased, Mary L. and an infant. David C. Kenyon, born in 1840 in Richmond, is the oldest son of David P. Kenyon. Air. Kenyon is a farmer and milk dealer. He has sold milk in Kenyon's and Shannock about eighteen years. He bought the farm where he now lives in 1888, having previously rented it for eight years. He was married in 1868 to Adelaide A., daughter of Jonathan Tucker. They have five children : Alonzo D., Ada L., Elnora P., Everett O. and Jen- nie G. Air. Kenyon has been in the town council four years, and has held other town offices as a republican. He is a mem- ber of Richmond Grange, No. 6, P. of H. David R. Kenyon was born in 1833 in Richmond, and is a son of Whitman, grandson of David, and great-grandson of Thomas Kenyon. His mother was Abbie Lillibridge, sister of Wanton and Edward Lillibridge. Mr. Kenyon has been a man- ufacturer most of his life. He was interested first in a mill at Hillsdale with his brother, about four years prior to 1873, then in South Kingstown about six months in 1S80, and in 1885 he and his son, Charles L., bought the Willow Valley mill, where they are now engaged in making coarse carpet yarns. A part of the time they have made cheap satinets. He was married in 1862 to Sarah F., daughter of Thomas AVorden and granddaughter of Samuel Worden. Her mother, Elsie, is a daughter of John Kenyon. They have two children, Charles L. and Estelle F., now Airs. John C. Sheldon. Air. Kenyon has been a member of the town council, assessor, moderator and constable. He is a republican. He is a member of Alechanics' Lodge, No. 14, I. O. of O. F., and of Franklin Alasonic Lodge. He organized the Eighth Regiment State Alilitia. He served in the war of the rebellion in Company A, Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers; was first lieutenant until he was wounded at Fredericksburgh. He was then transferred to Company I of same regiment, and promoted captain. John H. Kenyon, born in 1828 in Richmond, is a brother of David R. Kenj'on, mentioned above. Air. Kenyon has paid con- siderable attention to cotton and woolen manufacturing all his HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1271 life. The old mill at Hillsdale was built by AVanton Lillibridge and Whitman Kenyon about 1832. About 1856 John H. and his brother, A. W. Kenyon, bought it, and about 1858 they built the new stone mill. They operated the mills until about 1870, when they sold to H. N. Kenyon, who continued until they both burned. The new one burned about 1879, and the old one burned two years later. Mr. Kenyon was married in 1861 to Esther, daughter of John Hoxsie, he a son of Thomas, and he a son of Samuel Hoxsie. They have two daughters : Anna F., now Mrs. J. S. La Mond, and Nellie H. Mr. Kenyon built the house where he lives (at Hillsdale) in 1872. Edward B. Kenyon was born in 1825 in Hopkinton. He is a son of Whitman R., son of Corey, son of Benedict, son of John Kenyon. His mother was Mary H., daughter of Edward Barber. Mr. Kenyon is a farmer, and has lived on the homestead of his father and grandfather about fifty years. His father was in the general assembly two years. He has been a member of Wood River church about forty -five years, and deacon about five years. His father and mother were both members of the same church. He was married in 1852 to Lydia L., daughter of John Greene, of the East Greenwich family of Greenes. They had one son Whitman G., who died aged ten years. Mr. Kenyon is a mem- ber of Hope Valley Grange, No. 7, P. of H. Hannah G. Kenyon, born in Richmond, is a daughter of Lewis, and he a son of Elijah Kenyon, who was a farmer. Lewis Ken- yon was a clothier by trade, and was the first of the family to live at what has always since that time been called Kenyon's Mills. He died in 1839, aged fifty-five years. He was captain of a company in the war of 1812. He was at one time judge of the court of common pleas. He was married in 1812 to Ann, daughter of Thomas and Ann Sherman. The place was deeded in 1820, by Thomas Holburton and wife, to Lewis Kenyon. The house where Hannah G. and Susan E. Kenyon now live was built by Thomas Holburton 45rior to 1820. Hoxsie Kenyon, born in 1825 in Richmond, is a son of John T. Kenyon. His mother, Ruth, was a daughter of John Hoxsie*, (Stephen', John', Lodowick Hoxsie', who came from Scotland to Plymouth in 1658). The name was originally spelled Hawksey. Lodowick 's son John was the first of the family to settle in Rhode Island. Mr. Kenyon is a farmer, and has lived at his present home about thirty years. He has been in the town 1272 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. council two years. He was married in 1858 to Mary, daughter of Eber James, he a son of Ezekiel James. They have four children: M. Lizzie, Byron H. (deceased), Walter and Sarah J. J\Ir. Kenyon is a member of Richmond Grange, P. of H. Susan E. Kenyon, born in Richmond, is a daughter of Lewis and granddaughter of Elijah Kenyon. Miss Kenyon is one of eleven children, five of whom are now living. One brother, Isaac D., died in 1864 in Virginia. He was first lieutenant of Company G, Twenty-first Connecticut Volunteers. In June. 1863, he was promoted to captain of Company B. He was in command at Fredericksburgh, Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor, and at Petersburgh, where he was mortally wounded. Joseph E. Lanphear, born in 1865 in Richmond, is a son of William C, grandson of Hezekiah and great-grandson of Nathan Lanphear. His mother is Caroline P., daughter of Henry Greene. Mr. Lanphear has taken a business course in Bryant & Stratton's Business College of Providence. He has been in the store of E. Kenyon & Son about six years ; was bookkeeper about five years, and now has general charge of the store. He has been assessor of taxes two years and notary public since April, 1887. He is a member of Charity Lodge, No. 23, A. F. and A. M. Thomas M. Lewis, born in 1813 in Exeter, is a son of Simeon and grandson of Daniel Lewis. His mother was Rhoda, daugh- ter of Joseph AVood. Mr. Lewis is a very thrifty farmer, and has lived near Glen Rock since 1839. He has been in the town council several years, and has also been assessor of taxes. He was married in 1835 to Sallie B. They have had eight children : John H. (deceased), Clark, S. Maria, Gideon H., Hannah D., James L., Rhoda J. (deceased), and Thomas W. (deceased). Wanton Lillibridge was born in 1806 in Richmond. He is a son of Amos, son of Edward, son of Thomas, son of Thomas Lil- libridge, who settled in Newport in the latter part of the seven- teenth century. He came to Richmond about 1718 and settled on the farm where Wanton now lives. It has been in the family ever since that time. Mr. Lillibridge has been a farmer. He was in the general assembly three terms, member of the town council several years, town treasurer two years, and assessor of taxes. He is a republican. He was married in 1841 to Sarah A., daughter of John A. Champlin. They have nine children : Sarah, now Islrs. Robert I. ISIoore ; Amos A., who was killed in HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1273 the battle of the Wilderness (he was in Company A, Seventh Rhode Island volunteers; Charles W.; Edward H.; Jeanette, now Mrs. F. R. Brown; John H.; William W.; Jennie, now Mrs. Charles A. Stephens, and Hattie. Mr. Lillibridge has been a member of the Wood River Baptist church about thirty-four years. Edward Lillibridge, born in 1815 in Richmond, is a brother of Wanton Lillibridge, mentioned above. Mr. Lillibridge lives a little west of the town house of Richmond, in a house which he built in 1878, on a part of the homestead where his ancestor settled about 1718. He was married in 1840 to Mary A., daugh- ter of Peter Clark. She died in 1883. He married again in 1884 Abby B., daughter of John Almy. Mr. Lillibridge was in the general assembly five years, in the town council several years, sheriff of Washington county one year, and deputy sheriff three years, and held other offices. He is a democrat. Clark B. Lillibridge was born in 1841 in Richmond. He is a son of Reynolds, son of Clark, son of Benjamin, son of Thomas, son of Thomas Lillibridge. His mother was Julia A. Hall. Mr. Lillibridge is a carpenter, having worked at that trade about five years. He bought his farm here about 1871. He built a driving park with a half-mile course in 1881, called the " Wyoming Park." He was married in 1868 to Deborah, daughter of Daniel L. Money, of Exeter. He was married in 1874 to Anna C, daughter of Albert Sweet. They have one daughter, Mary A. He has been member of the town council, assessor of taxes, and member of the general assembl)^ one year. William W. Maxon, born in 1826 in Richmond, is a son of Sheffield, and grandson of Jonathan Maxson. Mr. Maxon is a machinist, and has worked for the Nichols & Langworthy Com- pany about nineteen years. He built the house where he now lives in 1884. He was in the war of the rebellion about four months, in Company K, Ninth Rhode Island volunteers. He was married in 1861 to Sarah A. J., daughter of John Hoxsie, and granddaughter of Henry Hoxsie. They have three chil- dren : Walter S., Ida E., and Henry N. George G. Palmer, born in 1841 in Richmond, is a son of Amos, and grandson of Phineas, a descendant of Walter Palmer, who came from England to Charlestown in 1653. He (Walter) once owned nearly all the land where now stands the city of Boston. Mr. Palmer is a very thrifty farmer, and has lived at his present 1274 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. home since 1868. It is the place where Reynolds Hoxsie lived, and where he kept the town clerk's office for forty years in suc- cession. ]Mr. Palmer built the house in which he now lives in 1875. His father, Amos, was in the war of the rebellion nine months, in the Twelfth Regiment, Rhode Island volunteers. He was married in 1864 to Nellie, daughter of William Briggs, and granddaughter of AVilliam Briggs. Their children are : Emma H., Rowland B., and Edwin I. He is a member of the First Baptist church of Exeter. Samuel M. Palmer was born in 1835 in Exeter. He is a brother of George G. Palmer, mentioned above. He was a mill operative about twenty-eight years, and for the last ten years has been a farmer. He owns about one hundred acres, raises cranberries and small fruits. He has lived at Usquepaugh about thirty- seven years. He was married in 1859 to Abbie F., daughter of John C. Whitehorn. They have one daughter, A. Jennie, and one that died in infancy. Mr. Palmer has been a member of Exeter Baptist church about forty years. His wife and daughter are members of Queen's River Baptist church. William Peckham, born in 1814 in South Kingstown, is a son of Reuben S. Peckham, and grandson of Stephen Peckham. His mother was Hannah Whitehorn. iNIr. Peckham has lived at Usquepaugh since 1840. He built the house where he now lives in 1845. He Avas a mill operative until about eighteen years ago, and has since been a farmer. He was married in 1839 to Anstress, daughter of Rowse Hoxsie. They have two children — Caroline, now ^Irs. William H. Palmer; and ^laryAV , now I\lrs. Robert L. Knight. George A. Perkins was born in 1860 in Charlestown. His father, Austin A. Perkins, who was killed at the battle of An- tietam, was in Company B, Fourth Rhode Island volunteers. He was a son of Robert Perkins. His wife, Sarah 2\I., is a daughter of George B., son of Nathan Newton. George A. attended Green- wich Academy four terms, and is a commercial graduate. He came to Hope Valley in 1881 and opened a store in company with John W. Phillips, firm of Phillips & Perkins. They contin- ued about three years and six months, then sold to the present owner, W. E. Browning. Shortly before selling out Mr. Perkins became book-keeper for D. L. Aldrich, which position he now holds. He has been a member of the school committee four years, and chairman two years. He is the noble grand of Me- chanics' Lodge, No. 14, I. O. of O. F. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 127& Oliver G. Perry, born in 1847 in Charlestown, is a son of Sam- uel, grandson of Simeon, and great-grandson of Samuel Perry. His mother was Maria Greene. Mr. Perry is a barber by trade and has kept a shop at Wyoming about fourteen years. He also deals in tobacco and segars and keeps horses to let. Prior to 1871 he kept a general grocery store (about four years) at Cross' Mills in Charlestown. He was postmaster there for several years. He was married in 1874 to Emma G., daughter of David R. Larkin. Reynolds C. Phillips, born in 1832 in Richmond, is a son of Benjamin P. and grandson of Joseph Phillips. His mother was Elizabeth Woodmansee. Mr. Phillips is a farmer, occupying the homestead of his father, where he has lived since 1875. The farm was settled by the Webbs. He has been a member of the town council several years, in the general assembly one year, town sergeant, constable and town police. He is a republican.. He was married in 1855 to Desire, daughter of Preston Letson. She died in 1885, leaving two sons, David F. and John W. He was married again in 1885 to Sarah Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas L. Palmer. They have had one daughter, Susan D.,whtf died in infancy. Mr. Phillips served in Company A, Seventh Rhode Island Volunteers (in the rebellion) three years. John W. Saunders, born in 1863 in Hopkinton, is a son of Mil- ton P.' (William B.^ Tobey=, John', Tobey Saunders"). His mother is Abbie A., daughter of Welcome Prosser, son of Isaac, son of John Prosser. Mr. Saunders has taught several terms of school. He was principal of Wakefield public school two years, and is now teaching his second year at Carolina. He attended Greenwich Academy one year. His father died in 1888. Edward W. Shedd, civil engineer and farmer, was born in 1860 in Massachusetts. He is a son of J. Herbert Shedd, who has been a civil engineer since he was seventeen years of age. Mr. Shedd was educated at Brown University, of Providence, graduating in 1884. He came to Richmond in 1881 with his father, who bought a farm of 300 acres in the southeastern cor- ner of the town, where they both live. He was elected in 1888 to the office of town council, town sergeant and school commit- tee. He was married in 1886 to Jessie, daughter of Christopher Dexter, of Providence. He is a republican. He is a member of the Queen's River Baptist church of Usquepaugh. 1276 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. John S. Sisson, born in 1823 in Richmond, is a son of Barney, and grandson of Rodman Sisson. His mother was Mary Ann, daughter of John Wilcox. Mr. Sisson is a farmer, owning the old Sisson homestead, which has been in the family for five gen- erations. He is a man of strict integrity, and has won the re- spect of his fellow men. He was married in 1844 to Roxey, a daughter of William Dawley, he a son of Nathan, and he a son of Nathan Dawley. Their children are : Mary (Mrs. B. F. Moore), George, Roxey M. (Mrs. C. T. Cottrell), Clark and Josephine (Mrs. J. H. Gardner). Peleg D. Tucker, born in 1835 in Charlestown, is a son of Peleg, grandson of Simeon, and great-grandson of Simeon Tucker, who was killed in the war of 1812. His mother was Mary, daughter of Dennis Ennis. Mr. Tucker was in the war of the rebellion about three years in Company G, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He was discharged in June, 1865. He has lived at Wood River Junction since 1865, engaged in wagon making. Prior to that time he was a house carpenter. He was married in 1867 to Alzada W., daughter of William B. Tucker, and granddaughter of John Tucker. They have three children. He is a member of Burnside Post, No. 2, G. A. R. Welcome C. Tucker, born in 1837 in Charlestown, is a son of William B. and grandson of John Tucker. His mother was Ann, daughter of Joshua Card. Mr. Tucker went to California in 1852, and remained there until 1859. He enlisted in August, 1861, in Battery B, First Rhode Island Light Artillery, was dis- charged in March, 1862, in August of the same j-ear re-enlisted in Battery G of the same regiment, and served until the war closed. He worked at his trade at Wood River Junction about three years, and in 1869 came to Carolina and hired the shop and tools of the Carolina Mill Company, where he has been since that time. In 1867 he obtained a patent on an iron wagon axle and hub, which are known as W. C. Tucker's patent hub and axle. He is a democrat and has been a member of the town council six years. He is a member of Burnside Post, No. 2, G. A. R. Nathaniel A. Westcott, born in 1837 in Smithfield, is a son of John C. and grandson of Dexter Westcott. His mother is Phebe A., daughter of Reuben Arnold. Her grandfather, Nathaniel A. Arnold, was in the revolution and one of the men that helped to take General Prescott prisoner of war near Newport. Mr. Westcott has been boss finisher of woolen goods about HISTORY OF A¥ASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1277 twenty-five years. He has lived at Plain ville since 1868 with the exception of about two years. He was married in 1863 to Melora Hatiltonstall. She died in 1878, leaving two children, Myra B. and John C. He was married again in 1884 to Alice, daughter of John Hacking. He is a prohibitionist. He is the treasurer of the vSunday school. John B. F. Wilbur was born in 1834 in Richmond. He is a son of Nathaniel S. and a grandson of Jesse Wilbur, who once owned all the land where the Wood RiverMills now are located. It was sold by Nathaniel S. to David L. Aldrich, who built the mills. Mr. Wilbur was in the war of the rebellion from March, 1862, to June 1865, in Company F, First Rhode Island Light Ar- tillery, as a volunteer under General Burnside. Since 1866 he has worked at Wood River Mills the most of the time as carpen- ter. He is a member of Hancock Post, of Westerly. He was married in 1866 to Sarah P., daughter of John T. Dixon, who was a son of James Dixon, whose wife was Sally Peckham. Her mother was Sarah A., daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Rodman) Curtis. They have four children : Sheffield D., Catharine L. (Mrs. Charles H. Robinson), Anna Laura and Mary C. He is a democrat. WARWICK. Reuben H. Alexander was born in 1821. His father, Reuben, was a son of Roger Alexander. Mr. Alexander kept a store at Potowomut some fourteen years, after having run the mill there two years. In 1862 he bought a farm and lived at Davisville for a time and then kept a store at East Greenwich seventeen years. He was in the East Greenwich town council and representative from that town to the general assembly. His first wife was Mary Lewis. His only child is Mrs. Joseph H. Potter. John B. Allen was born in 1845 in Warwick, and resides in that town. He is a son of John Allen. Mr. Allen kept a variety store at River Point twenty years under the firm name of Nichols & Allen. He has run a general variety store at Anthony about one year in the new building owned by the Coventry Company, built on the site where the Mattesons were burned out one and a half years ago. He was married in 1876 to Martha L. Bowen. They have three children : Mary B., Bessie W. and John B., Jr. 1278 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Charles A. Angell is a son of Abraham S.Angell of Coventry, and grandson of Abraham S. Angell of North vScituate, who was probably a son of Joshua Angell. Charles A. Angell was born in Scituate in 1837. As a boy and a young man he worked sev- eral years in the woolen mills at Coventry Centre and at Spring Lake. He kept a livery stable at Hope and one at Lippitt, and in 1877 he began a meat business at Lippitt, which he still carries on. In 1884 he bought a farm at Old Warwick, where he now resides. His business at Lippitt is managed by his only son, Charles H. Angell. Mrs. Angell is Paulina Potter of Scituate. Their only daughter, Annie A., is Mrs. Leonard Myrick. Ann E. Arnold is the only child of Colonel John Waterman Arnold, who died at his farm near Pawtuxet in 1872. His father Israel was a son of Simon and grandson of Israel Arnold (1649- 1717). This Israel was the son of Stephen Arnold who died in 1699, and grandson of William Arnold who was born in England in 1589 and settled near Pawtuxet in 1636. Mi.ss Arnold's home was the original home of Stephen Arnold, whose dwelling was on the site of her present house. Miss Arnold's mother was Eliza, daughter of John Harris of Cranston. Colonel Arnold was one of seven children, there having been two brothers younger and one brother and three sisters older than he. The older brother, Israel, and the youngest of the family, George G., set- tled near Penn Yan, New York. The other brother married and always lived in the house built by his father. The family is de- scended from Roger Williams. John Q. Arnold was born in 1826 and has lived since his earli- est recollections in the house he now owns, which was the home of his father John B., son of William Arnold. John B. Arnold was a tailor in the early days of Centreville, acquired a fair property and was for several years a director of the bank. John Q. is a director in the Centreville National Bank. His wife is Anna B. Holden of Providence. They have one daughter, Har- riot Hazard Arnold, and one son, William B. Arnold, M.D., who graduated in a class of 144 members from Bellevue Hospital Medical College in March, 1888, taking fifth place in the compet- itive examination for appointment to hospital practice . in the city, where he is now practicing under that appointment. Malfred A. Arnold was born in 1838. His father, Sion Arnold, was a son of Sion Arnold of Old Warwick. Mr. Arnold began iusmess as a boot and .shoe dealer in Arctic in 1870. In 1877 he HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1279 extended his business by buying out a boot and shoe store in Phenix, the store which Brigham Deane had carried on for two years. Here Mr. Arnold does some manufacturing (1,000 or 1,200 pairs per year) and carries a stock of shoe findings for the local shops in this vicinity. He served four years in the late war with the Ninth New York Cavalry as a non-commissioned officer. He is now a member of McGregor Post, No. 14, G. A. R. William H. Arnold was born in 1836 at Crompton, where he lived thirty-eight years. There he kept a hotel and livery six years prior to 1873, when he removed to Arctic Centre. Twelve years prior to 1867 he worked at the River Point foundry. He was deputy sheriff three years under Governor William Sprague, and has been high sheriff of Kent county since May, 1887. His father, Oliver Arnold, was a son of Peleg Arnold of Coventry. His wife is Dorantha M. Love of Coventry. They have one son, William L. Arnold, and one daughter, Dora. , William Rhodes Arnold was born in Providence in 1839. His father, George C, was born 1803, died 1885. His grandfather, James Utter Arnold, was a son of George, who was of the sixth generation of Arnolds in America. This George Arnold in 1771 resided at Posnegansett, in Warwick, where W. R. Arnold now has a farm and a summer home. Near his house, built in 1771, is the site of the first Arnold homestead in Rhode Island. Mrs. W. R. Arnold is a daughter of James Carpenter (deceased), a founder and former president of the Valley worsted mills, at Providence. Since 1885 Mr. Arnold has been treasurer and gen- eral manager of these mills. George C. Arnold's wife was a daughter of William Rhodes, of Pawtuxet, a descendant of Zachariah Rhodes. Nathan Atwood died in 1886. In the early history of this part of the town of Warwick the name of Atwood was promi- nent among the large land owners. As early as 1747 Charles Atwood bought a tract including the present site of the Lippitt and the Phenix mills. In 1783 the present site of the Lippitt mill passed by deed to Nehemiah Atwood, who used the water- power for a grist mill. His old ledgers, now kept by Joseph At- wood, the only child of his son Nathan, show him to have been a merchant in a day when general merchandise meant nails, shoes, candles, cloth and rum. This grandson, Joseph, born in 1868, succeeds to the homestead where his father, Nathan, died in 1886. Nathan was a sergeant in Company C, with the First 1280 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Rhode Island cavalry three years and seven months. He was a carpenter by trade, and worked at Providence for the Corliss Engine Company. His widow, Mary A. Atwood, survives. John H. Aylesworth is a brother of Judge Eli Aylesworth, of Providence, and a son of Arthur Aylesworth. He has been a traveling photographic artist for the last fifteen years. His wife, Lucina, is a daughter of Thomas Reynolds, of Greenwich, R. I. Their children are : John H., Jr., Minnie and Winona. Politi- cally he is a republican. He has served as assessor three years. Starting without capital, Mr. Aylesworth has now a nice land property in addition to his business as photographer. Ebenezer Bigelow was born in New Brunswick. In 1872 he removed to Newport, and five years later to Warwick, where he was engaged one season with William R. Arnold at farming. The next year they began the Posnegansett ice business in the northeast part of the town of Warwick. This partnership is to continue through the season of 1889. In the mean time Mr. Bigelow, in 1885, purchased Norwood lake (Sand pond) and the land adjacent, and is erecting there a plant for a large business. His family consists of his wife and two children, Eddy D. and Mira E. The first year of the ice business three thousand tons of ice were cut. In the season of 1888 they used eighteen thousand tons. Mr. Bigelow has operated since 1884 the Arnold farm as tenant. Allan A. Black was born in Scotland in 1844. His father was a cousin of Neil Campbell. When Allan A. was a small child he came to East Greenwich, R. I., and to River Point in 1850. He learned his trade in Providence, worked three years in Apponaug, and afterward at Anthony and Lippitt. In 1870 he came to River Point to work in the blacksmith shop of the Greene Manufacturing Company. In 1879 he bought the business, and has carried on this shop since. His wife (deceased) was a Maine lady. Mr. Black has three children. Bowen Briggs was born in 1823. His father. Palmer, was one of the ten children of Sweet Briggs. His early days were passed as operative in a cotton factory, after which he was a grocer at Newport. Since 1862 he has resided at Apponaug, en- gaged in market gardening, occupying about thirty acres of land in the business. His residence is a house built by one Standish about sixty years ago. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1281 Pierre Brouillard was born in Lower Canada in 1836, and came to Rhode Island in 1853. In 1856 lie went to California, where he resided ten years. Returning to Connectictit, he was en- gaged in the grocery business there three years. He was in business at Woonsocket from 1870 to 1876, and in 1877 he re- moved to Arctic Centre, where he has since carried on a bakery. Since February, 1880, he has also engaged in a meat business. Mr. Brouillard was two years vice-president of the Socictc St. Jean Baptiste de Centreville. ]\Ir. Brouillard is one of a large number of French people who have become citizens and suc- cessful business men near here. Henry Bryant was born of French parentage at St. Albans in 1832, and came to River Point in 1848. He worked in cotton mills until the breaking out of the civil war. He was exempt from service, having lost an eye July 4th, 1855, but he enlisted in 1862 in the Seventh Rhode Island Regiment, and served three years. During this time he was wounded, and is now a pen- sioner. Since the war he has been in the restaurant business here. His first wife died, leaving three sons and three daugh- ters. The sons are : Joseph, a barber at River Point ; Henry J., a barber in Boston ; and John F. One of the daughters is Mrs. Peter J. Gough, here. His present wife is Susan, daughter of Michael Carroll. Henry W. Budlong, son of Benjamin Budlong (1790-1865), was born in 1849. His mother, Roby K., is a sister of Henry W. Greene. Henry W. Budlong's paternal grandfather was Ben- jamin Budlong, a son of John and a grandson of John or Pearce Budlong, whose home was the old house, still standing, on the Budlong farm at The Buttonwoods, where Henry W. now resides. Hattie W. Budlong, of Providence, is a sister of Henry W., of The Buttonwoods. Their father, Benjamin, was one of the eighteen children of Benjamin and Almy Budlong. George W. Budlong, who was born in 1830, was the fourth of the nine children of George W. Budlong, who died in 1879. His farm is the Budlong homestead near Norwood, where his grand- father. Reverend John Budlong, a Baptist preacher, was well known. Reverend John's father was John Budlong. The pres- ent George W. married Emily Hopkins, of Providence. They have one daughter living— Helena E. Budlong. Henry C. Budlong, born 1836, is also a son of George W. (de- ceased). He has a farm near Norwood. He is a member of the 81 1282 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN']' COUNTIES. state police and has been complaining officer under the liquor law for Warwick five years. As auctioneer, justice of the peace and in other minor positions, he has been an officer in the town during the past eighteen years. His wife is Mary E. Fisk, of Providence. They have five children. Byron L. Burlingame is a son of Gorton Burlingame, who died at the age of 74 years, and was a son of George AV., who lived to his 95th year. Byron L's wife was Lucy E., a daughter of George W. Williams, a descendant of Roger Williams. Their children are Mabel A. and Lucy E. Benjamin W. Burlingame was born at Natick Hill in 1837. j\lr. Burlingame learned the carpenter's trade with his father and has worked at this business thirty years, twenty years of this time as a contractor. He served as a soldier in the civil war. His wife was a daughter of Daniel Bowen, of Coventry. They have eight children. Ezra J. Cady was born here in 1813 and died in 1885. He was quite largely engaged in the manufacture of chemicals used in calico printing, a business in which his scientific knowledge yielded handsome financial results. He served three years in the town council and was three times member of the general assembly. He was president of the savings bank from 1870 and of the national bank from 1879 until his death. He left seven children, of whom four daughters and two sons survive. His son, who bears his name, was born in 1850 and continues at the homestead the mixed farming which was a part of his father's business, and is also manufacturing pyroligneous acid, a product from distilled birch wood used in calico printing. Shubael Cady is a son of David and Catherine Lippitt Cady. He was born in 1821. His father was a son of Jonathan Cady. His mother was a daughter of Moses Lippitt "of the mill," who formerly owned the Cady place and had a tide mill at Mill Cove. Mr. Cady is now proprietor of Cady's Hotel at River View for summer boarders, a popular summer resort, accommo- dating sixty guests. He is also station agent at River View for the Warwick and Oakland Beach railroad. His wife was Abbie Ann Hanes. Their children are : Christopher A., Catherine L. (Mrs. Joseph C. Whitney) and Ellen L., now Mrs. Isaac N. Arnold. Henry Capron was born in East Greenwich in 1822. His father, William, was a son of Edward Capron, who was the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1283 grandfather of James A. Capron, of East Greenwich. He began life as a mill operative. From 1865 to 1880 he was in business at Apponaug, first as a grocer, then in a lumber, fuel and feed business. Since 1883 he has lived retired at Centreville. His wife, lately deceased, was a daughter of Asa Matteson, of West Greenwich. Stephen E. Card is a native of Exeter, from which town his father, Robert, a son of Bowen Card, removed to North Kings- town, where Stephen E. lived until 1849, when he came to Phe- nix and began a business as dealer in coal and wood, doing team- ing and livery business as now. His wife is a sister of Thomas R. Parker. They have one daughter, Mrs. Raymond R. Whipple. Clarence O. Carpenter, son of George B., and grandson of Joshua Carpenter, was born in Pontiac in 1856. His mother was a daughter of Joshua Noyes, of North Kingstown, where Joshua Carpenter resided. Mr. Carpenter was elected a member of the school committee six years ago, and is still a member. He was also elected tax assessor in 1887 and 1888. His wife, Harriet A., is a daughter of Lafayette Nicholas. She is well known as a suc- cessful teacher. The Carpenter farm is on the plains east of Apponaug. The business is carried on as Carpenter Brothers. John Carpenter is a son of Curnel Carpenter, whose father, Curnel, was a son of John Carpenter, of. East Greenwich. He was a lumber dealer at Mystic, Conn., after 1850. Since 1869 he has carried on a sash and blind manufactor}- at Providence. Mr. Carpenter at one time built a planing mill in Georgia, which he afterward sold. He built the Carpenter Dock, south of Appo- naug, in 1887-88. His wife was Huldah Blanchard.of Coventry. Their children are : Mindia (Mrs. Charles H. Johnson), John H., of Providence ; Ella M. (Mrs. Nelson E. Harris), Mary E., and Jesse. Michael Carroll was born in the north of Ireland in 1806. He came to River Point in 1834, when this part of Warwick was un- improved, and there were but two mills north of Centreville. He worked for Greene & Pike in the bleachery for twenty years. Since then he has lived at his place at River Point, which was the second house built at Birch Hill. He was married in Ire- land. He raised nine children, six of whom are living, five of them near here. In 1838 Mr. Carroll brought to M^arwick the first Catholic priest who was ever in the town. Mass was said 1284 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. in his house at Clyde before any Catholic church was erected in Warwick. Isaac F. Chase was born in Harwick, Cape Cod, in 1832. He is a descendant of William Chase, who settled at Cape Cod in 1630. When he was but twelve years of age he went to sea, and followed the sea until he was twenty-three years old. In 1856 he went to Natick, where he worked in a mill as boss weaver. From 1861 to 1876 he was overseer in the Arctic Mill. In 1883 he began his present business at Arctic, where he carries on a book and job printing office and stationery store. His wife was Fannie N. Thornton, a great-granddaughter of John Thornton, who lived in Johnston, R. I. Their family consisted of three children, two of whom are living, Eugene F. and Isaac F. Chase, Jr. The other son, Henry H., died when he was twenty-three years old. William Clapp was born in Warwick in 1786 and died in 1873. He was a son of Silas, son of John, son of John, son of John, son of Doctor George Gilson Clapp, who came to New York from England. Mr. Clapp was clerk in different stores in Rhode Is- land for about thirty years. He built the house where Mrs. Clapp now lives in 1852. Mr. Clapp and Mary Reynolds were married in 1820. She was born in 1797 in Warwick. They had one son who died in infancy. Waterman Clapp was a son of John and grandson of Silas, who came from New York to Block Island and then to Warwick. He was a son of John, he a son of John, he a son of John, and he a son of Doctor George Gilson Clapp, who came to New York from England. Silas Clapp married Mary Greene, who inherited the homestead of her father, which has been in the Clapp family ever since. Mary and Marcy Clapp, daughters of Waterman, have much furniture and many dishes which belonged to Mary (Greene) Clapp. The house in which they now live was built by John Greene, father of Mrs. Silas Clapp. George W. Cole was born in 1834. His father was William H., son of William Cole. His wife is Mercy, a daughter of Thomas S. and granddaughter of Ephraim Smith Northup, of South Kingstown, who was a soldier in the war of 1812. Their children are : Almy F. (a dressmaker), Mary Elta (a teacher), Minnie Ola (telegraph operator), and Florence N. John H. CoUingwood was born in England in 1889. At ten years of age he came with his parents to Providence. He learn- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1285 ed enameling and began a business for himself in 1858. In 1871 lie bought a valuable farm at Hillsgrove, where he has since car- ried on stock raising quite extensively, while continuing his busi- ness in Providence. In 1875 he was elected to the state legisla- ture from Warwick, and in 1880 he was elected high sheriff of Kent county, which office he held six years. He was one of the charter members of Perseverance Lodge, I. O. of O. F., at Appo- naug, and has been seven years district deputy. His wife was a Miss Perry. They have one daughter. A. W. Colvin was born in Phenix September 17th, 1831. His father, Benjamin Colvin, a farmer, was a son of Nathan Colvin. Mr. Colvin studied dentistry with Doctor Ira Ingraham of Provi- dence, prior to 1857. He located at Phenix in 1858, where he is still practicing. He has filled the offices of constable, deputy sheriff and notary public. He has done and is still doing a con- siderable business in collecting for private individuals and firms in this community. His first wife, Hannah, was a daughter of Hiram Burlingame of Coventry. The present Mrs. Colvin is Harriet C, sister of Benjamin W. Burlingame. William Colvin, a farmer on Warwick Plains, was born in 1821 in Cranston, where his father, George Colvin, was a farmer. Un- til thirty-seven years of age William Colvin worked as a farm hand, when he bought the farm where he now resides. His first wife, Nancy Tillinghast, died, leaving two sons, Thomas AV. and Loren D. Colvin. His present wife was Margaret S. Hughes. They have one daughter, Betsey S., now Mrs. Thomas Leonard, who has one son, Irving Leonard. John C. Conley was born in Ireland in 1839. He has resided in Phenix since 1852. When a boy his home was in Providence. He began work in a bleachery there at $1.25 per week. He worked at the Clyde Print Works five or six years, learned weav- ing and run looms for a few years. He also learned the shoe- maker's trade, at which he worked here and in Massachusetts some ten years. The bulk of his property has been acquired in a wholesale liquor business. Thomas and Benjamin F. Dawley are sons of Jesse, and he a son of Shebna Dawley, and he a son of Nathan Dawley. Benja- min F. Dawley has been one of the board of assessors six years and chairman of the board two years. He is one of the school committee. Thomas W. Dawley was married in 1874 to Eliza Shippee. Their only child is a son, Jesse. 12SG HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. William B. Eveleth is a son of Benbridge Eveleth, who was born in New Hampshire in 1824, and died in Warwick in 1886. Benbridge Eveleth was, during the last sixteen years of his life, a resident of Warwick, where he successfully carried on dairy farming and market gardening. He had been in business in Providence prior to November, 1870, when he purchased the farm where his only son, William B. Eveleth, now lives. Mrs. Benbridge Eveleth was a ]\Iiss Boss, of one of the old families of Scituate, R.I. Their three daughters are: Georgiana (Airs. Tracy), i\Iartha E. (i\Irs. Benjamin Allen) and Francenor (Mrs. J. N. O. Hoxsie). James L. Fish was born in Connecticut in 1836. He served in the army three years, and in 1865 settled in Exeter. Then he worked in a factory at Fisherville. In 1869 he removed to East Greenwich, where he kept a boarding house until 1873, when he removed to Pontiac, where since 1878 he has been in the mercantile business. He also owns a farm of fifty acres, pleasantly located and well improved. His wife, Roxellana, is a daughter of Jacob Smith, of Exeter. They have three chil- dren : Walter L., Albert L. and Addie B. Fish. Alfred Fisher was born in Warwick in 1823. His father. James Fisher, son of Lewis Fisher, was for many years surveyor of the port of Pawtuxet. He was also a member of the Warwick council a number of years prior to his death in 1882. Alfred Fisher has been chairman of the board of assessors eight years. He was a merchant in Pawtuxet for about thirty years, and was postmaster here twenty years. j\Ir. Fisher's grandmother, Mrs. Lewis Fisher, was Rebecca, daughter of Reverend AVilliam Williams, the first preacher in Wrentham, Mass. Airs. Alfred Fisher (deceased) was Lucy A. Alorse, a cousin of Professor S. F. B. Alorse. Her son, now living here, is George A. Fisher. Mr. Fisher's farm is part of the old Arnold place. His home, built about 1785, was the birthplace of Marcy Arnold. His present wife is Lucy A., daughter of Isaac Stowe, of Binghamton, N. Y. Alpheus Fisher was born in North Providence in 1824. His father was Freeman Fisher and his mother was Catherine, daughter of Elisha Brown, who did service as a courier in the revolution. Mr. Fisher has been twice married. His deceased wife Hannah W. Jones, of Falmouth, jNIass., left five children: Catherine B., Sarah H., Abbie, Elihu and Alpheus B. His pres- ent wife j\Iarguerite Kelley, came from a good family of county HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1287 Galway, Ireland. They have six children : Harriet W., Byron S., Freeman J. (who enlisted in the Seventh United States Regular Cavalry in July, 1887), Mary A., Elisha B. and Arthur M. K. In 1865 ]\Ir. Fisher removed from North Providence, where he had been a farmer, and went to Warwick to manage a farm for By- ron Sprague. One year later he purchased his present farm of eighty acres near Buttonwoods, where he has resided since 1867. Amos O. Foster is one of the four surviving children of Jere- miah Foster. George J., Mary J. and John are the others of this generation. Jeremiah Foster was born in South Kingstown. His father Othniel was born in Stonington, Conn. His father John was a son of Carl, and grandson of John Foster, who came from Salem, Mass., to southern Rhode Island or eastern Connec- ticut at an early day. The family have been Friends for as many as five generations, and this branch at Warwick have been among the successful families of the town. Horace B. Foster was born in 1850. His father, John, was a son of Ethan Foster, who was a brother of the Othniel Foster noticed above. John H. Foster, Elizabeth F. (Mrs. Leigh), and Edward H. Foster are of the same generation with Horace B. Mrs. Horace B. Foster is Mary J., daughter of Caleb B. Cope, a substantial Friend, of Chester county, Pa. Their only surviving child is Charles K. Foster, who is of the seventh generation of the family from John Foster, of Salem, Mass. INIr. Foster's home is a part of the old William Almy property. The Spring Green farm, on Spring Green Cove, was the resi- dence of the late Governor John Brown Francis. This prop- erty was the home of Doctor John Greene, whose deed was dated June 5th, 163.5. This property was bought by John Brown, whose daughter, Abbie, became the wife of John Francis and the mother of Governor Francis, whose two daughters now own and occupy this old homestead. The governor also left a son, who died in Rome in 1870, and another daughter, Mrs. Alarshall Woods. On this farm is the grave of Deputy Governor John Greene (1708). Governor Francis was twice married ; first in 1822, to a daugh- ter of Hon. Nicholas Brown. Their daughter, whose children are the only grandchildren of the governor, was married in 1848 to Marshall Woods, Esq. His father was the Reverend Alvah Woods, D. D., who in 1853 was the first of that increasing colony of new-comers to make a summer place on Warwick Neck. The two children of Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Woods are Mrs. S. A. B. 1288 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Abbott, of Boston, and J. C. B.' Woods, an attorney at Provi- dence. Thomas AV. Gorton, of Providence and Bay Side, was born in 1831. His father, Thomas W. Gorton (1803-1871), was one of the seventeen children of Benjamin Gorton, son of Doctor Samuel Gorton. The doctor was the son of Samuel, who was a descendant of the original Samuel Gorton of 1636. j\Ir. Gorton's birth-place was the old Deacon Gorton place on the Coweset road in Warwick, where he lived when the civil war broke out. He went out with the Eleventh Rhode Island as captain of Company B. After the war he began his present business in Providence, and in 1887 bought the Bay Side Hotel property in Warwick, which he makes his summer home. His deceased wife was a daughter of Burton B. Baker, of Apponaug. His present wife, Eva, is a daughter of William Kent. They have one daughter, Maude Gorton. Albert A. Hall, born in 1817, is a son of Anthony H. Hall, whose father, Thomas, was a son of Abial Hall, who was of Welsh extraction. Mr. Hall learned shoemaking, and worked at that trade in East Greenwich from 1840 to 1860. From 1860 to 1880 he was engaged in the manufacture of wines from native grapes. The business of wine and champagne making was made illegal about 1880, and this business closed. William H. Harrison is the son of William Harrison and grandson of George Harrison, who came from England. AVil- liam was town clerk of this town and justice of the peace many years. He was among the ardent supporters of the Baptist church, to the maintenance of which his son lends substantial aid. He was a sea captain in early life, and at one time member of and agent for the Roger AYilliams Manufacturing Companj'. Mr. Harrison has lived retired here several years, enjoying a competency which he acquired wholh- himself. He was treas- urer and secretary of the Mechanics' Savings Bank at Providence from about 1854 to 1866. Albert F. Hill was born in October, 1844, in Foster, R. I., where his early life was passed. About 1861 he went to Prov- idence, where he learned the carpenter's trade with Burdette & Greene. He remained in Providence, working at his trade, until 1868, when he became a resident of Phenix, where he still lives. During the past twenty years, as carpenter and contractor, he has built some of the finest buildings here. Among these HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1289 are the Hoxsie Brothers' store, Phenix Hotel, Music Hall and the Lawton building. He was in company with Charles B. Angell two years or more. He has done the woodwork at the state farm for four years. He was republican member in the general assembly in 1875-76. His mother was of the AVilliams family, in a direct line from Roger Williams. He was interested in securing the present system of water supply for Phenix, and is superintendent for the company. Thomas M. Holden, insurance agent, was born in Michigan. He came in 1866 to Rhode Island. His insurance business was established in 1875. He was nine years, from 1876, clerk of the supreme court and the court of common pleas, and was next high sheriff of Kent county. Mr. Holden is serving his fourth year as worshipful master of Warwick Lodge, No. 16, A. F. and A. M., of which lodge his grandfather. Captain Thomas Holden, was a charter member. He is also past grand master of the state in the I. O. of O. F. His present residence at River Point he erected in 1883. William L. Holden, born in 1813, is descended from William U., William^ General Thomas\ John', Charles^, Randall". His mother was Phebe, a daughter of Benjamin and Phebe (Weaver) Nichols. He married Maria A. Harden, of Massachusetts, who at her death left two children, Mrs. Levi B. Place and Charles C. Holden. The present Mrs. William L. Holden is Sarah S., •daughter of Christopher Greene. They have one daughter, Anna F., who is a teacher in the grammar school at East Green- wich. Governor William W. Hoppin was born in Providence. He has made Warwick a summer home since about 1835, when he came here as a guest of John Holden. In 1855 he bought a part of the Benjamin Greene farm and erected his present residence, " The Anchorage," one of the most delightful country seats in War- wick. He was educated to the law and was partner of Judge Richard W. Greene. In 1855, 1856 and 1857 he was governor of Rhode Island as a whig. He is a grandson of Colonel Benjamin Hoppin, who was with Washington at Valley Forge. This en- titles him to his present membership in the Order of the Cincin- nati, in which order he is a vice-president. Governor Hoppin's wife (deceased) was the only daughter of Titus Street, a promi- nent citizen of New Haven, and sister of Augustus R. Street, a liberal benefactor of Yale College. Governor Hoppin has two sons. 1290 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIEP. One, William W., Jr., was in the Union Army at Bull Run, was attending surgeon in the battle of the Wilderness and is now a resident of New York. The other son, Frederick, is now in Europe. Governor Hoppin graduated at Yale College in the class of 1828 and is now one of the twelve survivors of the class, then numbering eighty-one. Cottrell F. Hoxsie was born in 1828. His father Job ' Hoxsie and his grandfather Elijah Hoxsie, were residents of Richmond, R. I. Mr. Hoxsie came to Warwick in 1859 where he now has a fine farm of 250 acres. ]\Irs. Hoxsie is Alary S., daughter of James S. Moore, of Exeter, R. I., whose father Nathan and grand- father Silas were residents of Richmond, R. I. Silas Jiloore was a son of David and a grandson of John Moore, who emigrated from England and was buried in Richmond, R. I. Mr. and Mrs. Hoxsie have raised four children : jNlercy Ellen (Airs. Clark Peck- ham), Frank E., Ralph M. and Clara F. Hoxsie. William G. James was born in Washington, R. I., in 1852. He is a son of Albert G. and 'grandson of Perry G. James, both of Coventry. His mother was a daughter of Thomas Bowen. Mr- James is naturally a mechanic and in early life learned carriage building, at which he worked until 1868. He had a carriage shop at Lippitt which he ran three years. He was mechanic for the Conant Thread Company for a time but since the erection of the Elizabeth Mills in 1880 he has been superintendent there- in December, 1883, Mr. Hill bought the East Greenwich Alills for making thread and yarn. Since then he has been agent for both mills. His wife is a granddaughter of Israel Brayton. Henry L. Johnson was born in Exeter, R. I., in 1832. His father, George W., was a son of Freeborn Johnson, who at twenty-two years of age went into the revolutionar}- arrtiy, and at the close of the war married Hearty Allen, of North Kings- town, and settled in West Greenwich. While residing in West Greenwich Freeborn Johnson built near his house on Raccoon brook a grist mill. Here his large family was raised, of whom George AV. was the third son. The family is probably of French extraction. Henry L., in 184S, learned the blacksmith's trade in Warren, R. I., and in 1864, after having worked in Providence and other places some ten years, removed to a farm in Warwick, one mile west of Pawti:xet. In 1865 he resumed blacksmith work at Pawtuxet, and built his present shop in 1870. He was elected on the board of assessors in 1871, and served five years. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1291 He was again elected in 1882, and annually since. He has also been one of the school committee several years. Charles D. Kenyon was born in 1826. His father, Judge John H. Kenyon (1781-1843) was a son of George Kenyon, of Hopkin- ton. R. I., who was born in 1733 and died in 1819. Charles D. Kenyon came to the town of Warwick with his parents in 1836, and until 1861 resided on the farm now owned by Amos O. Foster. He then bought of Burrill Arnold's estate the store at Centreville, now occupied by Duke & Wood, in which he carried on a mercantile business for ten years, when he was succeeded by Charles Duke. His present home, which he purchased in 1881, is the John Greene place. Mrs. Kenyon is a daughter of Daniel Rodman, of South Kingstown. Their three sons are: Henry Rodman Kenyon, the artist, who is now in Europe; Walter S., at the dental college in Boston, and Charles F., a stu- dent at the Friends' school in Providence. Albert W. Knight was born in 1854. His father Richard, who died in 1859, was a son of Elder Richard Knight, who was well known as a Baptist at South Scituate, R. I. Mrs. Albert W. Knight is Ada F., daughter of Oliver B. Crandall. They have three sons and a daughter. Mr. Knight was nine years teamster for S. H. Greene & Co. before he began the teaming business on his own account, a business in which he now uses fifteen' horses. He also deals at River Point in fuel, feed and masons' supplies. Charles D. Knight was born in Scituate in 1833. He married there a daughter of Potter Taylor, and was boss farmer for S. H. Angell prior to 1884, when he bought in Coventry, near Phenix, the Snell place, formerly the property of Jabez Stone. Mr. Knight has three children : Ann, Oscar S. and Everett B. Harold Lawton was born in Oldham, England, in 1852. He came to New England at nineteen years of age and continued at mill work, which had been his principal employment from the age of eight years. Nine years later, as the result of close ap- plication and faithful effort, he had mastered every department of mill work and became mill superintendent at Tilton, New Hampshire. There and at North Grosvenordale, Conn., he was overseer until 1885, when he became superintendent of the Lap- ham mills at Centreville. He has an enviable position in busi- ness and social circles ; is a director in the savings bank and also in the Centreville National Bank. His ancestors are of the sturdy stock of English Quakers, while his wife is in direct descent from John Alden. 1292 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Henry Leonard in 1850 came from Birmingham, England, to New York. Here he remained fourteen years, and then re- moved to Warwick, and purchased, north of Apponaug, the farm on which he has since resided. He is a tinsmith by trade, and worked as such principally during his residence in New York. After he located in Warwick he worked at this business some, in a shop- on his premises. His oldest son, Thomas, is a practical tinner in Providence. His second son, Richard, is superintendent of the Baptist Sunday school at Apponaug. His third son, AVilliam Henry, and his youngest daughter, Annie, are with him at the homestead. His oldest daughter, Emma, is Mrs. John Pitts, of Providence. Mrs. Leonard, who came to this country with him in IS.iO, died at the homestead in April, 1888. Nathan W. Lockwood was born in 1811. His father, Amos Lockwood (died 1819), was a son of Abram Lockwood, who died here in 1790. His father was Amos Lockwood. j\Ir. Lockwood is a house carpenter by trade, at which he was engaged here ■from 1861 to 1867. Since then his farming interests have taken most of his time and attention. He was a member of the town council one year. Mr. Lockwood's first wife was Amey Perkins. She left at her death three children : Jacob A., a carpenter, Amey E., and Rebecca D., now Mrs. George H. Arnold. Mr. Lock- wood then married a sister of his first wife, Phebe Perkins. She died leaving one son, Nathan T. Lockwood. Thomas H. Lockwood, son of Thomas and grandson of Benajah Lockwood, was born in 1827. His wife is Adeline Amanda Titus, of New Jersey. Their three children are : Amanda A. (Mrs. John Waterman), James T., town clerk of Warwick, and Eva E., at home. In 1873 ^Ir. Lockwood bought part of the Harris farm at Old Warwick, and built his present residence in 1874. William Arnold Lockwood is a son of Albert Lockwood, who was a son of Amos Lockwood, who died in 1819. Mr. Lockwood was born in 1847, and until 1872 was principally engaged in ag- riculture here. Since that time he has worked at his trade — brick, stone and plaster mason work. His wife, Sophia, is a daughter of Benoni Lockwood, brother of Thomas H. Lockwood. Their home is at Lockwood's Corners in Old Warwick. Mr. Lockwood has been nine j-ears deacon of the Shawomut Baptist church. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1293 John W. Martin, born in Connecticut in 1823, is a son of Otis Martin. At eight years of age lie began working in a mill ; at sixteen he went on a whaling voyage as cabin boy ; at twenty years he was mate and then captain on a voyage to West Indies and South America. In 1849 he went to California, returning in 1851, and was then a merchant at Natick and Arkwright. In 1870 he retired to his farm. Mr. Martin was an active man and filled various town offices for some twenty years. His wife, Mary E., is a daughter of Ambrose Taylor of Warwick. Bernard McCusker was born in Ireland and went to Scotland in 1849, where he learned bleaching. He served an apprentice- ship at Glasgow seven years. He came to this country with Robert Reoch in 1867. Prior to coming here he had been over- seer for ten years. Since coming to Phenix he has been over- seer in the bleachery, and also has had charge of the white fin- ishing department since 1871. His oldest son, James, is foreman in the bleaching department of a mill at Pontiac. Henry, his second son, is in a like position at Lewiston, Maine. John is learning the business with his father in the Clyde Print Works. William is assistant inlhe white cloth finishing department here. The oldest daughter, Margaret J., a graduate of Rhode Island State Normal School, is teaching at River Point. The three younger children, Thomas E., Ellen and Mary, are still at school. Lewis C. Merrill was born at Centreville in 1830. His father is Josiah Merrill. His mother's maiden name was Phebe Greene. Mr. Merrill's grandfather, William G. Merrill, was a son of Spencer Merrill. In 1847 he began to learn carriage painting, and about 1860 he opened a shop of his own at Centreville. In 1880 he succeeded George P. Gould, who had a carriage manu- factory here, and here Mr. Merrill is still engaged in business. He is a steward in the Methodist Episcopal church here. His wife is a daughter of William P. Arnold of this town. Their daughter is Anna L. Merrill. Edwin Millerd was born in 1841. His father was Nathaniel Millerd and his mother Hannah M., now living at the age of seventy-five, is a daughter of Hale Gorton, granddaughter of Benjamin Gorton and great-granddaughter of Hezekiah Gorton, who was a descendant of Samuel Gorton, the proprietor. Mr. Millerd's farm has been in the Gorton family more than two hundred years, and on this farm was the home of one of Samuel Gorton's children, where it is believed Samuel Gorton died. 1294 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Edwin Millerd married Mary S. C. Sherman, daughter of Oliver Perry Sherman of Olneyville, R. I. Mr. Millerd has served two }^ears as assessor, has been constable of the town and a member of the republican town committee. Nehemiah Nicholas was born in Carbondale, Pa., in 1843, al- though his father, a Welchman, who died in California in 1849, was a resident of Warwick before and after that date. In 1852 Mr. Nicholas began work in the Stephen Harris mill, and three years later he went into the Sprague mill at Natick, where within ten years he was made overseer of the spinning and spooling department. This position he retained while the Sprague property passed to B. B. and R. Knight, and until January 1st, 1888, when he was made superintendent for the Knights at River Point. Mrs. Nicholas is a Connecticut lady. They have one daughter and two sons. John C. Nichols was born in 1839 in Charlestown, R. I. He came to East Greenwich village in 1856, with Tucker, Pierce & Co., and learned segar making. In 1861 he made segars for T. J. Tilley and in April, 1871, he established a meat market at East Greenwich village. His residence is in the town of War- wick. He is past master of King Solomon's Lodge. Captain John H. Northup was born at Apponaug. When but' eight years old he went into a mill at Natick. From thirteen to seventeen he was at sea — whaling. At eighteen he entered the naval service of the United States, was in the service 39 months, being promoted to quartermaster. After coming home from, the war he was for eight years in charge of "the lighters " in the harbor in connection with Jordan, Marsh & Go's, print works. For the last fourteen years his business has been furnishing clams for Rocky Point dinners. His wife was a Miss Grin- nell. They have two boys and two girls. Their eldest girl is a student in the academ3\ William R. Northup, a son of Lebbeus Northup of Exeter hill, and grandson of Benjamin Northup, was born there in 1828. He worked as a factory hand for several years, then learned the machinist's trade, at which he worked until 1861, when he enlist- ed in the Seventh Regiment and served three years as a non- commissioned officer, then until 1876 was employed as a machinist for Thomas J. Hill. He was subsequently overseer of carding at Manchester, N. H., for the Langdon Manufacturing Company. This engagement and others in Pennsylvania and in some of the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1295 Southern states covered eight years, when in 1884 he took the position of superintendent at North Dighton, Mass., for the Staf- ford Manufacturing Company, who now own the Potowomut mill in Warwick, where since September, 1885, Mr. Northup has been superintendent. His only daughter, Abbie, was the wife of Walter Taylor. She died in 1876, leaving Mr. Northup's only grandchild, William R. Taylor. « George S. Northup, a brother of William R. Northup, was born in Coventry in 1831. Until recently, he has been engaged in mill work, having been thirty years in the Lapham mill in Cen- treville. He served three years in the First Rhode Island Cav- alry as a non-commissioned officer. He was taken prisoner on the 18th of June, 1863, at Middleburgh, Va., and was in the ene- mies' hands six weeks. He has a wife, Ann F. Baton, and eight children : Alonzo (married, lives in Providence), Orminda (Mrs. George Spink), Sarah R. (Mrs. Levi Shepard), George S., Jr. (married, lives at Centreville), Annie F. (Mrs. Charles H. Angell of Lippitt), Elmer W. (married, lives at Harrisville), Edward E. and Charles. Since March, 1885, Mr. Northup has been a poultry farmer and market gardener at Old Warwick. James L. Phillips, the oldest living native of Warwick, was born in 1800. He is a grandson of Jeremiah Phillips, who lived and died here. In 1818, when he was less than nineteen years of age, he became a preacher in the Free Will Baptist church, and was subsequently useful in organizing a church in Warwick. His early school advantages were very limited, practically nothing until he was twelve years old. His early days were spent at farming and he made one sea voyage. He was pastor of the Fourth Baptist church of Newport for eight years, a period covering the greatest growth in the history of that church. His wife was Ann Northup of South Kingstown. They have three children living : James, Elizabeth F. (Mrs. Albert S. Austin, who has one son Herbert H.), and Susan T., widow of Thomas Briggs of Natick. Mr. Phillips' son William R. (de- ceased) was a soldier in the civil war in Company K, Twelfth Regiment. The Jeremiah Phillips above mentioned was a revo- lutionary soldier. Nathan D. Pierce, Jr., established at Norwood in 1876 the Home Nursery, where he is still engaged in the propagation of fruit and ornamental trees. The nursery occupies seven acres. Within the last five years he has sold 24,000 peach trees in the 1296 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. State and has successfully advocated the renewal of peach cul- ture here. Mr. Pierce was born in Providence, where his father Nathan D. Pierce was for many years engaged as a blacksmith, and where he in company with Mr. Smith established the Union Coal Cornpany. The family removed to that part of Warwick which is now Norwood in 1863. Here the senior Mr. Pierce pur- chased a farm, and began gardening and the cultivation of small fruits. The junior Mr. Pierce was educated as a manufacturing jeweler, and worked at this until 1876. He has been in the town council of Warwick three years, and is now one of her represent- atives in the general assembly. William H. Place was born at East Greenwich July 16th, 1861. His father, Levi B. Place, is a son of Arba J. and a grandson of Philip Place. His mother is a daughter of William L. Holden. He learned the blacksmith's trade of his father and worked with him in the shop on the home farm in East Greenwich until 1881, when he began business for himself at Arctic Centre, where he is now carrying on general blacksmithing. Elisha R. Potter, who owns and keeps the summer resort known as Reed's Palace, was born in 1830. His father, Elisha, was a son of Russel and a grandson of Russel Potter. He mar- ried Mary E. Vaughn, who deceased. His second wife was Eliza H. Tibbitts. Mr. Potter was clerk of the courts from 1857 to 1860, and from 1863 to 1872 was postmaster at East Greenwich. For several years he was vestryman of St. Luke's church at East Greenwich. James R. Potter was born in Cranston in 1821. He lived in. Coventry from 1823 to 1844, when he removed to Phenix, where he still resides. At Fiskeville he learned the wheelwright trade and began business for himself at Lippitt in 1844. In 1847 he bought a farm near Phenix, on a part of which he still resides. Much of this farm he has divided into building lots. His wife was Abbie K. Whitford, of Charlestown, R. I. Their children are Carrie M. (Mrs. George Youngs) and Fred B. Horatio A. Remington was born in Cranston, R. I., in 1830. His father, Henry A. Remington, was a son of Captain Charles Remington, who came from England and died in 1812. Henry A. Remington was a mechanic, but in 1842 he settled on a farm. Six years later the son, Horatio A., left home to learn the machinist's trade. After working at his trade for about seventeen years he in 1866 became junior partner HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1297 with S. Colvin & Co., at River Point, in the manufacture of looms. His wife was Martha A. Knight. They have two sons : Charles Banks, now an Academy student, and Edgar Wilson, M.D., of Providence. Benjamin F. Remington (deceased) was born in 1806, and was married in 1831 to Sarah A., daughter of Samuel Tillinghast, son of Stephen, son of Stukely, son of Pardon, son of John, son of Philip, son of Pardon Tillinghast, who was born in England and came to this country in 1645. Mr. Remington was a son of Thomas, whose father, Benjamin, was a son of Thomas Rem- ington. Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin F. Remington had four chil- dren : Abbie E., Thomas T., Benjamin F, Jr., and James H. Mrs. Remington survives her husband. William G. Roelker was born in Cincinnati in 1854. He has resided in Warwick since 1873 at the homestead of his maternal grandfather, the late Lieutenant-Governor William Greene. Before taking up his residence in Warwick he spent three years abroad at Geneva and Berlin to complete his education. He graduated at Harvard law school in 1875, and was admitted to the Rhode Island bar the following year. His practice is in Providence. Joseph Shaw was born in 1816 at Carver, Mass. In November, 1839, he came to Natick as carriage maker for Covill & Wright. He established a carriage business of his own in 1840, in which Moses Wightman was subsequently a partner. Mr. Shaw was for eight years employed in the machine shop of General Chris- topher Rhodes' factory at Natick. While the Methodist society was maintained here Mr. Shaw was an official member. His wife was Harriet K. Underwood, of Kingston Hill. Their chil- dren are : Lucy J. F. (Mrs. John C. Potter), Joseph A. and Irving U., who is a carriage painter. Alfred Sherman was born in 1839. His father was Amos Sherman, a boss spinner, in which business Alfred's early days were passed. Amos Sherman was a son of Elisha Sherman. Alfred worked fourteen years for Almoran Burvee, who ran a livery business at Natick for more than forty years. Mr. Sher- man began a livery business at Natick about twenty years since, and in 1874 he entered into his present business as general mer- chant. Nathan A. Sisson was born in North Kingstown in 1843. His father John Sisson, born in Newport, was at different timesaresi- 83 1298 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. dent of Kent county. He died in West Greenwich, where he was a farmer. Mr. N. A. Sisson served three years in the civil war with the Second regiment, in which he was a non-commissioned officer. In 1867 he came first to Phenix as overseer in spinning, having learned this trade before entering the army. In 1873 he went to Fall River as ovenseer in the "King Philip " mill, where he stayed until ]876. In 1878 he was overseer at Harris, and in 1879 at Pawtuxet. In November, 1879, he came to Phenix as superintendent for the Hope Manufacturing Company. William "\". Slocum was born in Phenix in 1837. His father Edward Slocum, still living, is over 80 years of age. William's grandfather, Edward Slocum, lived in Newport and was one of seven brothers who were sea captains. Mr. Slocum received his education in the public schools here and in the River Point Clas- sical Seminary, from which he graduated in 1857. He began teaching in the winter seasons when but sixteen years old and continued for eight years. He was principal of the public school in East Greenwich one winter, of the public school in Manne- hawken, N. J., one year, of the Phenix school two years, and sub- sequently twelve other years at Phenix. He taught also at Crompton and is now principal of the River Point school. He was bookkeeper for the Hope Company nine years and was at the same time for two years superintendent of town schools. His wife is a daughter of Henry Johnson. They have one son, Edward L. Slocum, who is now with General AVilliam R. Walker, an architect in Providence. William H. Snell was born in Phenix in 1823. He is a son of Henr}' and a grandson of Thomas Snell, who was a farmer of Scituate. Henry Snell became a resident of Phenix before 1820. He was a farmer and teamster and did the hauling for the old Roger William's Mill. William H. does a teaming business in connection with his livery business. His part}' wagon is the finest van this side of Providence. His wife is Susan M. Perkins, of Connecticut. They have one daughter, Mary E. Snell. Politi- cally Mr. Snell has always been a republican. Pardon Spencer, born 1803, is a son of Walter Spencer, whose father Benjamin, was a son of Walter and grandson of Benja- min Spencer. This branch of the Spencer family came through Nova Scotia to the United States prior to the war of the rev- olution. Pardon Spencer's first wife was Sybil Spencer. Their children were : Hannah A. (Mrs. Benjamin N. Briggs), of Provi- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1299 dence; Abram Spencer, of Phenix ; William I., of Hopkinton, and Eben (deceased). The present Mrs. Spencer is Mary A., the youngest and only surviving child of Samuel Briggs, of Appo- naug. Thomas Spencer was born in Providence in 1851. His father, Arnold W. Spencer, who died in 1853, was a son of Christopher, an early merchant at Old Warwick, and grandson of William and Waity Spencer, formerly of North Kingstown. In 1872 Thomas Spencer bought a small store then standing on the northwest corner at Old Warwick, of J. F. Woodmansee. In 1874 Mr. Spencer erected his present building, the Old Warwick post office. Here he has added to his general merchandise business a coal, wood and ice business. Mr. Spencer was a member of the town council two years, and in the assembly in 1887-8. He has been president of the Warwick League two years, and in 1888 was a delegate to the democratic national convention at St. Louis. Thomas J. Spencer, retired farmer at Apponaug, was born in 1810. His father, Gideon Spencer, was a son of Gideon Spencer, who was born in 1742, and lived in East Green- wich. Mrs. Thomas J. Spencer (Caroline Remington), who died in 1853, left two sons and four daughters, of whom one son is deceased. The other son is the well known dentist of Providence, Gideon Spencer. Thomas J. Spencer's father in 1833 originated a formula for a vegetable pill, the man- ufacture of which Mr. Spencer has made a part of his business for fifty years. He has been on the town school committee since the public school system was organized in this town. On his farm is the grave of Thomas Remington, who died in 1710. William Spencer was bori in 1817. His father, Christopher Spencer, was a son of William and Waity Spencer, of North Kingstown, and a grandson of Thomas Spencer. Christopher Spencer was one of the ten senators under the old charter, and was president of the Warwick town council. He died in 1872. In 1831 William vSpencer went as a clerk to Providence. In 1837 he bought a grocery business of William L. Field. He sold this site in 1866 and bought a building opposite Narragansett Hotel, where he is still carrying on the same business he began fifty years ago. He is the only survivor here of the business men of that time. His wife, Penelope, is a daughter of John Tiffany, of Crompton, R. I. 1300 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. George W. Spencer, Jr., is a son of George W. Spencer, who is a brother of William Spencer above mentioned. He was born in Providence, but was reared at Old Warwick. He graduated at the State Normal School in 1884, and at the Poughkeepsie Com- mercial College in 1885. The same year, having had experience as a teacher in commercial schools, he founded the well known Spencerian Business College at Providence. In Warwick, where he holds a residence, he is noble grand of the Apponaug Lodge of Odd Fellows. His father, now retired, represented Warwick at one time in the state legislature. Nathaniel T. Spink, of Providence, is a son of Albert Spink, of North Kingstown. He married a daughter of Peleg C. Cong- don. In 1857, when he was twenty-three years of age, he went to Providence as a clerk. From 1861 to 1863 he was in business in Boston, and after a few years spent as a commercial traveler, he became, some twelve years since, the successor of a firm in which he had been successively an employee and a partner, engaged in the hat, cap and furnishing business. William M. Spink was born in 1826. His father, John D. Spink, was a brother of Salma M. Spink, now a resident of North Kingstown. John D. was for some years in business at Wick- ford, a member of the firm of Waite & Spink. He removed to Natick in 1840, wliere he was a merchant for twenty years. Wil- liam M. Spink began mill work at Natick in 1840. He became an expert, and was made mill superintendent for the Spragues in May, 1864. This relation to the Natick mills has continued to the present time, while the mills have become the most im- portant plant of the Knight system. Mrs. Spink is Dorcas P., daughter of Lyman and granddaughter of Ebenezer Barney, of Coventry. Their only child is Gertrude Spink. John R. Stafford was born in 1814. He was employed thirty years in the Natick mill, and was clerk at Apponaug, where he was subsequently in business as partner with Henry Capron, and later with Edmond Budlong. His father, Thomas Stafford, was a seafaring man. His grandfather was also named Thomas. Mrs. John Raymond Stafford is Mary, daughter of Benjamin Nichols, of North Kingstown. She is the only survivor of eight children. Lorey Stafford was born March 4th, 1832. His father, Lorey, also a farmer, was a son of Edward and grandson of Stukely Stafford. The first of the Stafford family here were three men HISTORY OF AVASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1301 who came from England, one settling near Rocky Point, one near The Buttonwoods, and one, the ancestor of Stukely Staf- ford, settled on the Warwick town line, north of the present vil- lage of Pontiac. Amos Stafford and Thomas Stafford were a generation older than Stukely Stafford. Lorey Stafford, now living at Pontiac, is the only survivor of his generation. His wife (deceased) was from Vermont. Their only child is AValter E. Stafford. Stephen Dexter Stone was born in 1840. His wife is Elizabeth H. Burgess. They have six children living : Charles L. Stone, Annie G. (Mrs. Charles H. Edwards), Maria L., Hattie E., Me- dora and Gertrude. Mr. Stone is a farmer on Warwick Plains, where he has a valuable fruit and vegetable farm of thirty-six acres. The family is descended from Hugh Stone, who came probably from Wales to this country between 1655 and 1665. He was living in Warwick in 1669, when his oldest son, Hugh, was born. Another of his sons, John, was the father of William, who was the father of Jabez, who was the father of Daniel, who was the father of Daniel J. Stone, born 1819, and still living here with his son, Stephen D., who is of the seventh generation in direct descent from the emigrant. Captain George W. Taylor is a son of Ambrose and grandson of Ambrose Taylor, who died in 1831. George W. was born in 1828. His grandfather bought of Joseph Baker, at Nausocket, in 1800, the home where he died. He was a farmer and a chair- maker. His son, Ambrose, also a farmer, was for several years at sea. Captain George went to sea at an early age, and followed the sea for many years. He was a sea captain from 1857 to 1886 in coastwise service. His deceased wife was Lydia S., a daughter of Stephen Williams, of Cranston, R. I. William Tefift was born at Pine Hill, in Exeter, in 1823. He is the youngest of the ten children of Thomas Tefft, whose father, Thomas Tefft, was town clerk of Richmond, R. I. His mother was Lucy, daughter of George Tefift. His wife was Miss Fannie Cobb. They have two children, William Tefft, Jr., and Susan Tefft. Mr. Tefift has a pleasant farm of ninety-seven acres at Natick Hill, on which he has lived twenty-four years. Benjamin W. Tibbitts is a son of Benjamin Tibbitts (and grandson of Waterman), who at his death left a family, of whom Benjamin W., Daniel and Susan A. are now living. Ben- jamin Tibbitts was, at various periods of his life, a manufact- 1302 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. urer, a painter and a farmer. He was also judge of the court of common pleas. Benjamin was a member of council for a number of years, and also assessor of taxes for a long time. He had five brothers, of whom Henry and John W. were physicians. William C. Tibbitts is a son of William Tibbitts, a contractor and builder, of the firm of Tibbitts & Budlong. He began bus- iness at Arctic Centre in 1866, after having been clerk for the Spragues some nine years. In 1880 he built his present store at Arctic Centre, where his dry goods and grocery business is now carried on. He belongs to the Masonic lodge and chapter and to the Odd Fellows' lodge and encampment. His wife is from Sterling, Conn. Their two daughters, living, are Cora E. and Bertha A. Henry W. Tiffany is a son of Major Jonathan Tiffany and grandson of Thomas Tiffany. He was engaged in a little cotton mill which his father owned, three-fourths of a mile south of Crompton, which mill was operated somewhat by the sons after Jonathan Tiffany's death. The sons were also engaged as mer- chants at Crompton for about fifteen years prior to 1856. Jon- athan Tiffany came to Crompton in 1807 for the Providence Manufacturing Company, of which he was a member, and pur- chased of Captain William Rice the mill privilege and site now occupied by the Crompton Manufacturing Company. William Tiffany was born in Crompton, R. I., in 1828. His father, John Tiffany, was a son of James and grandson of Thomas Tiffany. Thomas' father, Benjamin, lived three-fourths of a mile south of Crompton. He was killed by a falling tree, and was buried in the Scranton plot in East Greenwich. William Tiffany is a carpenter by trade. He lived at Crompton until 1857. In 1849 he went to California. His father, John Tiffany, owned the farm on Warwick Neck east of the main road and south of the railroad. Mrs. William Tiffany was Susan ]\I. Rem- ington. Their daughter, Fannie E., is Mrs. John A. Hazard. Their son is John Tiffany. Samuel C. Tillinghast, born in 1840, is a son of Pardon Tilling- hast, who died in 1875, and whose father was Colonel Allen Tillinghast of Exeter, born 1773, died 1848. The colonel's father, Charles, was born in 1729, was taken prisoner by the British and died on Block Island during the revolution. His father, John, was born in 1691 and was buried at Frenchtown, East Greenwich, in 1777. His father. Pardon (1677-1743), was HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1303 a son of Pardon, born in England in 1622, died in Providence in January, 1718. In 1870 Mr.S. C.Tillinghast bought the carriage and blacksmith shop of Shaw & Wightman. Eight years later he bought the paint business and the real estate of Joseph Shaw. Joseph O. Tillinghast, brother of Samuel C, was born in 1846. In 1865 he began working here as a blacksmith. In 1870 he bought the business of Percival Bennett, successor to Benjamin Williams. In 1878 he bought the old blacksmith stand of the heirs of Benjamin Williams, who was the blacksmith here from 1839 to his death about 1860. Since 1873 Mr. Tillinghast has practiced as veterinary surgeon. His first marriage was with Abbie S., daughter of Deacon Henry A. Bailey. She died, leav- ing one son, Allen P. His present wife, Anna J., is a daughter of George Capwell of Old Warwick. George W. Tourjee was born in Natick in 1838. His father, Samuel W., was a son of Jeremiah Tourjee, of North Kings- town, where other representatives of this old French family still reside. In 1863, after ten years at mill work, Mr. Tourjee established a livery business at Natick. The real estate which he now occupies he bought in 1873. From 1872 to 1882 he was local agent for Adams Express Company. Albert Tyler was born in 1845. His father, James Tyler, was a son of John and grandson of James Tyler, whose father, John Tyler, bought the Tyler tract, which is now a portion of the town of Foster, R. I. Albert Tyler came to Warwick in 1874, and after being station agent at Centreville for eight years he began, in 1884, a mercantile business at North Centreville, where his residence and business are now located. George H. Tyler is one of the twelve children of William Tyler, ten of whom reached adult years. He was fourteen years in business in New York city, the later and larger portion of the time as dealer in malt, hops and brewers' supplies. He now is a manufacturer at Washington, in the town of Coventry, Kent county, R. I. His wife is a daughter of Pardon S. Peckham, a well-known manufacturer. After having come to this vicinity to regain his health he located here permanently, and in 1886 completed his present residence in Warwick, in the suburbs of the village of East Greenwich. Samuel J. Vickery was born in Bristol, R. I., in 1816. He learned the cooper's trade and made several voyages as cooper 1304 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. on whale ships. He made fifteen voyages to the West Indies in merchant vessels. He was three years in Cuba as superintend- ent of a cooper's business for Israel Thorndyke, of Newport. In 1842 he purchased, in the northeastern part of Warwick, the homestead part of the Simon Smith allotment in the Pawtuxet tract, and has since improved and beautified it and its sur- roundings. In 1888 he laid out Silver Hook park, eight acres on the river, which he has liberally opened and set apart as a sum- mer breathing place. Mrs. Vickery is a daughter of Captain Samuel Phillips, of Bristol, R. I. The old residence of Simon Smith, with the date 1711 cut in its frame, is now a part of Mr. Vickery's residence. Daniel Warner was born in 1824. His father was James War- ner, son of William, and grandson of John Warner, who was a descendant of John AVarner, once town clerk of Warwick and secretary of the house of deputies of the colony. James Warner' died in July, 1877, aged 99, being then the oldest Mason in Rhode Island. Daniel Warner was engaged in the River Point Com- pany store for thirty-three years as clerk, book-keeper or super- intendent. In 1881 he bought a part of the old Rice farm. He was a republican member of the town council for two years. His wife (deceased) was Amy, daughter of William Hall. Isaac Walker was born in Coventry in 1828. About the year 1630 a Widow Walker and her sons, Philip and James, came from England and settled in Rehoboth (East Providence), Mass. Mrs. Walker is named in 1643 as one of the first owners of Rehoboth. Her son Philip died in 1679. His son Philip was the father of Philip Walker, whose son Joseph was a soldier in the revolu- tionary war. He settled at Summit, R. I., in 1767. Joseph's son Stephen (1767-1833) had a son, Ezekiel Walker, father of Isaac. In 1870 Isaac Walker came to River Point, where he still lives, engaged as a contractor in mason work. He built by contract the Crompton mill, and rebuilt the Plienix and Hope mills. Since 1876 he has had charge of most of the mason work at the State farm. Isaac Walker's first wife was Maria, daughter of Corey Matteson. She died, leaving two sons, Byron and Ezra M., both masons. Isaac Walker's second wife, Mary E., was a sister of his first wife. She also died, leaving two children, El- mer E. (now an architect in Boston) and a daughter, Mrs. Lucian Searle. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1305 Lewis Walker was born in Coventry in 1838. He is a son of Ezekiel Walker, whose father, Stephen, was a son of Joseph, and grandson of Philip Walker. Mr. Walker's business was that of carpenter and builder, at which he worked when he removed to Clyde in 1867. In 1884 he opened a general hardware store here. He is now located in the Pike block. His wife is a daughter of Sheldon Briggs, of Coventry. They have two children — Lewis M. and Mary F. Walker. Ezra M. Walker, son of Isaac Walker, was born in 1856. His naother (deceased) was Maria, daughter of Corey Matteson. In early life he learned his father's trade and worked with him. He had charge of building the brick work at Natick Mills for B. B. & R. Knight. He is now foreman of the mason work at the State farm. He has been a contractor for eight years. His wife, Mary, is a daughter of Lucian Searle (deceased), of War- "wick. They have one son, Howard, who is of the tenth genera- tion of Walkers who have lived in New England. James E. Whitford, born in 1822, is a son of Joshua, and grand- son of Thomas. Mr. Whitford worked in a mill from the time he was twelve years old until he was forty. He has lived here and been a farmer about nineteen years. In 1842 he was mar- ried to Sarah A., daughter of David Johnson. Their children are : Edward N., E. A., Mary H. (Mrs. Thomas H. Thurston), James H., and John Charles, who is in California. In politics Mr. Whitford is a republican. He has been a member of the First Baptist church of Crompton about twenty-three years. Oliver A. Wickes was born in 1820. His father, Stukely, was a son of Stukply and grandson of Benjamin Wickes. Mr. Wickes spent several years as a sailor, was in California three years, and built the house where he now lives in 1855. He is a farmer. He was married about 1858. His wife died, and he married again in 1878. He has four children : Alma W., Mary L., William S. and Edward S. Henry J. Wightman, son of Samuel W., grandson of George and great-grandson of Colonel George Wightman, was born in 1816. Samuel W. Wightman was a cabinet-maker in Pawtuxet. His father, George, was a farmer on Quidnessett Neck, in North Kingstown. Colonel George Wightman was a resident of this colony before the revolution, and left the colony to take a com- mission in the British army, and died in London. Mrs. Henry J. Wightman is Ann M., daughter of James and grand daughter 1306 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON A-ND KENT COUNTIES. of John Harris, of Cranston, R. I. They have three living chil- dren : Maria A., Albert H. and Walter W. Their oldest son, James Harris, is deceased. Oliver C. Williams was born in North Providence in 1822. He is a descendant of Roger Williams. His home was in ]\Iassachu- setts until he was about twenty-seven years old. In 1849 he went to California and remained there for four years. His business for the last thirty years has been putting in electrical apparatus. He has cnarge of all the electric lines, including fire and tel- ephone lines connecting the state farm with Providence. Mrs. Williams is a daughter of Randall Carder, who was one of the pillars of the democratic party here. He was a descendant of Richard Carder, one of the twelve who purchased this town. His name was one of the ten in the original deed from Mi- antonomi. !Mr. and Mrs. Williams have two daughters, twins, Ada S. (Mrs. Elihu Brownell, of Providence) and Ida D. (Mrs. George W. Pearce, of Hillsgrove). Louis Windsor was born in Smithfield, R. I., in 1869. He was educated in the public schools and at the Lapham Institute at Springfield, and subsequently taught a few terms. He worked several years for the Providence, D. B. & C. Company, and became their assistant superintendent. Since 1885 he has managed the farm property in Warwick for the Nicholas Brown estate. Gilbert H. Wood was born at Exeter, R. I., in 1852. He is a son of Henry G. and a grandson of Joab Wood, of Coventry. He was associated with the acid works at West Greenwich about five years. He came to Natick Hill ten years ago, and five years later bought the Elisha Brown farm, where he still resides. His brother is pastor of the Baptist church at Natick. He was married in 1871 to Harriet M. Straight. They have one son, Edgar A., a boy of ten years. Charles H. Young was born in Burrillville, R. I., in 1837. He has lived in River Point since 1852. He was overseer in the cotton mills until about 1866, and has since worked as carpenter in constructing buildings to let as tenements. In 1875 he bought a plot of land at River Point and laid out twenty-four building lots. On one of these in the following year he erected his present residence, and upon the others he has built substan- tial houses, which he rents. This portion of the town is called Youngstown. Its principal street bears also the name of the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1307 proprietor. Mr. Young has been police, constable and auction- eer, and has held other offices in the town. He has been a member of the school board nine years. EAST GREENWICH. William N. Allen was born in 1835 in North Kingstown, and is a son of George Allen, of Hope Island, and a grandson of Silas Allen. In 1858 he bought the grist mill he now owns at Frenchtown, and has run it since. He also owns and runs a blacksmith and wheelwright shop and a paint shop. He was married to a daughter of David Wightman, and after her death to his present wife, daughter of Stephen A. Congdon. This old mill was owned last prior by Horace K. Jenks, and before him by one Johnson. Timothy Andrews, son of John and grandson of Timothy, was born in 1828, in Coventry, R. I., and is married to Eunice Mat- teson, of West Greenwich. In 1855 he became a deacon of the Six Principle Baptist church. Deacon Andrews has been two years in the town council and is trustee of school district No. 4. Peleg Arnold, born in 1817 in Exeter, spent his early days at the farm and managed the homestead until 1852. He came to East Greenwich in 1854 and opened a watch, clock and jewelry business which he 'still carries on. He was in the state senate one year as a democrat. His wife is Elmira Lawton. Mrs. Pe- leg Arnold, deceased, was Dolly B., daughter of Peleg Lawton, of South Kingstown. Dutee J. P. Babcock was born in 1829 in Charlestown, this county. He is the second child in a family of eleven. In 1856 he became express messenger on the New York Providence & Boston railroad. For sixteen years he was route agent and was local agent at New London, Conn., four years. He married a daughter of Slocum Hall, of North Kingstown. They have one child, Charlotte H. Her husband is George A. White, the pres- ent express agent at East Greenwich. Mr. Babcock has been a resident of East Greenwich some twelve or fourteen years. Daniel C. Bailey was born in 1819 in this town, where his father and grandfather, each named Jeremiah, lived. The ear- lier generation of this family was William Bailey, who in 1789 built the house in Shippee town. Probably this William was a grandson of Samuel Bailey, son of Hugh Bailey of 1690, who em- igrated from England. Mrs. Daniel C. Bailey is Deacon Spen- 1808 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. cer's daughter Huldah E. Their three children are : Mary E. (Mrs. William Fry), William D., whose wife is Maria J. Andrews, and John S. Bailey, whose wife is Lillian A. Vaughn. The early generations of the Bailey family were Friends. Reverend John H. Baker was born in 1805 at Stonington, Conn., and died at East Greenwich in 1869. His father was Elisha Baker. His grandfather, Elisha Baker, was a soldier in the French and Indian wars, and his wife was Rachel Talmadge, of Long Island. Reverend J. H. Baker became a member of the Baptist church in 1822, was ordained in 1831, preached in North Stonington, Newport, Exeter, Wakefield and Wickford. In 1833 he was married to Mary Marchant, who died eight years later. In Charlestown, Phenix, Fiskeville, Hopkinton, Niantic, South Kingstown and Block Island, his pastoral and evangelical labors are remembered. In 1842 he was married to Mrs. Marcy M. (Spencer) Millard, who survives. Her children are : William Edwin Millard, died at eleven years of age ; John Edwin Baker, now of New York, and Mary M. (Mrs. Knowles"), died leaving one daughter, Mary A. Knowles. Edwin Jerrauld Millard, deceased, Mrs. Baker's first husband, was the great-great-grandson of James Jerrauld, a physician who came to Massachusetts in 1680. Doc- tor Dutee Jerrauld, his son, settled in AYarwick and married Freelove Gorton, their son James being the father of Martha (Mrs. Samuel Millard), the mother of this Edwin J. Millard. Daniel L. Briggs was born on the Warwick and East Green- wich town line road, where his brother Job now lives, in 1815. His father, Daniel Briggs, was a son of Sweet Briggs of South Kingstown. Mr. Briggs was educated as a mechanic and worked at carpentering. For the last twenty years he has been a farmer. As a carpenter he helped build the five school houses erected by this town in 1834. Mrs. Daniel L. Briggs, recently deceased, was Mary H., a daughter of Slocum Godfrey, a well known de- scendant of an old family here. Of their eight children four are living: Amanda (Mrs. David Capwell), Sarah (^Mrs. George Remington), Nelson G. and John R. Briggs. Daniel Burdick, son of Jared and grandson of Abel Burdick, was born in 1821. Prior to 1864 he was railroad road master for more than twenty years, since which he has worked at carpen- try. He has been assessor of taxes and councilman. His chil- dren are: Sarah B. (widow of Nathan Arnold), Daniel P., Anna J. and William L. The latter is Professor Burdick of \Yilliman- tic. Conn. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1309 James A. Capron, born in North Kingstown, R. I., has lived at East Greenwich about fifty years. He is a son of James and grand- son of Edward, who lived and died on Marlboro street, East Green- wich. Mr. Capron learned the trade of house carpenter of his uncle Jeremiah N. Gardiner of Warwick, to whom he was bound when a child. He made hundreds of coffins in early days, and is now a funeral director. He has had eleven children, of whom only two are living — a married daughter and a son, Clau- dius F. Albert J. Congdon was born in 1821 in Exeter. He was edu- cated at the East Greenwich Academy and from 1843 to 1847 was in a factory store at Crompton, R. I. He began at East Greenwich in March, 1847, as dealer in dry goods, boots, shoes, crockery, etc. He changed to groceries and added drugs. In the drug business he was succeeded by his two sons, Richard E. and Charles H., in May, 1875. He has been eight years on the school board and is now secretary of the board and superintend- ent of schools. Miss Patience B. Cook was born in 1803 in Tiverton, R. I. She resided in New York prior to 1861 with an uncle. Captain Silas Holmes. Her father was John Cook, a son of Colonel John Cook, an old shipping merchant of Tiverton. Her mother, Phebe, was a daughter of Colonel William Arnold of East Green- wich. The colonel built the Updike House as his residence, in 1790, on the site where in 1788 his former residence was burned. The colonel was a shipping merchant at East Greenwich. His sons were Stephen and Perry G. His daughter was Mrs. Silas Holmes. Rowland Crandall,born in 1832, succeeded in May, 1873, David C. Potter in the blacksmith business at East Greenwich, where he had worked fifteen years. His ancestors were of Richmond, R. I. His wife, Lydia A., is a daughter of Pardon T. Wight- man. Their daughter is Mrs. Charles E. Kennedy of Providence. Mr. Crandall has lived retired since 1882. Benjamin Crompton was born in 1815 in England. He came to America (to East Greenwich) in 1841 as a dryer in the bleach ery. He worked in various bleacheries and print works until 1862, when he located a junk business here. He built his wharf the year of the great September gale. He added to his business wood, coal, feed, lime, cement and phosphate. He bought his present residence here in 1848. He has three children : Samuel 1310 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. F., Alice M. (now Mrs. Richard Thornley), and Martha E. (now Mrs. Joseph Thornley). Frank C. Cundall was born in Connecticut and raised in Hop- kinton, R. I. He was drug clerk for Thomas A. Barber of Ash- away five and a half years and in Boston two years prior to August, 1877, when he located in East Greenwich. He married a daughter of Nicholas Ball of Block Island. IMr. Cundall operates a drug store on Block Island in the summer. Joseph Fry was born in 1805 on the farm he now owns. His father was Judge Thomas Fry, son of Joseph, and grandson of Thomas. This Thomas dated his will 1773, and died within the next ten years. His son Joseph was an officer of militia in 1776, and took by will the farm now the homestead of the subject of this sketch. Mr. Fry was colonel of a Kent count)- regiment of militia before the Dorr war. He was married to Mary R. Greene. Their children were : Henry, of Providence ; Edward, of Provi- dence ; William G., of East Greenwich ; and Lauriston, of Provi- dence. Henry Fry was born in 1840. In 1860 he began to learn the machinist's trade at Anthony with Perez Peck & Co. Within the next four years he was connected with the Burnside Rifle Company and the Brown & Sharp Manufacturing Company at Providence. In 1864 he went to Fall River in a furniture busi- ness with J. D. Flint & Co. Since March, 1887, he has been half owner in the Providence Furniture Company, prior to which time he was eight or nine years partner with Anthony, Cowell & Co. Edward Fry was born in 1841 at the homestead in East Greenwich. He remained at the farm until he was 25 years of age, when he removed to Fall River, where he was in business. He came to Providence as partner with his brother Henry, to succeed Flint & Co. as owners of the Providence Furniture Com- pany, in March, 1887. Thomas N. Fry was born in 1832 on or near the farm he now owns and occupies in District No. 2, in East Greenwich. His father, Nicholas S. Fry, who died in 1868, was an older brother of Joseph Fry above mentioned, they being sons of Judge Thomas Fry, whose father, Joseph, was a son of Thomas Fry, from whom all in this town who bear the family name are descended. He has always been a farmer here, where his father lived and died. He has been in the town council two years or more, and has repre- sented East Greenwich in the general assembly. His wife is Matilda, a daughter of Job Spencer. They have four sons and two daughters living. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1311 , John J. Fry, of the firm of B. A. Ballou & Co., manufacturing jewelers of Providence, is a brother of Thomas N. Fry, of East Greenwich. He was born in 1830 at East Greenwich, and in 1858 went to Illinois and farmed there nine years. He was then in business in East Greenwich three years, then became a mem- ber of the above firm. William C. Greene is a brother of Lauriston H. Greene, of East Greenwich. He was born in 1826. At the age of eighteen he learned the jeweler's trade at Providence, and in 1849 estab- lished a business there as Mathewson & Greene. Since 1866 he has been at the head of the firm now known as William C. Greene & Co. William W. Henry was born in 1828 in South Kingstown. His father, Eben Henry, came when a young man from Sterling, Conn. AVilliam W. was raised on the farm. He was overseer of the carding room in the Centreville cotton mill some nineteen years. Within that period he bought his present home at Bar- ton's Corners, in East Greenwich, and is now engaged in agri- culture. This farm was a part of the old Christopher Vaughn property. He was married to Elizabeth M., daughter of Edmond Bagley, of Richmond, R. I. Their only son, William W., Jr., married Eva Briggs, a granddaughter of Daniel L. Briggs, and has two children — Edith and Frank B. Abel C. Kenyon was born in Richmond, R. I., in 1811. He is a son of George, and grandson of George, who was known as " Quaker George." His mother was a Sheffield. Mr. Kenyon is a machinist by trade, and worked several years at Hope Valley, R. I. He came to East Greenwich in 1856. He married Miss Perrin, of Woodstock, Conn., and has had five children : George H., Harriet (deceased), Oliver P., Abel C, Jr., and Julia A. Abel C. Kenyon, Jr., was born in 1846. He began business in East Greenwich as a grocer and grain dealer in June, 1874, as junior partner with John F. Knowles. Mr. Knowles retired in 1881. Mr. Kenyon's store is in the old Baptist church, which was dedicated in 1847. His business has been in this building since June, 1887. John R. Kenyon was born in 1834. He is a son of Thomas E. Kenyon, of this town. His wife is Clara Nichols, whose father, Charles Nichols, lived and died in this town south of Mr. Kenyon's present residence, which is the Howland farm. They have four children living: John H., Frank T., Eunice N. (now Mrs. Lewis A. Walton, of Cranston), and Solomon Kenyon. 1312 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Samuel M. Knowles, cashier of the East Greenwich National Bank, was born in Westerly in 1835. His father was John T., and his grandfather Joseph M. (residents of Westerly). Mr. Knowles came here as a resident in 1861. In 18.^6 he became cashier of a state bank organized here. In 1864 he was elected treasurer for the town of East Greenwich, and held the office until 1887, excepting two years. He married Sarah A. Pierce, of East Greenwich. Malcolm B. Lindsay was born in Scotland in 1824. In 1852, after one year at Newark, N. J.; he came to East Greenwich. He was foreman for a time, and then partner with Riley Darling, cf East Greenwich, in a bakery. He served one year in Company K, Eleventh Rhode Island volunteers. Mrs. Lindsay was also born north of the Tweed. Their children are : Sarah A., Chris- tianna, Donald J., and Katie. Since 1877 Mr. Lindsay has car- ried on the bakery business here himself. Reverend Samuel K. Matteson was born in 1825. His father, Levi, was a son of Aaron and a grandson of Jonathan jMatteson. He has been a member of the Six Principle Baptist church for forty years or more, and an officer more than thirty years. He has been pastor of the Frenchtown church for the last twenty years. His wife deceased was a Spencer, and his second wife a Hopkins, a descendant of Theophilus Whaley. His first wife left two children, who are now living : Calvin Matteson and Maria (Mrs. Lorenzo Vaughn). Isaac D. Miner was born in 1842 in North Stonington, Conn. He was raised on the farm, and began the grocery business in his native town in 1875. In 1883 he came to East Greenwich, and succeeded P. F. Johnson in a grocery at the East Greenwich depot. He bought the building in 1885. He has two sons, Al- bert D. and John D. Albert D. is in the store ; John D. gradu- ated at East Greenwich Academy, and is now a student at the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn. A. C. Pierce, brother of Peleg F. Pierce, of North Kingstown, was born in North Kingstown in 1829. For thirty-five j-ears he was engaged at various mills. In 1865 he became a mill owner, rebuilding the Silver Spring mill in North Kingstown, which he operated until 1868. He came to East Greenwich in 1872, and became a general dealer in farm produce and farmers' supplies. The poultry business now owned by his sons, Mervin H. and William A., was begun by him in 1872. Pierce Brothers buy HISTORY or WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1313 live fowls, and dress for the Providence and Boston markets one- quarter to one and one-half tons per week. John Pitcher was born in 1818, and is a son of Andrew Pitcher, whose father, John, lived in the western part of East Green- wich. Mr. Pitcher is a thorough and successful farmer, and has a fine farm in Frenchtown. He has been a member of the town council. His wife was Elizabeth I. Greene, sister of Lauriston H. Greene, of this town. They have four daughters living : Car- rie (Mrs. Thomas W. Eldred), i^bbie (Mrs. George S. Spink), Annie (Mrs. Thomas H. Matteson) and Fannie (Mrs. George W. Parker). Jonathan Pitcher, a public man well known locally, was a brother of Andrew Pitcher above. Almon I. Place was born at the home of his father, Daniel W. Place, in East Greenwich, in 1849. He was trained at the farm and in the excellent schools which this town has always main- tained, and adopted agriculture as his business. He married Sarah A. Vaughn, a daughter of Andrew G. Vaughn, whose father, Lodowick Vaughn, was a son of the David Vaughn who built in 1752 the old ancestral home where Mr. and Mrs. Place now reside, in that part of East Greenwich called Shippeetown, in School District No. 3. Mr. Place is a member of the town committee on schools, a subject in which he is earnestly inter- ested. He has served three years in the town council, and acted as president of the council one year. Daniel W. Place, born in 1819, is a son of Arba J. Place, who died in 1840, and a grandson of Philip Place, who, after living in Exeter, bought a farm on the town line between Exeter and East Greenwich. Mr. Place has always been a farmer. His farm is in school district No. 4. He married Hannah R., daughter of Oliver Arnold. Their children are : Melissa E., Almon I. and Oscar E. John A. Place was born in 1819 on the farm he now owns. His father. Reverend William P. Place (1795-1866), was a minister of the old Six Principle Baptist church. The Reverend's father, was John, a son of Thomas Place, who once lived in Exeter. The farm of Mr. Place, in district No. 2, was formerly the home of Thomas Hall, whose grave is on this farm. Mr. Place married Ruth, a daughter of Slocum Godfrey. She died in 1856, leaving five children. Of these two are living, viz.: Josephine (now Mrs. Edward Fry of Providence) and Henry G. Place. One of .the deceased children was Sarah, wife of Mr. Whitford, whose 83 1314 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KEN'J' COUNTIES. daughter, Ella G., is a member of Mr. Place's family. Another of the deceased children of John A. Place, William P., left a son, Frank A. Place. The present Mrs. John A. Place is Clarissa, daughter of John W. Johnson. Thomas A. Reynolds' (William', Jabez\ Jabez', Francis', James') was born at North Kingstown in 1817. He has resided hpre over forty 3-ears. He was ten years in the livery business, and was at one time in the coal and grain trade. Since 1879 he has been engaged in life and fire insurance. The firm is now Tilley & Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds has been somewhat in politi- cal life, having been senator four years, town treasurer two years, and several times in the town council. David C. Potter was born in 1820 in Foster, R. I. He came to East Greenwich at twelve years of age, and learned the blacksmith's trade with Elisha Potter. From 1842 until Elisha Potter's death in 1853, they were partners as Elisha Potter & Co. Then for twenty years David C. Potter carried on the black- smith business in the same building where he had learned the trade and which he still owns. He was one year in the town council, and has been senator and representative as a republi- can. His wife is Sarah M. Tillinghast. Their children are : Frederick H. and Emma, now Mrs. George A. Fenner, of Web- ster, Mass. \ Christopher A. Shippee, farmer, of Exeter Hill, was born in 1840. His father was William W. Shippee, son of William, son of Caleb, son of Thomas A., son of Thomas, son of Samuel, who emigrated from Scotland or the north of England. Mr. Shippee married Rebecca, daughter of Benjamin Jones, whose father, Jenkins Jones, was a son of Josiah Jones. Their resi- dence in School District No. 4 was built in 1762 by one Silas Jones, an uncle of Josiah Jones. Lodowick C. Shippee was born in 1848. His father, still living, is Pardon V. Shippee, whose father, Allen, was a son of Caleb and a grandson of Thomas Shippee. He was trained to the farm, and at 20 years of age began learning carpentry. Since 1875 he has been operating as a contractor and builder at East Greenwich. With James Holland, as Holland & Shippee, he built the Henry P. Eldredge house and the Odd Fellows' hall, the Colonel Bodfish block and others. Since operating alone he has built several large structures here, including the carpenter's work on the Baptist church, and the Town Hall, and Fitts & HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1315 Co.'s block. His wife is a posthvimous daughter of John Smith, of North Kingstown, who in 1849 was lost at sea. Mr. and Mrs. Shippee have three sons and three daughters. Manser C. Shippee was born in 1818. His father, Lodowick U., was a son of Caleb Shippee. He worked at machine build- ing with his father, who was a machinist, and in 1 837 learned weaving and became a boss weaver, and worked as such some twenty years. He married Harriet Dawley, of Exeter. They have three sons and five daughters. Mr. Shippee is a member of the Six Principle Baptist church, and has been a long time superintendent of the Sabbath school. Wanton Shippee, born in 1827, is a brother of Manser above mentioned. He has been engaged in farming for the last twenty- five years. He has been a member of the town council several years. He married Zilpha B. Knight, granddaughter of Dr. Nathan Knight, of South Kingstown, R. I. Their only living child is Zilpha K.,now Mrs. S. Edwin Lillibridge. She has three children : Jesse, Maud and Bessie. Christopher A. Shippee, born in 1837, is a brother of Wanton and Manser C. His wife is Leonora F. J., daughter of Reverend Nicholas Johnson, a Baptist clergyman. Mr. Shippee was post- master at East Greenwich from 1871 to 1880, and was the next year deputy sheriff of Kent county, then trial justice. He has been justice of the peace twenty-five years, and is now tax col- lector for this town. He was on the first republican town com- mittee, and served twenty-one years, fourteen of which he was chairman. Oliver W. Slocum, born in South Kingstown, learned house carpentry, at which he worked some twenty-five years. For the last twenty years his business has been pattern making. Since 1870 he has been foreman for William A. Harris, of Providence, builder of Harris-Corliss steam engines. He represented East Greenwich in the legislature of 1887-88, as a democrat, and has been in the town council. Benjamin B. Spencer, carpenter and builder, was born in this town in 1826. His father, Caleb (1782—1871), was a son of Wilson Spencer, born 1762, and grandson of Wilson Spencer, born 1730, who in 1753 built the old Spencer homestead now standing on the middle road in this town. His father was Walter Spencer, born 1701, a son of Benjamin Spencer (1670—1723). This Ben- jamin was the third child of the Jbhn Spencer who is noticed 1316 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. elsewhere as the ancestor of Deacon Richard Spencer, of this town. That John was the nephew and heir of John Spencer who came from England March 24th, 1633, and died childless in Lon- don in 1648. i\Irs. Benjamin B. Spencer, deceased, was Mary A., sister of Daniel L. Briggs. Their only son is Leander B. Spencer, whose wife, Emma J., is a daughter of James E. Spencer. Piatt Rogers Spencer, author of the Spencerian system of penman- ship, is of the fifth generation from John Spencer, the ancestor of this family in America. Edward Stanhope,- of English extraction, born in Newport in 1811, came here in 1852 and opened a grocery store. In June, 1868, as a non-partisan, he was nominated by both parties and elected town clerk of East Greenwich, a position he still holds, having been re-elected each year. His wife, deceased, was a daughter of Stukely Wickes. ilr. Stanhope was vestryman in St. Luke's church here, in which he was several years secretary and treasurer. David Tarbox is of French descent. He was born here in 1808. He is of the seventh generation of the family who have lived in New England. His father was Joseph, son of Samuel, son of John, son of John, son of John, son of John Tarbox, who in 1639 was a resident of Lynn, Mass. John Tarbox, the grandson of the first John of Lynn, Mass., bought a farm in East Green- wich, including the place where Joseph J. Spencer now resides. Here this John Tarbox and several generations of his descend- ants lived, died and were buried in the family plot. David Tar- box, now living, married in 1833 Mary, daughter of William Spencer, who was a brother of Deacon Richard Spencer. Of their fourteen children three are living : Oliver C, Wealthy F. and Anna E. Joseph Tarbox, deceased, was born in 1816 and died in 1888. He was of the eighth generation of the Tarbox family in New Eng- land, being son of Matteson, son of David, son of Samuel, son of John, son of John, son of John, son of the John Tarbox who settled at Lynn, Mass., in 1639. Joseph Tarbox married in 1841 Phebe W. Bailey, whose father, George Bailey, was of the fifth generation of Baileys in New England, being a son of Robert, son of Jo- seph, son of Samuel, son of Hugh Bailey, who came from Eng- land about 1690. Joseph Tarbox (1816-1888) was a farmer. He owned and operated the granite quarries in West Greenwich, where his sons are now interested. This quarry yields the fine HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1317 light granite in general use in this part of Rhode Island and produced the major portion of the cut stone in the village of East Greenwich. Joseph Tarbox's descendants are : William H., Daniel, Ann M. (Mrs. Andrews), Charles A., Joseph M.andPhebe M. (Mrs. George C. Goodwin). Richard Thornley was born in 1843 in Lincoln, R. I., and came to East Greenwich in 1857. He began business as dealer in wool and cotton waste, buying new wool of the farmers. In 1879 he opened an office in Providence in the same business. He has been in town council one year, representative 1886-87, and was elect- .ed to the state senate in March, 1888. His wife is Alice M., daughter of Benjamin Crompton. Doctor Charles J. Thurston is a native of East Greenwich. His early days were spent in Western New York, where he learned dentistry. After practicing that art in Buffalo and Philadelphia, he returned to his native village in 1866 and continued work as a practical dentist until about ten years ago, since which time he has lived retired, devoting his leisure to such studies and inves- tigations as are most to his taste. Mumford D. Tillinghast was born in 1803 and died in 1876. His father was Job, a son of George. Mr. Tillinghast was prin- cipally a farmer, but with that he combined, in a profitable way, the purchase and slaughter of cattle. His farm where he lived and died is in the old Huguenot settlement in District No. 5 of East Greenwich. He married Clarissa, daughter of Henry Tib- bitts and she survives him. Their children are : Harriet N. (Mrs. Albert S. Reynolds), Caroline D. (Mrs. George W. Rey- nolds), Elizabeth (Mrs. Nathaniel S. Allen), John G., Henry M. (who was in the federal army in 1861-65), and Isabella G. (Mrs. Thomas Allen). Charles A. Vaughn was born here on the homestead he now owns. His father, Christopher C, was a son of Ebenezer and grandson of Christopher Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn lives a plain and rural life, and has had but little to do with public affairs. He, however, has acted on the school committee and as tax as- sessor. In 1866 he was married to Lydia E., daughter of Gardi- ner Spencer. They have a family, the eldest of whom, their daughter Margarette, is a teacher. Edward A. Vaughn, born in 1850, is a son of Arnold Vaughn', (Isaac^ Danier, Isaac^ John"). Arnold Vaughn was born in the town of Charlestown in 1819, and came here when seven years 1318 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. of age. John Vaughn settled in North Kingstown about 1700. His four sons were Caleb, Christopher, Robert and Isaac. The sons of Isaac were : John, Daniel, Aaron and Joshua. E. A. Vaughn is of the firm of A. Vaughn & Son. They began busi- ness in 1871 in a building now vacant, known as the Judge Til- linghast store, a place where the judge dispensed West India goods years ago. Mrs. Edward A. Vaughn was Elizabeth Allen. Their children are Berthia and Ethel. Stukely B. Wickes was born in 1830 in Warwick. His father, vStukely, was a son of Stukely, who was a son of Stukely. He began in 1857 as merchant tailor, when he succeeded Colonel William Bodfish. Mrs. Wickes was Sarah J. Aylesworth, a sis- ter of Lyman Aylesworth, of North Kingstown. Mr. Wickes is junior warden of St. Luke's church. George H. Wilcox was born in 1827 in West Greenwich. His father was Varnum Wilcox, and his grandfather was George Wilcox. He was educated as an engineer, and came to East Greenwich in 1850, was engineer in a mill three years, and ma- chinist seven years, and superintendent until October, 1884. The mill was at Wattawanock. Then the name was changed to "Bay Mill," then to Elizabeth Mill No. 2, by which it is now known. They have one daughter who is married and away. WEST GREENWICH. Nelson Andrews, son of John, and grandson of Timothy, was born in 1849 in West Greenwich. He is one of thirteen children. Mr. Andrews owns a large farm in the southeastern part of West Greenwich. He was a member of the general assembly in 1886, and has been a member of the town council four terms in suc- cession. He was married in 1871 to Phebe E., daughter of Jo- seph J. Spencer, and has one son, Leon D., born in 1872. Mr. Andrews is a republican and a member of Maple Root Baptist church. Moses P. Barber, born in 1841 in Exeter, is a son of Smitum P., and grandson of Peter B. Barber. His mother was Phebe Lewis. Mr. Barber was married in 1877 to Hannah G., daughter of Clark Barber. They have two children — John L. and Clif- ford T. Pardon T. Bates, son of John G., and grandson of John, whose father was John Bates, was born in 1818 in West Greenwich. His mother was Abbie (Tillinghast) Bates. She married for her second HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1319 husband Mr. Bowen. She was born in 1802, and was a daughter of Deacon Pardon Tillinghast. Mr. Bates is a farmer, occupying the homestead of his grandfather, John Bates. He built the house where he now lives in 1853. He has worked at rough stone work more or less for several years. He has been a deacon of the First Baptist church of West Greenwich for about thirty years. He was married in 1888 to Olive, daughter of Alexander Peck. They have two children living — John A. and Nellie B., now Mrs. Charles S. Browm. They have lost three— one that died in in- fancy, Helen M. and Pardon T., Jr. Deacon Pardon Tillinghast 's wife died in 1854, aged about 84 years. At her death it is said she had eleven children, sixty-seven grandchildren, and fifty- seven great-grandchildren living. Charles W. Brown, born in 1824 in Connecticut, is a son of John H., and grandson of Captain Nathan Brown. They are of the same family as the Browns of North Kingstown. Mr. Brown is a successful farmer at Escoheag Hill. He has also kept a dry goods and grocery store since 1878. He has been senator one year, assessor of taxes, and on the school committee. He was married in 1849 to Abigail E., daughter of Amasa Pratt. They have two children — Charles A. and Ellen M., now Mrs Caleb E. Macumber. Elisha Brown was born in 1817 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Solomon, whose father, Gideon, was a son of Caleb Brown. He is a farmer and stone mason. He has been in the town council several terms, and town sergeant about ten years. He was married in 1841 to Louise P., daughter of Jabez Capwell. They have had twelve children, seven of whom are now living. He is a democrat and a member of the Sharp Street Baptist church. John A. Brown, son of Seth and grandson of Seth, was born in 1835 in West Greenwich. Mr. Brown is a farmer, and has kept a grocery store since 1873. He lived in Connecticut about ten years prior to 1865. He has been a member of the town council several years, and was senator three years in succession. He was married in 1853 to Lucinda Matteson. They have one son, Frank J. Mr. Brown was in the rebellion about thirty-five months in Company F, Eighteenth Regiment Connecticut Vol- unteers. Charles Capwell, son of Charles and grandson of Randall Capwell, was born in 1826 in West Greenwich. His mother was 1320 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Phebe, daughter of Brayton Austin. Mr. Capwell worked at the trade of carpenter from the age of eighteen until he was fifty years old. Since then he has been a farmer, and owns about 400 acres. He has been senator two terms, in the general as- sembly one term, in the town council two years and collector of taxes four years, as a republican. He is a member of Man- chester Lodge, No. 12, A. F. & A. M. He was married in 1852 to Abbie L., daughter of Stukely H. Weaver. They have had three children : Evangeline E., who died aged eighteen years ; John H. and Emily I., now wife of Joseph A. Tillinghast, who was born in Tolland, Conn., in 1859. He is a son of Reverend Joseph A. Tillinghast. He has taught thirteen terms of school. He finished his education at Eastman's Business College, Pough- keepsie, N. Y. He was married in 1880. He and his wife are members of the Free Will Baptist church of West Greenwich. jNIr. and Mrs. Capwell are members of the same church. Charles F. Carpenter, born in 1827 in Coventry, is a son of Job S.° (Cyrir, Cyrir, Comfort\ Josiah', William^, William^ William'). William Carpenter' came from England at an early day, with his son and grandson, William. They settled in Rehoboth, Mass., about 1644. Cyril, Jr., was the first of the family to settle in Kent county, locating in Coventry, near Rice City. Charles F. attended Plain field Academy and Smithville Seminary, where he finished his education. He is a farmer. He has been one of the school committee several years and a member of the town council a number of times, acting as chairman a part of the time. He was married in 1853 to x\mandaT., daughter of Henry John- son. They have three children : Eveline F., now Mrs. Halsey Tillinghast, of Coventry; Bertha, and Job S., who is a graduate of Eastman's Business College, of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. Mr. Carpenter and his son are prohibitionists. Joseph S. R. Carpenter was born in 1840 in West Greenwich. He is a son of John W. and grandson of Christopher, whose father, John, was a son of Christopher Carpenter. Mr. Carpenter is a farmer, and lives on the old Carpenter homestead. He was married in 1860 to Mary A. Gorton. They have eleven children : Clemenza A., now jSIrs. Daniel F. Cahoon ; John U., Joseph L, Hattie, George W., Christopher C, Charlotte L., Frank G., Celia M., Robert T. and Alice C. Willis A. Carr, born in 1832 in West Greenwich, is a son of Nathan and grandson of Jesse, whose father was Caleb Carr. Mr. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1321 Carr has kept a store at Nooseneck Hill since 1885, and is the present postmaster. His father kept a store here several years during his life. He was married in 1880 to Ann M., daughter of John T. Lewis. Dexter B. Frye was born in 1838 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Benjamin, whose father, Joseph, was a son of Thomas Frye. Mr. Frye is a farmer, and lives on the farm that his uncle, Samuel Frye, formerly owned. The latter was a cooper by trade, and spent several years of his life at whale fishing, visiting the West Indies several times. He died about 1863. Mr. Frye was married in 1865, and has one daughter, Mary L., now Mrs. Hor- ace B. Matteson. They had one son, Charles D., who died aged thirteen years. John W. Howard, son of Ephraim and grandson of Captain John Howard, was born in 1836 in West Greenwich. He has been a member of the town council four years. He was married in 1859 to Elizabeth M. Wood, who died in 1884, leaving four children : Anna E., Frank W., Walter E. and Clarinda. He was married again in 1887 to Hannah E., daughter of William C. Sweet and granddaughter of Reverend Pentecost Sweet. She graduated from the Boston Training School for Nurses in 1880 and practiced until her marriage in 1887. Pentecost Sweet was in the war of 1812. He was married in Rhode Island to Eliza Fairman. They removed to Pennsylvania about 1819, where they spent the rest of their lives. Benjamin W. Kettelle, born in 1834 in West Greenwich, is a son of Sfimuel, whose father Silas was a son of Edward Kettelle. His mother was a Spencer and his grandmother was Margaret Tarbox of East Greenwich. Mr. Kettelle is a farmer living on the homestead of his father near Carr's pond, in the eastern part of the town. He has taught school. He pays some attention to the raising of fruit. He has been a member of the town coun- cil, and one of the board of assessors six years. He was married in 1860 to Mary A. Spencer of East Greenwich, daughter of Ben- jamin Spencer. They have eight children : Samuel, S. Grant, Minnie I., Geneva B., Louis G., Benjamin E. and Mary E., twins, and one that died in infancy. Samuel Kettelle, oldest son of Benjamin W., was born in 1861 in West Greenwich. Pie is collector of taxes and road surveyor. He was married in 1882 to Phebe, daughter of William H., granddaughter of Simon and great-granddaughter of Amos Reynolds. 1322 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Dorcas W. Matteson is a daughter of Benoni, son of David, son of David, son of Josiah Matteson. Her mother was Alice, daughter of Colonel Edward Barber, of Hopkinton. Her grand- mother, Edward Barber's wife, was Phebe (Tillinghast) Barber, daughter of Thomas Tillinghast, a descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast. Miss Matteson lives with her father, Benoni, on the farm where her great-great-grandfather, Josiah, first settled. Benoni Matteson was born in 1798 in West Greenwich. He was married in 1829 to Alice Barber, who was born in 1807. They have three daughters : Phebe, who married William Tanner, who died in the war of the rebellion ; Eunice, now Mrs. R. L. Waite, of Providence, and Dorcas W. James Rathbun, son of Robert and grandson of John, was born in 1847 in East Greenwich. He lived in East Greenwich until about 1870, then in Coventry about sixteen years, and has lived in West Greenwich two years. He owns about four hun- dred acres of land. He was married in 1869 to Melissa D. Cap- well. Their children are : Elmer J., James E., Frank E.. and Fred. B. John W. Rathbun, born in 1851 in North Kingstown, is a son. of John A'. (Nathan Dl, John', John', Samuel', Thomas", John"). John Rathbun' settled at Block Island near the middle of the seventeenth century. Mr. Rathbun is a farmer, and has taught school about twenty terms. He bought a farm on the Pike road- near the Exeter line in 1883, where he now resides. He has been a member of the school committee six years, school super- intendent four years, and trial justice four years. He was mar- ried in 1874 to Lydia F., daughter of AVilliam Palmer. They have three children. Andrew B. vStone, son of Charles A. and grandson of Charles Stone, was born in 1889 in Exeter. He is a farmer in the west- ern part of the town, where he has lived several years. He was married in 1873 to Ellen A., daughter of Daniel H. Park, of Con- necticut. They have two children : Frank E. and Edna E. Edward A. Tarbox, son of Fones W., and grandson of Joseph Tarbox, was born in 1838 in West Greenwich. He is a farmer, occupying the homestead of his father and grandfather. The house where he lives was built by Joseph Tarbox in 1815. Mr. Tarbox was married in 1871 to Susan Cleveland. They have two children — Alphonso and Bertha. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1323- Horace Tarbox, son of Fones W , was born in 1830 in West Greenwich. He has been a mill operative, has worked at the jeweler's trade some, and has been a farmer in Warwick. He now owns a farm in Exeter. He was married in 1850 to Adaline A. :\Iitchell. She died in 1885. They have lost six children r Evangeline E., Louisa A., Job, Nelson, Horace, Jr., and Hassam. There are four living: Adaline A., Benjamin, Hulda T. and Ella M. Benjamin Tillinghast, born in 1817, is a son of Judge Benja- min, grandson of Captain John, and great-grandson of Thomas^ whose father, John, is supposed to have been a son of Philip^ who was a son of Elder Pardon Tillinghast. Mr. Tillinghast has taught school some thirty terms. He has been a farmer for sev- eral years, and has been postmaster at Escoheag since Novem- ber, 1868. He has been a member of the town council four years in succession and assessor of taxes. He was married in 1841 to Mary Lewis. They have two children — Francis A., a physician, and Agnes, who is now Mrs. Charles E. Hutchinson. L. A. Tillinghast was born at the Ladd farm in West Green- wich in 1848. In 1851 his father Daniel Tillinghast bought the Silas Waite place, which L. A. Tillinghast now owns. He has purchased adjoining lands and now has a country seat m West Greenwich of 800 acres, where he is making elaborate improve- ments. He went to Providence in 1868 and since 1874 has car- ried on an extensive business as confectioner and caterer at 231 Westminster street. Providence, R. I. COVENTRY. James Abbott, born in 1828, is a son of Christopher O., whose father Olney was a son of Pardon Abbott. He has been a farmer the most of his life, and bought the farm where he now lives of Sheffield Waite ia 1870. He was married in 1870. Curnel H. Andrew, born in Coventry in 1843, is a son of Per- ry, whose father Stephen, was a son of Timothy Andrew. Mr. Andrew was a farmer. He was police and town constable and overseer of the poor in West Greenwich. He was married in 1862 to Ann Maria Wilcox. She died in 1886 and he was mar- ried in 1887 to Lydia Greene. He is a member of the Maple Root Baptist church and a member of Anthony Lodge, No. 21,. I. O. of O. F. 1324 -HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Josiah Andrews, born in 1832 in Coventry, is a son of Holden, whose father was George Andrews. He was married in 1857 to Caroline F., daughter of Job Gorton. He is a member of the Christian church and a member of the Summit Grange, No. 15, P. of H. Edwin L. Anthony was born in 1842 at Coventry. John An- thony came from England to this country about 1646. The line of descent to Edwin L. is through Abraham, "William, James, Daniel, Jabez, and William H., who was the father of Edwin L. In the early part of the present century Jabez Anthony bought a mill site and ran a cotton mill several years ; then his son, William H., succeeded him and took out the cotton machinery and put up a rope walk about 1848, and since that time the business has been making cotton band rope. They buy the yarn and convert it into rope. Edwin L. worked with his father until his death in 1876, and has since continued the busi- ness alone. He was married to Mary E. Sears. They have one daughter, ]Myra. Leonard Apes was born in 1829 in Connecticut. His father and grandfather were both named William. Mr. Apes made whale fishing his business from the age of 14 until he was 40 years old. He was at first cabin boy and worked his way up to captain of the ship. He came to Quidnick in 1870 and built the house that he now occupies in 1872. He was married in 1873 to Maggie McMillen, who was born in Scotland and came to this country in infancy. He has one daughter 10 years old by his present wife, and one son 32 years old by a former marriage. Sylvester H. Arnold was born in 1831 in the town of Warwick. He is a son of George H. and grandson of John Arnold. He was married in 1855 to Marj- E., daughter of George W King. Mr. Arnold's mother is a daughter of x\nna j\Iatthewson, who is now living in this town, near Bowen's Hill, at the advanced age of 95 years. Her husband died a few years since, aged 94 years. Benjamin Ash was born in 1824 in Canada, and is of French descent. He has lived in Rhode Island about twenty-four years, and has kept a livery stable about five j-ears. He was married in 1844 in Canada, and has three children : ^Nlary, Lewis and Paul. The latter is married and has a son, Walter. Randall R. Bates, born in 1827 in Coventry, is a son of EzraD. and grandson of AVilliam Bates. He is a farmer living on the HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1325 homestead of his father. He was married in 1853 to Anna, daughter of Elder James Burlingame. They have two children, Willis C. and Lulu A. Mr. and Mrs. Bates are members of the Christian church at Rice City. Samuel D. Bowen, son of Isaac, was born in 1846 in Coventry. He is a farmer and lives on the old Bowen homestead in the house where one of his ancestors entertained General George Wash- ington over night during the revolutionary war. This house was built by Nathan Bowen. Mr. Bowen was married in 1867 to Emily Gallup, daughter of Amos Gallup, of Connecticut, who is a son of David Gallup. They have three children. Mr. Bowen is a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. & A. M. Susan K. Bowen was born in 1838 in Coventry. She is a daughter of James G., son of John, son of Israel, son of Aaron Bowen, who was the first of the family to settle in this town. Susan K. lives on the farm and in the house that was built by Israel for John Bowen, where he married in 1792. At the death of James G., in 1874, Susan K. took charge of the large farm, and since that time has run it. James G. was town moderator several years and was a member of the general assembly. He was married in 1834 to Eliza, daughter of Amos Kimball. They had two daughters, Maria E.,who died in 1858, aged twenty-two, and Susan K. Ulysses G. Bowen, born in 1857 in Coventry, is the youngest of the five children of Edmund P., son of Thomas and grand- son of Asaph, whose father was Aaron, son of Aaron Bowen, who came from Tiverton, R. I., to Bowen's hill in 1740. Mr. Bowen has been clerk for Byron Read since March, 1878. He was married in 1877 to Phebe R. Card, who is a daughter of Jon- athan, who died in the late war. Douglas F. Briggs, born in 1818 in Coventry, is a son of Olney and grandson of Jonathan Briggs. He worked in different fac- tories about twenty years, and has since been a farmer. He was married in 1875 to Ann Capwell. He has been member of the Rice City Christian church since 1835, and is a republican. George B. Briggs, born at 1839 at West Greenwich, is a son of Gorton A. and grandson of Burton Briggs. He came to Coventry with his parents at the age of one year. He has worked for the Anthonys in the cotton rope works about twenty-five years. He was married in 1862 to Phebe A., daughter of Gideon Hopkins, 1326 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. and has one son, Charles R. He is a member of the Maple Root church. John Brown, born in 1845 in AVest Greenwich, is a son of George W. and grandson of Solomon Brown. He has been a blacksmith about twenty years, and has had a shop in Hopkins' Hollow about eighteen years. He has also done wagon repair- ing about twelve years. He was married in 1868 to Hannah F., daughter of Wanton Matteson, whose father is Thomas Matte- son. Their children are Willie H. and Frederick J. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Christian church. Solomon A. Brown, born in 1833 in Coventry, is a son of Peleg, whose father was Solomon Brown. His mother, Rachel Cornell, died in 1868. Mr. Brown is a farmer, and occupies the home- stead of his father. He was married in 1857toAbbie Jones, who ■died in 1883, leaving four children: Byron B., Nellie A. (Mrs. Bradford W. Scott, Jr.), Aldrich S. and Phebe A., who died aged twelve years. Mr. Brown was married again in 1886 to j\lary S. Dowd. He is a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F.and A. M., and of Summit Grange, No. 15, P. of H. Andrew Burlingame was born in Coventry in 1838. He is a son of Henry and grandson of Benjamin, whose father, Stephen, was a son of Ballanstone, who came from England about 1740, and built the house in 1745 where five generations of the family have lived. Andrew occupied the old house until 1880, when he built a new one. The farm where Andrew lives has never been ■deeded since Ballanstone took his deed from the English author- ities. Mr. Burlingame was married in 1858 to Martha, daughter •of Otis Angell. They have one son, Charles Henry, who is mar- ried and lives at home. Benjamin Burlingame was born in 1820 in Coventry. His father Samuel, was a son of Benjamin, whose father Daniel Bur- lingame once owned a part of the land where the ore beds are, Cranston, R. I. Mr. Burlingame is a painter by trade. He was -deputy sheriff about three years and town sergeant at one time. He was married in 1842 to Sarah E., daughter of David Salisbury. Henry Burlingame, born in 1823 in Cranston, is a son of Owen, whose father Stephen was a son of Caleb Burlingame. Mr. Bur- lingame has been in the hotel business thirty years and drove a stage thirteen years. He is a farmer now. He was married in 1858 to Mary E. Sheldon, who died three weeks later. He was married again in 1864 to Eliza, daughter of John A. Spencer. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1327 Charles Capwell, born in 1849 in Coventry, is a son of Randall, whose father Esek, was a son of James CapAvell. Mr. Capwell lived in Providence and worked at the stable business twelve years and at present works at farming. He was married in 1885 to Mary E., daughter of Nelson and Huldah Walling. Mr. Cap- well is a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. & A. M. David O. Capwell, born in 1838 in Coventry, is a son of Henry J., whose father was Randall Capwell. Mr. Capwell is a thrifty farmer and lives on the homestead of his grandfather. He was married in 1867 to Mary A., daughter of Daniel L. Briggs, and lias two children, William B. and Mary E. Perry G. Carr (deceased), son of William S. Carr, was born in 1828 in Exeter. He was a blacksmith by trade and worked in Anthony about thirty-eight years. He was married in 1863 to Eliza, daughter of John Nason. They have one son. William Chace is a son of Russel and grandson of Abram Chace, who died in 1795. When but seven years of age, William began working in a mill and made mill-work his business until 1853, when he retired. Since 1885 he has had charge of the tenements and outside property for O. C. Wilbur's estate. Leonard T. Colvin was born in Scituate in 1853. His father, William R. Colvin, was born in 1815 and was married in 1836 to Chloe Matteson. He died in 1886. He was a son of Moses and he a son of Benoni Colvin. Leonard T. is unmarried and lives with his mother on the homestead farm of William R- Colvin. Lewis B. Colvin, born in Coventry in 1857, is a son of Henry B. Colvin who was born in 1822, married in 1846 Almira W. Knight, and died in 1877. Mr. Colvin is a farmer and lives on the homestead of his father. He was married in 1882 to Lillie F., daughter of Henry Andrews. They have two children : Bertha A. and Lena M. Burrill H. Comstock was born in 1851 in Coventry. He is a son of Cyrus, whose father, Jowel, was a son of Jonathan Com- stock, who came from England. Mr. Comstock built a saw mill in 1887 near Coventry Centre; he deals in lumber, ties and wood. He was married in 1873. Abel Cornell, born in 1820 in Coventry, is a son of Dutee. He is a farmer and very pleasantly situated between Washington and Coventry Centre. He was married in 1848, and his wife died in 1871, leaving one son, Henry D. 1328 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Albert H. Cornell, born in 1836 in Coventry, is a son of John J., and grandson of Benjamin Cornell. Mr. Cornell is a wheel- wright by trade. He was in the war of the rebellion three years as wheelwright in Company B, First Rhode Island light artil- lery. He has worked at carpentry some. He worked on repairs for the Peckham Manufacturing Company two years. In June, 1884, he took the store at Summit, succeeding Giles M. Nichols. He was married in 1856 to Lucy J. Brand, and has four children : John J., who was married in 1879 to Mary E. Tillinghast ; Albert H., Ella F., now Mrs. Henry W. Congdon ; and Jane A., who died aged 6 years. Mr. Cornell is a member of Hope Lodge, No. 4, I. O. of O. F., and a member of the Summit Grange, No. 15, Pa- trons of Husbandry. Charles W. Cornell, born in 1841 in Coventry, is a son of Ira, whose father was Captain Benjamin Cornell. Mr. Cornell has been boss farmer for the Quidnick Company two years, and for the Greene Manufacturing Company of River Point three years. He was in the civil war three years, in Company D, Fourth Rhode Island Battery, and aboard a man of war two years. He was married in 1866 to Sarah Matteson, and has one son — Her- bert E. Mr. Cornell is a member of Washington Lodge, No. 11, I. O. of O. F. William P. Cruff was born in 1847 in Coventry. His father. Henry A. Cruff, was a son of Thomas Cruff. ilr. Cruff has worked for Byron Read since 1872, making coffins and repairing furniture. He was a house carpenter three years prior to 1872. He was married in 1865 to Mercelia, daughter of Thomas Wat- son. He is a member of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, I. O. of O. F. Cushing & Gerard established a partnership and began busi- ness in August, 1882, in the market part of the Qtiidnick store. In 1884 they built a small store where they are now located, aud in 1886 and 1887 they enlarged the building. They deal in dry goods, groceries, clothing, furniture and house furnishing goods, stoves, crockery, hay, coal and wood. Samuel J. Gerard was born at Crompton in 1856, and was married in 1877 to Etta V- Cushing. She died in 1884, and he was married again in 1886 to Lelia Matteson. He is a member of Manchester Lodge,. No. 12, A. F. and A. M. Joseph H. Cushing was born in 1851, and was married in 1881 to Anna E. Reynolds. Thomas G. Dorrance was born in 1827 at Foster, R. I. He is a son of George, whose father, Michael, was a son of James Dor- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1329 ranee, who came from Ireland about 1720. Mr. Dorrance is a machinist by trade. He worked for the Lanphear Machine Com- pany of Phenix twenty years, and afterward for the Colvin Ma- chine Company about six years. He has been station agent at Anthony about fourteen years. He was married in 1852 to Sa- rah W. Tarbox. She died in 1859, and he was again married in 1860 to Lamira D. Potter, who died in 1884. He was married in 1884 to Leonora L. Young. He has one son — George R. Mr. Dor- rance is a member of Warwick Lodge, No. 16, A. F. and A. M., of Landmark Royal Arch Chapter of Phenix, and of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, L O. of O. F. He is a member of the Quidnick Baptist church. Elbridge G. Fairbank was born in 1825, and was married in 1867 to Emma A., daughter of Nathan Mathewson. She was born in 1835, and was a teacher before her marriage. She has taught twenty-one terms. Mr. Fairbank kept a store near Rice City about forty-five years prior to- his death. He died in 1881, leaving a widow and one daughter, Emma G., who graduated in June, 1888, from the Friends' School of Providence. John Fiske, born in 1837 in Coventry, is a son of Isaac, whose father was Daniel Fiske. Mr. Fiske is a carriage maker by trade, and worked at the trade eight years. vSince the war he has been a top roller coverer for cotton mills. He has worked for the Coventry Company about twenty-three years. He was married in 1863 to Phebe A. Hopkins. Mr. Fiske was in the war of the rebellion from August, 1861, to August, 1863, in Company C, First Rhode Island light artillery. He received a wound at Malvern Hill which caused the loss of a leg. He is a member of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, I. O. O. F. Patrick Fitzpatrick was born in Ireland. He first came to Connecticut, then removed to Poughkeepsie. He has resided here about thirty years. He kept the Nipmunk station nine years before it was discontinued. Since that time he has been a farmer. Mr, Fitzpatrick has been married three times. He was married the last time in January, 1888. Horace N. Foster was born in 1886 in Scituate, and is a house carpenter and machinist by trade. He built the new Quidnick Baptist church. He has been town sealer two years and is a re- publican. He was married in 1858 to Sybil W. Read, sister of Byron Read. They have one daughter, Ora Jane. 84 3330 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. James Franklin, born in 1798 in Coventry, is a son of .Samuel Franklin. He now lives with his son James, Jr. He has had a family of eight children, five of whom are living. James, Jr., was married in 1865 to Eliza J., daughter of Henry Walker. John A. Franklin, born in Coventry in 1805, is a son of Jona- than and grandson of John Franklin. He has been a farmer for forty years. He was a mill operative in his younger days. He was married in 1830 to Louisa Knight, who died in 1875. In politics he is a republican. Stephen H. Franklin, born in 1854 in Coventry, is a son of Horace C. and grandson of James, who was a son of Samuel Franklin. Mr. Franklin is a farmer and occupies what is known as the Alfred O. Matteson farm. Mr. Matteson was a farmer here for many years. He began a poor boy and when he died he had 800 acres of land besides considerable other property. Mr. Franklin was married in 1877 to Sarah H., only daughter of Alfred O. Matteson. They have had three sons : Wilbur O., who died in infancy ; Walter and Arthur. Mr. Franklin and his wife keep a little store which was begun by Mr. Matteson about four years ago and at his death in February, 1888, Mrs. Franklin as- sumed control of it. Mr. Franklin is a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. & A. M., and a member of the Summit Baptist church. Daniel H. Freeman, son of Ira and grandson of Daniel Free- man, was born in 1823 in Coventry. He lived in Connecticut twenty-eight years. He is one of seven children. He had three brothers in the war of the rebellion. The youngest brother was killed. Mr. Freeman was married in 1849 to Emily S., daughter of Nathaniel Robinson. He is a member of Manchester Lodge, No. 12, A. F and A. M. He is also a member of Anthony Lodge, No. 21, I. O. of O. F. He is a member of the Baptist church of Sterling, Connecticut. Albert W. Goff was born in 1841 in Coventry. He is a son of Raymond P. Goff, whose father Daniel C, was a son of William, whose father Nathan was two generations from AVilliam or Ma- jor-General Goff, who came from England to Rhode Island about 1679. His mother is a descendant of the Whaley that came from England with William Goff. Raymond P. Goff and Ellen his wife have had three children — two boys and one girl. One son, Amasa R., was in the war of the rebellion in Battery F, First Rhode Island Light Artillery. He died in Richmond, Va., HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1331 in 1865. The daughter, who was Mrs. John G. Peckham, died aged 23 years. Jason T. Gorton was born in 1841 in West Greenwich. His father Benjamin T., was a son of Tillinghast Gorton, whose father William Gorton, married a daughter of Benjamin Tilling- hast and granddaughter of Pardon. Pardon's father, John, was grandson of Pardon Tillinghast, who came to this country and settled in Providence, R. I. Mr. Gorton has been station agent at Coventry fifteen years and at Summit one year. Prior to that he taught school about ten winters. He was married in 1868 to Anna L,, daughter of Charles Andrews, whose father was James. Her mother was Hannah, daughter of Reuben Tillinghast, whose father Stephen, was a son of Stukely, and grandson of Pardon, who was a grandson of Pardon Tillinghast who settled in Providence, R. I. Mr. and Mrs. Gorton have five children : Mabel H., Charles T., Frank R., H. Maud and Loraina A. Cyril Greene was born in 1818 in Coventry. He is a son of Whipple, whose father Henry was a son of John Greene. Mr. Greene has lived on the farm he now occupies about twenty- eight years. He was married in 1840 to Louisa, daughter of Warren Greene. Their children are : Clark, John, Cyril, Olive M. and Eunice, now Mrs. Edwin Littlefield. Job W. Greene was born in 1826 in Coventry. He is a son of Reuben, whose father James was a son of Isaac, who was a son of James and grandson of Wardwell Greene. Mr. Greene has been a farmer the most of his life. He was married in 1854 to Louisa, .daughter of Horace, who is brother of Reuben and son of James Greene as above. Leonard D. Greene, son of Oliver and grandson of James Greene, was born in 1846 in Coventry. His mother was Clara King. He is a farmer and occupies the homestead of Oliver Greene. He was married in 1865 to Mary E., daughter of Ste- phen P. and Betsey (Winters) Bowen. They have three chil- dren: Elwin S., Clara M. and Leonard D., Jr. They have lost three: Estella B., Mary E. and Robin Roy. Warren M. Greene was born in 1861 in Coventry. He is a son of James H., whose father, Reuben, was a son of James Greene. Warren M.'s grandmother was of the Whaley family, a sister of Reuben Whaley, who is four generations removed from the his- toric Theophilus Whaley. Mr. Greene has taught school about eight years. He is town sealer and state sealer, also town aud- 1332 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. itor. He is the postmaster at Coventry Centre, Israel Whaley being his deputy. He was married in 1885 to Anna P., daughter of Clark Tillinghast, Sr. She is a direct descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast. William D. Greene was born in 1820 in Coventry. He is a son of Spicer, whose father, Henry, was a son of John Greene. Mr. Greene has been an operative in cotton mills about forty-eight years. He is a farmer now. He was married in 1839 to Rhoda Bennett, who died in 1854, leaving four children : William R., Duty S., Mary Ann and Matilda. He was married again in 1855 to Sarah E. Pearce. She has had three children : Abbie E., Amanda and Frederick J. Emory A. Hall was born in 1831 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Freeborn and grandson of Thomas, whose father was David Hall. He has been a member of the town council three years and assessor of taxes one year. He was married in 1853 to Sarah, daughter of Fones W. Tarbox. They have five children : Ben- jamin F., Charles A., Remus, Mary J. (Mrs. E. W. Moor) and Hannah A. (Mrs. H. A. Hopkins). Mr. Hall is a member of Summit Grange, No. 15, P. of H. Job W. Harrington was born in West Greenwich in 1842. He is a son of Whitman and grandson of Job, whose father, Job, came from England and settled in Exeter, R. I. Mr. Harring- ton is the youngest of seven children. He was a farmer until 1883, when he succeeded William Stone in the store where he now is. He keeps a general grocery store, and deals in hay, grain and feed. At one time he paid some attention to short wood and shingles. He owns a grist mill here that he bought of Mr. Moon. He was married in 1860, and his wife died in 1875, leaving four children : Orville F., Antha J., Bernard A. and William H. He was again married in 1879 to Evangeline E., daughter of Dudley Hall. They have three children : Irving F., Job A. and Frank R. At West Greenwich he was in the town council and overseer of the poor. He is a member of Maple Root church. Joseph Hart, son of David and grandson of Joseph Hart, was born in 1811 in Cranston. He is a farmer, and has lived in Coventry since 1844. He has a farm of two hundred acres of land on the railroad, between Summit and Greene stations. Mr. Hart was married in 1835 to Abbie, daughter of Olney Briggs. She died in 1884. He is a republican and a member of Rice City Christian church. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1333 Curnel O. Havens, son of Silas, was born in Coventry in 1808. He has been a farmer, and lias lived at Coventry Centre about forty-eight years. He was married in 1843 to Laura, daughter of Nathan Relph. Their children are : Asena M. F, who died aged twenty-seven years ; Silas B. and Lucy A. Sheffield W. Havens, son of Silas, was born in 1819 in Cov- entry. He has been a farmer, but has retired from active life on account of ill health. He was married in 1844 to Sally Austin, who was born in 1819 at West Greenwich. She died in 1885. John Higgins, born in 1808, is a son of Joseph Higgins, who was born in England and was killed at the Lyman factory, in the town of Providence, in 1810. John Higgins began his career as a mill man at the age of ten years. During his life he has been connected with several mills in this state as owner, and once in Massachusetts several years. In June, 1880, he with Mr. Tisdale, of North Kingstown, bought the Chace mill here, which they ran until it burned in July, 1882. Since that time he has lived retired. Mr. Higgins has been a member of the general assembly one term. He was married in 1825 to Lydia Arnold. Their children are : Lydia, John H. and Mary, now Mrs. Levi Chace. Mr. Higgins, now 80 years old, is very genial and is highly respected. James H. Hill, born in 1854 in Providence, is a son of James, whose father was Allen Hill. James and James H. Hill in 1877 established a business here of varnishing zinc for shoestring tags. James H. lived here from 1874 until the death of his father, in 1883. He then removed to Providence, where he is engaged in shoestring manufacturing. He spends a part of the summer here with his family. The Hill farm has been in the family about thirty years. Joseph T. Hopkins, son of George P. and grandson of Elisha Hopkins, was born in Coventry in 1824. He was married in 1851 to Harriet M. Greene, who died in 1876, leaving nine chil- dren. He was married again in 1882 to Susan A. Tanner. Norris Hopkins, born in Coventry in 1825, is a son of Elisha and grandson of Elisha Hopkins. He is a farmer and has occu- pied the farm where he now is about twenty-one years. He was married in 1848 to Roby B., daughter of Thomas B. Bowen, and has three sons and three daughters. Mr. Hopkins has been a member of the Six Principle Baptist church about forty-five years. 1334 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Dr. Prosper K. Hutchinson was born in 1817. He graduated first at Amherst, then at Yale College. He practiced medi- cine at Rice City about twenty-five years. He was surgeon dur- ing the rebellion for six months in the Twelfth Regiment Rhode Island volunteers. He died in 1872. He was married to Jane A., daughter of Jeremiah McGregor and granddaughter of John McGregor, who served seven years in the revolution. She was born in 1817. Philip Johnson was born in Ohio in 1822. He is a son of Philip, whose father, Ezekiel, was a son of Ezekiel. He was married in 1849, and his wife died in 1866. He was married again in 1867 to Phebe Payne. He has five children by his first marriage: Hattie P., Philip R., Tryphena H., Edna P. and Pa- tience J., and one daughter by his second marriage, Zilpha W. William H. Jordan, born in 1840 in Coventry, is a son of John, whose father, Edmund, was a son of Edmund Jordan. Mr. Jor- dan owns and occupies the old homestead of the Jordans, which has been in the family for four generations. He has been in the cabinet department of the Household Sewing Machine Com- pany of Providence most of the time for several years. He was in the war of the rebellion about three years, in Company K, Seventh Rhode Island volunteers. He was married in 1864 to Sophia A. Harrington. They have three children : Sarah M., now Mrs. E. F. Watson ; Hattie V., who died aged six years; and Willie E. Mr. Jordan is a member of Rockland Christian church, a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. and A. M., and of An- thony Lodge, No. 21, I. O. of O. F. Allen E. Keach, son of George Keach, was born in 1823 in Coventry. He has been overseer in cotton mills about twenty years, and has been mill operative and watchman several years. He married Rebecca, daughter of William Bowen. They have eight children : Sarah F., Romeo, Almoran (deceased), Emma, Varnum, Ella, Charles D., and one that died in infancy. Albert Knight was born in 1834 in West Greenwich. His father. Welcome Knight, was born in 1805 in West Greenwich, and was a son of Nathan Knight. Mr. Knight has been super- intendent of mills about thirty years in different places. He has been with the Quidnick Company since October, 1885. He was married in 1853 to Harriet W. Congdon, daughter of Stephen Congdon. They have three sons: Albert Franklin, Edward Irving, and Walter Blake. Mr. Knight is a member of St. Al- bans Lodge, No. 6, A. F. and A. M. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1335 Clark Knight, born in 1829 in Coventry, is a son of Wheator, wliose father, Clark, was a son of Jonathan Knight. He is a farmer and lives on the homestead of his grandfather, Clark Knight. He was married in 18.'56 to Barbara W., daughter of Reuben Greene. They have two children— Sarah E., now Mrs. Byron B. Brown, and Wheaton A., who died in infancy. Joshua M. Knight, born in 1833 in Coventry, is a son of Wheaton Knight. He is a farmer. He has been collector and assessor of taxes. He was married in 1862 to Lucy A. Blanch- ard. They have one son, David M., who was married in 1887 to Ida Jocoy, and one daughter, Beulah D. Mr. Knight and his son are democrats. Thomas Manchester was born in 1846 at Anthony. His father, John W., was a son of Joseph and grandson of Joseph, whose father, Matthew Manchester, was born in Tiverton, R. I., in 1720. His mother is Rebecca W. Manchester. She is a sister of Byron Read and a daughter of Henry Read. She had five children, three of whom are now living. Mr. Manchester and his brother Job carry on the business of farming on the old homestead in partnership. They run a milk and ice cart in Washington, An- thony and Quidnick. Thomas Manchester was married in 1866 to Susan Matteson, daughter of Ezra, who was a son of Rufus, he a son of Obadiah and grandson of Jonathan Matteson. Ezekiel P. Mathewson, born in 1821, is a son of Wilbur, whose father, Russell, was a son of Josiah Mathewson. Mr. Mathew- son is a farmer. He was married in 1843 to Harriet Bennett. They have six children living : Amanda M. (Mrs. Albert H. Bentley), Harriet (Mrs. Simeon S. Webster), George W., Daniel W., John F. and Charles H. They have lost three : Mary M., Olive Emeline and Eddie. Henry Matteson was born in 1813 and died in 1880. He was married in 1833 to Almira Arnold, who survives him. She is a daughter of Thomas G. Arnold, son of Benjamin, son of Benja- min, son of Philip Arnold. Thomas G. Arnold built the house where Mrs. Matteson now lives. He owned and operated tbe acid works which were situated near the dwelling, from 1836 until his death in 1861. Afterward Mr. Matteson carried on the business one year. He was a machinist by trade. Mr. and Mrs. Matteson have had four children : Eliza E. (Mrs. Henry D. Spen- cer), Emeline (Mrs. Amos Fuller), Albert H. and one who died in infancy. 1336 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Asahel Matteson, son of Reuben, was born in West Green- wich in 1811. He was president of the national bank at An- thony several years. He carried on a store at Anthony about thirty-seven years. He was in the senate three terms. He was married in 1837 to Julia M. Johnson. They have had three chil- dren : Charles, Amy A. and Ella J. Henry Matteson, son of Asher and grandson of Reuben Mat- teson, was born in 1828 in West Greenwich. He was in a store at Anthony about thirty years prior to January 18th, 1887, when the store burned. The last two years it was conducted under the firm name of J. Matteson & Co., and prior to that A. Matte- son & Co. Mr. Matteson was married in 1851 to Lydia M. Bar- ber. She died and he was married in 1853 to Mary A. Rous, who also died. He was married in 1873 to Susan M. Scott. He has two sons, Walter H. and Arthur J. Leonard R. Matteson, son of Olney Matteson, was born in 1832 in Coventry. He first learned carriage making of his father and worked at that trade about ten years. He worked for the South Bridge print works about seventeen years. He has resided at Summit about five years, and runs a saw mill and farm. He was married in 1860 to Ellen S., daughter of Jason J. Potter, and has two children : Genevieve (Mrs. Alonzo Pearce) and Ellen Fran- ces. Thomas Matteson, born in 1815, is a son of Rufus, whose father, Obadiah, was a son of Jonathan Matteson. He is a car- penter and farmer, and has lived on the farm that he now occu- pies about thirty-three years. He was married in 1840 to Maria James. Their children are : Mary Ann, John S., George H. and Lucy Jane, who is now Mrs. George J. Andrews. Stephen Matteson was born in 1818 in Coventry. Cory Matte- son, his father, was a son of Daniel Matteson. Mr. Matteson has worked at stone cutting about forty years and at farming about twenty years. He was married in 1839 to Mary Ann Dyer. They have two children, Philip H. and Mary A., who is Mrs. Christopher Cushing. Mr. and Mrs. Cushing live with her father. Mr. Matteson has been deacon in the Quidnick Baptist church about thirty-six years. Caleb R. Nicholas, born in 1838 in Cranston, is a son of Caleb, whose father, David, was a son of John Nicholas. Mr. Nicholas is a farmer. He has been assessor of taxes several times. In 1855 he was married to Mary M. L., daughter of Ambrose S. HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1337 Hopkins, and has one son, Ambrose H., born 1857. Mr. Nicho- las is a member of the Christian church of Rice City, and a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. & A. M. Giles M. Nichols, born in 1817 in Coventry, is a son of William and grandson of Reuben, whose father was Joseph Nichols. He has worked at house carpentering twenty years. He came to Summit and built a part of the building which is now his resi- dence, and has added to it until he now has a nice residence with a store in the east end. He was postmaster twenty-nine years and three months prior to 1885, when he was succeeded by Chester Franklin. He was station agent from 1856 to about 1888. In 1840 he was married to Celia E. Davis. She died in 1863, and he was married in 1864 to Betsey, daughter of Josiah Greene, son of Stafford, son of Reverend Elisha Greene, whose father was Reverend Philip Greene. Their children are : Ellen H., Susan M. (died aged two years), Huldah D., Mary E. (died aged five years), and Angle E. Mr. Nichols has been in the town council two years and was in the legislature one year. Nicholas S. Northup, son of Absalom, was born in 1832 in North Kingstown. He is a machinist and has worked at the trade about thirty-two years. He was married in 1854 to Lucy Angell. They have six children : Orrin A., Isaac B., Horace H. and Julia S., twins, Mary F. and Nicholas S., Jr. William S. Pearce was born in Little Compton, R. I., in 1824, and is a son of Nathaniel, a son of Isaac, son of Jeptha, son of George, son of George Pearce, who came from England about 1687. Mr. Pearce was married in 1852 to Amelia McDonald, and has two children living — Jessie A. and Jane S. Mr. Pearce has had a grist mill in Hopkins' hollow about twenty years. Prior to that he was in New York state about thirty years as a miller. His sister Mrs. Ann M. Burlingame is the widow of Reverend James Burlingame, who was a soldier in the war of 1812, a preacher sixty years in the Christian church, and died in 1881. Alexander Peck, son of Alexander and grandson of Samuel Peck, was born in 1821 in Coventry. He was a farmer in his younger days and has worked at the carpenter trade about twenty years. He has been town police several years. In 1848 he was married to Mary, daughter of Charles and granddaughter of Pardon Tillinghast. Mr. Peck is a republican, and a member of Ionic Lodge, No. 28, A. F. & A. M. 1338 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Henry Phillips, son of Palmer, was born in 1882 in Connecti- cut. He was a machinist in Hartford, Conn., about thirteen years on locomotive repairing. He has worked at the carpen- ters' trade some, and is a farmer now. He also carries on a wood yard in Washington. He was married in 1857 to Waity An- drews, daughter of Benjamin Andrews. They have six children: Lucy A., Benjamin P., William H., Ida M. (Mrs. William Cham- plin), Charles and George E. Braymon Pierce, born in 1855 in Foster, is a son of Benoni, whose father William was a son of Benjamin Pierce. Mr. Pierce is a farmer. He bought the farm on Bowen's hill where he .now lives, in 1886. He was married in 1883 to Seca E. M., daughter of Pardon Williams, and has one son, Lewis B. Samuel E. Place, son of Joseph, and grandson of Enoch Place, was born in 1816 in Foster, and is a retired farmer. He was married in 1842, and has had five children : Joseph, Andrew, John, Sarah, and Sally, two of whom are now living. John lives with his father. He was married in 1872 to Jane Frink, and has five children. David R. Potter, son of Robert, and grandson of Moses Potter, was born in 1815 in Scituate. He worked twenty-seven years in the grist mill of the Coventry Company, and has since worked at farming. He was married in 1836 to Laura A. Johnson, and has one son, John. Frank A. Potter, son of Daniel D., and grandson of Obadiah Potter, was born in 1860 in Coventry, and is a farmer. In 1880 he was married to Belle, daughter of Randall Capwell, and has one son. He and his wife are members of the Christian church of Rice City. Horace Read, born in 1815 in Coventry, is a son of Anthony" (Benjamin', Benjamin*, DanieF, DanieF, John Read', who was born in England). He kept a retail dry goods and grocery store in Providence fourteen years prior to 1867. He has lived on a farm here twenty-one years. He was married in 1847 to Mary R. Sweet, who died in 1877, leaving one son — Rodman S., born in 1853. In 1880 he was married to Mary Mitchell. Levi B. Read was born in 1824 in Coventry. His father, Henry Read, was a son of Joseph Read, and a descendant of John Read, who was born in England in 1598. Mr. Read is a house carpenter by trade. He worked at the trade five years, after which he worked at wood work about thirty years for the Quid- HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1839 nick Manufacturing Company. He has worked at farming for the last six years. He has been a member of the town council several years, assessor of taxes two years, and was a member of the general assembly one tertn. In 1846 he was married to Cynthia Potter. She died in 1848, and he was married in 1850 to Abbie A., daughter of Bowen Matteson. She died in 1887. His daughters were : Cynthia M., who died in infancy ; Melissa E., who died aged 7 years; and Selinda M., who died in 1888, aged 32 years. He is a member of the Baptist church. Horace P. Relph, son of Amasa, was born in 1842. He worked on a farm until 25 years of age, when he came to Washington, where he carries on a wood yard. He built a large shop and does planing, turning and general repairing. He has a fifteen horse power engine to drive his machinery. He was married in 1869 to Mary Jane, daughter of Bowen Potter. He is a member of the Six Principle Baptist church. Jabez Relph, born in 1829, is a son of Moses, whose father, Hugh, was a son of Jabez Relph. Mr. Relph has been a farmer all his life. He was in the town council four years and a mem- ber of the board of assessors four years. He is a member of Manchester Lodge, No. 12, A. F. and A. M. William Remington, born in Scituate in 1842, is a son of John, whose father, Thomas, was a son of Thomas Remington. Mr. Remington is a carpenter, and has worked at that trade about ten years. Frank A. Reynolds was born in 1856 in Coventry. He is a son of Bowen, whose father was William Reynolds. He has been bookkeeper for the Peckham Manufacturing Company for fifteen years. He was married in 1882 to Lillian, daughter of Thomas Jillson. Gideon Reynolds, born in 1812, is a son of Gardiner, whose father, Joseph, was a son of John Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds was married in 1837 to Betsey, daughter of Stephen Bennett. She died in 1883, and he was married in 1885 to Abbie King, wife of the late George G. King, who was in the war of the re- bellion three years, in Company C, Fourth Rhode Island bat- tery. He died in 1880. They had seven children. Mr. Rey- nolds has been justice of the peace and assessor of taxes several times. He has been a member of Rice City Christian church about forty-five years. 1340 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. Henry A. Sisson, one of a family of fifteen children, son of John and Amy Sisson, was born 1846 in South Kingstown. He is in partnership with his brother, John W., who was born in 1839. They came from West Greenwich to Coventry about nineteen years ago, bought a farm at that time of 134 acres, and in 1887 they bought 100 acres more. They keep about 35 cows and do general farming. Henry A. was a member of the town council in 1887, and was re-elected in 1888. He had three brothers in the war of the rebellion, one of whom was killed. Benoni Spink, son of Benjamin and grandson of Henry Spink, was born in 1819 in West Greenwich. He worked as dresser tender twenty -two years for the Spragues, but has been out of the mill four years. He and his wife keep a boarding house at Quidnick. He was married in 1844 to Mehitabel T. Reynolds, daughter of James, son of Amos, son of James Reynolds. They have four children : James B. (deceased), Emeline (deceased), George H. and Benoni Adams (deceased). Charles T. Stone, born in 1865 in Coventry, is a son of Wil- liam A., whose father, William, was a son of William Stone. He has owned a general store at Greene since November, 1886. The first year his father was a partner with him, but since then he has been alone. He was married in 1887 to Helen, daughter of William Potter. Daniel Tillinghast, born in 1815, is a son of Sylvester and grandson of Deacon Pardon Tillinghast, who was a descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast, who came from England to Provi- dence in 1643. Mr. Tillinghast has been a farmer and lumber speculator the most of his life in West Greenwich. He was town moderator in West Greenwich eighteen years, and has been moderator in Coventry one year. He has been town auctioneer about thirty-five years. He was married in 1836 to Halma, daughter of Silas Waite. She died in 1879, leaving nine children living: Rhoda A., Henry C, Sylvester, Abel G., Mason W., Susan H., Jane A., Lloyd A. and Emeline. Mr. Tillinghast was married in 1880 to Cynthia A. Johnson. He is a member of West Greenwich Baptist church. Halsey M. Tillinghast was born in 1853 in West Greenwich. His father, John, was a son of Pardon, whose father, Charles, was a son of John and grandson of Philip, and great-grandson of Elder Pardon Tillinghast, who came from England in 1643. Mr. Tillinghast has been station agent at Summit since April, HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1341 1883, and prior to that was a carpenter about ten years. He was married in 1875 to Eveline F. Carpenter, and has three chil- dren : Susan A., Nellie and Charles C. He had two brothers in the war of the rebellion. John A. Tillinghast, born in 1865, is a son of Ira A., whose father Allen was a son of Pardon. Mr. Tillinghast lives on the homestead of his father, who lived here about thirty years, and died in December, 1883. Mr. Tillinghast was married in 1883 to Cora L., daughter of Henry Battey, and has one daughter. Bertha Martin. Mr. Tillinghast is a member of Summit Grange, No. 15, P. of H. Joseph Tillinghast, born in 1813, is a son of Charles, whose father was Pardon Tillinghast. He has been a farmer the most of his life, taught thirty-seven winter terms of school, a member of the school committee about thirty years, in the town council about eight years and a member of the general assembly one term. He lost his left leg from below the knee in 1875. He was married in 1840 to Lydia S. Nichols. She died in 1864, leaving two sons, Leonard and Warren H. He was married in 1866 to Betsey G,, daughter of Thomas B. Bowen. Mr. Tillinghast is a republican and a member of Rice City Christian church. Mason W. Tillinghast, born in 1841 in Coventry, is a son of Daniel, who was a son of Sylvester and grandson of John Tilling- hast, a descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast. Mr. Tilling- hast went from Coventry to Providence in 1866, and has kept a restaurant there since 1875. He was married in 1866 to Laura M., daughter of William E. and Lucy A. Arnold. Stephen G. Tillinghast, born in 1828 in Sterling, Conn., is a son of George, whose father Pardon was a Six Principle Baptist preacher and a descendant of Elder Pardon Tillinghast. Mr. Tillinghast lived in Connecticut about four years. He has been an ordained preacher about seven years. He was married in 1848 to Lydia A., daughter of Obed Small. He belongs to the Free Will Baptist church. George A. Vaughn, born in 1843 in Coventry, is a son of Jason, son of John, son of Caleb, son of Caleb Vaughn. Mr. Vaughn was married in 1869 to Patience, daughter of George Randall. They have one daughter, Harriet. He is a democrat and a member of Rice City Christian church. Sheffield Waite was born in 1812 in Coventry. His father was Sheffield, son of Yelverton Waite, who was a major in the revo- 1342 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. lutionary army. Mr. Waite began at the age of eighteen to buy and drive cattle and followed that occupation for about twenty years. Since that time he has been a farmer and trader. He has recently retired from active life. He was married in 1837 to Judith A. Johnson, who died in 1855, leaving one son, William, who died aged 35 years. Mr. M^aite married for his second wife Mrs. Jane C. Babson. His father and grandfather were both farmers. Mr. Waite now owns a part of the old homestead of Yelverton Waite. Israel Whaley was born in 1838 in Coventry. He is a son of Reuben, whose father Job, was a son of Thomas and grandson of Samuel Whaley, a descendant of Theophilus Whaley, who came from England to this country about 1679 in company with Major General Goffe and Colonel Dixwell. Mr. Whaley estab- lished a variety store in Coventry Centre in June, 1883, in the new building which he had just completed. He has had charge of the post office as deputy since October, 1885. He managed the Coventry Centre store nine years prior to November 1st, 1882, as agent for the company. He was married in 1863 to Ad- aline, daughter of Philip Havens. They have two children, Benoni H. and Lottie. Mr. Whaley has been town council one year and notary and justice several years. He is a member of Maple Root church and a member of Manchester Lodge, No. 12, A. F. & A. M. Thomas G. Whaley, born in 1829 in Coventry, is a son of Al- bert, whose father, Jonathan, was a son of Thomas and grand- .son of Thomas, whose father, Samuel, was a son of Theophilus Whaley the first. Mr. Whaley is a machinist by trade. He lived in Providence fourteen years, and in the West two years. He is now a farmer. He was president of the board of assessors in 1887 and was re-elected in 1888. He was married in 1853 to Altana, daughter of Alpheus Burdick. They have two children. He was in the war of the rebellion a short time in Company K, Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers. Henry C. Whipple, son of Thomas and grandson of Joseph Whipple, was born in 1837. His father was judge of the court of common pleas, represented Coventry many years in the gen- eral assembly, and was two years lieutenant governor of Rhode Island. He was a manufacturer here until his death in 1859. Henry C. was a member of the town council one year and in the state legislature one year. He carried on a livery stable at HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. 1343 Washington several years. After his father's death, he and his brother-in-law were for some time interested in manufacturing. His wife was Louise Knight Franklin, daughter of Arnold Franklin. Their daughter Anna is Mrs. Ellery C. Anthony and their son is Thomas Whipple. Cromwell Whipple, another son of Governor Thomas Whip- ple, was a man of considerable distinction in the town, and in the general assembly he was a recognized champion of the tem- perance cause until his death in 1855. As a token of apprecia- tion a monument has been erected to his memory. John E. Whipple, son of Christopher and grandson of Jo- seph Whipple, was born in 1888 in Coventry. He has been boss farmer for the Coventry Company about ten years. Prior to that he worked at the carpenter's trade ten years and before that was a farmer. He was married in 1857 to Kate, daughter of Nicholas Brown. They have two daughters : Anna, who is Mrs. William M. Congdon, and Lillian, who is Mrs. Frederick R. Reynolds. Charles C. Whitford was born in 1834 in West Greenwich. He is a son of Jeremiah, whose father, Jeremiah, was a son of Nicholas Whitford. Mr. Whitford has been a farmer all his life. He bought the farm where he now lives in 1884. He was mar- ried in 1866 to Hattie, daughter of Philip Johnson. Their chil- dren are : Hattie L., Angeretta W., Julia E., Lena M., Olive L., Charles W. and Nelson J. The family is said to be of Welsh de- scent. Nicholas S. Whitford, born in 1839 in Coventry, is a son of John and grandson of Nicholas Whitford, who bought the farm of 70 acres where Nicholas S. now lives, in 1772, of Jeremiah Blancbard. This farm now contains 200 acres. Mr. Whitford has been a farmer excepting about five years which he spent in a store at Centreville, from 1871 to 1876. The firm was Duke & Whitford. He was married in 1863 to Sarah A. Place, who died in 1871, leaving one daughter, Ella Grace. He was married in 1881 to Mary Ann Blanchard. Ruth B. Whitford was born in 1862 in West Greenwich. She is a daughter of James A., son of William H., son of Ezekiel,son of Levi, son of Nicholas Whitford, who came from Wales. Her mother' is Phebe (Sweet) Whitford, daughter of Amos Sweet. Miss Whitford received her early education in district schools, and is a graduate of the State Normal School of Providence. 1344 HISTORY OF WASHINGTON AND KENT COUNTIES. She taught school four years, two years before she graduated and two years since. Her parents were married in 1857. They have had two daughters : Mrs. Byron B. Andrews, and Ruth B. Benjamin F. Williams, born in 1849 in Warwick, is a son of Benjamin, whose father was Pardon Williams. Mr. Williams is a blacksmith, and has worked at that business eighteen years. He was married in 1876 to Sarah C. Read, daughter of Benjamin, whose father was Thomas Read. Their children are : Clara, Mary, and Sadie. He had two brothers in the war of the rebel- lion. Erastus Young, son of John, was born in 1818 in Connecticut. He was a mill operative about fifteen years. He has lived in Coventry thirty-three years. He was married in 1843 to Lydia E., daughter of Aaron Wood, of Foster. They have three chil- dren : Albert H., Susan E., and Walter E.