USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Rehoboth > History of Rehoboth, Massachusetts; its history for 275 years, 1643-1918, in which is incorporated the vital parts of the original history of the town > Part 2
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"Deposed this 10th day of June 1684, by John Odlin, Robert Walker, Francis Hudson, and William Lytherland according to their respective testimonys.
"Befor us "S. BRADSTREET, Governor, "SAM. SEWALL, Assist."
(Snow's Hist. of Boston, pp. 50-51.)
A few months later, in the year 1635, this eccentric man again bade adieu to the abodes of civilization and moved westward into the wilderness in search of an asylum.
The place he now selected was the Attleborough Gore of history, on the east bank of the river that perpetuates his name. The Indian name of the place was Wawepoonseag, a name first men- tioned in the Plymouth records in describing the boundaries of the North Purchases in 1661: "From Rehoboth ranging upon Pawtucket river, to a place called by the natives Wawepoonseag, where one Blackstone now sojourneth." The place is now a part of Lonsdale Village in Cumberland, R.I. In this retreat he built his house, cultivated his garden and planted his orchard. His house he called Study Hall, and the elevation on which it was built he named "Study Hill."
During his residence at Cumberland, Mr. Blackstone married Mrs. Sarah Stevenson of Boston, as appears by the Boston town records: "Mr. William Blackstone was married to Sarah Steven- son, widow, the 4th of July, 1659, by John Endicott, Governor"; She was the widow of John Stevenson of Boston, who had by her at least three children: Onesimus, born 26th 10th mo., 1643; John, born 7th mo., 1645; and James, born Oct. 1st, 1653. His second son, John Stevenson, lived with his mother after her marriage with Mr. Blackstone, and, after their decease, continued
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to reside on a part of Blackstone's land, granted him by the Court of Plymouth, during the remainder of his life (Daggett's Hist. of Attleborough).
Blackstone's wife died about the middle of June, 1673 (Rehoboth records), and he survived her only about two years, dying May 26, 1675 ("buried May 28," ib.), a few weeks before the commence- ment of the Indian War which laid in ashes his "fair domain." He had lived in New England about fifty years, nearly ten at Shaw- mut, and forty at this place, and must have been about eighty years of age.
How vast the contrast between his valley with its framed house surrounded by an unbroken forest as far as the eye could reach and the same valley to-day crowded with a dense population gathered in numerous cities and villages! Could that solitary dweller in the wilderness revisit the scenes of his sylvan retreat he would see at almost every turn of that charming river which bears his name, immense manufacturing plants representing millions of dollars, while the hum of unnumbered spindles would meet his ears, along with the shriek of the locomotive, the gong of the electric car and the honk of the automobile.
We learn from "the inventory of his lands, goods and chattells," taken two days after his death by "Mr. Stephen Paine and others of Rehoboth," that his real estate (not appraised) amounted to 200 acres of land besides the meadow called Blackstone's meadow, and also sixty acres and two shares in meadows in Providence.
We learn also that his library contained 186 volumes from folios to paper books valued at £15. 12s. 6d., and his personal remainder at £40. 11s., making a total personal of £56. 3s. 6d.
This was a respectable library for those times and for one living in the wilds of America. This recluse doubtless made books the companion of his lonely retreat, and the paper books may have been his diary of events and reflections, which, considering his original and contemplative mind, would have shed light upon his character and environment; but very soon "this estate (the mov- ables) was destroyed and carried away by the natives."
It would seem that Blackstone delighted in out-of-door occupa- tions as well as books. He was kept busy with his garden, his orchard, and his cattle.
He often visited Providence, seven miles down the river, and exchanged greetings with his friend Roger Williams, preaching to
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HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
the people and giving them apples from his trees, the first that some of them had ever seen. When in his declining years the journey on foot became difficult, tradition says that he tamed a bull on which he rode when visiting his friends.
Perhaps no one thing is more characteristic of this kindly but eccentric man than the speech he is said to have made to the people of Boston when about to leave them. "I came from England be- cause I did not like the Lord-Bishops, but I cannot join with you because I would not be under the Lord-Brethren."
Here is revealed a man of independent spirit who could not be fettered by the intolerance and bigotry of his age.
It is not unlikely that Blackstone had one or more servants with him in his isolation. He would probably need help in the building of his house and the cultivation of his farm. Tradition says that he had a servant by the name of Abbott, to whom he gave land on the "run" that bears his name.
Concerning Blackstone's family little was known for many years. He had one son by his marriage with Mrs. Stephenson, John Blackstone, born at Rehoboth, probably his only child. He was a minor when his father died and had guardians appointed him by the Plymouth Court. He lived on his inheritance till 1692, when, having squandered his estate by his intemperate and idle habits, he sold his lands to David Whipple and soon after removed to Providence, where he probably married his wife Katharine and supported his family by shoemaking. In 1713 he returned to Attleborough and with his wife was legally warned out of town. Tradition says he afterwards moved to Connecticut and settled near New Haven. Tradition also says that a son of John and grandson of William Blackstone fell at the taking of Louisburg in the French War, whither he marched in the capacity of a lieutenant.
His step-son, John Stevenson, came with his mother on her marriage to Mr. Blackstone. He was then about fourteen years of age and continued with them until their decease, and proved himself very serviceable in their declining years. For his filial kindness the Court of Plymouth rewarded him with a part of Mr. Blackstone's estate, and ordered to be "laid out unto him fifty acres of land and five acres of meadow."
Stevenson resided here, it is thought unmarried, until his death, Sept. 16, 1695. His time was devoted to the cultivation of his
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lands and to the pleasures of hunting. (For further details see Daggett's History of Attleborough.)
Blackstone's retreat has undergone many changes with the lapse of years; nearly all the local features of even one hundred years ago have disappeared and only the most general outlines can now be seen. The extensive excavations and gradings in preparation for the building of the great Ann and Hope Mill in 1886 obliterated the old landmarks. The Mill was erected directly over Blackstone's grave, which had been opened May 6, 1886, in the presence of a lineal descendant, Mr. Lorenzo Blackstone of Norwich, Conn. The remains were reburied in the neat and attractive yard of the mill, where a fine granite monument now stands, erected in 1889 by his lineal descendants. The accom- panying photographs show the inscription on the four sides.
By persistent research the author is enabled to publish for the first time an exact account of William Blackstone's descendants to the present time. The following statements are verified by Mr. George Blackstone of Branford, Conn., and Mrs. Harriet (Black- stone) Camp of Norwich, Conn., both lineal descendants and now living; corroborated by Mr. M. L. Sargent of Norwich, Conn., in a pamphlet printed in 1857, entitled "The Blackstone Family"; also by the Blackstone monument erected at Lonsdale, R.I., in 1889, "By his Lineal Descendants":
WILLIAM,1 born in England about 1595, died at Rehoboth, 1675.
JOHN,2 born in Rehoboth about 1660-65; time and place of death uncertain.
JOHN, 3 born in Providence, R.I., (probably) 1699; died at Branford, Conn., Jan. 3, 1785.
JOHN, 4 born at Branford, Conn., 1731; died at Branford, Aug. 10, 1816.
TIMOTHY,5 born at Branford, Conn., 1766; died at Bran- ford, 1847.
JAMES,6 born at Branford, Conn., 1793; died at Branford, 1886.
JOHN,7 born at Branford, Conn., 1825; died at Branford, 1890.
GEORGE,8 born at Branford, Conn., 1861; still living.
James Blackstone6 was a man of large influence who several times represented his town in the legislature, and also served as a member of the State Senate. A magnificent library of Tennessee marble was erected at Branford in his honor in 1896 by his son
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HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
Timothy Blackstone,7 President of the Chicago & Alton R.R. Company, who died in Chicago May 26, 1900. James had sons as follows :-
GEORGE,7 died without issue.
LORENZO,7 June 21, 1819 - Nov. 14, 1888.
JOHN,7 1825 - 1890. His son George8 is the last of five generations born and reared on the paternal homestead. TIMOTHY,7 1829 - 1900.
ELLEN,7 dau. of James, married H. B. Plant, developer of the Plant Line of steamboats, the Southern Express Co., etc. Their only son, Morton F. Plant8 of New London, Conn., is a millionaire promoter of real estate in Florida.
Lorenzo" had six children, of whom only one, Mrs. Harriet B. Camp, survives. His son William N. Blackstone8 died at Nor- wich, Conn., in 1907. He was held in high esteem, the last Wil- liam of the family. As stated above, Lorenzo7 was present at the opening of his ancestor's grave in 1886.
Another man of distinction to settle within the limits of Reho- both was Roger Williams. Little is known of his early life. He was probably born in Wales between 1599 and 1603, of pious parentage. He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, and took the degree of A.B. there in January, 1626. (Dexter's Roger Williams, p. 2.) There is a story, without proof, that he studied law for a time after leaving the university. He became a clergyman of the established Church, then a nonconformist, and finally a rigid separatist, for which change he suffered severe per- secution. "Truly it was as bitter as death for me," he writes, "when Bishop Laud pursued me out of this land and my conscience was persuaded against the national Church." He embarked from Bristol with his wife Mary, in the ship "Lyon," Capt. Pierce, master, Dec. 1, 1630, and after a tempestuous voyage of sixty-six days arrived off Nantasket Feb. 5, 1631. As John Wilson, pastor of the Boston Church, was about to visit friends in England, the Church invited Mr. Williams to supply his place during his absence.
He refused on the ground of conscience and because they were an "unseparated people." This curt reply tended to prejudice the members against the youthful preacher, and hearing that the church at Salem had invited him to be their teacher in connection with the Rev. Samuel Skelton, the Court of Boston, on the 12th of April following, caused a letter to be written to Mr. Endicott
THE GRAVE OF THE REVEREND
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE
FOUNDER OF
THE TOWN OF BOSTON
AND THE FIRST WHITE SETTLER IN RHODE ISLAND
A STUDENT CF
EMANUEL COLLEGE
CAMBRIDGE
HE TOOK HOLY ORDERS IN
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
IN WHOSE COMMUNION
HE LIVED ANC DIED
ERECTED BY THE
COMING FROM BOSTON
LINEAL DESCENDANTS OF
WILLIAM BLACKSTONE A.D.1889
TO THIS SPOT IN 1635 HE DIED MAY 26,1675 AGED OVER 80 YEARS AND WAS HERE BURIED.
----
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to say that the Salem people should act cautiously and without undue haste, inasmuch as Mr. Williams refused to fellowship the Boston church because it was not ready to proceed to the extreme of separation, and because he had broached the novel opinions, "that the magistrate might not punish the breach of the Sabbath, nor any other offense as it was a breach of the first table." Whether the Salem Church ordained Mr. Williams at this time is a disputed point. It is certain that his stay there was brief, as he was in Plymouth in 1631, "probably," as Gammell says, "in the month of August," when he taught as assistant to the Rev. Ralph Smith.
Governor Bradford speaks of him as "a man godly and zealous, having many precious parts, but very unsettled in judgmente." Before the close of 1633 he was back in Salem, assisting Mr. Skelton "by way of prophecy," though "not in any office." On the death of Mr. Skelton, Aug. 2, 1634, the church called him to be their pastor, which call he accepted and thereby gave offence to the citizens and Court of Boston; but regardless of everything save his own headstrong purpose, he proceeded to severely de- nounce the magistrates for not granting a petition of his church about some Marblehead land. He asserted that the charter of Massachusetts was invalid and unjust, as the soil and sovereignty were not purchased of the natives. He declared that no oath should be administered to unregenerate persons, not even an oath of fidelity to the government, and that a man ought not to pray with such, though wife or child, etc. He even refused to com- mune with members of his own church unless they would separate themselves from the other churches of New England. These utterances, which were put forth in an aggravating manner and at a time when the very existence of the colony was at stake, aroused against him the opposition of both court and clergy. He was reprimanded and asked to desist, but he would not be silenced. When brought before the court he would make no concessions, and on Friday, Oct. 9, 1635, he was sentenced to perpetual banish- ment. The sentence was in these terms:
"Whereas, Mr. Roger Williams, one of the elders of the Church of Salem, hath broached and divulged divers new and dangerous opin- ions against the authority of magistrates; as also writ letters of def- amation, both of magistrates and churches here, and that before any conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without any re- tractation; it is therefore ordered, that the said Mr. Williams
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shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks now next ensuing, which if he neglect to perform, it shall be lawful for the Governor and two of the magistrates to send him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to return any more without license from the Court."
Our space permits only the briefest comment on this famous edict. Perhaps no fairer statement of the matter can be made than is given in the oration of Prof. J. Lewis Diman at the dedi- cation of the monument at Roger Williams Park, Oct. 16, 1877:
"Against this community, so jealous of their rights, the head- strong enthusiast dashed himself. What they did to him they had done in repeated instances before. So far from being exceptionally harsh, their treatment of Roger Williams was marked by unusual lenity. His sorrowful winter flight when for fourteen weeks he was so severely tossed, 'not knowing what bread or bed did mean,' was no part of the official sentence pronounced against him, but suffering which he voluntarily assumed."
Mr. Williams obtained permission to remain till spring, but as he still persisted in preaching his offensive doctrines in his own house, orders were sent early in January ("11 mo. January") to Captain Underhill to seize him and send him to England; but having received timely warning he made his escape, and in com- pliance with the secret advice of Governor Winthrop steered his course to the Narragansett Bay.
Long before the act of banishment, Williams, shrewdly fore- seeing trouble with the Massachusetts Bay Colony, went among the Indians and arranged with them for a possible settlement at Narragansett Bay.
"In the yeare one Thousand Six hundred thirty Foure, And in the yeare one Thousand Six hundred Thirtye Five, I, Roger Williams, had severall Treatyes with Counanicusse, And Mian- tenome, the Two cheife Sachims of the Narragansett; and pur- chased of them the Landes," etc. (Chapin's Doc. Hist. of R. I., pp. 1, 2.)
"The reason was," writes Winthrop, "because he had drawn above twenty persons to his opinion, and they were intended to erect a plantation about the Narragansett Bay." (Winthrop, I, 209.)
In describing his journey in a letter to Major Mason, thirty-five years after the event, Williams writes: "I was sorely tossed for one fourteen weeks, in a bitter winter season, not knowing what bread or bed did mean." The expression "sorely tossed," and in
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another place "steering my course," have led some to conclude that his journey was by water (Bliss, History, p. 17); but in view of the extreme difficulty of a sea voyage in a small boat around Cape Cod in the heart of winter, and the prospect of meeting the pinnace sent to arrest him, taken with what he wrote in answer to a letter of John Cotton of his being "so exposed to the mercy of an howling wildernesse in Frost and Snow," and also that he at last suffred for such admonitions to them, the miserie of a Winter's Banishment amongst the Barbarians" (Doc. Hist. R. I., pp. 9, 10), most recent writers conclude that his journey led him on foot through the wilderness where his sufferings were such that he might well use the above terms "tossed," "steered," etc., in a figurative sense. There is a vague tradition that he spent part of the winter at the house of a Mr. Smith at Pontipog, now Stoughton (Doc. Hist. R. I., p. 10). Some think he spent the winter as the guest of Osamequin at Sowams (in Old Swansea), where his entertainment, however cordial, might be without "bread or bed." In the spring, probably in April, he obtained of Osamequin a grant of land in Old Seekonk, afterwards Rehoboth. The spot in Seekonk where he pitched his tent is believed to have been at "Manton's Neck," below the modern Philipsdale and not far from the mouth of the Ten-Mile River, where a spring of cold, sweet water still bubbles up and supplies the family living on the premises. The place is marked by a tablet suitably inscribed and fixed to a tree by the roadside. Here Mr. Williams, supposing he was beyond the jurisdiction of both the Massachusetts Bay and the Plymouth Colonies, hoped to remain undisturbed.
Here he "began to build and plant," but was not destined to reap. He soon received a friendly message from Governor Winslow of Plymouth informing him that Seekonk was within their patent, and advising him to cross to the other side of the river where the country would be free before him. "And then I should be out of their Claim and be free as themselves and loving neighbors together."
He was probably at Seekonk from about the middle of April to the latter part of June, 1636. As a letter written by him to Governor Vane was dated at Providence, July 26, we infer that he must have moved before that date. He embarked in a canoe accompanied by Thomas Angell. A tradition handed down from Stephen Hopkins, Esq. (1707-1785), declares there were no others,
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HISTORY OF REHOBOTH
nor is there any hint of their landing on the west bank of the river at the foot of Williams Street, but "when they came oppo- site the cove now called What Cheer Cove they were hailed from the shore by one of the Indians who understood a little English by the friendly salutation of What Cheer, from which Circumstance the Cove has ever since been called What Cheer Cove, so named in the early records of the town-That Mr. Williams made signs to the Indians that he would meet them on the Western shore of the Neck of Land, on which they (the Indians) then were- Going himself, in a canoe, by water, round Fox Point, which he accordingly did and met the Indians at the famous Rock and Spring mentioned by Governor Hutchinson in his History of Massachusetts, a little Southwesterly from the Episcopal Church."1 (Doc. Hist., pp. 18, 19.) The other tradition that there were five or six in the canoe and that they landed on a slate rock has little or no historical value. There was indeed a large rock of slate on the west bank of the river, which was long ago broken in pieces and buried by the filling in of the cove. The land nearby, between Williams and Power Streets, was reserved for a memorial square, in which stands a neat monument of granite in honor of the supposed landing of Roger Williams and is inscribed as follows: (West front) "The Landing Place of Roger Williams."
(East front) "Below this spot then at the water's edge stood the rock on which according to tradition Roger Williams, An exile for his devotion to Freedom of Conscience, landed 1636."
(North front) "And having a sense of God's merciful Providence unto me in my distress called the place Providence, I desired it might be for a shelter of persons distressed for conscience. Roger Williams."
(South front) "To the memory of Roger Williams, the Apostle of Soul Liberty, Founder of the State of Rhode Island and Provi- dence Plantations, This monument is dedicated by the Provi- dence Association of Mechanics and Manufacturers, 1906."
The colony thus settled near the mouth of the Moshassuck River on lands purchased by Williams of the Sachems, Canonicus and Miantonomi, would seem from the meagre records to have consisted of Roger Williams, William Harris, John Smith the miller, Francis Wickes, Thomas Angell, Joshua Verin, and William Arnold and their families.
Here, with this little company as a nucleus, was to be tried "the lively experiment" of a pure democracy. In 1643 Williams went 1 St. John's Church on North Main Street.
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to England to procure a charter for his colony, returning with it the following year. In 1651 he again visited England on business of the colony and continued there until 1654. On his return he was chosen President of the colony (1654, 1657-58).
He refused to persecute the Quakers, but engaged in a famous controversy with them in 1672, recorded in his publication: George Fox digged out of his Burrowes (1676). He died at Providence in 1683, not far from eighty years of age.
We have seen that Roger Williams in his early ministry was fond of controversy, rash in statement and fearless of consequences. As he would fellowship none who opposed his teachings he has been called "The Arch Separatist." He suffered for his opinions and especially for his sharp manner of expressing them. His intemperate zeal, however, was tempered by the bitter experiences of his exile and the heavy burdens of subsequent leadership. It has been well said that his banishment was his enlargement. His spirit of toleration grew rapidly with the necessity of its exercise, and in founding a city and state he determined that all should enjoy liberty of conscience. One phase of his greatness is seen in his masterly diplomacy with the Indians, securing the life-long friendship of Osamequin and the Narragansett Sachems, who for the love they bore him made him sole proprietor of extensive land rights.
By the initial deed he associated with him in joint ownership "twelve of his loving friends with power conferred to add others."
That he had a genuine missionary spirit is seen in the fact that he studied the language of the Indians and learned their customs while living at Plymouth; "my sole desire," he writes, "was to do the natives good."
In intellect he was keen and vigorous; brilliant in argument and magnanimous in spirit. In respect of liberty of conscience, he, like his esteemed contemporary, Dr. John Clarke of Newport, was a whole generation in advance of his age. His name is written high among the worthy fathers of New England.
Among his writings are "A Key to the Language of New Eng- land" (London, 1643), "The Bloody Tenet of Persecution for the Cause of Conscience discussed" (1644), "The Hireling Ministry None of Christ's," London (1652).
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See Memoirs by Knowles (1834), Gammell (1845), Elton (1853), Guild (1866), Dexter (1876), Straus (1894), Carpenter (1909), Chapin (1916).
The real founder of Rehoboth was the Rev. Samuel Newman. He was the son of Richard Newman, a glover of Banbury, Oxford County, England. He was born about the 10th or 12th of May, 1602. He graduated at Trinity College, Oxford, with its honors, Oct. 17, 1620, at the age of eighteen. After studying Theology, he became pastor of the Midhope Chapel in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where he remained for ten years. In 1635, disgusted with the religious persecutions of Archbishop Laud, he came to America in company with a large number of emigrants, among whom was Rev. Richard Mather. He resided four years at Dor- chester and was chiefly engaged in writing his Concordance to the Bible. In 1639 he became pastor of the church at Weymouth, re- maining till the spring of 1643-4. At that time the majority of his church, with others of Hingham, migrated with him to a place on the east bank of the Pawtucket River, called by the Indians Seekonk, to which he gave the name of Rehoboth, a scriptural word meaning enlargement (Gen. 26: 22).
[With few exceptions the annals and documents which follow are taken from Bliss's "History of Rehoboth." For the account of King Philip's War, the Revolutionary War in part, and for all subsequent chapters, the present writer alone is responsible.]
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