USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Glocester > A brief history of the town of Glocester, Rhode Island : preceded by a sketch of the territory while a part of Providence > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 03581 7193
Go 974.502 G51p Perry, Elizabeth A. A brief history of the town of Glocester, Rhode Island
A BRIEF HISTORY
OF THE
TOWN OF GLOCESTER,
RHODE ISLAND,
PRECEDED BY
. A SKETCH OF THE TERRITORY WHILE
A PART OF PROVIDENCE.
BY ELIZABETH A. PERRY.
PROVIDENCE : PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY, PRINTER3. ISS6.
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Quadapara - $17.50
. Allen County Public Library . 900 Webster Street PO Box 2270 Fort Wayne, IN 46801-2270
1237425
PREFACE.
Iv preparing the following pages, the author has been exceedingly desirous that a history of the town of Glocester might be presented in a connected form, from its first settlement. An effort has been made to state things accurately, and on good authority. It has been very difficult to ascertain dates in some instances. The sources whence the informa- tion is derived are various : Bartlett's Colonial Records; Schedules of the town presented yearly to the General Assembly; Town Records ; old newspapers; private papers; reading of many books that had refer- ence to town matters; travelling over the town, and information from elderly town's people.
Glocester has furnished some citizens of high personal worth, and honor to other towns, states and countries.
PROVIDENCE, Jan. 1, ISS6.
E. A. P.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
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THE town of Glocester, R. I., including Burrillville, was organized February 20, 1931. It is bounded on the north by Massachusetts, on the east by Smithfield, on the south by Scituate, and on the west by Connecticut. A brief sketch of the territory will be given previous to the time the town was taken from Providence. Its history, in some rude meas- ure, is nearly coeval with the first settlement in Providence by Roger Williams and his associates in the year 1636. This land was disposed of to Roger Williams and others by the sachems of several tribes of Indians, they receiving for the same, payment that was satisfactory to each tribe. Tracts of land were often granted for very little recompense. It is recorded that Uncas gave the first grant of land by deed. Sometimes grants of land were made to the whites for im- portant services done for the sachems. The disposal of lands as to boundaries was very indefinite, and sometimes without date. Any enterprise that promoted public good was considered payment for lands. For instance, to settle a miller that would build a mill to grind corn and other grain ; a blacksmith or a sawmill built, a grant of land was often given. Sometimes the sachems disposed of hundreds of acres for very little consideration, also promising to assist the whites in cases of emergency, by hastening with their warriors for their relief. The tribes had very little knowl- edge of the value of land, or the worth of different forest trees.
Through the kind influence of Roger Williams, the Indians generally had a strong attachment to the whites. The Nip. muck Indians extended from Massachusetts and Connecticut into the northwest corner of this State, as found when first
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
explored by the English. Their headquarters were at Oxford, Mass. The small Pass-Coag tribe roamed a little south of the Nipmucks .* There is a small river running through this land by the name of Nipmuck. These tribes were subject to the Narragansetts until the time of King Philip's war with the English. The chiefs of the Nipmucks saw that the sachems of the Narragansetts had enough to do to look out for their own tribe at the time of King Philip's war, consequently they declared their independence. Some vestiges of these tribes still remain. Portions of the land had the appearance of having been planted ; many young trees were growing, and deep in the ground bullets were found. Within the recollec- tion of persons now living, a human skeleton was found sev- eral feet below the surface of the ground. When the bones were put together it measured eight feet. Some of these Indians were very tall. These tribes of Indians were, as far as is known, the first native owners of this land, a part of their vast hunting grounds. These forests were filled with bears, panthers, wolves, red deer, foxes, and other wild ani- mals. Wolves and bears were so troublesome as late as 1736 that the inhabitants sought legislative enactment, and a reward of three pounds was offered for each bear killed in the colony. In 1739 this reward was much increased; bounty on wolves, twenty shillings ; rats, three pence ; wildcats, five shillings.
The Indians seldom spent the summer and winter in the same place. This fact will account in some degree for their great claims of land .. They would cluster together in build- ing their wigwams for protection against other tribes. These villages they surrounded by a fence of trees, logs and stakes. The language of different New England tribes was so similar that each tribe readily understood the other. Arrows were their early chief weapons of warfare. They were kind to strangers travelling ; would give to them their best mat in their wigwam for the night, and the best they had for eating, if they went without themselves. They were faithful to keep
* Fresh-water Indians.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
their promises. When the sun shone they had a mark to tell when it was mid-day, and on clear nights they told the time by the moon and stars. In cloudy weather they were, like the Yankees, good for guessing.
All their tools were made of hard stone. Bows were made of sinews and twisted entrails of the deer and the moose ; their tomahawk was a wooden club. Many bones of animals were used for special purposes. Corn and nuts were in the winter put in holes dug in the ground, lined and covered with bark. They did not eat regularly, but when hungry ; they generally had but one wife, but could at pleasure on either side dissolve their connection ; they had no ballads or songs to perpetuate the traditions of the past ; their knowl- edge was very limited ; they exercised good judgment in eat- ing and drinking. The Indian men furnished the fish and game ; the women did the harvesting. They had corn and beans that they depended very much upon yearly to raise. These articles they could keep for cold winters and great snow storms, when game would be very scarce. They had a tradition that a crow brought them a bean and a kernel of corn from the place where their great god, Cowtantowit, dwelt ; and though the crows did some harm, they seldom killed one. They also made mats, baskets and stone vessels.
Their money, which they called wampum, was made of dif- ferent shells, which was their established currency. Previous to the European settlements they knew nothing about beg- ging. Once a year in the winter they had a great feast co thank their Great Father for their bountiful harvest. At this time presents were made to the poor. Their family ties were very strong, and great lamentation was made when a mem- ber of their kindred died. The men had a great liking for fishing.
They believed in a Supreme Being having all the attributes of Deity-they had many gods of less power than their Great Father, which argues a species of Pantheism. They acknowl- edged the agency of their deity in all things, whether for good or evil. If an accident occurred, the wrath of God had
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
caused it ; so in case of good fortune, the Great Spirit was the author. They never asked their deity for anything, but returned thanks for favors received, saying that he is the best judge of what is best for them. It was against the law of the colony to sell liquor to the Indians, but this law was broken.
In a very few years many persons seeking a new home joined the Williams colony and purchased what they called home lots. The government of Providence was at first purely democratic, but laws were soon found necessary to govern the colony. A general meeting was called, and a committee of five were chosen, called "disposers," who were invested with the partial control of affairs. The inhabitants later saw and felt the necessity of a patent from their mother country to secure to them a better title to their lands, and protection in case they were attacked by the Indians. Protection was asked from England and granted. The first patent for Provi- dence was written in 1644, in which Robert Earle, of War- wick, England, was made "Governor-in-Chief and Lord High Admiral of this Plantation," a distinct sovereignty under the protection of the English government. The charter acknowl- edged the Indian title of the colony, and that the land was purchased of them and confirmed to them by the Crown of England. The "Freeman's Oath" was the first paper printed in New England. It was printed at Cambridge, Mass. It certified that before any member of the colony could exer- cise the right of suffrage or hold any public office he must be made what is called a freeman by the General Quarterly Court, or Assembly ; he was to show evidence that he was a respectable man, and take the oath of affirmation required by the law of the colony against bribery and corruption in the election of officers.
In 1647 there was an organization of the colony under the Parliamentary patent, and a charter granted by Charles Second, King of Great Britain. The first seal adopted was a sheaf of arrows bound up with the motto "Amor vincit omnia" engraved upon a leash.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
July 8, 1663, the royal charter was obtained-its symbol an anchor, and its motto "Hope." In this year the colony received from Charles the Second, King of Great Britain, a charter which, up to November, 1842, was the written law of this State. The government was at first colonial, then under the charter, and finally under the constitution.
When the town of Providence was incorporated (1649), the committee chosen by the General Assembly under the charter were Gregory Dexter, William Wickenden, Thomas Olney, Robert Williams, Richard Waterman, Roger Williams, William Field, John Green, John Smith and John Lippitt. Years before the town of Glocester was set off from Provi- dence, home settlements were made here ; sheep and herds of cattle were sent here to graze, with shepherds and herds men to take care of them. For several years the Indian pathway or trail served the white settlers as thoroughfares to drive their cattle, and to transport their families and house- hold goods to the places where they were to build their log houses. These emigrants going forth to live in these wild lands, often took possession of many acres for each family. The man of means could pay for his lands and for having them cleared. Others with their own hands must use the axe to fell the trees and build their humble dwellings, often encoun- tering wild animals and the cruelty of Indians. Many of the Indians did not understand why their lands were taken from them.
To go forth into the woods where dangerous wild animals lived required men of enterprise and courage. Most of the early settlers of Providence were from England, some unused to hardship, others staunch yeomanry, farmers, merchants, mechanics, blacksmiths, fearing God, honest and independ- ent, and if right and reason were followed, a race would be produced far better than one descended from pensioned lords. Some of the settlers were discouraged and returned to their homes in England ; others returned and brought their families, with their household goods, and sought a home in the wilderness, where for some time their humble dwell- 2
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
ings had to be guarded from the barbarous Indian and wild beasts. Many bullets made by the Indians have later been found in the centre of large trees.
John Smith, from Providence, early settled in the northern part of Glocester, and many of his descendants are owners of home estates in that vicinity. Edward Salsbury early purchased land and built a house; he was a soldier in the French war. The Williamses, Tourtellotts, Eddys, Water- mans, Evanses, and others, were pioneers and held landed estates. There were many families settled here before the town of Glocester was set off from the county of Providence; generally very respectable citizens, some of them with their silver-topped canes and silver shoe and knee buckles. In many cases there was wealth enough for general comfort ; life was frugal, limited to modern ways. They had no daily or weekly newspaper ;* the news was communicated from neighbor to neighbor, though in many cases they lived a long way from each other; carpets were rare; the white maple floors for the summer were very cool ; they had braided and husked rugs; after awhile the parlor floor in some houses was marble-painted; the kitchen floor, after breakfast, swept and sanded to take the dust from the shoes of the workmen. Families of similar tastes would some- times meet for social intercourse. In quite early times the expense and trouble to get spoons sufficient for family uses to eat their Indian meal pudding and milk, and other uses, was very great. In this dilemma they were relieved by the family getting a spoon mould, melting the pewter and lead white hot, turning it into the mould, and when cold the mould was opened and a good spoon taken out. Candles for a long time were run in candle moulds-also candles were dipped in a large kettle of hot tallow by having several candle-wicks strung on a stick ; these wicks were dipped in the tallow, then hung on a rod to cool ; then dipped again, and the dipping kept up until the candles were large enough.
*The first newspaper in the State was published in the year 1732, by James Franklin, in Newport.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
"Necessity is the mother of invention." When candles could not be obtained, pitch knots were burned in the fire-place to light up the dwellings.
Until saw-mills were set up, most of the dwellings were made of logs. The early frame houses were generally built one story, with small windows, sometimes gambrel-roofed ; others two stories in front, the roof slanting back so far down as to have but one story on the back side. Early in the eighteenth century there were many large two-story framed houses built in different parts of this land by well- to-do families. In these houses there were generally two rooms in front, with a door and entry between them; two rooms back; a large chimney in the centre, the chimney often serving for the smoke and draft for five fire-places. The kitchen fire-place, with strong, large, iron andirons, held a large quantity of wood. Children could sit in the corners of some of the fire-places, look up the chimney and count the stars. Some of the houses were painted red, a few were painted white, and many not painted at all.
In 1716 there was a great snow storm ; it snowed one day and one night, with a very high wind ; the snow was knee- deep; the drifts were ten and twelve feet high.
The pioneers learned of the Indians to make succotash by boiling corn and beans together. They also learned how to bake cakes made of Indian meal and water on hot stones under the ashes. These were cooked so as to make agree- able and wholesome food. The meal at first was made by cracking the corn as fine as might be by pounding it on a hollow stone, a kind of mortar hammered on the top of a rock, with a small stone for a pounder. For Sunday morn- ings, pork baked with beans made a good breakfast. Boiled Indian pudding, with a little salt, if they could get it, was another favorite dish, sometimes with milk, sometimes with maple syrup, and sometimes without anything. Bean porridge was a dish much liked for breakfast. For meats, there were many kinds-wild game in abundance and fish in the ponds. Household industry in the manufacture of wool and flax for
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
clothing was very decided. The feathers of geese and birds were carefully preserved to make warm beds for the cold winter nights.
On the 25th of August, 1727, George Second was pro- claimed King of Great Britain. The proclamation was read from a balcony in the second story on the west end of the Manufacturers' Hotel, Market square, Providence, now taken down. The proclamation when George Third was created King of Great Britain was read there in 1760; also the Declaration of Independence, July 5, 1776.
The town of Providence petitioned the Legislature in Feb- ruary, 1731, for a division of the town. The petition was received and granted. Three new towns were made and called by the names of Smithfield, Scituate and Glocester. They were incorporated out of the lands in the western part of the town of Providence. Glocester was set off about eleven miles square in the northwestern part of the State.
The committee appointed to examine and report in regard to the necessity of a division of the town of Providence were Mr. Samuel Clarke, Mr. Francis Willet and Mr. William Robinson. The land had been surveyed and boundaries set- tled by the county surveyors. It has been handed down that the name Glocester* was first suggested by some English residents from Glocester, England, already freemen, living within the limits of the new town; also in honor of the Duke of Glocester, Frederic Lewis, son of King George Second. This town was formerly spelled Gloucester. The first settlers had been trained under the laws acknowledged by Roger Williams and his associates.
An act was passed by the General Assembly giving power to ordained elders of every society and denomination of Christians to join persons together in marriage.
* Glocester, a city in the southern part of England, capital of the county of the same name, on the Severn, thirty miles from its junction with the Bristol channel, is a fine city. It is the See of a Bishop, and returns two members to Parliament; contains a cathedral built in 1047, one of the finest in England; has a square tower 223 feet high; contains the tomb of Edward Second, and Robert, Duke of Normandy.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
A town meeting was called March 16, 1731, to organize the town of Glocester, including the territory of the present town of Burrillville (which was taken from the town in 1806). Elisha Knowlton was chosen moderator, and also clerk ; Zachariah Eddy was chosen town sergeant ; Capt. John Smith, town treasurer; Zachariah Eddy, Jr., John Barnes, John Inman, Obadiah Jencks, Solomon Smith and Zebedee Hopkins were chosen town councilmen; Elisha Knowlton and Walter Phetteplace were chosen assistant deputy gover- nors to the General Assembly. The deputy governors and assistants were the judges of the highest judicial courts of the State until 1747, when chief justices were appointed.
When the town was incorporated it contained 2,504 inhab- itants. Permanent settlements were made about 1700. Major William Smith, Capt. Richard Waterman and Lieut. Elisha Knowlton were surveyors appointed by the Assembly to decide the boundary lines of the town.
The town had the same privileges as the other towns in the State, to choose their own officers, to send deputies to the General Assembly, to send one grand and one petit juror to the superior courts, to control their proportion of the interest of the bank money appropriated for the use of the towns of the colony according to the sums that the land lying in the town was mortgaged for, and what money the town treasurer of Providence had advanced for the land before the division was made, be repaid out of the whole interest money. Before the division, to defray the expenses of surveys and laying out of roads, money paid for portions of this land had to be mortgaged to meet payments.
Gov. Ward says, in 1741, "that the colony of Rhode Island first purchased, then settled, and hath at all times depended on its inhabitants at their own proper costs and charges as well against natives in former times as against foreign ene- mies in later times." Great sacrifices were made by the town to assist the mother country in her foreign wars from 1710 to 1740. It was necessary to keep some vessels of force cruising on the coast of New England for the safety of trade.
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
Their militia consisted of all male members in health from sixteen to sixty years of age in all the towns. They were obliged at their own expense to be always provided with a good firelock musket or fusee, a sword or bayonet, cartouch box, with one pound of good powder and four pounds of bul- lets, all in readiness at any call of a superior officer.
Many persons living within the limits of the town when organized were made freemen previously, when the land of the township was under the rules of Providence. All persons casting their votes at town meeting had to be made freemen and take the freeman's oath, as follows:
"I do solemnly bind myself in the sight of God, that when I shall be called upon, to give my vote of suffrage as I shall judge in mine own conscience may best conduce and tend to the public weal of the body."
Deputies were chosen once a year at the quarterly meet- ing next preceding the meeting of the General Assembly.
The town councils were empowered to lay out their high- ways in the same manner as in Providence. The committee to survey the town were William Jenckes, Richard Water- man and Lieut. Elisha Knowlton. In 1733 a road was laid out from the seven-mile line (about ten miles from Providence great bridge) to Ponagansett Pond, in the southwest part of the town. This pond is a fine sheet of water, where many of the beautiful white water-lilies grow. By this highway the means of intercourse was greatly facilitated with Providence.
An order came in 1741 from the King of England direct- ing the form of prayer for the royal family to be published or used in the several churches and other places of public worship in all the towns of this colony, a copy of said order to be sent to every minister or elder of each and every society in the colony without delay. The order was obeyed in this town. This year was very cold, especially the winter.
In 1744, in consequence of war having been declared by the French against England, measures were adopted to strengthen the English colonies in America. It was found necessary to strengthen the military force of this town. To this end, the
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HISTORY OF GLOCESTER.
men petitioned the Assembly to have an artillery company incorporated in this town. The petition was granted on condition that all the members should be from Providence county, and that the corps should be called "The Artillery Company in the County of Providence." This was the second chartered military company in the State, and the origin of the corps known as the "Cadet Company." *
In the year 1750 great efforts were made by the town to encourage the farmers to raise flax and wool, and manufacture the same into cloth. By this means, frugality and industry would be greatly promoted, and the waste lands in the town, occasioned in some measure by the wars taking soldiers, would be very much improved, to the advantage and interest of the inhabitants. They, under such circumstances, would be enabled in case of another war, to be better prepared to defend and protect themselves.
No Indians in the town.
In 1751 a law was passed in Great Britain that the year 1752 should begin the first day of January. In the old style the year began the 25th of March.
The law forbade all persons keeping house from entertain ing negro and mulatto servants or slaves; that they must not be absent from the family where he or she respectively belonged, or be found abroad in the night time after nine o'clock, unless on some errand for their owner.
During the year 1751 the death of His Royal Highness Frederic, Prince of Wales, occurred. This colony received directions from the mother country to use the form of prayer for the royal family issued, to be published in all places where. divine worship was held in the colony. The proclamation was promulgated by Governor William Greene to this town.
* This war was the beginning of the great struggle for the French ascendancy in North America. The ships fitted out by Rhode Island were said to be more in number than either of the other colonies, while her soldiers were prominent in other expeditions for the reduction of the French empire in North America between the years of 1741 and 1750. In all these battles the record shows that this town took her part, and, as promptly as possible, always paid her assessments into the treasury of the colony, whether for home or outside expenses.
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In 1755 the dividing line between Glocester and Scituate was run by Henry Harris, Esq., Mr. Thomas Steere and Col. Resolved Waterman. They made their report to the Assembly, the said towns paying all expense.
In 1756, sixteen able-bodied men were demanded of this town to aid the forces of the King of England in an expedi- tion against Crown Point. To encourage enlisting, a bounty of four pounds ten shillings lawful money was given to each man, and thirty shillings per month during his service; also a woolen blanket. The French in war were struggling hard, not only to hold their large possessions in America, but to add new conquests. Constant drafts for men and money were called for during seven successive years. In 1763 the French power terminated in America, and Great Britain had control of all the country east of the Mississippi.
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