USA > Rhode Island > A history of Block Island : from its discovery, in 1514, to the present time, 1876 > Part 1
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LIBRARY
ERN MASSACHUSETTS
LINN . SOUTHEASTERN IS UNIVERSITY . HOILY UNITATE . 1895 . FORTIOR
A
HISTORY
OF
BLOCK ISLAND
FROM
ITS DISCOVERY, IN 1514,
TO
THE PRESENT TIME, 1876,
BY
REV. S. T. LIVERMORE, A. M.
" Knowledges are as Pyramids, whereof History is the Basis." --- BACON.
HARTFORD, CONN .: THE CASE, LOCKWOOD & BRAINARD CO. 1877.
COPYRIGHTED, 1877.
S. T. LIVERMORE.
:
Sp. Coll. F87 B6 L8
DEDICATION.
This volume, commenced as a Centennial Offering, by appointment of the Town Council of Block Island, in June, 1876, is respectfully
DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
THE EARLY SETTLERS OF THE ISLAND; TO THAT OF
THEIR DEPARTED POSTERITY, AND TO
THE INHABITANTS NOW LIVING,
BY
THE AUTHOR.
PREFACE.
IF any object to the title of this book on the ground of its containing the facts of history rather than history itself, our apology is that history is believed to be in the facts here presented, and that it will be better understood by those of limited culture than it would be if presented in the language of those who would fuse the facts into the philosophy of history. These facts have been gathered up hastily, and many of them snatched from the verge of oblivion, amid pressing duties of another character. They are here compiled for the pleasure and benefit of present readers, and for the use of some future historian who may pass them through his mental crucible, and bring out the golden current to the satisfaction of those who make the nice distinction between history and the facts of his- tory. But in the meantime, let not the mint despise the mineral or the miner.
As for style, the writer has aimed at one point, and endeavored to shun another. Though in doing the first he has sacrificed the ornate for the naked, this has been done with the conviction expressed by Bacon, thus : "This nakedness as once that of the body is the companion of
innocence and simplicity." In doing the second he has hoped to shun what the same great philosopher calls " the first distemper of learning, when men study words and not matter." Therefore those who read this book simply for the ornaments of language will be disappointed. Those who look for the waymarks of time on the extraor- dinary island here represented will be rewarded accord-
1*
A . .. . . .
6
PREFACE.
ing to their own estimate of the facts herein presented. Part of these facts may seem trivial to some, while to others they may be valuable. There was some wisdom in the cock that disregarded the diamonds, but greedily picked up the barley corns. Others picked up the jewels. Another has well said : "Without a detail of the most trifling facts in the early history of New England it will be impossible to understand the nature of their present religious and political establishments." So, future gene- rations will need a minute detail of our present condition.
In so small a work as this, covering a period of more than two centuries, nothing can be elaborate. And yet it is hoped there may be found here a sufficient concatena- tion of incidents and events to entitle this book to the character of a history rather than to that of mere chroni- cles. In the biographical sketches the writer has sought chiefly the weal of the Islanders, hoping to awaken in them a deeper interest in their genealogical records. He has also endeavored to give some outlines of the various classes of characters-or at least a specimen of each class. Perhaps good may thus result from enabling some to see themselves as others see them.
In these sketches are elements of history. Each gene- ration, in a measure, transmits itself to posterity, and the people of to-day repeat the words, the acts, the feelings, habits, and manners of those who lived centuries ago.
The writer's sources of information have been obscure, remote, and various. A colony so isolated from the main land, without printing press, with no mails for one hun- dred and seventy years, with a very meager written record of its own, has remained more than two centuries without a published history, while many very erroneous accounts of the Island, written by visitors, have been sent abroad. Dependent upon tradition, to a great extent, the Islanders have perpetuated legends that have come down to the pres-
7
PREFACE.
ent grotesque with fiction and superstition. A few of them are here presented, from only one of which-the Palatine, has it seemed necessary to lift the lion skin. The task of gathering isolated fragments here and there upon the main land, and of classifying them with others found upon the Island, has been laborious and perplexing. Without ready access to public libraries, while on the Island, the writer has been favored with assistance from others. He acknowledges his indebtedness to the courteous Librarian of the Massachusetts Historical Society ; to the Boston Public Library; to Mr. James Hammond of the Redwood Library at Newport ; to Mr. Charles H. Dennison of San Francisco ; to Mr. Ambrose N. Rose, Town Clerk of Block Island ; to Hon. Nicholas Ball, of the same place ; to the aged Islanders, and to others.
Errors, doubtless, will be discovered in this work, and for them the writer offers no apology, but simply asks for their discovery and correction, and that while the dross is condemned the genuine metal may be accepted at its true value. All information of its errors will be thankfully received by the author, and while asking no praise, and expecting no emoluments for his labor, he hopes to escape unmitigated censure from the professional critic for the presumption of making this humble offering to the public.
S. T. LIVERMORE.
BRIDGEWATER, MASS., March 22, 1877.
BLOCK ISLAND.
DISCOVERY.
When Block Island was first seen by civilized navigators is only a matter of conjecture. When it was first inhab- ited by Indians will probably ever remain a mystery. The first account of it which we find was given in 1524, more than three and a half centuries ago. Its shores were then cursorily examined by the French navigator, Verrazzano, who gave a report of it to Francis I., king of France. He described its location as being about fifty leagues east from New York harbor, and as about three leagues from the main-land, and represented its form as similar to a triangle. He says, "It was full of hills, cov- ered with trees, well-peopled, for we saw fires all along the coast." Evidently none of his crew landed to gain any knowledge of the inhabitants.
In 1614, ninety years after the French navigator passed its shores, the Dutch explorer and trader, Adrian Block, having been detained through the winter on Manhattan Island by the burning of his vessel and cargo of furs, built there a new one-a yacht, which he named the Un- rest, of sixteen tons burthen, and with it explored the coasts of Long Island Sound, and from the fact of his giving his name to this Island it is more than probable that he landed on its shores, and from some particular liking gave it his own name. Those who admit this infer- ence to be sufficient evidence of his visit here will accord to the Unrest the honor of being the first vessel anchored within the waters of this Island, as a visitor, and to
10
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
Adrian Block and his crew the distinction of being the first civilized men ever known to have come upon its soil.
In 1636, twenty-two years after Block's discovery, a trader from Boston, by the name of John Oldham-accus- tomed to traffic with the Indians, came to this Island with a small sailing vessel to trade with the Manisseans who " came into his boat, and having got a full view of com- modities which gave them good content, consulted how they might destroy him and his company, to the end they might clothe their bloody flesh with his lawful garments." Their murder of Captain Oldham thoroughly advertised the Island in Boston, and doubtless gave to many in New England their first knowledge of its existence. The expe- dition which Massachusetts sent to the Island under the command of Col. John Endicott to punish the Indians here accomplished not only that object, but made a more thorough exploration of the Island than ever made before, and also established a claim to it by right of conquest. It was now considered fully discovered and explored, and its large and fertile plantations just disburdened of great crops of corn by the Indians, with heavily timbered for- ests, and splendid fishing-grounds, made it an inviting home for the pioneer settlers of the colonies.
ITS NAMES.
But few parts of the world, during the same period, can boast of more names than Block Island, and were we to predict which one of them would remain the longest we should say that its first name will be its last one to be spoken and written.
Manisses, was the first one known by the Indians who were its occupants when settled by the English. This name, according to the best interpretation we have, had a religious as well as a local signification, meaning the " Little God," or the " Little God's Island," having refer-
11
ITS NAMES.
ence, probably, to its sachem, whom tradition represented as subordinate to the great Narragansett sachem on the main-land, and distinguishing him thus for his valor. Whittier, in his poem entitled "The Palatine," had good reason for choosing this euphonic, aboriginal name as the most poetic and desirable.
Claudia, comes next on the list. This name was given by Verrazzano, in 1524, in honor of the mother of King Francis I. It did not adhere, however, and after a trial of a century, being of no special honor to that worthy mother, one more substantial and enduring became its successor.
"Adrian's Eyland," soon after 1614, was the name put down upon the Dutch maps, and this was the name most familiar to those then sailing past its shores on trading expeditions to and from Manhattan. This name had the advantage of euphony and historic association with dis- tinguished persons and places of antiquity.
Block Island, virtually the same as the one last-men- tioned, was destined to be the name in 1876, and how long after none can say, by which the place was to be known most familiarly to the public. It was made so by the early settlers of the colonies, and whether intended or not, there was a prophecy in the name that was ominous to sailors, for upon its shores a multitude of fair vessels have fatally stumbled.
New Shoreham, in 1672, when the Island received its town charter from the Rhode Island Assembly, was made an antecedent, or prefix of the name Block Island. In that charter, the name of the incorporation is repeatedly given as "New Shoreham, otherwise Block Island." Whether the Islanders asked for this lumbersome name or not we cannot say. To some, at least, it is now sug- gestive of shores and blocks. The inhabitants, as is evi- dent from their records, considered the name too heavy,
12
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
and frequently wrote it simply Shoreham, or " Shorum." The long word-" otherwise," to connect the old and new names in the charter, they reduced to alias, and some- times wrote it " ales."
The reason for adopting the new name, in 1672, instead of being as newspaper correspondents have conjectured, is plainly stated in the charter, the authors of which were, perhaps, the committee consisting of Roger Williams, Thomas Olney, and Joseph Torrey, appointed in 1664 by the General Assembly " to draw up their thoughts to com- mit to the farther approbation or correcting, as commis- sionating them [Block Islanders] in point of preservation of his Majesty's peace there." The section alluded to in said charter reads as follows :
"And furthermore be it enacted, that the said town of Block Island, at the request and for the reasons by the inhabitants showed, and as signs of our unity and likeness to many parts of our native country, the said Block Island shall be called New Shoreham, otherwise Block Island." The shores of the New World were here associated with those of the Old, and the final syllable, ham, signifying a house, or farm, or village, had reference to " many parts " of England whose names terminate with a ham. There is also a New Shoreham in Sussex Co., Eng., on the Adur River, three miles from its entrance into the English Channel.
By popular consent the New Shoreham part of the name is now generally omitted, and Block Island is deemed suf- ficient, and thus the first step is taken in going back to the name Manisses. In the early part of the 18th century the Island was known to some extent in Massachusetts by the name of "Ministerial Lands," from the appropriation of a part of it for the support of a minister.
13
POSSESSION.
POSSESSION.
The first possession of the Island of which we have any account was that maintained by the Narragansett Indians. How long they had held it before Captain Oldham's trad- ing expedition there in 1636, we are not informed. Judg- ing, however, from the strength of the Narragansett tribe, they may be supposed to have owned it for centuries. It naturally belonged to them, from its location, as it now belongs to Rhode Island, lying, as it does, directly south of the middle of the southern boundary of said state, and twelve miles distant.
From the Indians it passed into the possession of Mas- sachusetts soon after the death of Captain Oldham, in 1636. It was acquired by the conquest of Colonel Endi- cott to punish the natives. Its transfer to that colony was acknowledged by Miantinomo, the great sachem of the Narragansetts, to Governor Vane, in 1637, and was stated then to be "by right of conquest." This transfer and possession were acknowledged by its former posses- sors as, in "January, 1638, the Indians of Block Island sent three men, with ten fathoms of wampum for part of their tribute," to the Massachusetts Colony.
In 1637, Gov. Winthrop said : " Miantinomo, the Nar- ragansett sachem, came to Boston. The governor, deputy, and treasurer treated with him, and they parted upon fair terms. He acknowledged that all the Pequod country and Block Island were ours, and promised that he would not meddle with them but by our leave."
In a letter from Roger Williams to Gov. Winthrop in 1637, the former stated that the sachems of the Narra- gansetts had left the Block Island Indians to the gover- nor, at the time of Mr. Oldham's death, and "so have done since ; " that said sachems had sought the head of Audsah, the murderer of Oldham ; that the Block Island Indians had obligated themselves to pay to the Governor 2
14
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
of Massachusetts 100 fathoms of beads annually, and that they were wholly said governor's subjects.
In 1658, the possession of Block Island was transferred from said colony to private individuals. The following account of this transfer is found in the Eccl. Hist. of New England : "1672, Nov. 3d, Block Island, granted in 1658, by Massachusetts, to John Endicott, Richard Belling- ham, Daniel Dennison, and William Hawthorne, is now incorporated by the R. I. Assembly under the name of New Shoreham" (Vol. II. 549). That state having received this Island from the Indians in consideration of the damage they had done in the Oldham affair, had acquired a genuine title, and accordingly transferred it to these gentlemen. Soon they transferred its possession again, an account of which we obtain from a most authen- tic source, the old town records of Block Island, entitled,-
"NEW SHOREHAM TOWNE BOOKE MADE IN THE YEARE 1675."
This book contains a copy of the original compact of the first settlers of Block Island. This copy was taken by the town clerk, in 1695, from the "old book of Records," of the existence of which we can gain no infor- mation.
In 1660, the last transfer of Block Island, as a whole, was made by Messrs. Endicott, Bellingham, Dennison, and Hawthorne, selling the same to a company of sixteen men, most of whom constituted its first settlers. The compact, purchase, and settlement were mainly as fol- lows :-
"RECORD OF THE PURCHASING AND SETTLEMENT OF BLOCK ISLAND."
" Memorandum in the year of our Lord 1660 ; as followeth :- "Mr. John Alcock, physician in the town of Roxbury, in the Colony of Massachusetts, being connected with Mr.
15
PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT.
Thomas Faxun, Peter George, Thomas Terry, Richard Ellis, Samuel Dering, Simon Ray, all of Braintree, with sundry persons belonging to other towns :
" Mr. John Alcock acquainting them of an island that was to be sold, namely, Block Island, which might make a situation for about sixteen families, and also declaring the price to be four hundred pounds, and that if they would be concerned with him proportionably towards the erecting a plantation on Block Island, he the aforesaid John Alcock would then proceed in the purchase thereof, granting him for his trouble and pains five pounds for a sixteenth part, or twenty-five acres of land as an equiva- lent, and to be at equal proportion at payment for said purchase in manner and form as followeth :
" Twenty-five pounds to be paid for every sixteenth part, the remainder of the payment for to be paid in country pay, such as the country afforded, and accordingly timely notice was given unto all those that might think convenient for to be concerned with the erecting the concerns afore- said for to make their personal appearance at the house of Mr. John Alcock, August the seventeenth 1660, then and there to confer about the premises above mentioned, and accordingly was forthwith attended by those hereunto subscribed :
" Mr. John Alcock, M. D. Simon Ray,
Thomas Faxon,
Felix Wharton,
Peter George,
Hew Williams,
Thomas Terry,
John Gluffer,
Richard Ellis,
Edward Vorse,
Samuel Dering,
John Rathbone.
"And according to the forementioned premises forthwith agreed with Mr. John Alcock for the payment of said Island proportionably as above mentioned, and also a con- sultation which way for to proceed concerning the erecting
16
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
a plantation on the aforesaid Block Island considering the remoteness thereof both by land and sea and could not be settled without great charge, whereupon some of our company began for to decline; still the remainder proceeded in the management thereof as voted all and every person that was concerned with land on Block Island should bear their equal proportion of all charges belonging unto the settlement thereof :
" Whereupon, for the premising and settlement of Block Island it was agreed upon that whose names here sub- scribed, Mr. John Alcock, Felix Wharton, Hew Williams, Thomas Terry, Samuel Dering, Simon Ray, all of them agreeing forthwith for to build a barque for the trans- porting of cattle to said Island for the settlement thereof, Thomas Terry, Samuel Dering, Simon Ray procuring the hull for to be built ; Mr. John Alcock, Felix Wharton, Hew Williams for to provide the sails and rigging, and. so accordingly proceeded in the management thereof. Further, for the better and quicker transporting of pas- sengers, considering that there was no harbor, Samuel Dering, Simon Ray built a shallop upon their own cost and charge for the promoting and settling of said Island, and by the end of the year 1660 the barque and shallop were finished for the same purpose before mentioned, and William Rose, first Master of the barque for the employ- ment that the barque was built for ; and William Ed- wards, and Samuel Staples undertaking to sail the shallop around the Cape, and for to meet the passengers at Taun- ton there to take them in and sail for Block Island.
"In the year 1661 the barque set sail from Braintree, in the beginning of April, for Block Island. The shallop received its passengers at Taunton, namely :
" Thomas Terry, Samuel Dering,
Duncan Williamson,
John Rathbone,
17
PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT.
Simon Ray, Wm. Tosh,
Edward Vorse,
Nicholas White,
Thormut Rose,
William Billings,
Wm. Barker,
Trustaram Dodge,
David Kimball, Wm. Cahoone,
John Ackurs,
[Thomas Faxun had pre-
ceded with the surveyor.]
" MEMORANDUM IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1661. "Further Settlement of the Plantation Block Island.
"Notice was given unto all the proprietors for to assem- ble themselves at the house of Felix Wharton, in Boston, the first Tuesday in September 1661, there to consult and agree upon some able knowing man to survey the Island that every purchaser might have his proportion that he or they might improve it to the best advantage they could, Mr. John Alcock propounding unto the assembly there met of a man that he knew for to be an able proved sur- veyor, one Mr. [Peter] Noyse of Sudbury, forthwith the assembly accepted of Mr. Alcock's proposal, and forth- with it was voted that Mr. Noyse, Mr. Faxun, an able knowing man, that they should go to Block Island and by lot divide unto every man concerned his due propor- tion as near as they could ; and so accordingly they did proceed in the managing thereof according unto directions of the purchasers and proprietors of said Island that took it into consideration at the time of this assembly and agreed upon that there should a quantity or portion of land be laid out for the help and maintainance of a min- ister and so continue forever, and accordingly Block Island was surveyed and lotted out proportionally unto the purchasers by Mr. Noyse and by Mr. Faxun, as doth appear by the surveyor's works in the plot and draught of said Island measured and bounded unto every pur- chaser according to proportion by lot as followeth : 2%
18
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
" The North Part of the Island as by Lot.
"Mr. Richard Billings, - First Lot.
Mr. Samuel Dearing, - -
2
66
Nathaniel Wingley, Tormot Rose, -
3
6
Edward Vorse, John Rathbone,
4 66
Thomas Faxon (2 lots),
- 5 & 6 66
Richard Ellis, -
-
-
7 66
John Glover, -
.
9
66
Thomas Terry,
-
-
10 & 11 66
James Sands, - -
12
66
Hew Williams,
13
John Alcock, - -
14
Minister's Land,
.-
-
15
Peter George, -
-
-
16
Simon Ray,
-
-
"The Western Part of the Island as by lot Divided :
"Mr. Thomas Faxon, - - - 1 & 2 Lots.
Nathaniel Wingley, Tormot Rose, -
3 66
Thomas Terry, -
- 4 & 5 66
Felix Wharton, -
6
John Alcock, Physician, - -
7
P. George and S. Ray, -
- 8 & 9
" South East Part of the Island.
"John Rathbone and Edward Vorse, - 10 Lot.
Richard Billings, -
11
12 66 Richard Ellis, - -
Hew Williams the thirteenth, -
13
John Glover and James Sands, 14 & 15 66 Samuel Dering, 16 -
"The other small divisions by lot divided unto every purchaser by proportion.
17
-
-
-
-
.
8
Felix Wharton,
-
19
PURCHASE AND SETTLEMENT.
" The above written on both sides, being a true copy extracted out of the old book of records of memorandum for the first settling of Block Island, by me,
November this 29th 1695
Pr NATH™ MOTT Town Recorder."
The above memoranda are here given verbatim, but not in all cases literatim ; the spelling is almost too antique to be intelligible. From the foregoing record it is seen that several of the purchasers in the compact were not among the very first settlers. It seems, too, that after the company of sixteen bought the Island in 1660, they built their transporting vessels in the fall and winter of 1660-1; sailed from Braintree "in the beginning of April" 1661, as Braintree then was bounded on the north by Neponset River and Massachusetts Bay ; and in Sep- tember of 1661 sent forward Messrs. Noyes and Faxun to survey and apportion the Island ; and it is probable the company did not embark from Taunton before the spring of 1662. The proprietors were all notified to meet in Boston in September, 1661. There they appointed their surveyor, who was needed to apportion the Island before the settlers moved there, that each might know where to locate. After his appointment, the time neces- sary for his journey, and for his complicated task would necessarily delay the settling party at their old homes, or at Taunton, into the winter of 1661, and hence they prob- ably moved in the spring of 1662, and then by their pos- session and improvement of the land established the titles which have descended to succeeding generations.
From Taunton it is supposed they sailed down the Taunton River, into Narragansett Bay, followed the coast down to Point Judith, and thence crossed to Block Island, landing at Cow Cove, as then quite a bay was there and
20
HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
as it is supposed the first cow ever upon the Island there swam ashore, greatly to the amusement of the native spectators.
THE ISLAND.
LOCATION.
It is located directly south of the central part of Rhode Island, twelve miles from the main-land. It is southwest from Newport about thirty miles, and about eighteen miles north of east from Montauk, the east end of Long Island. According to the Coast Survey, its position is : latitude 41° 08' North, longitude, 71º 33' West, and it lies so far out in the sea that in summer its sur- face is cooled by the most refreshing breezes, and in win- ter its hills are swept by fearful gales, and its shores are wreathed with the white foam of assaulting billows. It is about eight miles long, and three miles wide, longest N. W. and S. E.
" Circled by waters that never freeze, Beaten by billows and swept by breeze, Lieth the Island of Manisses."
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