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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01146 7336
FACTS AND FANCIES CONCERNING NORTH KINGSTOWN
RHODE ISLAND
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PETTAQUAMSCUTT CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION NORTH KINGSTOWN, RHODE ISLAND
1941
САТОМАТ СИА КТОЛЯ
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DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. Rhode Is- land. Pettaquamscutt chapter, North Kings- town. Facts and fancies concerning North Kings- town, Rhode Island .. North Kingstown, R.I.,1941. 143p. 24cm.
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Illustrated by
PAULE LORING of the Providence Evening Bulletin and VIRGINIA A. E. WHITE
APPRECIATION IS EXTENDED to THE ARTISTS and to CLARENCE PARKER AUSTEN H. Fox GEORGE E. KEENE for sketches loaned.
FIRST EDITION
Copyright 1941 PETTAQUAMSCUTT CHAPTER DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WICKFORD, RHODE ISLAND
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FOREWORD
Pettaquamscutt Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, has published this book "Facts and Fancies Concerning North Kingstown" for a three-fold purpose. First :- To gather together under one cover historical and traditional facts concerning our town in as complete a form as possible. Second :-- To perpetuate unpublished tales and anecdotes remembered by elderly residents. And Third :- To do a creditable piece of work at the request of the National Society, D. A. R., to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary.
Valuable as are the articles written by Chapter members, the book would have been entirely impossible without the kindly cooperation of friends of the town and of the Chapter who have made interesting and priceless contributions.
To these friends grateful appreciation is extended.
It has been a pleasure to compile the book and it is hoped that it will provide a similar pleasure to readers and will fulfill the purpose for which it is intended.
It is hoped, too, that the sacrifice, courage, and strength of North Kings- town pioneers, as exemplified in many of the stories, will help readers to find new courage, strength and faith to meet the problems of present dis- tressing times.
EDITH MASON DAWSON,
Regent.
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جبلة بقوة العالية
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RESEARCH COMMITTEE
MRS. HENRY E. DAWSON, Regent, Ex-Officio MRS. EDWARD H. WHITNEY, Chairman
Miss Abbie P. Gardiner
Mrs. L. Rodman Nichols
Mrs. Carlos Hamilton
Mrs. John Nugent
Mrs. Edwin W. Huling
Mrs. James Reynolds :
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HISTORICAL SKETCH OF NORTH KINGSTOWN
EDITH MASON DAWSON
T THE stories of Roger Williams, the first white man ever to live in this section of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, and of Capt. Richard Smith, the first white settler, are merely noted here as the beginning of the settlement of North Kingstown, the third settlement in the colony. Detailed accounts are to be found in another article in this book, entitled "Cocumcussoc".
The first attempt to occupy this section of the country on a large scale began in January, 1657, when a company of five men (later seven), most of them from Boston, was formed for the purpose of securing a large tract of land, which later became known as Pettaquamscutt Purchase. When the purchase was finally completed it embraced land from a northern boundary line drawn between Pettaquamscutt Pond in what is now North Kingstown and Horn Heap (now in Exeter) south to the ocean. Thus Massachusetts laid claim to this section of the Rhode Island colony.
The next important purchase was made early in 1659 when the famous land corporation known as the Atherton Company obtained from Sachem Kachanaquant two large tracts of land; one now known at Quidnessett and the other situated south of Richard Smith's possessions at Wickford. Some of the men of this company lived in Boston and another, John Winthrop, was governor of Connecticut. The Atherton Company voted to become a part of Connecticut and later appointed selectmen and other town officers and ordered that the plantation about Smith's trading post be called Wick- ford in honor of Winthrop's wife Elizabeth, "it being ye place of her na- tivity in old England". Thus Connecticut also laid claim to Narragansett lands.
In the meantime, in November, 1658, the General Assembly, fearing occupation by other colonies, passed a law forbidding land purchases from the Indians without leave of this colony.
The Atherton Purchase was therefore considered illegal and for many · years Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut disputed violently for ownership. Local lands were in the midst of turmoil and dissention.
In order to prevent landed proprietors from establishing a monopoly the General Assembly in 1671 ordered "that persons owning large tracts of land in Narragansett should sell it out to persons in want of it". From this time land in King's Towne began to be divided up into small parcels and settlements became more numerous.
On October 28, 1674, the General Assembly passed an act incorporating King's Towne as the seventh in the colony. The incorporation was re- affirmed in 1679. On June 23. 1686 the name was changed to Rochester, under Edmund Andros' administration, but three years later the original name was restored.
By 1703 the controversy for ownership by the three colonies was vir- tually settled and in 1726 the settlement was confirmed by the King who established the boundary lines. The King's Province (so named in 1654), became a part of Rhode Island.
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The population of North Kingstown was growing and by 1708 there were 1200 residents. Because of increased population the General Assembly in February, 1722, voted "that the town of King's Town be divided and made into two towns by the names of North and South Kingstown." North Kingstown held the records and was declared the older. Its first town meeting was held February 21, 1723. On June 16, 1729 these towns and Westerly were incorporated as King's County. A part of western North Kingstown was lost to Exeter when on March 8, 1743 that town was incor- porated. The name King's County was changed on October 29, 1781 to Washington County.
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The following population figures of North Kingstown are interesting :---- in 1730 there were 2105 people; in 1776, 2761; in 1865, 3116, and in 1940, 4579 people. It is estimated that by the close of 1941 with the addition of officers, enlisted men, civilian employees and their families connected with Quonset Naval Air Base the population will have increased to nearly 15,000.
The people of early colonial King's Town suffered hardships and misery because of living conditions, taxation and troubles with other colo- nies and the Indians.
With the beginning of the eighteenth century came a great change.
Cole's "History of Washington and Kent Counties" gives an interest- ing account of the wealthy land-holders with their slave-operated planta- tions (some of 3000 acres), abundant crops, hospitality, and education for their children. As early as 1707 two churches had been organized or erected; that of Roger Williams (the first teacher of what later became known as the Six Principle Baptist Church) and the Old Narragansett Church (known as St. Paul's in Narragansett).
Also, at the beginning of the eighteenth century Lodowick Updike, grand nephew of Capt. Richard Smith, conceived the plan of founding a town. He laid out highways and streets, renamed Wickford "Updike's Newtown," and in 1709 started to sell lots. According to town records the first house was built by William Hall about 1711 on what is now Washing- ton Street. At the time of the Revolutionary War about twenty houses and several warehouses and wharves had been constructed. Ships had been built and extensive trade was carried on with the West Indies. Grist mills and saw mills were busy throughout North Kingstown, along the coast and inland on streams, the first grist mill having been built about 1686 at Bissell's (now Hamilton). The first snuff mill in Ameria was built about 1750 at the head of Pettaquamscutt River and was operated by Gilbert Stewart, father of the famous portrait painter. (See Cole's "History of Washington and Kent Counties" for more about mills.)
Then came the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary periods when business was at a standstill and hardship again prevailed.
The period after the war until about 1825 brought real prosperity. (See articles in this book on "Taverns", "Schools", "Shipping" and "Stores".)
The invention of the steamboat and locomotive changed the whole transportation system, with a consequent lessening of Wickford's prosperity. However, along with improved transportation other communities in the town prospered. By 1876 there were eight substantial woolen mills and four cotton mills.
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AN OLD HOUSE OF WICKFORD
In 1871 the railroad from Wickford Junction to Wickford was opened with direct connection to Newport by means of a steamboat. During the approximate years of 1900-1920 the Sea View Electric Railroad operated between Providence, Wickford and Narragansett. Automobiles became popular and roads continued to improved.
The beauty of North Kingstown's shore line, its wooded interior, and splendid yacht basin became greatly appreciated.
As a result of all this another business, that of catering to summer visitors, grew up and has now assumed large proportions. Farmers have sold much of their property to summer residents, summer homes have been built, one year-around and two summer hotels are kept busy, and many over-night camps have been erected.
The state has established fish and lobster hatcheries, and two boat yards flourish.
As a result of the destructive hurricane and tidal wave of 1938, a water system was installed in 1939 in the more densely settled portions of the town.
In 1940 the Saunderstown-Jamestown bridge was completed.
In 1940, also, came another great change in North Kingstown, when, to further the national defense project, the state gave the old Camp Ground at Quonset to the federal government which has since acquired much ad- joining property owned largely by summer residents. Here the great North- eastern Naval Air Base is being built. Two miles away in Davisville addi- tional defense facilities are also being operated. A government housing project is being built on Cocumcussoc farm.
The problems of this new period have brought both physical and economic changes to the town. Some of the tranquil, colonial aspects have given way to hurried, more modern conditions. But the new problems are being slowly met with the same effectiveness that always has been characteristic of this lovely, old New England town.
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HIGH STREET IN WICKFORD, ESSEX, ENGLAND
Sketch by Virginia A. E. White
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WICKFORD, ENGLAND REV. HERBERT J. PIPER
W ICKFORD in old England is situated about thirty miles east of London. It is distinctively a rural town. The village stores carry articles that are needed in the dairy and on the farm. Sheep and cattle are seen grazing in the fields.
The town is old, almost as old as England itself. Many of the houses claim to be very old, and they look it. The age of one such house was said to be five hundred years. It was a long, low-posted house, with dormer windows and a thatched roof. The windows contained small squares of glass. The sash did not lift up, but opened out, after the French style.
Another old house was reached by turning off from the main road, crossing the open fields, and opening two farm gates in traditional English rural custom. This old house, with its huge stone chimney was surrounded by shrubbery, plum and many other kinds of fruit trees. This ancient estate was once owned by the bailiff of King Henry the eighth.
Wickford is growing to be a commuter's town by those who work or do business in London. The older inhabitants rather resent this invasion of their quiet by these busy people of the big city.
In 1905 the Wickford Church celebrated the six hundredth anniversary of the installation of their first Rector. Since 1305 the Church has a con- tinuous record of their Rectors and their official acts. There had been a Church in Wickford many hundreds of years before this time, but, pre- viously, the Parish had been combined with other Parishes. There had been a place of worship here, reaching back into the dim past, possibly as early as six hundred.
Wickford, England, received its name by the combination of two words -- the Saxon word "Wic" which means a village or a dairy farm, and the word "ford" which refers to an ancient ford over the river Crouch that winds through the town. So Wickford, England means, therefore, a country fording place. The river Crouch is now crossed by a well-kept bridge on the London road.
There is a tradition that Wickford in Rhode Island was given its name at the request of the wife of governor John Winthrop, one of the early Colonial governors of Connecticut. Mrs. Winthrop was visiting in Wick- ford which was then known as Updike-New-Town. Charmed by the loca- tion of this place by the sea, she asked that it might be given the name of her old home in England, Wickford. This was done.
The maiden name of governor Winthrop's wife was Read. Certain it is that there are many old stones in the cemetery surrounding the Church in Wickford, England, that bear the name of Read. This circumstance seems to give credence to the story of how Wickford, Rhode Island, received its name.
Both Wickford, England and Wickford, Rhode Island, have a dis- tinctive beauty and charm all their own that well rewards the tourist who may choose to visit them.
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THE CHURCH OF SAINT PAUL IN NARRAGANSETT
HERBERT RICHARD CROSS
B OTH fact and fancy cling around the quaint little church of Saint Paul Narragansett which stands in its quiet church-yard at the far end of Church Lane in the village of Wickford. Built in 1707 by the British Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, it was origin- ally intended to serve the owners, families, servants and slaves of the large and widely scattered plantations of the Narragansett country, and so was at first located several miles from its present site at a spot, now called the Plat- form, in open country equidistant from the various homes of the congre- gation.
The breaking up of the large estates at the close of the Revolution and the increase in population of the village of Wickford led to the removal of the edifice in 1800 to its present location. It served local Episcopalians as a parish church until 1848, when a larger church of Saint Paul was built on Main Street. It is now the property of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island. On Sunday afternoons in August Evensong is held here and occasional baptisms, weddings, funerals and other services take place from time to time.
The Church edifice is a relatively small, white, wooden structure,. set back from the street, behind a trim hedge, under large elms and amid the funeral monuments of former parishioners. It is in a simple but plea- sant form of English Renaissance architecture. The main door, facing the south, is flanked by Doric pilasters and surmounted by a broken pediment. The windows of the ground floor are arched, while those of the second story are square-headed and all are many-paned. The sturdy oak frame of the structure shows frankly inside.
The main aisle, running down the shorter axis of the church, leads to. the reading desk and the high "wine glass" pulpit. The altar, backed by a simple reredos, is under the gallery on the right, or east wall of the church. It is a handsome mahogany marble-topped table in the Chippen- dale style. It is flanked by two Queen Anne chairs and is preceded by an oak altar rail of richly turned balusters. The silver chalice and paten, pre- sented to the church by Queen Anne in 1707 are still preserved and are used on high feasts, as is also the handsome silver tankard presented by Nathaniel Kay of Newport in 1734.
High-sided box pews, with seats on three or sometimes four sides, surround the walls to the east, west and south, and lower, straight pews flank the central aisle of the nave. Flame-tipped staves indicate the wardens' pews. A gallery running around three sides of the interior was added in 1723 and was used by the negro slaves and Indians of the congregation. The whole atmosphere of the interior strongly suggests the simplicity and deco- rum of the Church of England in the early eighteenth century. It is inter- esting to recall that the church has existed under four English sovereigns,. Queen Anne and the first three Georges and under every president of the United States. The belfry blew down January 1, 1867 and has never been
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replaced. During the Revolutionary period very few services were held for political reasons. The building was used as barracks.
In its earlier period Saint Paul's, Narragansett, owed much of its success to the strenuous and untiring efforts of the third rector, the Reverend Doc- tor James McSparran, who was sent from England in 1721, by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts as a missionary to the Narragansett country. He served not only his immediate parish, but the whole colony of Rhode Island, preaching, baptizing, confirming rich and poor, slave and free, with true missionary zeal and disregard for his own ease and comfort until his death in 1757.
He married Miss Hannah Gardiner soon after his arrival and, on a large tract of land, since known as "The Glebe", pleasantly situated on the west bank of the Pettaquamscutt River and under the hill that still bears his name, he built a suitable dwelling. The Glebe became a center of the religious, social and cultural life of the region. The portraits of the doctor and of his wife were painted by John Smibert.
The Glebe long continued as the rectory of Saint Paul's, the last clerical occupant being the Reverend Samuel Burge. The property passed into - private hands and gradually became sadly dilapidated. The ell has entirely disappeared, the windows are broken and boarded up and the once lovely garden has run wild. The property has recently come into the possession of the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island and it is hoped that it will some day be restored to its former condition and preserved, together with the an- cient church of Saint Paul Narragansett, as a reminder of colonial days in South County.
OLD ST. PAUL'S CHURCH
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THE OLD GLEBE
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THE GLEBE COL. HUNTER C. WHITE
A LTHOUGH the Glebe is situated just over the line in South Kings- town, it is so closely bound to North Kingstown in its associations, that the story of the Glebe is not out of place in a history of North Kings- town. In fact part of the Glebe land extends over the line into North Kingstown.
For almost 100 years the Glebe was the home of the Rectors of St. Paul's in Narragansett. For nearly 80 years it actually belonged to the church. In the early winters when the bitter cold and the inaccessibility of the church building made the holding of services in the church impractic- able, services were held in the great room of the Glebe. In fact, no sketch of old St. Paul's is complete that does not contain numerous references to the Glebe and no history of North Kingstown is complete without an account of the old Narragansett Church.
THE GLEBE
On the east slope of Pettaquamscutt Hill in the Town of South Kings- town, not far from the North. Kingstown line, overlooking the valley of the Narrow River, stands the home of Rev. James McSparran, the third and, without doubt, the best known of the Rectors of St. Paul's Church in Narragansett.
The first record of this property in the Land Evidence of the old town of Kingstown is a deed given by William Gardiner to his eldest son, John Gardiner, July 31, 1721, in which he conveyed a tract of land containing by estimation 40 acres bounded on the north by land of Samuel Watson, easterly on a highway, southerly on land belonging to William Gardiner, and on the west by the country road or highway, together with the dwelling house standing thereon.
Where William Gardiner obtained the title to this property and whether or not the house was standing when William Gardiner acquired the prop- erty, does not appear in the Town Records. It is possible that he inherited the property from his father, Benoni Gardiner. Benoni Gardiner was the eldest son of George Gardiner and Herodias. Herodias obtained a divorce from George Gardiner on what we would now call "neglect to provide." She later married John Porter who, we are told, agreed to take care of her children. John Porter was one of the group that bought the Petta- quamscutt Purchase from the Indians in 1657 and was a very rich man. In any event we find her children and grandchildren owning large acreages of land in the territory included in that Purchase. It is also possible that William Gardiner obtained the property by some deed not recorded in our Town Records.
After the death of his father, William Gardiner, John Gardiner moved from the Glebe and took up his residence in his father's mansion house on Boston Neck. Following his father's wishes, John Gardiner on December 26. 1732, conveyed the Glebe property, including a 40 acre lot between the highway and the Narrow River, to his brother, Dr. Silvester Gardiner of Boston. The following year on December 17, 1733, Dr. Silvester conveyed the Glebe property to his brother-in-law, James McSparran.
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A few years later William Gardiner conveyed to James McSparran some land lying between a new location of the road and the land previously conveyed to James MacSparran. Here in this beautiful but lonesome locality Dr. McSparran from 1734 until his death in 1757 lived and ran his farm, caring for a parish that extended from Narragansett Bay to the Connecticut line and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Providence Plantations with occa- sional ministrations in Bristol and Seaconnet.
Dr. McSparran made his will some time before his death and in his will he left this property to "the Right Reverend Diocesan, if such should be sent within seven years of the death of his wife, Hannah McSparran, whose diocese should include St. Paul's Church in Narragansett", with the further proviso that the first three bishops should have been born in Europe. But if no such Bishop was sent within the seven years, the property was to be divided between his brother-in-law, Dr. Silvester Gardiner, and his nephew, James McSparran, of the colony of Pennsylvania.
Most of Dr. McSparran's personal property was sold at auction: Sub- sequently, a group of the leading members of St. Paul's Church, namely --- Francis Willet, Lodowick Updike, Benjamin Mumford, Thomas Brown, John Case, Thomas Hazard, Matthew Robinson and John Brown-raised the necessary money and bought the real estate from the heirs. Thereafter, on April 6, 1761, this group conveyed to Samuel Fayerweather, the War- dens and Vestry of St. Paul's Church, the property for a Glebe for the old church. Samuel Fayerweather lived here until his death in 1781. Probably most of the succeeding Rectors lived at the Glebe, although undoubtedly for much of the time it was in the hands of tenant farmers until about 1822 or 1823.
Lemuel Birge was the last Rector to occupy the Glebe. Mrs. Griswold, Lemuel Birge's daughter in her Wickford, Venice of America, states that Lemuel Birge married June 6, 1820 and took his bride to live at the Glebe. He lived there for two or three years and then returned to Wickford, and thereafter the Glebe had no clerical tenant.
Subsequently, believing that further ownership of the Glebe would be unprofitable, St. Paul's Church voted to sell it and in 1842 the title to this property passed into private hands. Recently the Episcopal Diocese of Rhode Island has received, as a memorial gift, the old house and one acre of land.
From a search of the records of the early town of Kingstown and the records of South Kingstown, we can definitely place the date of the Glebe House as early as 1720. Mrs. Downing in her Early Rhode Island Houses and the publication of the Society of Colonial Dames on the Early Houses of South County gave the date of this house as about 1690. However, I have not been able to find any record authority for this statement. The size of the great room and the general plan of the house rather suggest a some- what later date. There is nothing to indicate that this was ever the abode of the great land owners of South County. If it was, we might look for a larger house than would be the case otherwise, and as what would be a fair-sized house in the early years of the eighteenth would be a very large house in the later years of the seventeenth century, I would expect this house to have been built early in the seventeen hundreds. Probably William . Gardiner built this house for his son John in the period 1710 to 1720 and gave it to him in 1721.
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The Glebe House is situated about a hundred feet back from the Lower Road now called Walmsleys Lane, sheltered from the west and northwest winds by the steep slope of McSparran Hill. The ground in front of the house is laid out in three terraces. In entering the property we climb the 'rough stone steps leading from the road level to the top of the old mounting block. This gives us access to the lower terrace with its thick hedge of lilacs which hide the house from the road. In former days this terrace was laid out in geometrical patterns. The small flower beds were outlined with narcissus and the beds filled with creeping myrtle. Crossing this terrace we come to a short flight of stone steps which brings us to the second terrace. Mrs. Griswold in her book Wickford, Venice of Ameria in describing the approach to the old house as it was many years ago says, "Rude stone steps up an embankment that was securely walled, another short flight to a second terrace, a walk through a path bordered on each side by gooseberry bushes and a few old fashioned flowers and shrubs and I reached the entrance to this plain but substantial building that had borne the storms of many years." A short flight of steps brings us to the level of the third terrace near the edge of which stands the old house.
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