USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Bristol > Sketches of old Bristol > Part 1
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STOL
OLD BA
Gc 974.502 B776t 1240552
M. U
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
V
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 00084 6623
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
Written and Edited by CHARLES O. F. THOMPSON
Printed in PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND by the ROGER WILLIAMS PRESS 1942
-
PRINTED IN PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND BY THE ROGER WILLIAMS PRESS, 1942
1240552
TO THE MEMORY OF MY MOTHER
ABBIE HOWLAND THOMPSON
Her appreciation and understanding would have been the greatest.
Southern - $15.00
CONTENTS
Bristol in 1820 .
I
Town Officers in 1820 and Other Items of Interest .
IO
Bristol in the Year 1825 16
Simeon Potter
19
Notable Bristolians, 1826 .
21
Sammy Usher
23
Bristol in 1840
29
Old-Time Firefighters
38
Old Bristol Reminiscences, 1840-1850 .
40
Bristol Schools One Hundred Years Ago
67
Bristol in the Year 1855
88
Bristol in the Year 1856
89
Town Officials in 1856
91
The Days of the West Indiamen Square-Riggers
96
The "Mansion House" - Captain Charles D'Wolf 98
Hon. James D'Wolf
99
"The Mount"
103
The Old D'Wolf Family Bible . IIO The Old D'Wolf Warehouse . III
A D'Wolf Project .
II4
The Slave Trade in 1807 - Captain James D'Wolf
. II5
Gen. George D'Wolf's Failure in 1 82 5
I16
Hon. John D'Wolf and the "Farm"
II7
The Military - 1820 .
I23
Old-Time Musters .
. 125
ix
CONTENTS (continued)
The Train of Artillery . I26
The Train of Artillery and the "Dorr War," 1842 . 128
The Brick Schoolhouse on the Neck . 130
The "Old Brick School House" .
. I33
The Streets and Lanes of Bristol as Originally Laid Out 137
The First Houses Built in Bristol
I4I
"King's Highway".
· 149
"Daddy" Bullock - 106 years old .
. 150
Bourn's Tavern .
· 15I
The Court House
. 152
The Town's Poor Farm
. I54
Castle Island Beacon
155
Old Bristol "Colored Folks" .
I 56
Bristol, a Sleepy Little Village
159
J. Gladding & Co., Bookbinders .
160
The Days of Long Ago in Bristol
162
Rev. Henry Wight, D.D. .
I64
Excerpts from "Parson" Wight's Records .
165
Excerpts from Diary of "Parson" Wight, 1787
169
The Middle District School .
176
The Town Watch Years Ago .
.182
The Old Graveyard
on the Southeast Corner of the Common . 185
Babbitt's or "Long Wharf" . 186
The Old Congregational Meeting-House .
192
Home Life of Long Ago . 197 ·
Hon. James Diman
206
CONTENTS (continued)
The Old Gas House
207
Some Bristol "Colored Folks" of the Long Ago . 209
Hon. Byron Diman 212
John Howe, "Squire" . 214 Robert Rogers 216 "Goree" . 220
Some Quaint Bristol Characters of the Old Days .
221
Hon. Joseph M. Blake .
223
The Old Gladding Windmill . 225
Old Lanes of Bristol
. 226
Doctor Jabez Holmes .
. 228
Old Stage Coach Days 229
The Old Franklin St. Station .
239
The Town Crier
250
Bristol Sketches .
. 254
Major Jacob Babbitt
. 264
The News of Lee's Surrender Arrives in Bristol, 1865 .
265
Hon. Samuel W. Church .
267
Old-Time Bristol Blacksmiths.
269
The Old Bristol and Warren Boundary Line
. 272
The Old Freemen's Bank Building .
273
Peter Gladding - Town Clerk .
274
The "Old Diman House"
275
Col. William R. Taylor . 276 "Green Lane" . 277
Old Well Unearthed .
277
Rt. Rev. Mark Antony DeWolfe Howe
. 278
xi
CONTENTS (continued)
James De Wolf Perry . 282
A Picture of Bristol, 1866-1875 . . 284
Town Meeting in 1875 . 294 Hon. Jonathan Russell Bullock . . 296
Burning of the Empire State .
. 298
The Bristol PHOENIX - a History . . 299
Hog Island .
308
Bristol Banks of Long Ago 3II
Superintendents of Schools · 320
High School Principals · 32I
Marmaduke Mason
· 322
Edward Isaac Thompson · 322
Col. Charles A. Greene · 325 Charles H. Spooner . 326
Hon. Isaac F. Williams 328
George W. Easterbrooks · 329
"Scotty" Dixon . 329
Herbert Franklin Bennett - Town Clerk .
. 331
Rev. George Lyman Locke, D.D. · 333
Hon. William T. C. Wardwell . . 335
Hon. Augustus Osborn Bourn
· 338
Parmenas Skinner, Jr. . . 339
George Ulric Arnold . . 341
The Old Burying-Grounds . 342
The Old Bristol Ferry .
345
The Great September Gale of 1815
35I
The Hurricane, 1938
·
353
xii
CONTENTS (continued)
An Incident Concerning Gov. William Bradford in 1775 . 356
The Governor Bradford Farm · 357
Burial of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry in 1826 359 United States Post Office and Custom House-Postmasters 362 Notable Bristolians of the Past · 364
The Old Stone Wall on the Neck Road
· 365
"The Old Tramp House" · 366
Bristol Police Force of 1904 . 367
Hon. Ezra Dixon
367
Rev. William Ramsay Trotter 370
John Post Reynolds . 371
Orrin Luther Bosworth - Judge
373
Charles Bristed Rockwell .
. 374
William Frederick Williams, M.D.
. 376
Philo V. Cady - Sheriff .
377
Alfred M. Merriman, M.D. . · 378
The Old Herreshoff Family . 380
"Fourth of July" - 1838 382 .
Some Choice Ads and Notices of the Long Ago . 383
Gleanings from the Past
392
A Few Anecdotes
· 403
Census Statistics of Bristol from 1748 to 1940
· 4II
Census of Bristol - 1774 . · 412
Census of Bristol - 1785 - A Summary
414
Census of Bristol - 1790.
. 415
Interesting Facts of the Past
. 418
xiii
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SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
7
BRISTOL in 1820 Written in 1870 by BENNETT J. MUNRO ( 1809-1888)
THE last half century has seen many and great changes in the town of Bristol. Old monuments of ancient structure have dis- appeared and new ones of more modern style and architecture have taken their places. Old customs in social life, in trade, and manners, have given place to more modern ideas. The men who in 1820 filled places of honor and trust and directed public affairs have passed off the stage of action, and been succeeded by others who have developed new ideas of human obligations and rela- tions in life.
The United States census of 1820, taken by Golden Dearth, Esq., gives the population of Bristol as:
MALES
1633
FEMALES 1564
TOTAL
3197
Of these 213 were colored.
The census for this year (1870) shows a total population of 5302, a net increase of 2105, an average gain of 42 each year. Should one who left Bristol in 1820, return today, fifty years later, he would look in vain for things which were familiar in his youthful days, such have been the great changes that have come about.
Standing at the north end of the town, near the town bridge, and looking south, his eye would rest on the depot, engine house, and iron rails of the Providence, Warren & Bristol R. R. Co., also the Marine Railway at the foot of Oliver street, in place of the spacious wharves and well-stored warehouses of the late Thomas Church, Parker Borden, Benjamin Bosworth, and Nicholas Peck.
He would look in vain for the humble one-story "West house," the birthplace of several generations; the slaughterhouse of Judge Howland, where Jack Haskell reigned supreme, the
I
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
terror of all horned cattle and sheep kind; the Coggeshall house, on which site the mansion house erected by the late Thomas Church in 1840 now stands; the dwelling house of Capt. Daniel Gladding where the first Methodist meeting was held in 1790 ;* the hay press and stores of Newton Waldron, now used as a lumber yard; the warehouses and distillery of Col. Samuel Wardwell where now stands the cotton mill of the Richmond Mfg. Co .; the store of Aaron Usher, with the ponderous scales where hay and other merchandise was suspended in the air and weighed; the noble mansion in the rear built by the Rev'd. Mr. Samuel Lee, the first settled minister of the community (1687- 91), where he resided during his stay in Bristol.
Further on the Lindsey house subsequently owned by Rest- come Hart, where now stands the store occupied by Otis Munro ;** the store where Maj. Benjamin Wardwell presided for more than half a century; the blacksmith shop and shipyard on whose site the cotton mill of the Reynolds' Mfg. Co. now stands; and last, but not least, the large mansion, the beautiful gardens adjoining, and the well-filled warehouses of Capt. Charles D'Wolf.
On Hope street he would miss the Norris house; the Joseph Diman house; the house where Thomas Diman made grave- stones; the Smith house; the house on the corner occupied by the Manchester family, where "Marm" May taught the young "ideas" of several generations; the Gladding house opposite; further on the tavern stand of Stephen Wardwell ;*** the Rus- sell, more familiarly known as the Van Doorn house; the house on the corner built by Nathaniel Paine in 168 1 ; the store adjoin- ing occupied by Simon Davis; the barber's shop of Seabury Man- chester, where the aged men of the town met twice a week to talk over matters of local interest while undergoing tonsorial opera-
*In 1890 the old house was still standing on Thames street, next south of the Phenix Sugar Refinery.
** This is the brick building still standing at the southwest corner of Thames and State streets, at the head of the steamboat wharf. A white stone marker on the front (near the peak) gives the date of construction, 1826.
*** This stood on the site of the Henry W. Peck house on Hope street.
2
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
tions; the Woodbury house famed for the fact of its survival after the burning of the town by the British troops in 1778; the Mosher place; Bourn's Tavern; and the Smith house; the Oxx house, recently demolished; the Richard Smith house; the house on the corner of Constitution street with the store attached, whose occupant spelled coffee "kauphey", and kept his book accounts in chalk marks on the door, which the good dame obliterated once a year when house cleaning; the building in the rear built by Capt. Church in 1680; the two Nooning houses; the humble residence of John Coy, the town crier; the Liscomb house, and Gladding's grist mill at the south end of the town.
He would look in vain for the residence of Sammy Usher, whose eccentric form and manners and wit made him the jovial companion of his compeers; or the Isaac Young house; the Drown place, and many others which might be named.
On High street in 1820 there were 29 buildings-four have been removed and 63 added. On Wood street, commencing south up to State street, there were three buildings; thence north on the east side to Crooked Lane, where now stands the plant of the National India Rubber Co., the Roman Catholic Church and various dwellings, there were five small houses, and on the oppo- site side three, all occupied by colored folks. This street numbers at present about 60 houses. The large space east of Wood street now dotted over with houses, in 1820 contained not a single house.
During the year 1820 forty-nine foreign cargoes were entered at the Custom House in this town, and the duties on imports that year amounted to $121,570. Sixty-nine ships engaged in foreign trade hailed from this port. The exports for the year 1820 amounted to about $75,000; they consisted chiefly of lumber, hoops, fish, provisions, horses and mules, onions, potatoes, and other articles of produce and manufacture.
Among the imports in 1820 at this port were 6,397 boxes of sugar, 2,869 casks of molasses, 4,538 bars of iron, 292 tons of hemp, 2,289 bales of Russia duck, 1,160 packages of Russia diaper, 68 packages of sheeting, 24 bales of feathers, 29,100
3
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
quills, 469 bags of coffee, 123 puncheons* of rum, 35 casks of honey, 2,700 boxes of cigars, 110 zeroons ** of indigo, 3,718 bushels of salt, 3,1 50 calf-skins, 26 tons of old iron, 193 casks of palm oil, 73 tons of ivory, 320 ounces of gold dust, 1,055 hides, 205 tons of dye woods and mahogany, and various other articles of merchandise.
Chas. Collins, Esq., was Collector of Customs for the District of Bristol and Warren, and the Custom House was located on Bradford street in the dwelling house now owned and occupied by Capt. Allen T. Usher. Capt. Collins held the office of Collec- tor for several years during the time Bristol was at its height of commercial prosperity; he was a shipmaster and a native of War- ren but resided in this town for many years; he married Lydia, the daughter of the Hon. William Bradford.
The merchants engaged in commerce at this time were James D'Wolf, Jacob Babbitt, Thomas Church, Nicholas Peck, Parker Borden, Byron Diman, Benj. Norris, Hersey Bradford, Henry Wight, Jr., Allen Wardwell, Samuel Gladding, George D'Wolf, Chas. D'Wolf, Jr., John Smith, Robert Rogers, Wm. R. Noyes, Thos. Lindsey, Royal Diman, Nathaniel Wardwell, Samuel Wardwell, Nathaniel Gladding, Robert Davis, John Wardwell, James Pitkins, Edward Church, Lemuel C. Richmond, Edward Spalding, and Geo. S. Wardwell.
A great portion of the molasses imported was manufactured into rum and sent to market elsewhere; two distilleries were in full operation at this time, also one establishment where spirits were rectified.
Prominent among the business men and mechanics of the town were: Nicholas Peck & Son, and Samuel Coggeshall, whole- sale dealers; Ephraim Gifford, Benj. Hall, Benj. Wardwell, Monro & Norris, Zebedee Paull, Joseph Coe, Stephen Chafee, Greenwood Reynolds, and William Pearce, 3d were all grocers; Geo. Coggeshall, Thos. Richmond, James LeBaron, and Henry Smith dealt in dry goods; Sylvester Luther, Ebenezer
*A cask, a liquid measure of 84 wine-gallons.
** A bale or package, covered with hide, or wood bound with hide.
4
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
Bosworth and Obediah Brown were dealers in boots and shoes; Benj. Wyatt, Palmer Brown, Wm. Van Doorn, James P. Burgess, and John A. Pitman were merchant tailors; Crawford Easterbrooks, James Smith, and George B. Peck made hats; William Muenscher sold books and stationery; Russell Warren, Benj. Norris, Charles Shaw, Samuel Warren, Jonathan West, and Timothy French were house carpenters and contractors; Nehemiah Cole, Benj. Grant, Nathan Bishop, Haile Mason, and Joseph Waldron were stone and brick masons; Ephraim Sprague, Joseph Brown, and Isaac Freeborn, cabinet makers; Eleaser Luther, Nelson Miller, Restcome Hart, Ephraim Monro, and Samuel Taylor were blacksmiths; James Fales and Josiah Good- ing,* jewelers; John Peckham and Amasa Breck, harness and truck makers; Edward Munro, John Manchester, Bennett Munro, Richard Harding, Seabury Manchester and Joseph Wardwell were coopers; Jonathan Nooning and Daniel Glad- ding were sail makers; Benj. Tilley and Lefavour Howland made cordage; John C. Harding and Benj. West were block- makers; Joseph Coit made spars; Aaron Bourne, Gilbert Rich- mond, Sheffield Atwood and John Gardner were bakers; Wm. S. Simmons was a carriage maker; Henry P. Bowers painted car- riages; Samuel Thompson was a wheelwright; Gilbert Norris was a glazier; Amos T. Gorham ** made tin ware; John Wads- worth and Isaiah Cole were weavers; Enos Eddy and Jonathan Hill were shipbuilders; Amos Wright, Thos. Collamore and Jonathan Peck were calkers; John West, Richard West, Ansel Meigs, Ceaser Tanner and Thos. Wilson were butchers; William Young, Abraham Leonard, John U. Sandford, and Richard Manchester were "teamers"; Samuel Gladding, Noah Hall, Mason Kingsley, Charles Munro, Titus Peck and York Usher were woodchoppers; the undertakers were Nathaniel Smith, 2d and Scipeo Burt, the former being the sexton of the Episcopal and the latter of the Congregational church. Ben Gannett drove the public hearse, and Samuel Thompson and Thomas Goff rang
*Father of James M. and Josephus B. Gooding.
** Father of "Wash" Gorham.
5
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
the town bell. Peleg Slocum who was Constable also kept the Jail.
The Town Clerk, in 1820, was Daniel Bradford; he was a man of rare abilities and finished education; he also held the office of Chief Justice of the Court of Common Pleas; he was a teacher in the public schools, and was also extensively engaged in the settle- ment of estates and other legal matters. After Judge Bradford's death in December, 1820, the town voted that the records of the town should be kept hereafter in some suitable place in the town, south from Oliver street and north from Constitution street. Judge Bradford for several years resided on Bristol Neck, on the farm since occupied by Chas. Fales, Esq., and the town records were kept in his house which made it very inconvenient for those who wished to consult the records. It is related of the late Gov. Nathaniel Bullock* that on being asked by a stranger in regard to the location of the Town Clerk's office, replied in his prompt and humorous manner, "You will find it in Judge Bradford's hat."
The Town Crier, John Coy, was born in 1771 and held this office for many years up to the time of his death in 1824. He was a very faithful and efficient officer conferring honor on the same by the dignity with which he performed his duties, whether by notifying town meetings by beat of drum, or crying at the corners of the streets the goods to be sold by Wm. Reynolds and John W. Bourn, the leading auctioneers of that time.
The Post Office in 1820 was kept at Pardon Handy's store on Thames street, in the Long Wharf building. Pardon Handy, Esq. was the postmaster and it was at his store that Sammy Usher used to hang out. Dr. Lemuel W. Briggs, who succeeded Mr. Handy as postmaster in 1823, removed the office to State street, thence to his store on Hope street. Dr. Briggs held the office until his death in 1840. He was born in Middleborough, Mass. in 1786; studied medicine with Dr. Thos. Nelson, a distin- guished physician of this town, was admitted to practice in 1807; practiced two years in his native town, and located himself in Bristol in 1810, where he continued to practice until his death, a
*Father of the late Judge J. Russell Bullock.
6
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
period of thirty years. Dr. Briggs was a valuable citizen, much interested in the affairs of the town; he was an early member of the School Committee, and was one of the original members of the Baptist church; he was one of the founders of the R. I. Med- ical Society. The beautiful elms which shade the public buildings in front of the Common were planted under his immediate direc- tion and will remain for many generations to come, monuments to his taste and judgment. The town meeting records show that the good doctor was year after year appointed a committee for the care of the Common.
Members of the legislature were elected semi-annually, in April and August. The town in 1820 voted a tax of $2,500. Of this amount $800 was appropriated for highways, and $ 1,700 for incidental expenses, including the support of the poor, and the pay of members of the Legislature who were paid by the several towns. In 1820 the town supported 14 paupers who were boarded in private families at from $1.25-$2.00 per week; five paupers died during the year, one of which had been supported by the town for 51 years, living in one family nearly all that time.
Twenty-nine licenses for the sale of ardent spirits were granted in 1820-one out of every 110 persons in the town was engaged in this business. The income received from licenses was $148.75 -not a very large sum when you consider the number of permits granted.
The tavern keepers licensed were Shearjashub Bourn, George Spooner, Jonathan Reynolds, Samuel Read and Sanford Horton. The latter conducted the Bristol Hotel, in those days known as "Horton's". The Town Council and Court of Probate held their meetings at Bourn's Tavern and Mr. Bourn's bill, that year, for entertaining the town's fathers was $42.28. Years ago Bourn's Tavern stood on the site of the present Post Office building.
In 1820 John C. Leveck kept a victualing house in the town. That year a town watch was ordered to be set during the winter months; also Jacob Babbitt, William D'Wolf, and John Howe were appointed a committee to lease the public docks at the foot of the various streets.
7
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
The question of public school instruction was beginning to be agitated throughout the State at this time, and at the January session of the Legislature the question was discussed, and the whole subject matter was referred to the people (the free hold- ers) to be voted upon at the election of members of the General Assembly. At the April town meeting the matter was introduced by the Hon. James D'Wolf, who advocated strenuously the adoption of the free school system. The question, however, was postponed until the August town meeting when, after a very spir- ited and earnest debate, the following resolution was passed nearly unanimously, only four voting in the negative:
"Voted, That it is expedient to establish free schools through the State at the public expense, and that our Representatives be instructed to vote accordingly."
The Legislature at the next session passed the bill establishing public schools, and at the spring election, in 1823, the town elected the following persons as the School Committee, under whose direction free schools were first inaugurated in this town. In point of learning and high moral culture this committee will compare favorably with those of more modern times:
Alexander V. Griswold, Bishop of the Diocese of Rhode Island, Rector of St. Michael's Church, and at the time Chan- cellor of Brown University, and for many years a teacher of youth, was the chairman of the Committee; Lemuel W. Briggs, a distinguished physician and a man of high intellectual abilities, was the secretary; the other members of the committee were Henry Wight, D.D., graduate of Harvard University, pastor of the Congregational Church, and one of the board of Fellows of Brown University, a man ripe in years and experience; John D'Wolf, jr., a graduate of Brown University, at that time Pro- fessor of Chemistry in that college; John Howe, Esq., a cele- brated lawyer, also a graduate of Brown University; Jabez Holmes, M.D., a graduate of Yale, with Col. Peter Church, and Charles Fales, Esq., both farmers.
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SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
Abner Alden, A.M., for many years principal of the Academy in this town, died on the 18th day of August, 1820, aged 64 years. Mr. Alden was born in Middleborough, Mass., in 1756-grad- uated at Brown University in 1780, taught at the Academy in East Greenwich a short time, came to this place in 1786, where he resided until his death. Mr. Alden was a man of strong mind and finished education; he was the author of several valuable school books which were in general use at that time, but which have now become extinct. Mr. Alden was succeeded in the Acad- emy by his nephew, Charles H. Alden, who taught several years.
The "town schools," as they were termed, were taught succes- sively by Daniel Bradford, Joseph Rawson, Greenwood Rey- nolds, Samuel Reynolds and William R. Noyes. Stutely Wyatt taught a private school, and the primary departments were con- ducted by "Marm" May, "Marm" Borden, "Madam" Wald- ron, the Misses Elliotts, and Miss Drown.
FIRE DEPARTMENT
The Fire Department consisted of three small fire engines, two fire hooks, three ladders, about three hundred feet of leather hose, twenty-four fire buckets, eight to each engine, six axes, four wrenches, four iron bars, and three speaking trumpets. Each dwelling house was furnished with one or more fire buckets to be used in case of necessity. The engines were supplied with water, usually from the harbor, lines being formed from the docks to the engines, the men passing the filled buckets and the women and children the empty ones.
Engine No. I was located at the foot of Bradford street and was manned as follows: John W. Bourn, Captain, Nathaniel C. Townsend, John Peckham, Nathaniel G. Bourne, Thomas Lind- sey, Samuel Norris, Nicholas Peck, jun., Jonathan Alger, Heze- kiah Norris, Jonathan West, Joseph Gifford, Eleaser Luther, and Joseph Booth. The engine house was built in 1806 at a cost of $106.
Engine No. 2 was located at the foot of Church street. Edward Munro, jun., was Captain. The Company consisted of
9
SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
Joseph Coit, George M. Coit, Billings Waldron, 2d, Richard S. Gladding, William S. Simmons, John P. Simmons, Samuel Taylor, Benjamin T. Easterbrooks, John A. Pitman, William C. Smith, and Edward T. Gladding. This engine house was erected in 1814 at a cost of $205.
Engine No. 3, at the foot of Constitution street - Charles D'Wolf, jun., Captain. This company was composed of Milton French, James Pitkins, Robert Davis, Jonathan Nooning, Joseph Wardwell, James Diman, Josiah Gooding, George S. Wardwell, Seabury Manchester, 2d, James T. Newman, Nathaniel T. Paine, and Ephraim Sprague. The building was erected in 1817 at a cost of $198. Forty-nine persons belonged to the fire depart- ment at this time, five only survive. The whole amount expended on account of the fire department that year was $38.49.
TOWN OFFICERS in 1820 and Other Items of Interest
ANYONE who is interested in the past, whether it be antiques, customs and usages, or the people, will tell you that the greatest thrill comes when the unexpected turns up.
The other morning when I arrived at the office, I found on my desk a small booklet that had all the appearances of a very old almanac. On examination it proved to be a copy, in very good condition, of:
THE RHODE-ISLAND REGISTER and United States Calander For the year of Our Lord Christ, 1820; Being the forty-fourth of American Independence.
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SKETCHES OF OLD BRISTOL
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