USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Pawtucket > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 1
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Central Falls > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 1
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Lincoln > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 1
USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Cumberland > The lower Blackstone river valley; the story of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland, Rhode Island; an historical narrative > Part 1
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HISTORY OF
PAWTUCKET, CENTRAL FALLS
LINCOLN and CUMBERLAND
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1936
RHODE ISLAND
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Gc 974.501 P94h 1134202
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01067 1581
To my old friend and former fellow townsman , Edward C. Ithness, mushing him a Merry Christmas & a Happy New year. Ramada M. Sintra
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I
The Lower Blackstone River Valley
The Story of
PAWTUCKET, CENTRAL FALLS, LINCOLN, AND CUMBERLAND, RHODE ISLAND
An Historical Narrative By JOHN WILLIAMS HALEY
Assisted by HON. ROSCOE MORTON DEXTER, Author of Special Articles and History Covering Past Fifty Years
MRS. HERBERT GOULD BEEDE, Author of the Chronologies
PUBLISHED BY Lower Blackstone River Valley District Committee of The Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc.
E. L. FREEMAN CO., PAWTUCKET, R. I.
Copyright, 1937
1936
CONTENTS
PAGE
Foreword on behalf of the Tercentenary Committee of the
Lower Blackstone Valley District
3
Preface by John W. Haley
9
In the Beginning . I3
The Story of Pawtucket 31
The Story of Central Falls
74
The Story of Lincoln .
90
The Story of Cumberland .
103
APPENDIX
Old Slater Mill Association
I23
Memorial Hospital
I29
Chronology of Pawtucket .
I34
Chronology of Central Falls
I44
Chronology of Lincoln I49
Chronology of Cumberland
150
Governor Joseph Jenks
I52
The Blackstone Canal
I53
Southern New England Railroad
159
Bibliography 16I
Places and Objects of Historic Interest in Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln, and Cumberland 163
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1134202
FOREWORD
ON BEHALF OF THE TERCENTENARY COMMITTEE OF THE LOWER BLACKSTONE DISTRICT
The year 1936 marks the Tercentenary of the founding of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Recognizing this fact, a group of citizens interested in the historical development of this State from the time of the coming of Roger Williams in 1636 to what is now Provi- dence, voluntarily formed, on May 22, 1930, a Committee which later organized a non-profit, non-business corporation under the name of "Providence Tercentenary Committee, Inc.," which name was in 1935 changed to Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc.," for the purpose of promoting in 1936 suitable observ- ances of the occasion throughout the State as the "Rhode Island Tercentenary Jubilee." Thus it is seen to be a purely civic enterprise wholly unconnected with the official committee appointed by the State of Rhode Island and the City of Providence respectively, both of which celebrated this historic occasion separately. Hon. Addison P. Munroe, of Providence, was Chairman of this Committee and acted as such until in 1935, because of threatened illness, he resigned and was succeeded by Hon. Ira Lloyd Letts, of Providence, although Mr. Munroe remained as a member of the Executive Committee and continued to take an active part in its deliberations.
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For reasons of efficiency and convenience the State was divided into Districts according to the geographical or other alignments of the various sections, and so the Cities of Pawtucket and Central Falls, with the Towns of Lincoln and Cumberland, were grouped together and designated as the Lower Blackstone Valley District, and a local committee was appointed to determine the projects to be undertaken in this District in the observance of the Tercentenary and to conduct the same.
This committee consisted of the following:
Roscoe M. Dexter, Chairman.
Mrs. Herbert G. Beede, Secretary.
Chester C. Foster, Treasurer.
William Meiklejohn.
Mrs. Robert H. Mitchell.
George A. Cumming.
Howard W. Fitz (died June 22, 1936).
Albert E. Noelte.
In September, 1935, the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc., conducted a State wide campaign for the solicitation of funds to finance the observance of the Tercentenary, the Lower Blackstone Valley District being represented by sixteen teams of workers, including a Special Gifts Committee headed by Mr. Fitz. The captains of the other fifteen teams were as follows:
Albert E. Noelte
R. Alden Clarke
Archibald Livingstone Robert Johnston Mrs. Daniel Cargill
Mrs. Lyman M. Darling Mrs. John W. Lund Mrs. Irving K. White
Ralph E. Kenyon
William M. Mackenzie Stephen A. Fanning
Mrs. John N. Booth
Mrs. Ruth Dexter Clarke
Mrs. Archibald Livingstone
Mrs. Louis A. Olney
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Space will not permit an enumeration of the names of all the team solicitors but suffice it to say that they entered wholeheartedly into the work and their efforts are hereby gratefully acknowledged.
In the first instance, great credit should be given to the schools and various religious and civic organizations in these four localities, which repeatedly during the spring, summer and fall, by pageants, plays and other appropriate exercises, emphasized the Tercentenary and all that it signi- fies and undoubtedly impressed on the present generation the significant points in the history of the Lower Blackstone Valley as well as, in a considerable degree, of the State of Rhode Island as a whole.
In the second instance, the Committee from this District, after a very successful out-of-doors historical pageant, given on June 2, 1936, at Cumberland Grange, Arnold's Mills, Cumberland, by thirteen of the Rhode Island Granges of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, under the auspices of Providence County Pomona, determined on three major projects. These were an historical and industrial exposition in the Old Slater Mill, the first successful cotton mill in America, a public concert suitable to the occasion, either indoors or outdoors, to which all should be welcome, and the publication of this book, containing in brief form, supple- mented by reproductions from photographs, the history of the progress of the communities in the Lower Blackstone Valley from their beginnings.
It is obviously impossible to include in this history all of the details in the development of these sections from their beginnings or of the lives and achievements of the citizens of the same who have participated in their development, but it is hoped that by the publication of this volume something worth while will have been added to such historical data as already existed.
The writing of the story of these communities in the Lower Blackstone Valley was entrusted to Mr. John W. Haley, Esquire, of Providence, a well known authority on Rhode Island history, aided in some matters by Mrs. Herbert G. Beede and other members of the committee. Appended to the text of this history are a number of short sketches of an historical nature, including a reproduction of the printed matter in a pamphlet issued during the summer by the Committee describing "Places and Objects of Historical Interest in Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln and Cumberland," an account of the "Old Slater Mill Asso- ciation," a brief history of the "Memorial Hospital," the story of the "Blackstone Canal," a bibliography of the history of the Lower Blackstone Valley and a chronology of important events that have occurred in this district. The Committee expresses its deep appreciation for the use of many photographs, now historic, from the collection of the late Charles S. Foster, kindly loaned for this purpose by his son, Chester C. Foster, Treasurer of the Committee.
We live in a world that is constantly changing and in which history is always being made. We cannot lift the veil and envision beforehand the future and what changes it has in store for us. Yet while we have in this volume been looking backward, we also turn our faces expectantly, and at times anxiously, toward the future to see what it will bring forth.
A few months ago, during the recent flood, which lasted from March 12 to March 21, when, due to the excessive rainfall and the rapid melting of a large accumulation of snow and ice, the waters of the Blackstone River were swollen to unusual proportions, and bridges, dams, factories and other buildings along its course were threatened with serious damage and possible destruction, I stood on the Main Street Bridge and was fascinated by the wonderful
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manifestation of the power of nature that I saw before me. As I gazed, with a feeling of awe, at the turbulent scene below, the seemingly never-ending waters, rushing irre- sistibly along in their course towards the sea, dashing and plunging down, with cakes of ice and debris of all description, upon those everlasting rocks, I thought of the appro- priateness of the name "Pawtucket," which meant in the Indian language of years ago, "Falls of Water," and there also occurred to me the words of Tennyson in his poem, "The Brook,"
"For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever."
I knew that those same "Falls of Water," long before the existence of bridges, dams, factories and other buildings, had been there for countless ages and would so continue for countless ages to come, and I wondered, if in the future, and if so, how far distant in the future, these same "Falls of Water" would be able, if they could speak, to mock the people of this community and the rest of mankind with the words of the poet,
"For men may come and men may go, But I go on forever."
ROSCOE M. DEXTER,
November 2, 1936
Chairman.
PREFACE
The average person is disposed to ascribe too much of human progress to particular forms of government-to particular institutions, arbitrarily established by the will of the ruler, or wills of the masses. And, this is natural enough in a democracy where popular opinion elects leaders and makes the laws. But, if knowledge is power, then it would seem to follow that any change in the arts and sciences, favorable or unfavorable, must be followed by corresponding changes in society. Therefore, when the arts and sciences become stationary, all social and political institutions become stationary; when the arts and sciences become progressive, all social and political institutions become progressive. The story of mankind reveals the truth of this observation, for throughout the pages of history can be found countless examples of how newly-introduced arts and sciences exerted influences upon the course of human progress.
When the Corinthians invented the war galley, with three banks of oars, the first great improvement in naval architecture, they promptly constructed a flotilla of these powerful fighting ships. As a result, the Grecian seas were cleared of pirates, nations expanded along the coastlines, and the Mediterranean Sea was opened to honest traffic; commerce flourished; the arts improved. Farther back in Egypt, the labyrinth, the pyramid, the temple, the hiero- glyphics, the statuary, the sphinx, the veiled Isis, all mute evidence of man's cunning and genius, show that society
there was once divided into castes constituting a social structure that evolved with the arts and sciences. The discovery of gunpowder, the compass, the telescope, the use of iron and steel, the introduction of printing, the harnessing of electricity, and more recently the invention of radio, man's mastery of the air, are but a handful of turning points in human evolution. Many of these inven- tions and discoveries did not immediately change the course of destiny, but, taking a broad view of what has taken place in the past, progressive steps in the arts and sciences, and not revolutions, new political theories, elevations to the throne or successful wars of aggression, have invariably been the milestones of progress since time began.
Well does this theory apply to the settlement and growth of the river valley whose history is traced in the pages that follow. There mechanical skill and inventive genius trans- formed a wilderness into a world center of industry; there in the workshops of the pioneers, men first found oppor- tunities to create with their hands the handiwork which their enlightened minds did conceive; out of the crude factory buildings came tools that aided the early agricultur- ists to wrest sustenance from virgin soils, fittings for ships that were destined to transform a farming colony into a center of world trade, and countless devices of ingenious design which had profound influence upon manufacturing processes, methods and practices.
The river that flows through this historic valley played a leading role in the drama of human progress enacted upon its pleasant banks, and, this stream gave generously of its precious powers until steam, and later electricity, replaced Nature's direct generating forces that first made possible the establishment and improvement of mechanical opera- tions. Today, this river flows through the valley that has become the home of many who have inherited not only the
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abilities of those who have given the world new ideas, greater comforts, and improved conveniences, but also their spirit of leadership, the desire to be industrious, and pride in community achievement.
"For the structure that we raise, Time is with materials filled; Our todays and yesterdays Are the blocks with which we build."
-Longfellow
JOHN W. HALEY.
[II]
The Lower Blackstone River Valley
IN THE BEGINNING
The opening chapter in the history of those portions of Rhode Island known as Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln and Cumberland might cover thousands of pages if we but knew what transpired when the Supreme Architect of the Universe was engaged in his creative task of expressing his will in terms of matter, crowning his dynamic action with man. That long period from creation to the time when this particular area became habitable for man and beast may forever remain a dim mystery, since little evidence remains, above or below the surface, to tell the story of the slow transformation from bare rock to scanty soil; from fertile hills and plains to grassy meadows and timbered forests; and of the nomadic people, wandering herds, and immigrant flocks that eventually made their way to these parts and remained. In fact, not a great deal is known of this area which might be termed the Lower Blackstone River Valley, beyond a generation or two before the coming of the white settlers, although scientists have given us certain deductions concerning its physical characteristics, and these deductions are plausible enough to be included in a brief prehistoric prologue to our narrative.
The whole of Rhode Island and the adjacent area that constitutes the Narragansett basin, or that land drained directly or indirectly by Narragansett Bay, was at one time · shaped into its present general physical appearance by a great glacier, or ice river, that flowed steadily down from
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the north, finally emptying itself into the sea. This great glacier, impossible to conceive in magnitude and irresistible power, may have moved very slowly across the nearly level floor of southern Massachusetts until it approached the vicinity of present Woonsocket. From there to what is now Providence, a distance of only a few miles, the drop of approximately sixty feet per mile gave this ice-filled, semi-fluid stream considerable velocity and momentum as it gouged its way down the Blackstone and old Moshassuck River beds. From the deductions heretofore mentioned, we can picture this colossal ice plough fashioning river beds, cutting channels and creating islands, perhaps shearing off mountains to hills, smoothing rough ridges and crags, grinding rocks to sand and clay, picking up giant boulders and transporting them to distant points, wiping fertile soil from hillsides and spreading it on the lowlands, chopping out rugged headlands, carving out crescent beaches, cutting, dredging, ripping and pushing. That which was here in the Lower Blackstone River Valley, before the glacial recession, became transformed into what is there today, in the form of land and waters, allowing for the comparatively slight changes wrought by erosion, by centuries of surface and geological subsoil transformations, and by the hand of man in his constant struggle to make his home more habitable and his industry, trade or profession more profitable.
THE BLACKSTONE RIVER
The glacier, or section of glacier, that passed over northern Rhode Island was probably confined to the Blackstone River bed by the high elevations of land in Woonsocket and Cumberland and made its way to the sea by way of the Seekonk River and Narragansett Bay. On the other hand, it is believed by some that the glacier altered the course of the Blackstone River,-that this stream in the pre-glacial
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period ran through what is now Scott's Pond and followed the valley of the Moshassuck River to the Providence River, and thence to Narragansett Bay. If so, the glacier had profound influence upon the later development of industries in this area. Then again, two sections of glacier may have started upon separate courses in the vicinity of present Lonsdale and gouged out both the Moshassuck and Seekonk channels with a joining of the flows at the head of Narragansett Bay.
At any rate, the area of Rhode Island that surrounded the lower end of the Blackstone River attained its outward appearance many, many, centuries ago, and as the time approached when a race of men was destined to live and hunt in its forests, to dwell in simple fashion upon the hillsides and in the quiet valleys, Nature, in all her goodness, had bestowed upon it advantages and resources that were destined to remain untouched until another race of people arrived to take the places of the first inhabitants who knew not the ways of civilization.
THE FIRST PEOPLE
The first inhabitants were members of a race whose origin is as yet unknown. They were called Indians, not because they came from India, but because Christopher Columbus, in 1492, sailed to the coast of this continent and believed that he had come to the outer fringes of the East Indies, already famed for beauty, fertility and wealth. Naturally, the adventurous navigator called the inhabitants of the islands, supposed by him to be parts of India, Indians, a name as strange to the red men of this part of the world as were the fair-skinned men and curious ships that ventured to these shores. In his writings, Columbus noted that these so-called Indians were neither wild savages nor cruel bar- barians, and he observed that they had kindly faces, that
they carried no weapons, and were courteous and generous. Quoting his very words, Columbus said, "They were gentle, without knowing what evil is, without killing, without stealing." "Because," he said, "they showed such kindness for us, and because I knew they would be more easily made Christian through love than fear, I gave to some of them some colored caps, and some strings of glass beads for their necks, and many other trifles, with which they were delighted, and were so entirely ours that it was a marvel to see." The name "Indian" was thereafter applied to the aborigines of North America.
For generations, scholars have sought to ascertain the origin of the American Indian, many opinions have been rendered, many theories proposed, but the beginnings of this race still remains a mystery. Anthropologists have thus far been unable to trace the descent of the red men from any other existing races; their individualities differentiate them from all other nations and tribes of this earth. Often- times, the claim has been made that another race preceded the Indian in New England and elsewhere, but there is yet to be found a single evidence that he had a predecessor in what is now Rhode Island. So, until the archeologist chances upon the still missing link to the prehistoric past, the Indian must be regarded as the first inhabitant within the present boundaries of Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln and Cumberland. If we accept this conclusion, our story must turn to an observation of the Narragansett tribe, the largest and most powerful Indian tribe in New England, and whose seat of authority had been centered about the headwaters of Narragansett Bay long before the coming of the white man.
THE NARRAGANSETT TRIBE
These Narragansetts constituted a politically dominant nation invested with great power among all neighbor
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Pidge House, one of the oldest of Pawtucket's historical dwellings
Daggett House, Slater Park, built in 1685
Pawtucket Falls, 1820 Below the Falls, Joseph Jenks, Jr., built his forge and iron works
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Pawtucket River and Main Street Bridge in 1872
nations and tribes throughout the northeastern area of this continent. Others were subservient to the Narragansetts; many smaller and weaker tribes and clans were compelled to pay them tribute and ally themselves in time of war or political difficulty. The Wampanoags, who lived in what is now Bristol and Warren and other sections of southern Rhode Island, unwillingly submitted to this domination, as did the Massachusetts tribes on Cape Cod, Martha's Vine- yard, Nantucket and elsewhere. In general, this powerful tribe, many of whose members lived in the Lower Blackstone River Valley, had full and undoubted jurisdiction over the inhabitants of a tract of country, extending from the region of the Nipmucs, now Oxford, Massachusetts, on the north, southerly to the ocean, including the Island of Manisses, which we call Block Island, also Fisher's Island and a portion of Long Island. This jurisdiction began on the east with the Seekonk River, on the eastern shores of Narragansett Bay and extended westward, including the islands, to the borders of the Pequot and Mohegan tribes that dwelt on the banks of the Thames River, a stream that flows into the sea at New London, Connecticut.
THE NARRAGANSETT SACHEMS
Canonicus was the chief sachem of the Narragansetts at the time when the English came to these shores to establish the first settlement, and this wise and capable leader ruled the tribe jointly with Miantonomi, a nephew. Canonicus' direct ancestor was Tashtapack, who, it is said and believed by the tribesmen, was too proud to join either of his children in wedlock with any of the subordinate sachems who came to his royal headquarters to pay tribute or to receive orders. Whereupon, he married his own son and daughter to each other, and they in turn became the parents of several sons, the eldest being Canonicus. Whether this unnatural union
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resulted in a closer concentration of power, or whether Tashtapack built his empire upon such solid foundations that its domination remained undisputed for a long period, at the time of the coming of the whites no eastern tribe could compare with the Narragansetts, in the extent of their jurisdiction, number of warriors, the compactness of their population, the firmness and wisdom of their government or the industry of their people.
The general name "Narragansett" was applied to all the inhabitants of the area previously outlined, but the natives living within its borders were divided into several petty tribes, each having its under sachem and a local name. The political structure was similar to our present system, with small villages, towns, cities with their mayors, and a governor whose office corresponds with the earlier position of grand sachem, or chief sachem. The lands of the Narra- gansetts were not mere forests penetrated only by roving native hunters; they were dotted with large communities, camps and fields cultivated in a primitive manner. Agriculture had made considerable progress among the Narragansetts, since some historians have described occasional gratuities made to individuals, out of surplus crops, of one thousand bushels of corn. Their chieftains could call five thousand warriors in the field, and their population was so dense that, in traveling a distance of twenty or twenty-five miles, one would pass a dozen towns or villages, consisting of from twenty to two hundred or more dwellings.
It has been said that the Narragansetts were further advanced in the arts than any other aboriginal nation of the north, although the articles of Indian origin found in these parts are greatly inferior in workmanship and in ingenious fashioning to those of similar character found among the tribes of the South. However, they were skilled
[18]
in the manufacture of earthenware and certain stone tools and implements, and in the making of belts and girdles for ornaments. The tribe that lived along the shores of Narragansett Bay became extremely wealthy through its activity in the wampum market because here was one of the richest sources of the fancy string beads laboriously cut from bleached shells. Wampum or wampumpeague was originally used for personal adornment, but, because of its value became a medium of exchange and answered all the purposes of coinage.
THE " FALLS OF WATER"
It was this tribe that counted among its members probably hundreds of men, women and children who found existence pleasant on the shady river banks, in the quiet valleys and on the wooded hillsides in the vicinity of what the Indians called PAWTUCKET, meaning "falls of water." These people knew what is now Pawtucket, Central Falls, Lincoln and Cumberland as home, given to them, or to their ancestors, by the "Great Manitto" or Great Spirit, believed by them to be the source of all power, and of all good. There they lived in peace and simple contentment until the white man came to replace them and to change the course of destiny for those who met kindness with kindness, and who, when the time came for them to turn to war for the preservation of life and liberty, fought with all the fury that ever inspired patriots to defend a cause.
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