USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Barrington > A history of Barrington, Rhode Island > Part 2
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Other Spellings : - Puckanokick, Pacanaukett, Poccan- ocick, Pokenacutt, Puckenakick.
SOWAMS. - The whole of Barrington, with a portion of the adjoining towns of Swansea, Seekonk, and East Providence. Meaning, South country, or southward, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Sowames, Sowamsett, Sawaams, Sow- homes, Sawamsett, Sawomes, Sowhomes, Sewamset.
SOWAMSET NECK. - The same as Sowams.
POPANOMSCUT. - The name by which the western neck of Barrington was known. It was also called PEEBEE'S NECK. Meaning, At the shelter rock, or at the roasting rock, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Papanomscutt, Pappanomscut.
SEEKONK. - The territory, eight miles square, deeded to the whites by Massassoit in 1641, and embracing the pres- ent towns of East Providence, Seekonk, Rehoboth, and a part of Pawtucket. Meaning, On, or at the mouth of a stream, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Secunk, Seacunck, Seacunk, Seakunk, Seaconk, Sinkhunck.
CONSUMPSIT NECK. - The name applied to Bristol Neck, and probably the whole of Bristol except Poppasquash Neck. Meaning, At the sharp rock, or where whetstones were gathered, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Cawsumsett, Causumsett.
POPPASQUASH. - The name of the neck of land west of Bristol harbor, still bearing the Indian name.
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
Other Spellings : - Papasquash, Pappoosesquaw, Pappa- squa, and Poppy-Squash, Popasquash.
MOUNT HOPE. - The name applied to the hill on the east- ern part of the town of Bristol. The word appears in the English records about 1668. Some regard it as a corrup- tion of the Indian word Montaup, but there is little author- ity for such an opinion. Had the Indians used the word Mount Hope or Montaup, it would have been communicated to the whites and used by them in the earliest records. Kickemuit was the main village on Mount Hope Neck, and the Indians of that locality did not give the name Mount Hope to the whites. Other authorities trace HOPE to the Norse word Hop, a land-locked bay, and claim that the word was a gift of the Norse to the Indians, and through the In- dians to the English. It is more than probable that Mount Hope was named by the same persons who gave the Chris- tian names Prudence, Patience, Hope, and Despair to the islands in Narragansett Bay.
KICKEMUIT. - (1) The name of a large Indian village on the west bank of the Kickemuit River at the north end of Mount Hope Neck. (2) The name of the river that rises in Swansea and flows south through the eastern part of War- ren into Mount Hope Bay. The word Kickemuit means, At the great spring.
Other Spellings : - Kickamuet, Kickomuet, Kekamuett, Keekamuett, Keekamuit, Keekamuit, Kikemuit, Kekemuit, Kecamuet, Kickamuit.
PEEBEE'S NECK. - The same territory as Popanomscutt. The names are used interchangeably in the Sowams records.
Peebee was easily and naturally corrupted to Phebe, Pheby, and Thebee in the proprietors and Plymouth records. Pee- bee was one of Philip's counsellors, and his signature to a quit claim deed by Philip to the white settlers, under date of March 30, 1668, is authority for the spelling, Peebee.
CHACHACUST. - The name of New Meadow Neck.
MOSSKITUASH. - The name of the creek that flows into Bullock's Cove at Riverside, west of the burial place of
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INDIAN NAMES.
Thomas Willett. The word means, A place of reeds and rushes.
WANNAMOISETT. - The name of the section, about four square miles in area, in which Riverside is located. The chimney of the Willett House is in the southern part of old Wannamoisett. Meaning, At the good fishing place, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Wanamoyset, Wanomoycet.
CHACHAPACASSETT. - The name of the point of land be- tween Warren River and Narragansett Bay, now known as RUMSTICK. It was also known to the whites by the name of LITTLE NECK.
Other Spellings : - Chackapaucasset, At or near the great widening, (Tooker).
NAYATT. - The name of the southwest point of Barring- ton, and the land, south of Mouscochuck Creek as far east as Chachapacassett, including the beach, which was called NAYATT BEACH. Meaning, At the point.
Other Spellings : - Nayat, Nayot.
ANNAWOMSCUTT .- The name of the section at and about Drownville. The name was also applied to the brook which flows from the north into the cove west of the Drownville Depot of the P. W. and B. R. R. This brook is now crossed by the railroad and a public highway, northwest of Drown- ville Station. Meaning, At the shell rock, Tooker.
Other Spellings : - Annawamscoate, Annawamscutt.
WAYPOYSET. - The name of the Narrows at the mouth of the Kickemuit River. Meaning, at the narrows.
Other Spellings : - Wapoyset, Waywapoiset.
TOUISSET. - The name of the neck of land, east of Kick- emuit River. Meaning, At, or about the old fields, Tooker.
PAWTUCKET. - The Indian name of Providence River to and including Pawtucket Falls. The word means, The place of the great falls.
Other Spellings : - Pattukett, Patuckquit, Patuckett, Paw- tuckgut.
RUMSTICK. - This name, as applied to Chachapacasset, or
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
Little Neck, was first given in the Sowams Records under date of January 26, 1698.
Prof. Adrian Scott, of Brown University, contributes the following suggestions as to the derivation of the name Rum- stick, as applied to the point extending into Narragansett Bay :
Rumstokkr in old Norse was a bed-post, but in Provincial English there was a word, Rumstick, adapted from the Ger- man language, or possibly the Dutch, and meaning the same as Mawe, i. e., an old-fashioned game of cards. The point might have had a famous game upon it by the first crew of sailors that bethought themselves to name it.
But I should think this far more likely than either of the above, that the long slender point suggested the stick with which ancient sea captains stirred their toddy (differing from the common sailor's grog, inasmuch as it was made of rum sweetened, and so needed stirring): hence English RUM- STICK.
Mr. Sidney S. Rider, of Providence, one of the most thor- ough historical scholars and critics of Rhode Island, is of the opinion that the word is of Norse origin.
SOWAMS RIVER. - This name was given by the Indians to the rivers now known as Barrington, Palmer's and Warren. Both branches on the east and west of New Meadow Neck bore the same name, Sowams River. The proprietors often called it the Sowams River and the Great River, and spoke of both branches of this river. The westerly branch was also called the New Meadow River; the easterly Palmer's River.
RUNEN'S RIVER. - The upper part of the west branch of Sowams or Barrington River, and was often called Bowen's River or Bowen's Bridge River, for Mr. Richard Bowen, who owned a large tract of land along the stream. Runen's was probably not an Indian name.
MOUSCOCHUCK. - The name of the creek which flows into Providence River about one-fourth of a mile north of Nayatt Point. The branch which flows into the creek from the
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HISTORIC SITES.
north, and to the west of the Nayatt Station, was known as Mouscochuck northerly creek, and that flowing from the east was called Mouscochuck easterly creek. Meaning, A meadow, Tooker.
NOCKUM. - The name of the hill on the east bank of Bar- rington River and west of the Tongue.
SCAMSCAMMUCK .- The name of the spring at the upper end of Chachapacasset Neck. It now supplies water to the farm house on the east side of the road leading to Rumstick. Meaning, A red spring, or where there is a red spring, Tooker.
Other Spelling : - Skamskammuck.
TOM'S SPRING. - Is located on land recently owned by Lewis B. Smith and formerly owned by the Browns, on the south side of Mouscochuck.
MASSASOIT alias OSANEQUIN. - The Chief Sachem of the Wampanoags, from the arrival of the whites in 1620, till his death, about 1663. Osamequin is his name, as affixed to the deed of Sowams, in 1653. "I find the ancient people, from their fathers in Plymouth Colony, pronounce his name Mas- sas-so-it." (Prince's Chronicles.) Meaning, The great king.
Other Spellings : - Massasoiet, (Morton's N. E. Memo- rial); Massasoyt and Massasoyet, Massassowat.
POMETACOM or METACOM alias PHILIP. - The son and successor of Massassoit, as Chief Sachem of the Wampa- noags.
PEEBEE. - One of Philip's Counselors, whose home was in Barrington, on the main neck, called by the Indians Peebee's Neck. Peebee was killed near Myles Bridge, in the attack on Swansea, June, 1675. Called by other names of Peebe, Phebe, and Thebe.
HISTORIC SITES IN BARRINGTON.
The First Baptist meeting house, built by Rev. John Myles Church, was located on the farm now owned by George J. West, on Nockum Hill. The place of baptisms was at the point on the south of Nockum Hill.
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
:: The second meeting house of Rev. John Myles Church, was erected by the town of Swansea, at Tyler's Point, south of the road, connecting the Barrington and Warren Bridges.
The Colonial Training Field was near the meeting house at Tyler's Point. This training field was used as late as IS25, while the old militia system was in operation.
The Myles Garrison was located about one-fourth of a mile west of Myles Bridge.
Myles Bridge crosses Palmer's River at Barneysville, where the first attack was made on the Sowams settlement, June, 1675.
The Chaffee Garrison, a stone house with portholes for musket firing, located about two hundred feet east of the house owned by Leander R. Peck, Esq. This garrison house stood as late as 1850.
The Willett Stockade Fort, or as called by Capt. Church, "Major Brown's Garrison," stood on the east side of the highway, opposite the Willett Mansion.
The Thomas Willett Mansion stood on the west side of the highway, in Wannamoisett. The heavy brick chimney marks the site, which is owned by Governor Elisha Dyer.
The First Meeting House of the Congregational Church of Barrington stood on the south side of the road near the residence of Lewis T. Fisher, Esq. It was taken down and removed in 1733.
The Second Meeting House of the Congregational Church stood on the lot given by Joshua Bicknell, near the location of the present meeting house.
The dwelling house of William Allin, built before 1670, was located on the north side of the road, leading to the Drownville Depot. The original house was a leanto, two stories in front, and one on the back side. A huge stone chimney occupied a large part of the east end of the house.
The Hon. Paul Mumford House stood on the corner, at the great elms, at Barrington Centre.
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HISTORIC SITES.
The Green Bush Tavern stood on the west side of the highway, north of the residence of R. D. Horton, Esq.
The Josiah Kinnicutt Tavern stood near the Barrington River, on the north side of the road, at the first angle, north of the Congregational meeting house. The first post-office in Barrington was opened at this tavern.
The George R. Kinnicutt Tavern, stage office, and post-office, stands near the site of the first Kinnicutt tavern.
The Henry Bowen Tavern stood on the west side of the road, about twenty-five rods north of the Congregational meeting house. It was destroyed by fire about 1875.
The Kinnicutt-Townsend House, which stood in Happy Hollow, a few rods north of the Town Hall, was licensed as an inn during the Revolution.
The Col. Nathaniel Martin Ferry House stood on the north side of the Ferry Lane, fronting on the river.
Among the old houses now standing may be mentioned : The Matthew Watson House, at Nayatt ; The General Thomas Allin House, at Drownville; The Allin House, near the Barrington River, north of the Congregational meeting house ; The Old Parsonage House, now owned by Mrs. Charles Miller; The Andrews-Bean House, near the Allin House ; The Brown House, west of the Kinnicutt Tavern ; The Rev. Peleg Heath House, now occupied by Mr. William Carter ; The Joel Peck House ; The Joshua Bicknell House, now used by the St. Andrew's School; The stone house at Barneysville, probably built in part before Philip's war; on New Meadow Neck are the old houses of the Martins, the Drowns, the Bowens, the Bishops, and others. At Rum- stick is the Guard House, owned by Nathaniel Smith, and at . Nayatt, the Guard House, owned by the Browns.
The cemeteries at Burial Hill, Tyler's Point, Prince's Hill, and Little Neck, at Wannamoiset, and the Watson Yard at Nayatt, are of interest as the places where
" The rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
The earliest burials were at Burial Hill, where field stones are the only markers of some of the graves. Rev. John Myles was probably buried at Tyler's Point. Captain Wil- lett's family and the Browns were the first interments at Little Neck. Matthew Watson and family sleep at Nayatt.
Other places of interest are the Town Hall, the old Gov. ernment Lighthouse at Nayatt, the Cady School-house, the first High School in Barrington, the Congregational Meeting House, the Episcopal Church and Rectory, the Methodist Episcopal and Episcopal Chapels at Drownville, the St. An- drew's Home and School, the New England Brick Manu- factory, etc., etc.
The villages of the town are Barrington, Barrington Cen- tre, Hampden Meadows, Rumstick .or Chachapacassett, Nay- att and Drownville.
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THE WILLIAM ALLIN RESIDENCE ( BUILT BEFORE 1670), DROWNVILLE.
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CHAPTER II
THE NORTHMEN IN NARRAGANSETT BAY
The Sea-pirates of Norway -Their Settlement of Iceland and Greenland - Lief Ericsson on the North American Coast- Professor Hors- ford's Theory - Discovery of Mount Hope and Narragansett Bays - Experience with the Indians - Opinions of Prof. Diman and Others - Inscriptions at Bristol and Other Evidences.
T
HE history of Barrington includes its discovery by
Europeans, its aboriginal occupation by the Indians, and the permanent settlement by the English Pilgrims since 1620. It is authentic history that the sea coast and the country of New England, including Narragansett Bay, had been explored long before the seventeenth century. While obscure tradition invests with interest the stories of discov- eries of America by Europeans prior to the year 1000 A. D., the evidence is convincing that the Norse sea kings pushed their discoveries to Iceland, Greenland, and the coast of North America, certainly as far south as New England, and made temporary settlements on our southern and eastern shores, nearly nine hundred years ago. The dwellers on the Norway peninsula were the sea kings of Western Europe and the pioneers of maritime adventure and discovery, as early as the middle of the ninth century of the Christian era. They were a people of tough sinew and bold hearts, afraid of no perils by land or sea. They preferred the hardy life of the navigator to the peaceful pursuits of husbandry, and, pressed in the rear by the entrance into Europe of Eastern hordes of barbarians, they sought for lands beyond their western horizon. As early as the year 861, A. D., a Norwegian pirate or trader named Naddodd discoved Ice- land, and in 875, Ingolf with a company of Northmen " cast
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
their door-posts toward the Icelandic shores," and made per- manent settlements on that island. More adventurous spirits sailed further westward and discovered and made per- manent settlement on the eastern and southern shores of Greenland, where their descendants dwell today. The tenth century witnessed maritime adventures and discov- eries extended still further to the west and south, and in the year 1000, A. D., or thereabouts, a land was found where grapes and other fruits grew in abundance in a wild state, where the climate was milder than that already occupied by their countrymen, to which the name of "Vineland the Good," was given. This much is well authenticated history and the names of Lief Ericsson, Thorfinn, and Gudrid his wife, are connected with the first attempts to make a settle- ment in Vineland. The part of the eastern shores of Amer- ica visited by these bold seamen is not easily determined, but it is claimed by those who are most familiar with the Norse sagas that brief settlements were made on the coast, at points between the mouth of the St. Lawrence river on the north and Long Island on the south. Some Maine his- torians locate Norumbega, a traditional Norse settlement, near the Penobscot River. Professor E. N. Horsford, late of Cambridge, Mass., fixed the site of Norumbega on the Charles River, and has erected at considerable expense a tower at Watertown, on or near what he regards old Norse fortifications. In "The Problem of the Northmen," the scholarly professor writes of Lief's land-fall and the site of his houses as follows : " He came, so we conceive, upon the northern extremity of Cape Cod, and set up his dwellings somewhere on an indentation of the shore of Massachusetts Bay," which he declares to be on the Charles River, near Longfellow's house in Cambridge. Speaking of Gudrid, the wife of Thorfinn, he says, " I may not fail to mention that this Gudrid was the lady who, after the death of her hus- band, made a pious pilgrimage to Rome (from Iceland), where she was received with much distinction, and where she told the Pope of the beautiful new country in the far
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VINELAND, THE GOOD.
west, of " Vineland the Good," and about the Christian set- tlements made there by Scandinavians. Nor may I forget to mention that her son, Snorre, born in America at the site of Lief's houses,-and perhaps it may some day be possible to indicate the neighborhood of his birthplace with greater precision,-has been claimed to be the ancestor of Thorwald- sen, the Danish sculptor."
The hardy voyagers going on shore found water rather than wine in Vineland and one of their poets sang these verses.
" People told me when I came Hither all would be so fine, The good Vineland known to fame ; Rich in fruits and choicest wine ; Now the water-pail they send ; To the fountain I must bend, Nor from out this land divine Have I quaffed one drop of wine."
When about to depart and with sails hoisted the poet again sang,
" Let our trusty band Haste to Fatherland, Let our vessel brave Plough the angry wave, While those few who love Vineland here may rove, Or with idle toil Fetid whales may boil, Here on Furdustrand, Far from Fatherland."
Of greater interest to the dwellers on Narragansett Bay is the story of the Northmen in New England by Mr. Joshua T. Smith, who interprets the sagas to mean that Thorhall the hunter and Thorfinn the sailor parted company at Mar- tha's Vineyard or Straumiford in 1008, the latter sailing southward, entering Mount Hope Bay through Sekonet River, and wintering at some point on the bay. The narra- tive reads that " Thorfinn and his companions sailed up as far as the mouth of the river and called the place Hop."
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
The word " Hop" is of Norse origin, meaning a small land- locked bay, and is by some supposed to be the original word from which Mount Hope and Bay at Bristol were named. In support of this story, there was a tradition current among the oldest Indians in these parts, that there came a wooden house and men of another country in it, who fought the In- dians with mighty success.
One morning in the following spring, (1009,) they (the Norse sailors) saw a great number of canoes approaching from beyond the promontory at the southwest, which may have been Bristol Neck. The story goes, "They were in such great numbers that the whole water looked as if it were sprinkled with cinders. Poles were suspended in each canoe. Thorfinn and his party held out shields ; after which a barter of goods commenced between them. These people desired, above all things, to obtain some red cloth, in ex- change for which they offered various kinds of skins, some perfectly gray. They were anxious, also, to purchase swords and spears, but this Thorfinn and Snorre forbade. For a narrow strip of red cloth they gave a whole skin, and tied the cloth round their heads. Thus they went on bartering for some time, when the supply of cloth began to run short. Thorfinn's people cut it into pieces so small that they did not exceed a finger's breadth ; and yet the Skraelings, (In- dians), gave for them as much as, or even more, than be- fore."
"Thorfinn and his companions now thought it obvious that, although the quality of the land was excellent, yet there would always be danger to be apprehended from the natives. They therefore prepared to depart, and return to their native country. They first sailed round the land to the northward. They took, near the shore, five Skraelings clothed in skins and sleeping ; these had with them boxes, containing marrow mixed with blood. Thorfinn presumed them to have been exiled from the country and his people killed them. They afterward came to a promontory abound- ing in wild animals, as they judged from the marks found in
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BARRINGTON VISITED.
the sand. This very promontory was most probably either Chipinoxet point or Sowams." From the tenor of this part of the narrative, this expedition was obviously only a short one; and, from what follows, it seems clear also, that it must have been made before the Northmen left Hop to return to Straumiford. It was natural also that they should explore the coast in the immediate neighborhood, before finally quitting it. It is of interest to note that in Mr. Smith's book on the Northmen, the Barrington peninsula has in- scribed across it the name, Sowams, thereby indicating the territory known to the Indians by that name, as well as the country supposed to have been explored by the Northmen. While at the present writing we cannot claim with absolute truth that the Northmen did explore Narragansett Bay and the Barrington promontory, we may not regard it as im- probable that the first Europeans to discover our bay and town were the intrepid Northmen who really made the first recorded voyage to the North American shores. The later historian of this section may be able to find unearthed evi- dence that shall establish the truth of that which is now pleasing fiction and tradition, as to the Northmen being the first white occupants or discoverers of Barrington. We record but a brief hint of the story, which may happily prove to be the beginning of the history of the white men on the red men's territory, on Narragansett Bay.
Professor J. Lewis Diman, LL. D., the late eminent pro- fessor of history of Brown University, himself a native of Bristol, while a student of Brown University, wrote histori- cal sketches under the title, "Annals of Bristol," which were published in the Bristol Phenix, in 1845-6. He speaks of the Norse expedition of Thorfinn with three ships and one hundred and sixty men in the year 1007-8, and gives it as his opinion that they wintered at or near Bristol. In closing his account he says, " The only trace which has been left by the Northmen, of their wintering in Bristol, is a rock sit- uated near ' The Narrows,' on Mount Hope Bay. This rock was said to have been covered with characters in an un-
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
known tongue, but was unfortunately destroyed by a heed- less hand."
The rock to which he undoubtedly refers, has been re.dis- covered and happily corrects the error of statement made by Professor Diman that both rock and inscription had been destroyed. Fortunately for the theory that the Northmen wintered at Mount Hope, Mr. William J. Miller of Bristol has located the rock on the shore of Mount Hope Bay in the town of Bristol. The rock is of graywacke, ten and a half by six and a half feet in length, and twenty-one inches thick. The surface is much worn by the water which only leaves it bare at low tide. The inscription is a boat with a series of lines and angles, which, it is claimed by Mr. Miller, were carved by some Norse sailor, left in charge of a boat and awaiting his companions. While these characters and those on the Dighton Rock with the skeleton in armor found at Fall River, do not establish the fact of the Norse discovery of these shores as their "Vineland, the Good," they certainly afford strong circumstantial evidence in maintenance of the theory. We must satisfy ourselves with the pleasing fancy until the truth shall be established.
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الواحد
CHAPTER III
VERRAZZANO VISITS THE WAMPANOAGS
French Explorations - Verrazzano Seeks the Orient in 1524 - Discovers Block Island - Enters Newport Harbor -Indian Reception - Description of the Men and Women -Their Dress -The Kings and Their Wives -The Country and Its Productions -Indian Dwellings - Customs - Newport Harbor and Narragansett Bay - The Maine Indians Hostile - Indian Religion.
F FOLLOWING the first authentic discovery and exploration of America by Columbus in 1492, all the maritime nations of Europe entered the race for further discovery, conquest and possession. Although Spain and Portugal had undertaken, in 1494, to divide the unexplored parts of the earth between them, under authority of the Pope's edicts, England and France treated the plan with contempt. "The King of France sent word to our great emperor," says Diaz, describ- ing the capture of some Spanish treasure ships by a French pirate, "that as he and the King of Portugal had divided the earth between themselves, without giving him a share of it, he should like them to show him our father Adam's will, in order to know if he had made them his sole heirs." He also declared that he should feel free to take all he could find upon the ocean. With this spirit, France sent out two great explorers, Verrazzano and Cartier, the one exploring North America and writing New France on the Atlantic coast from Florida to Greenland, the other penetrating the interior by the great river, the St. Lawrence.
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