USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Barrington > A history of Barrington, Rhode Island > Part 25
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The housewife frequently drops into the store for sundry purchases, and the charges made on such occasions seem strang enough in these days when the articles had are con- sidered.
" Hannah Adams, Dr. To 8 Rows of Pins . 0 0 2 3-4" And on another occasion, " 5 1-2 yds .Dowlas @ is 2d o 8 8 1-2" And " Rebecca Brown, Dr.
To 1 1-2 yds. of quality, 2p . . 0 0 3"
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LANDLORD BOWEN'S DAY BOOK.
On Henry Bowen's Barrington tavern account book there may be found frequent charges for the use of his carts and horses. Among these is a most curious entry. From this it appears that Hezekiah Kinnicutt had occasion to attend the funeral of his brother's child, and like most of his neigh- bors on such occasions, he resorted to Bowen's conveyance. On August 18, 1777, Henry Bowen wrote upon his book this charge :
" Hezekiah Kinnicutt, Dr.
To my Slay over to the Funeral of yr Brother Shubael's child, and almost wore out the runners, 6s."
If this entry is of the same date as the funeral of Shu- bael's child, a " slay" would seem to be a peculiar convey- ance for midsummer, and there seems to be some reason in assuming it to be so, for he " almost wore out the runners." The wear on the horse does appear to have been considered.
When an outfit was procured for the trip to the neigh- boring town the charge was three pence a mile, and the entries for such read as follows :
"To my horse to ride to Seaconnet, 24 miles, at 3d.,6s."
"To my horse and cart to go to Josiah Kent of
Rehoboth,
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Iod."
Careful accounts were kept of the expenses of the stable; "shooting," horse " steeling two before," and other charges were carefully noted.
It is doubtful if Squire Bowen meant exactly what he wrote when he made this entry :
" Israel Barney of Swansey, Dr.
To my scow one day taken from yr own mouth, o 2 6"
for this scow was used for such purposes as "loading Crom- well Childs schooner," "freighting I Bbl of ginger bread & I of Biskit," and "loading marsh hay." The charges for entertainment at his tavern are here recorded. Break- fast was gd, while dinner at the tavern was Is, 612d. Most of his guests had dinner at this latter named price.
John Tripp and his wife put up at the inn on the 10th of
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
May, 1776, and the "score" which undoubtedly he settled " without higgling," illustrates the customs of the times as well as conveys a perfect idea of the expense of putting up at one of the old Colonial Inns for a day or so :
s. d.
To 2 mugs cyder 1 1-2d To I gill W. Rum 4d 5 1-2
"To I Dinnner 9d To Bread and cheese 6d I 3 To Breakfast & dinner Is 3d To one bowl Toddy 9d 2 To lodging you and wife 6
To 1 1-2 bowl toddy IS 1 1-2 To 1-2 mug cyder I 1-2 d I 3 To lodge self & wife 6d To i gil Brandy 5 1-2 · II I-2
To breakfast 9 1-2d mug cyder 1 1-2 II
To 1-2 bowl toddy 4 1-2 Dinner Sd .
I 0
To 15 lbs Tobacco at 6d .
To 1-4 bowl Toddy 4 1-2d To 1-2 mug cyder I 1-2 6
7 6 To supper 6" .
In the family record which goodman Bowen caused to be spread upon the town books it is stated that his " fifth child was buried near his mother, who died October 30, 1778." On this old day book there is written, under this date :
" William Kelley, Cr. By I coffin, 12S"
Every other word on the page on which this is written is in the familiar handwriting of Henry Bowen. This was written by another hand. It was a sad day for the taverner, for death had entered the inn, an unwelcome guest, and departing, had taken away its mistress. He remained a widower for seven months, and then, as the record says, "married his second wife, Elizabeth Harding, May 2, 1779," and Elizabeth took the place made vacant, to "welcome the coming and speed the parting guest."
For nearly fifteen years Bowen conducted the tavern and store at Barrington, but in the latter part of the year 1783 he sold out a good part of his belongings at " Vandoo," gave up the inn and all the offices to which he had held so tena- ciously, and removed to Providence, where he embarked in business on a more elaborate scale.
The Bowen tavern had as later landlords John W. Bick-
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STAGE COACHES.
nell and Enoch Remington, and was continued as a public house, with a store and a public bar. On the death of Mr. Kinnicutt in 1837, the post-office was removed to the tavern, and Mr. Remington, the proprietor, was the second post- master of the town, relinquishing the trust, on his removal to Providence, to George R. Kinnicutt, son of Josiah, the first who held the office.
Another public house was kept by Josiah Kinnicutt, in a house that stood at the bend in the main road, north of the Bowen tavern. This tavern also had a bar for the accommo- dation of guests, but Mr. Kinnicutt's account book is not in evidence as to its customers. After the Revolution the sign on the tavern post bore the picture of an American Eagle, with outstretched wings. The southwest front room was the barroom and the post office. See biography of Josiah Kinnicutt.
In 1775 a license was given Solomon Townsend, Jr., to keep a public house at his residence at Happy Hollow. Of its history we have no record.
As the stage lines were the principal feeders of the tav- erns, where passengers were fed, refreshed and lodged, they are naturally connected in our story.
The history of the earliest modes of public travel in this part of New England is full of interest. As Newport, Provi- dence and Boston were the three largest towns in New England, a stage route was established early to connect them. Newport and Boston were nearly or quite two days apart by stage travel, with Providence as an intermediate station. A passenger leaving Newport or Boston, on Monday morning, reached his destination at the other city on Tuesday after- noon or evening, at an expense of three dollars for stage fare, plus the cost of meals and lodgings at intervening taverns at Dedham, Wrentham, Attleboro, Providence, Warren or Bris- tol. The stage coach, drawn by four or six horses according to the condition of the highways and the amount of travel, was capable of carrying twelve adult persons on the inside, and from six to twenty on the outside, as the circumstances
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
of the case demanded. Besides carrying passengers, the stage coach was also the express and baggage carriage of the early day, and the mail-carrier, until the advent of the steam car. A letter delivered by post at Boston or Newport on the sec- ond day cost the writer or receiver twenty-five cents. Relays of horses were made at Bristol or Warren, Providence, Attle- boro, Wrentham, and Dedham. For some years prior to 1792, the stage coach from Providence to Newport passed through Bristol, Warren, Barneysville, Seekonk, stopping at Monroe's tavern in that town, and crossing Seekonk River to Provi- dence at Fuller's Ferry, near the present Washington Bridge, at India Point. In the year 1792 Mr. John Kelly was allowed to use a warp or rope cable to aid the ferriage across the river, between Warren and Barrington, " on the post road from Newport to Boston." When the ferry was made capa- ble of stage ferriage, the stage crossed from Warren to New Meadow Neck, and by one road or the other, as the condi- tions required, proceeded by way of Monroe's tavern " over the ancient road," to Providence. This plan continued until the bridge was built over Barrington River, when the stage route was changed to pass through Barrington by way of Bowen's and Kinnicutt's taverns, and thence to Providence by the east road, until the west road was opened about the year 1810. At first there was but one daily stage each way between Newport and Providence. As population, business, and travel increased, there were three daily coaches, Sundays excepted, between the capitals of Rhode Island, until the building of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad. These coaches passed through Barrington to Providence, about 6.30 and 8.30 A. M., and 2.30 P. M., and returning from Providence drew up at the Barrington tavern for a change of . horses, refreshments, etc., at 10.30 A. M., 4.30 and 6.30 P. M. The mail was brought and carried on the 10:30 A. M. and 2.30 P. M. stages. Among the drivers of these coaches of a later day were George R. Kinnicutt, afterwards part owner of the stage line, and tavern keeper of Barrington; Joe. Hunt, Nat. Maxfield, Edward Trot, Sam. Burnham, and Nate.
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STAGE COACHES.
Warren. Hunt drove the mail coach during the last days of staging. He is now living in Attleboro, at a well pre- served old age.
The fare from Newport to Providence in the later days of the stage coach was 75 cents. From Bristol, 50 cents. From Warren 3772 cents, and from Barrington 25 cents. Regis- tration books were kept at Coles and the Commercial hotels in Warren, at Kinnicutts or Remingtons in Barrington, and at the National and Exchange hotels, Providence.
The first post route through Barrington was established by the United States Government in the year 1810. Josiah Kinnicutt was appointed the first postmaster of the town, the post office being located at his public house. Mr. Kin- nicutt held the office until his death in 1838, when Enoch Remington was appointed postmaster. George R. Kinni- cutt, son of Josiah, was his successor. The stage office was made the post office. On the death of Mr. Kinnicutt, Benson Bean received the appointment of postmaster, which he holds at the present time, May, 1898.
The post office at Nayatt was established in 1855, after the building of the Providence, Warren, and Bristol Rail- road. The postmasters have been Noel Mathewson, Geo. K. Viall, William A. Winslow, William B. Viall, Mr. John- son, and Mrs. Annie C. Reynolds, who holds the office May, 1898.
The post office at Barrington Centre was established about the year 1865. The postmasters have been Levi Staples, Charles H. Bassett, B. Sabin, N. H. Bradford, James Emer- son, H. L. Horton, Arthur G. Hopkins, B. Willard Viall, Stephen H. Martin, and Charles H. Martin, the present postmaster, May, 1898.
The post office at Drownville was established in the ancient William Allin house (1668) about the year 1882. Liberty B. Greene was the first postmaster, and was suc- ceeded by Jonathan Allen, and since his death, his daughter, Mrs. Henrietta Crossman, has acted as postmistress.
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CHAPTER XXIV
BARRINGTON IN THE REVOLUTION
Barrington Patriotism - A Farming Population - Residences of the People - The No-Tea-Party - Barrington Resolves - Support Pledged with " Our Lives and Fortunes " - Our " Bill of Rights," and "Declaration of Independence " - A Day of Fasting - Reso- lution of Sympathy with Boston - Train Bands and Militia Com- panies - A Good Preparation for War - Barrington Militia - Officers - The Army of Observation - Capt. Matthew Allin and the Barrington Quota - Services at Roxbury, Boston and Cambridge - Captain Allin's Reports from the Front - Home Dangers - Import- ance of Barrington as a Place of Observation and Defence -No Hostilities on Barrington Soil - The Women of the Town - Effective Men - Census by Henry Bowen, 1777 - Minute and Alarm Men -- Alarm at Bristol - Military Orders - Letters - Colonial Legislation Relative to Barrington - Town Legislation - Roll of Honor - Record of Barrington Soldiers - Graves of Revolutionary Soldiers Designated with Markers by Sons of the American Revolu- tion.
T HERE is no chapter of Barrington history that reflects more credit on our town than that which records the principles and acts of our citizens, during the war for our national Independence. The honest, sturdy yeomen of the town were as full of the spirit of liberty and hatred of British oppression as were their brethren of Boston, Concord, and Lexington, and were ready to make sacrifices as great as more renowned patriots. In humble but effective ways they wrought for the cause of freedom, and all was done with no thought of reward save a good conscience and the satisfac- tion of self-respecting manhood. Life under the old condi- tions was oppressive and unmanly. The free air of New England was not congenial to tyrannical edicts and foreign
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BARRINGTON FARMERS.
oppressors, and Barrington men and women were not slow to express their principles and purposes in opposition to both. The new order could not be worse than the old ; it must be better, they thought. The conflict was to test the experiment of a government " of the people, for the people, and by the people " in a new land, and they walked by faith, not by sight.
Barrington had just asserted its territorial rights as a separate town, receiving its second incorporation in 1770. Once before, for ecclesiastical and religious reasons, had our people declared for and secured their independence, when in 1717, they were set off from Swansea and became Barring- ton. Now for social and civil reasons they are taken from Warren and made a township of the original name, but less area. They had been accustomed to recognize, maintain, and secure their rights, and in the greater struggle for Colonial independence they were true to the spirit and traditions of the old town and alive to the significance of the events lead- ing up to the Revolution.
Let us keep in mind that the people of Barrington were farmers, having large families, with the duties of cultivating the land, caring for stock, raising and marketing crops of corn, rye, and oats, potatoes, onions, and other agricul- tural produce, raising their own beef and pork, and buying, as their scanty means allowed the necessary groceries for household needs. They were a home-keeping people, . acquainted with each other's conditions and wants, and intro- duced to the outer world by the scanty and long delayed reports of the weekly paper. The housewives and chil- dren were literally housekeepers, and they were acquainted with little beyond the round of daily home duties and the circle of their social relations. It was a simple, plain, practical life they led, free from excitement and enlivened only by the tongue of neighborhood gossip. The meeting house was the centre of their religious, social, and political life. Here they met for weekly preaching services and for social hours. Here they were baptized as children, pro-
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
pounded for Church admission, and the men here met to pray, and on town meeting days to debate, to quarrel and to vote. Thus the years came and went in Barrington, in 1770.
In 1774 the Colonial Census shows Barrington had 601 inhabitants, Warren, 979, Bristol, 1,209, Providence, 4,320, and Newport the metropolis of Rhode Island 9,209. The total population of the Colony was 59,678. The town had its own meeting-house near the spot where the present Con- gregational meeting-house now stands. The Bowen tavern was just north of it on the west side of the road. There were two ship yards on the east side of Barrington River near the present bridge, and one at Martin's Ferry. Duncan Kelley kept a toll ferry where the bridge now connects Bar- rington with Warren, and Nathaniel Martin ran a ferry- boat to and from Warren near the end of Ferry Lane. The Browns and Watsons lived at Nayatt ; the Smiths at Rum- stick ; the Martins and Bosworths at the ferry ; the Kelleys, the Bowens, the Tylers, and the Careys at the South End of New Meadow Neck; the Drowns, the Shorts, the Martins, the Grants to the north, on the same Neck. The Bicknells cultivated the lands on the west side of Barrington River near the church. Solomon Townsend, the Town Clerk, son of Rev. Solomon Townsend, the venerable pastor of the Congregational Church, lived within a stone's throw of the Town Hall, in Happy Hollow, near the River. The Adams's, the Beans, Kinnicutts and Browns and Sylvester Allen had homes near what is now the Barrington Post Office. The Pecks, - Solomon, Nathaniel, Ebenezer, Joel and Amos, and the Heaths dwelt on the River in the north part of the Town. The Humphreys occupied the Centre and west of the town near the Allins with the Vialls and Medburys on the north at Wannamoissett, now East Provi- dence. All were honest, hard working, God fearing farmers, of small means ; all sober, intelligent people, none making their mark on the pay-rolls of the militia ; all making their mark for patriotic service. With families accustomed to the work of the farm and educated in the school of industry
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TEA RESOLUTIONS.
and economy, of such stock, in such circumstances and with no motive but patriotism, our ancestors of Barrington came upon times which tried men's bodies and souls, and they were not found wanting in the crucial test of heroic manhood.
The citizens of Barrington were familiar with the events leading up to the overt acts of the Revolution. The Boston Massacre of 1770, the capture and burning of the Gaspee in 1772, within sight and full knowledge of our townspeople, the tea party in Boston Harbor in 1773 and the Boston Port Bill of 1774 had aroused our " Country folk to be up and to arms." Our grand-dams as well as our grand-sires loved tea as devotedly as do their "Daughters of the American Revo- lution," but between tea and abject dependence on the Mother Country, and independence without tea, they were quick to decide in favor of the latter. "No tea in ours," was the order of the Barrington Town Meeting, assembled March 21, 1774, James Brown, Esq., Moderator. Seven resolutions with a preamble of declaration of facts constitute the indictment against England for the introduction of a spoonful of tea into the town.
At a meeting of the town held on the 14th of March, 1774, James Brown the 4th was the first on the committee to draw up resolves to be laid before the meeting respect- ing the infringements made upon Americans by certain " ministerial decrees." These resolves were laid before a town meeting held March 21, 1774, and received by the town as follows :
RESOLUTIONS.
"The inhabitants of this Town being justly Alarmed at the several acts of Parliment made and passed for the East India Company exporting their tea into America, subject to a duty payable here, on purpose to make a revenue in America, with many more unconstitutional acts, which are taken into consideration by a number of our sister towns in the colony, therefore we think it needless to inlarge upon them but being sensible of the dangerous condition the Col-
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
onies are in, occasioned by the Influence of wicked and designing men, we enter into the following Resolves :
First : That we the inhabitants of the Town ever have been and now are Loyal and dutiful subjects of the king of Great Britain.
Second: That we highly approve of the resolutions of our sister Colonies and the noble stand they have made in the defense of the liberties and priviledges of the Colonies and we thank the worthy author of "The rights of the Col- onies examined."
Third: That the act for the East India Company to export their Tea to America payable here and the sending of said Tea by the Company is with an Intent to force the Revenues Acts and Designs for a Precedent for .Establish- ing Taxes, Duties, and monopolies in America, that they might take our property from us and dispose of it as they please and reduce us to a state of abject slavery.
Fourth: That we will not buy or sell or receive as a gift, any dutied Tea, nor have any dealings with any person or persons that shall buy or sell or give or receive or trade in said Tea, directly or indirectly, knowing it or suspecting it to be such, but will consider all persons concerned in introducing dutied Tea into this Town or any Town in America as enemies to this country and unworthy the society of free men.
Fifth: That it is the duty of every man in America to oppose by all proper measures to the uttermost of his Power and Abilities every attempt upon the liberties of his Country and especially those mentioned in the foregoing Resolves, and to exert himself to the uttermost of his power to obtain a redress of the grievances the Colonies now groan under. We do therefore solemnly resolve that we will heartily unite with the Town of Newport and all the other Towns of this and other Colonies, and exert our whole force in the support of the just rights and priviledges of the American Colonies.
Sixth: That James Brown, Josiah Humphrey, Edward Bosworth, Samuel Allen, Nathaniel Martin, Moses Tyler,
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PLEDGE OF LIVES AND FORTUNES.
and Thomas Allin, Esq., or a major part of them be a com- mittee for this town to correspond with all the other Com- mittees appointed by any Town in this or the neighboring governments, and the Committee is desired to give their attention to every thing that concerns the liberties of America and if any of that obnoxious Tea should be brought into this Town or any attempt made on the liberties of the inhabitants thereof, the Committee is directed and empow- ered to call a town meeting forthwith that such measures may be taken as the public safety may require.
Seventh : That we do heartily unite in and resolve to support the foregoing resolves with our lives and fortunes.
Voted, That the above resolves be published in the Provi- dence Gazette.
Witness :
SOLOMON TOWNSEND,
Town Clerk."
Thus the people of Barrington felt and acted thirteen months before the first gun was fired at Concord Bridge and on Lexington Common, offering property and life, if needed, for the defence of the rights not only of Barrington but of the American people. Other towns of this Colony may have felt as strongly as did Barrington, but from the records none made so unequivocal and heroic an utterance as, "WE WILL SUPPORT THESE DECLARATIONS HEARTILY WITH OUR LIVES AND FORTUNES."
"Burn Boston, and make John Hancock a beggar, if neces- sary to accomplish this object," were the stirring words of that great patriot, but the words and votes of Barrington farmers were more weighty than those of the Boston states- man. He threw property into the flames, they, life and property for the success of their cause. These resolves were "The Bill of Rights " and "The Declaration of Independ- ence" in one brief document, twenty-eight months in advance of the immortal edict at Philadelphia of July 4, 1776, and were given to the world through the columns of the
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
only newspaper in this part of the state, The Providence Gasette.
Two of the Committee of Safety, Mr. Nathaniel Martin and Mr. Thomas Allin, had been and were members of the General Assembly and were helping to shape such legisla- tion as should enable all the towns of the Colony to act with the same promptness and energy as Barrington, in defence of their rights.
Under date of June 4, 1775, it was voted " that, The late Resolutions of the Town of Newport be adopted in the Town Relative to Non-Consumption of British Manufactures and Dutied Teas."
On the 30th of June, the people of Barrington, in common with those of the sister towns, met on the day " set apart for public fasting, prayer and supplication, to beseech Almighty God to grant us sincere repentance, to avert every threat- ened judgment from us, and restore us to the full enjoyment of our rights and privileges, and particularly that He would appear for the relief and recovery of the town of Boston from their distressed situation." Rev. Mr. Townsend, with char- acteristic calmness, moderation and firmness, preached upon the manifold sins of the people and the manifest injustice of the King and Court of England. Had Lord North sat in the old Barrington meeting-house on that June day, he would have heard some unwelcome truths, but much salutary advice.
The sympathy of the town with the distress of Boston is illustrated in the following instructions to Messrs. Nathaniel Martin and Thomas Allin, the deputies of the town in the General Assembly, adopted at a town meeting, held August 5, 1774.
"Whereas, The Deputies Represent to the Town that there is in the General Treasury a Considerable Sum of money which is not at this time especially needed for the Use of the Colony, and as it appears to the Town that the Inhabitants of Boston are much distressed by the late Port Bill which has Stagnated their Trade and Business So that
الأحسعد 7
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THE LEWIS B. SMITH RESIDENCE, NAYATT
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COLONIAL MILITIA.
the Interposition of their Neighbours is become Necessary -- In Consideration whereof it is Voted that the Representa- tives of this Town at the Next Session of the Assembly in this Colony Do to the utmost of their Power endeavour that Part of said money in said General Treasury be appropriated to and for the use of the said Town in Such manner as said Assembly Shall think fit."
In Colonial days all able-bodied male persons between the ages of sixteen and sixty years were eligible and subject to militia service in Train Bands or Companies in the several towns. Military service as the part and duty of the citizens was recognized not only as a legacy of English descent, but as a necessity in the conditions of life in the wilderness, with Indians in their midst, and the hostile French on the north- ern border. The musket was as essential to housekeeping as was the plough in husbandry. From the days of Captain Miles Standish to the Revolution, the military company was an important element in the police protection of every town. An early Colonial law compelled " every listed person " to be provided "with a good and sufficient musket of fuse, and sword or bagganett, cotouch box or bandelears, with twelve bullets fit for his piece, half a pound of powder, six good flints upon the training days," "alarm days," or other calls of the officers of the Bands or Companies. This kind of military service had accustomed the people to the simple manual of arms of those days, and made them quasi-soldiers even in times of peace, for they knew not when their King might call them into service. This preparation stood the Colonists in good stead in the stirring days of 1775. The militiamen of New England had cleaned up their old mus- kets, had provided themselves with ammunition, and had, in every place, done regular military duty, monthly, to be ready at a moment's warning for an alarm. When the British moved on Lexington and Concord on the morning of the 19th of April, 1775, the stone walls and fences along the route from Boston to Concord were alive with farmer sol- diers, who had seized their guns from the slings over the
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