USA > Rhode Island > Bristol County > Barrington > A history of Barrington, Rhode Island > Part 40
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In the summer and autumn of 1847, several Providence gentlemen with guns on their shoulders, but with earth augurs under their coats, might have been seen hunting in the woods at Nayatt, in search of game. The "game" they were seeking was the quality and depth of the clay deposit under the soil. Satisfied with their exploration, purchase was made of a large tract of apparently valueless land, beneath the surface of which lay beds of clay of great value. The chief explorer of the party was Nathaniel F. Potter of Providence, a man of great business ability, of tremendous energy and executive skill. Mr. Potter had interested capi- tal in this enterprise for the manufacture and sale of brick, and in a brief space of time, buildings were erected, machin- ery constructed, and transportation provided so that in the spring of 1848 brick were again manufactured, not as before, by hand, but now by steam processes on the banks of the Mouscochuck. From this time from one hundred to two hundred men were em- ployed for six months in the year and a large number throughout the year in the various departments of this great
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
industry. Mr. Potter's spirit and energy were manifest in many directions. Roads were opened leading to and at Nayatt ; a public house was opened in 1849 at Nayatt Point ; steamboats were built and made daily trips to and from Nayatt and Providence ; Providence business men were introduced to the beautiful summer resort at Nayatt Point ; these and many other results were the outcome of Mr. Pot- ter's hunting trip to Nayatt in 1847. The town felt the bene- fits of the new era at once. Employment was furnished to many men in the brick manufactory ; the farmers found a ready home market for their wood, garden vegetables, poul- try, and other farm products. The quicker sale of eggs and butter gave the Barrington women more spending money for new dresses and bonnets. The school children could enjoy two pairs of shoes a year when they were content with one pair before. This process of betterment of conditions continued and the scope and area of individual ambitions were enlarged by the suggestive and directive force of Mr. Potter, whom we must regard as one of the founders of new Barrington, not only on its material side but also as one of the forces on its moral and spiritual sides. For Mr. Potter became a resident of the town ; was interested in its pros- perity ; brought into it his own family and many others to aid in building up society ; was an observer of the Sabbath in his family and business household ; gave liberally to the church, to missions, and charities, and was in all respects a model man and citizen. During the forty-one years of the Nayatt and Narragansett Brick Company's existence, I am informed by Mr. Earl C. Potter that fifteen hundred millions of brick were made at Nayatt. This is a remarkable record of the transformation of dead material into the means of comfort, protection, wealth and progress for manhood, but the more remarkable result of that agency was the begin- ning of the organization of the old town into a new one, the stimulating and energizing of latent forces into active ser- vice, and the building of the foundations of agencies that will go on with their good work forever.
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BENJAMIN B. VIALL.
One of Mr. Potter's valuable services for Barrington was the opening of a summer hotel at Nayatt, and inducing Mr. Benjamin B. Viall to become its manager and proprietor. Mr. Viall was the son of Benjamin and Hannah (Kinnicutt) Viall, had received a good business education in Providence, was well married, and splendidly equipped for the position. The hotel attractions, joined with those of Nayatt Point, brought large numbers of the best people in Providence to see, know, and enjoy Barrington. Mr. Viall made these people at home in his house and the town, and his genial qualities and large hospitality introduced permanent and valuable residents to the town, who remain with us to this day. In co-operation with Mr. Potter, and his son, Earl C. Potter, roads and drives were laid out and made, shade trees planted, wharves built, and all the section was made as at- tractive as possible. Mr. Viall's excellent taste and sound judgment were in constant use in developing the possibilities which Nayatt and Barrington possessed, and in all parts of the town, improvements were apparent, suggested by the Nayatt experiment. Mrs. Viall was as well qualified for her department of work as was Mr. Viall for his, and the labors of both gave a new direction to town affairs, and inspired the people with ideals of taste, culture, and business ability, which will never pass away.
While matters were progressing so rapidly at Nayatt in material ways, the people were aroused to the need of better schools and school privileges, and this sketch would be in- complete without mentioning four Barrington teachers, whose influence at this period was felt in a remarkable manner for good. Two of these were Miss Lydia B. Smith and Miss Elizabeth J. Smith, sisters of Lewis B. Smith. Both had been connected with the B. M. I. Association, had received a good academic training at the Seminary in Warren, and both carried to their schools the spirit and labors of true teachers, and to the homes the cheer of true friends and fel- low- helpers. Miss Lydia B. Smith married Mr. George W. Wightman. Miss Elizabeth devoted the best years of her
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
life to teaching, and was at one period the Preceptress, or Assistant Principal of the Warren Seminary for Young Ladies.
Another influential teacher was Miss Eliza C. Smith, the daughter of Asa Smith. Miss Smith was one of the ablest and most valuable women Barrington ever produced. She was endowed with dignity of person and bearing, with fine in- tellectual qualities, well trained and disciplined for teaching, with a moral and spiritual nature, actively ruling her life, and inspired by the highest ideals. She taught in all the school districts of the town, and her influence over the boys and girls who came under her instruction can never be meas- ured. I regard it as the greatest privilege of my early life to have felt the awakening and guiding influence of this noble woman, and her pupils have always borne testimony to her power, not only as a teacher, but as a true, earnest, Christian woman. Miss Eliza C. Smith was a positive force in helping to create a new Barrington.
Of this fraternity of workers, I must name another Bar- rington woman whose labors and influence in the upbuilding of society have been most abundant, - Mrs. Judith R. Smith, daughter of Capt. James Bowen of New Meadow Neck. Her work as a teacher and as an influential member in society and in the church has been constant and self- sacrificing for more than two generations, and she still lives to enjoy the fruits of the labors of the band, whose motto was so well illustrated in their lives.
Among the personal agencies which labored for town and society the most influential and thorough-going worker was Lewis B. Smith, who devoted the strength of a long life to the upbuilding of public interests in town, church, and state. He was a thorough-going Barrington man, loyal to its his- tory and devoted to its welfare. He was a well-balanced man, strong in his physical, mental, and moral natures. He was a man of broad views and sympathies, natural and acquired, The school of life was his educator, for he owed but little to the schools of his youth, which were of an infe-
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LEWIS B. SMITH.
rior sort. A liberal education would have made him one of the most commanding men of his time. He united in his person the strength of the Smith-Bosworth characters. His moral nature ruled and subordinated, or rather co-ordinated his mental and physical natures. He was born in 1817, and united with the Congregational Church in IS32, and was an interested witness of the trying events of that period. At the age of manhood he entered public life. He was a dele- gate to the Convention to form a state Constitution, in 1842, and from that time until his death was occupied with public concerns. He was a peacemaker as well as an organizer. The parsonage difficulties were settled mainly by his active diplomacy. The meeting-house was remodeled in 1851, and Mr. Smith was the leading spirit in the improvements. As treasurer of the Congregational Society and Church he was the trusty and faithful agent of both, and when funds were wanting and collections in arrears, he advanced ministers' salaries and paid bills out of his own moneys. One such man in Barrington was equal to a host of common men in leading and reconstructing society. Enemies he had, and opposition he encountered, but he won his triumphs with the weapons of peace and good-will. When the Civil War came, Mr. Smith accompanied his son, George, to the re- cruiting station, and during the four years of trial he was the helpful friend of every Barrington soldier in camp, in hospi- tal, or in the field. He wrought always with and for men, for the good of all, and the town and state honored him as few men of our town have been recognized. The office of lieutenant-governor was offered him by the leaders of the Republican party, but he declined the honor as it seemed to him to involve at the time the loss of independent manhood. His name appears on almost every page of our town history since 1840, and to those records as well as these pages the student of Mr. Smith's life must go for the details of his splendid services for Barrington.
The construction of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad was one of the important movements that changed
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
Barrington from old to new. Prior to 1855, all public travel from Barrington was by stage coach or steamboat. In 1853 plans were matured for a railroad through Barrington, and two surveys were made, one along New Meadow Neck, across the Barrington river at Martins and Kinnicutts, and thence by the "Long Swamp," to Providence ; the other route by Nayatt, where it was established. One of the arguments for the choice of the Nayatt route was the probable business that would come from the Brick Company, but this source of revenue never matured as the brick were carried to Providence on scows, towed by small steamboats or tugs. On the 8th of September, 1853, the first shovelful of dirt was thrown out on "the short railroad route" through Barrington, and, on the 4th of July, 1855, the first steam locomotive ran over the track, with passengers from Providence to Barrington, Warren, and Bristol. Three
stations were established in town, Drownville, Nayatt and Barrington. All the interests of the town felt a new im- pulse from quicker and more vital communication with the capital city and the greater outside world. Better facilities were now afforded the people for doing business in Provi- dence and living in Barrington, and the people of the city could now more easily enjoy the privileges of country life in a beautiful town on Narragansett Bay. Among those who came to Barrington was Allen C. Mathewson, who had acquired wealth in Providence, and returned to his native town to invest it in improvements, which he did with a liberal hand. He located his residence on the west bank of Bar- rington river, opposite Tyler's Point, and to this section he drew a number of enterprising people, who became inspired with his loyalty to the town and his generous support of all good enterprises. Mr. Mathewson spent large sums of money in improving farm lands and establishing a model farm, which was an object lesson to the town. He also reclaimed waste lands, and whatever he touched was benefited by his labors. He was a tower of strength in town and State during the Civil War, and the town hon-
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SCHOOL AND SCHOOL-HOUSE, DISTRICT 2, NAYATT.
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PROMINENT ACTORS.
ored him with the senatorship during the years 1862, 3, 4. Mr. Mathewson was a liberal supporter of the St. John's Episcopal Church, and became a loyal friend in Council and in contribution when such friends were few. Among those Mr. Mathewson influenced to come to Barrington was Mr. John C. Burrington, who became one of our most valuable citizens, an earnest friend of all town interests, and a devout supporter of St. John's Church, with which his name will ever be associated. Prior to the advent of the railroad, the town received a substantial gain in the coming of Mr. George R. Kinnicutt to establish a central station of the stage route between Providence and Bristol, on the Kinni- cutt homestead. Mr. Kinnicutt and his family were valu- able accessions to the town, and his enterprise afforded the accommodations of a public house, a post-office, a public stable and a stage office. Another loyal son of Barrington, who brought back to his native town the results of a suc- . cessful business career in Providence, was Mr. Allen Brown, son of Deacon Kent Brown. His mature judgment, wide experience in public matters, and his generous and hospitable spirit, made him a strong support in the new career of the town. He promptly joined his progressive townsmen in their plans to advance the social and civil concerns of Bar- rington and in return the town honored him as it did another son, Mr. Mathewson, with the senatorship, in 1859-60-1.
Mr. Henry Staples, son of Judge William Staples of Providence, moved to Barrington in the fifties, and immedi- ately took a hand in public matters. His brain was fertile in plans ; his activities were constant and versatile in their execution. Though often defeated in his proposals, he was never disheartened. He felt that he was born to lead, and the town appreciated his abilities in accepting his leadership on many matters, while in others his enthusiasm was in excess or in advance of the popular judgment. His services during the Civil War were especially valuable and appreci- ated. Mr. Staples advocated the building of good roads, and, as surveyor of highways, built the first piece of Macadam highway in the town, between the meeting-house
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
and Prince's Hill. He advocated a town hall long before the town saw the need of it, and made plans for a public cemetery at Prince's Hill, on lands south of and adjoining Prince's Pond. Mr. Staples was the leader in the organiza- tion of St. John's Church, and to his earnest efforts more than to those of any and all others was its existence due. His acquaintance with parliamentary tactics and with com- mon law made him a valuable presiding officer and moderator of the annual town meetings. The town chose him as its Representative in 1857-8.
The Congregational Church, whose history had been so marked with unhappy divisions and hindrances to its growth for the years between 1830 and 1850, was most fortunate, for itself and the town, in securing for the pastorate, Rev. Francis Horton, who was the minister of the people and a citizen of Barrington for over sixteen years from 1856. Mr. Horton was a scholarly man, a good preacher, and withal a man whose life mingled and blended with the life of the community. He was a peacemaker, and, with positive con- victions, he easily won public assent and consent in social and moral reforms. He labored to make all men helpful in the social order. He used all men for noble ends, while he was the servant of all. He was a wise man in his plans, and usually successful in their execution. So genial was his nature, so broad and manly his character, that the towns- people came to feel that he was their leader by a divine right. Hence, in education, in public improvements, in the home life of the people, Mr. Horton was always a wise coun- sellor and a welcome friend. Since the days of Townsend and Watson, Barrington had never known such a wise master-builder in church and society, and at his death the town passed resolutions of appreciation of his noble, unselfish life, devoted to the interests of the whole people as well as those of the church of which he was the beloved pastor and teacher for so many years. His life belongs to New Bar- rington, and will long live a part of its integral history.
Associated and working in harmony with these men and agencies, were other strong men and women by the score,
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INCREASE IN POPULATION AND WEALTH.
who felt the joy of the new life for the town, and had a share in its expression. Among them may be named George W. Wightman, Leonard S. Bosworth, Mr. and Mrs. Nathaniel C. Smith, Pardon Clarke, the Tiffanys, Ebenezer and Heze- kiah, Henry Smith, Allin Bicknell, Mr. and Mrs. William H. Smith, Benjamin and Joseph Martin, Mr. and Mrs. Earl C. Potter, Emerson and John B. Humphreys, Stillman Welch, John Cooke, James Bosworth, George R. Martin, the Bowens on New Meadow Neck, John Kelley, and many others.
The following facts are the best testimony as to the exis- tence and effects of the new town life. In 1840 Barrington had a population of 549. In 1860 it had an even 1,000. Twenty years had nearly doubled its population. In 1880 the population was 1,350, a gain of SoI, or over 160 per cent. since 1840, and in 1895 the population had increased to 1668, more than trebling its population in forty-five years. The population to the square mile in 1840 was 59.9; in 1870, 145; and in 1895, 179.
The increase of wealth in Barrington has been no less marvelous than its increase in number :
YEAR.
VALUATION. RATE PER $1,CC0.
RATE PER $1,000.
1820 .. $
190,000
IS75. . $ 1,494,000 ISSO .. 1,493,700
$ 5 50
1842 .. 211,395
5 10
1844 .. 316,723
ISS5. . 1,917,750 5 00
1850 .. 302,275
1,958,010 7 70
1860 ..
73S,S50
1890 .. IS95 .. 2,161,900 9 50
1870 ..
1,053,020
1897 .. 2,304, 175
9 70
$ 7.50 YEAR. VALUATION.
My purpose is fulfilled in this chapter if I have brought to view some of the principal agents and agencies that have changed the old conditions of the town in 1840, and have helped most powerfully to bring in the new conditions of society of 1898. I have purposely omitted many associate names whose services will be mentioned elsewhere, in order that the leading actors might appear in their best propor- tions. The evidences of the progress made in the last quar- ter of a century will appear in later chapters, industrial educational, social, and statistical.
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CHAPTER XXXIII
EDUCATION, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLS
Education from 1717-1747 -The Itinerant School and Schoolmaster -- First Schoolhouse-Stoves in Schoolhouses - Rhode Island Slow in Educational Work -Condition of Education from ISoo to IS30- First Report of School Committee - Henry Barnard and the New Schoolhouse at Nayatt - Growth of the Work - Mr. Isaac F. Cady's School - Barrington High School -Teachers and Graduates -- Pupils in State Normal School - Present Condition of Education - St. Andrew's Industrial School - College Students and Graduates from Barrington.
P RIOR to the division of the town of Swansea, a perma- nent school system had been established, and, at the date of separation and the incorporation of Barrington, in 1717, Mr. John Devotion was the town schoolmaster, on a twenty years contract. Under the laws of Massachusetts, each town must provide free schools, and Barrington at once set the educational machine in motion by providing a school- master, made provision for a salary, and the arrangement of rooms for the schools to be held in the different parts of the new town. In 1722 the selectmen were authorized to see "that the town be provided with a schoolmaster to teach to read, to write, and arithmetic, for four months from the first of November." Twenty pounds were voted in 1713, to pay Mr. Andrews for twelve months teaching, " if he see cause to accept." In 1724 twenty-five pounds were voted for the payment of the teacher's wages for nine months. The school committee was Benjamin Viall, James Smith, and Ebenezer Allen. John Webber was schoolmaster during the year 1729, and "was settled near the centre of the town."
With occasional interruptions, one or more schools have been maintained in town, at public or private expense, from
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EARLY EFFORTS IN EDUCATION.
the last named date until the present time. The earlier schools were itinerant in character, being maintained for a series of months in one quarter of the town, and then removed to another for the purpose of furnishing equal chances for improvement to the youth in all parts of the town. In 1730 it was voted "that the town provide a schoolmaster for seven months; that the school be kept three months at New Meadow Neck, and two months at the meeting-house or thereabouts, and two months at Benjamin Viall's or thereabouts." During these years before school- houses were built, the records state that school was kept at intervals at Josiah Humphrey's, Zachariah Bicknell's, Sam- uel Barnes's, Nathaniel Peck's, Nathaniel Viall's, Joseph Chaffee's, and other houses in the town. The division of the town into three districts was probably made about the date of the separation of the town from Warren. The orig- inal number of districts remain unchanged until 1873, when, owing to the increase of the population in Drownville and vicinity, a fourth district was formed to accommodate the citizens in that quarter of the town. The buildings in which the schools were kept belonged to individuals, and were held by proprietors in joint ownership, as the following receipt shows :
WARREN, March 27, 1770.
" Rec'd of the Severall Proprietors to the Uper School House on Phebes Neck a full Satisfaction for the erecting and Building the Same.
SOL. TOWNSEND, JR., Rec'd pr me,
SAM'L ALLEN, Jr. SAM'L ALLEN, 2d."
This was probably the first school-house in the North Dis- trict.
The following estimate for a schoolhouse in the North District shows the dimensions and method of construction about the year 1800 :
" Dimensions of Schoolhouse given by Mr. Kinnicutt :
Length, 26 1-2 feet; width, 21 feet; heighth of Post, II 1-2 feet; to be Seven windows of 24 Squares 6 inches by 8 inches with Plain Shutters;
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THE HISTORY OF BARRINGTON.
to be Shingled all over with good shingles; to be underpined one foot below the Sills laid in Morter; to be ceiled up in Side as high as the win- dows; with a Stove Similar to Paschel Allen's."
" I will build A School hous Agreable to the Above Sketch in a plain and workman-like manner for Six hundred and fifty Dollars. I have Cal- culated for H. L. hinges and Iron Buttons for the Shutters.
JOHN GREGORY.
I will (if Desired) make the Roof hip'd which will make the building have a much handsomer Appearance and as you make no use of the Gar- ret it will in my opinion be much prefferable."
The subscription which follows indicates the time when stoves began to take the place of fire-places in the heating of our schoolhouses :
BARRINGTON December ye Ist 1793
We the Subscribers Whose names are under Written do Volluntary Give Into the Hand of Col. Thomas Allin For the Purpose of Purchis an Iron Stove to Set up in the North School-Hous in Barrington. ........ the Sums Which Shall be Enixid to our names.
£ s. d. £ s. d.
Thomas Allin 0. 6 - 0 Ebenezer Peck . 0. 6 -0
Joshua Bicknell 0. 6 - 0 Sylvester Viall . 0 - 3 - O
William Brown 0. 3 - 0 Samuel Barnes 0 - 4 - 0
Nathaniel Heath 0 - 3 - 0 Comfort Stanley . 0 - 3 - 0
Elkanah Humphrey . 0 - 1 - 0
Asa Bicknell 0 - 3 - 0
George Sallisbury . 0 - 1 - O
The poverty of the people after the Revolutionary War, compelled them to reduce all expenditures, both public and private, to the lowest terms. As a consequence, the cause of education suffered with all other interests, and, so far as the records show, private or proprietor's schools were all that were sustained. Tuition was paid by the parents or guardians of the pupils to meet the expenses of the schools. In fact, the tuition plan continued long after town and state made annual appropriations for free schools, and it is only within thirty years that common school education has been absolutely free in all the towns of the state.
It is a well known fact that Rhode Island was tardy, com-
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FIRST FREE SCHOOLS.
pared with her sister states, in establishing a system of public schools, and even a Massachusetts-born town naturally and inevitably fell into the habits of towns of its own common- wealth, and from the date of its admission to Rhode Island its educational interests declined. In ISoo the legislature of Rhode Island passed a free school act, requiring each town to provide schools for the children of school age. By that act Barrington was required to maintain schools for four months in each year. The town voted, June 2, 1800, to adopt the act of the General Assembly in respect to free schools, and appointed a committee, consisting of William Allin, Ebenezer Peck, Nathaniel Smith, Amariah Lilley, Jeremiah Drown, and Benjamin Drown, to draw up a plan and report to the town. No report appears on the town records, and, as the free school act was repealed in 1803, we may assume that none was made, and there is no refer- ence therein to free schools, until April 16, 1828, when it was voted that the following persons be a committee to superintend the free schools in the town, viz. : Sylvester Allin, Enoch Remington, Ebenezer Smith, Benjamin Med- bury, Simon Smith, Samuel R. Martin, Jeremiah A. Drown, and John Kelley. Though there is silence in the town rec- ords as to schools for the period of twenty years from 1800 to 1828, the date of the adoption of the free school act, there is sufficient testimony from persons whose school days were embraced in that period, to prove that schools were kept at least three months in winter and two months in summer. The winter schools were kept by male teachers, usually col- lege students, and the summer schools by the most compe- tent young women that could be found. The wages paid to men was from $12 to $20 a month, with the privilege of "boarding around " the district, and to women $8 to $12 a month, with the same privilege as to board.
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