USA > Rhode Island > A history of Block Island : from its discovery, in 1514, to the present time, 1876 > Part 20
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HIS DESCENDANTS.
active service, as seen by the following act: "It is voted and resolved, that Col. Joseph Noyes and Col. Ray Sands be directed forthwith to accompany the troops of horse stationed at Boston Neck and Point Judith; and that they procure convenient quarters for said troops as nigh said places as possible." In 1776, his regiment captured & ferry-boat from the enemy near " North Ferry." In 1777 it was discovered that he had received his colonelcy by an error of entry by the Clerk of the Assembly, whereas it should have been lieutenant-colonel. The mistake was rectified to his honor, as he continued none the less patri- otic, and received a vote of thanks from the General Assembly, "for his vigilant and spirited conduct as colo- nel." After a considerable time had elapsed since he left Block Island, and as he had a farm here, an act was passed, subject to Major-General Gates, then commanding the United States forces in Rhode Island, permitting him to return again to the scenes of his childhood. Mean- time he made South Kingston his home, as we learn from the following act of 1783, viz .: " It is voted and resolved that the said Ray Sands have liberty to go upon the said Island and bring off his negroes, household furniture and provisions, with any other articles of the produce or growth of the said Island; provided that he go from the port of Newport, under the inspection of the intendant of trade there, and upon his return enter in the said intendant's office all the articles he shall bring, taking care that no British goods or prohibited articles be brought in his boat, under penalty of forfeiture of his said boat, and all the articles therein, and being also liable to a pros- ecution therefor." In the same year of this removal his townsmen and kindred on the Island chose him, an inhab- itant of South Kingston, to represent them in the Gene- ral Assembly, which soon after made this record: " It is therefore voted and resolved, that the choice of the said
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
Ray Sands as aforesaid, be, and the same is hereby ap- proved." In 1787, he was also representative from Block Island, and according to the family record, in the old book, died March 11, 1820, aged eighty-four years.
JOHN SANDS.
Cotemporary with the above Col. Ray Sands was a relative by the name of John who was also distinguished as a prominent citizen. His town made him representa- tive in 1773. In the same year he was active in efforts to secure a harbor for Block Island, to which allusion is made under the head "The Harbor." In 1774, he was appointed by the colony to take the census of the Island, and was also, in 1774, on the committee of resistance to the tea-tax. In 1775 he was chosen captain of a company of which Samuel Rathbone, Jr., was lieutenant, and Wm. Littlefield, ensign. That year he was authorized " to take an account of the powder, arms, and ammunition " of Block Island. That year was distinguished by the removal of goods from the Island to the main-land by military authority to prevent them from falling into the hands of the English. Mr. Sands parted with 105 sheep for £32 2s. 6d., and "169 store sheep and lambs " for £42 5s. 0d. In 1776 he, as captain, was in command of the Block Island company of militia to serve in the Revo- lution, with Simon Littlefield for lieutenant, and John Pain for ensign. That year he, with Joshua Sands and William Littlefield was authorized by the Rhode Island Assembly and "appointed a committee to determine what number of neat cattle and sheep" should "be left upon said Block Island for the necessary use of the inhabi- tants." He had then state license to carry on trade with the colony on the main-land. In 1777, Adjutant Stelle, who came to the Island in the sloop Diamond, " to manage an exchange of prisoners " with England, boarded at the
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HIS DESCENDANTS.
house of Capt. John Sands, as did also the prisoners, for which he was allowed by the Government £12 14s. 08d. In 1783, he was representative in the Rhode Island Legis- lature, and by that body was appointed to take possession of the confiscated estate of one Ackurs Sisson on Block Island. In 1790, he was also representative in the state councils.
Mr. John Sands was chairman of the town meeting of Block Island, August 14, 1779, when that extraordinary document was adopted, of which he was probably the author, in which the citizens assumed rights so far tran- scending the charters of England and the colony to said Island as virtually to erect it into a self-constituted, inde- pendent democracy, wielding the power of life and death. He was the great man of the Island during the Revolu- tion.
Joshua Sands was in active life in 1774, and was one of the anti-tea-tax committee in that year.
Robert Sands, son of Col. Ray Sands of South Kings- ton, in 1781, in reply to a petition presented to the Assem- bly " that his father is possessed of a large real estate on Block Island, which he has committed to his care," was "permitted to go upon the said Island, under the inspection of Gideon Hoxie, Esq." to which was added, to show the rigor of the times, "that he do not return without the order of this Assembly."
Mrs. Lucy Sands, in 1779, by permission of the Gene- ral Assembly and Major Gen. Gates, visited her family on Block Island.
But we must draw to a close this imperfect sketch of the Sands family of Block Island whose public spirit, patriotism, wealth, and high tone would be an honor to any part of the world. Their descendants have made a record in America, in the various professions and walks of life, that will compare favorably with their ancient
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English record dating back to 1041. But few, however, are now upon Block Island. Those in the direct line from James Sands, the first settler here, now living upon the Island are Mr. Simon Ray Sands, his brother Edward Sands, Dea. Robert Treadwell Sands and his brother Wm. C. Sands, who are highly esteemed, and well-to-do citizens.
The first-named, commonly called " Col. Sands," as well as the others, bears much of the air and high tone of his ancestors. He was Representative in the Rhode Island Legislature eight years, 1840-1848, five years in the Sen- ate, and three years in the House. His father's name was William Pitt Sands, whose father's name was Edward Sands, Jr., whose father was Edward Sands, whose father was Capt. James Sands, the first settler.
The present Col. Sands had two grandfathers of the name of Sands who were brothers, viz., John Sands, and Edward Sands, Jr. John's daughter, Catharine, married Edward's son Wm. Pitt, the father of Col. Simon Ray Sands.
Mr. Nathaniel Sands, who formerly owned the real estate where the Adrian House is now located, is still remembered with esteem by many of the Islanders. He removed to East Greenwich, Rhode Island, where he died. His widow and daughter there still survive.
MRS. SARAH SANDS.
This lady had virtues and culture which entitle her to more than a passing notice. Although at this distant day we can give but a few outlines of her character, yet these may indicate to some the beauty of the portrait had it been properly delineated in due season. There is also incidental, collateral information obtained from the bio- graphical fragments of her now presented. In speaking of Captain James Sands, one of the first settlers, his grandson, Rev. Samuel Niles, says:
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MRS. SARAH SANDS.
" His wife was a gentlewoman of remarkable sobriety and piety, given also to hospitality. She was the only midwife and doctress on the Island, or rather a doctor, all her days, with very little, and with some and mostly, no reward at all. Her skill in surgery was doubtless very great, from some instances I remember she told me of. One was the cure of an Indian, that under disgust, as was said, he had taken at his wife or squaw, shot himself, putting the muzzle of his gun to the pit of his stomach, and pushing the trigger. The bullet went through him, out and opposite at his back. He instantly fell, and one of the spectators who happened to be in the field at the time, and heard the report of the gun, told me, after he was fallen and wallowing in the blood, he saw the blood and froth issue out of his back and breast as often as he drew his breath. He was perfectly healed, and lived a hearty, strong man even to old age; whom I afterward knew, and often saw the scar at the pit of his stomach, as large or larger in circumference than our ordinary dollars passing among us."
"Another signal cure she told me God made her an instrument of making, was on a young woman that was struck with lightning through her shoulder, so that when she administered to her by syringing, the liquid matter would fly through from the fore part to the hinder, and from the hinder part to the foremost, having a free and open passage both ways, yet was cured, and had several children, and lived to old age. I also knew her long before her death. She had also skill, and cured the bites and venomous poison of rattlesnakes."
Her husband, in his last will, made her the sole execu- trix of his estate which, after his death, was inventoried as follows:
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
James Sands' Estate, March 13, 1694:
"About 400 acres of land:
Fifty-six head of cattle, small and great: Three horses-mare, colt, one horse:
Thirty swine, old and young:
About 300 sheep:
A Negro woman-house and barn, and mill. Sundry household goods not appraised."
Mr. Sands died in March, 1695, and in March, 1699, Mrs. Sarah Sands, his widow, had a lawful record made of the following emancipation of her slaves:
" Know all men by these presents that I, Sarah Sands, of Block Island, alias New Shoreham, in the Colony of Rhode Island, Providence Plantations, in New England, Wife to Mr. James Sands, of Block Island, and made sole executrix by my said husband, James Sands, at his death, and having three Negro children born under my roof and in my custody, being left to my disposing by my above said husband :
" Know ye therefore that I, the above Sarah Sands, do hereby and voluntarily give and bestow of them as fol- loweth, that is to say:
" First: I give to my granddaughter, Sarah Sands, daughter to my son, Edward Sands, one of the Negro girls named Hannah: The other Negro girl I give and bequeath unto my granddaughter, Catharine Niles, daugh- ter to my son-in-law, Nathaniel Niles, of Point Judith in the colony above said-the two Negro girls I freely and voluntarily give to my two grandchildren above named until the said Negroes come to the age of thirty years, and then I do by these presents declare that they shall be free from any service, and be at their own disposal-the Negro girl given to my granddaughter, Catharine Niles, is named Sarah. The other negro above said being a boy
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MRS. SARAH SANDS.
named Mingo, I freely give and bequeath to my grand- son, Sands Raymond, son to my son-in-law, Joshua Ray- mond, of Block Island above named, which I give freely until that he the said Negro boy comes to the age of thirty-three years, and then to be free and his own man and at his own disposal forever after that he shall arrive to the age of 33 years; for I Sarah Sands do by these presents freely declare that I have made a promise that no child whatsoever born under my service and care shall be made a slave of any longer than is above specified, and for the confirmation and ratification of this my free and voluntary act, I have under set my hand, and affixed my seal this ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and ninety-nine."
Signed in presence of SAMUEL NILES.
SARAH SANDS.
Two years and a half passed away and Mrs. Sands, con- scious of her approaching end, in her last will, left a pre- amble to it that speaks well for her character, revealing a faith which was her brightest ornament through her long and eventful life mostly spent among her fellow-Islanders, many of whom she had seen in their barbarous state, and all of whom, with her devoted companion, she had la- bored to improve both socially and religiously.
HER WILL.
" In the name of God, Amen. I Sarah Sands of Block Island, alias New Shoreham, in the colony of Rhode Island, and Providence Plantations, in New England, being aged and weak in body, but of sound and perfect memory-Praise be given to Almighty God for the same -and knowing the uncertainty of this life on earth, and being desirous to see that things in order be done before · my death, Do make this my last will and Testament in manner and form following :
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
" I being wife to Mr. James Sands deceased, and made sole executrix by my said husband, as by will bearing date June the 18th, 1694, may plainly appear, That is to say, First, and Principally; I commend my soul to Al- mighty God my Creator, assuredly believing that I shall receive full pardon and free remission of all my sins, and be saved by the precious death and merits of my blessed Saviour and Redeemer Christ Jesus; and my body to the earth from whence it was first taken, to be buried in such decent and Christian manner as to my executor here- after named shall be thought most meet and convenient: And as touching such worldly estate as the Lord in mercy hath lent me, my will and meaning in the same shall be implied.
[Things specified for each.] That they shall be equally divided amongst my five children, viz .: John Sands, James Sands, Samuel Sands, Sarah Niles, and Mercy Raymond.
Signed in presence of SARAH SANDS. SAMUEL NILES, and
HANNAH ROSE, Oct. 17th, 1703."
In Sept., 1704, she gave her negro woman to her grand- son, Rev. Samuel Niles, to be kept by him ten years, at the expiration of which time she was to be free for ever thereafter.
MR. SANDS' STONE HOUSE, AND THE SANDS' GARRISON.
Their location is established, in the writer's mind beyond a doubt, by the following circumstantial evidence, to have been nearly where Mr. Almanzo Littlefield's resi- dence is now standing.
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MR. SANDS' STONE HOUSE, ETC.
THE HOUSE.
That Captain James Sands had a stone house, used as a garrison and hospital, in times of necessity, is admitted, and shown by Mr. Niles' History.
1. His sixteenth of the Island-nearly all of it, as seen in the original plat, a copy of which is in the pos- session of Col. S. Ray Sands, embraces the house lot, and mill-pond now owned by Mr. A. Littlefield.
2. Rev. Mr. Niles, grandson of Capt. J. Sands, lived some years with his grandparents in the stone house, and he says the mill-pond was " near the house." He speaks of that pond as having a " flume."
3. He says that house was " not far from the Harbor," which then was the " Old Pier."
4. The house was within musket shot of a French privateer lying at the Pier. After the French had plun- dered it and returned to their vessel they "fired many guns at the house," says Mr. Niles, and adds: "I heard sev- eral bullets whistling over my head."
5. When the French took the stone house they " set up their standard on a hill on the back side of it" [the house]. After it had stood there some hours an English vessel hove in sight, which "put the Frenchmen into a great surprise," whereupon :
6. They were seen "running up to their standard on the hill, then down again, and others doing the like."
7. Mr. Niles, when the French landed, was " in fair sight of the house," and at the same time "saw them coming from the water-side," while just behind him was a " large swamp."
8. The outlines of a cellar still visible between the present old water-mill and Mr. Almanzo Littlefield's house, and he states that part of a cellar-wall is there covered up.
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
9. No other mill-pond on the Island could have had a " flume," and a flume implies the presence of a mill.
10. The mill-pond now there has been there from the most ancient traditions.
11. Mrs. Sarah Sands, widow of the above James Sands, in her will transmitted to her son the " mill," and the "mill " was in the inventory of her husband's estate soon after his death.
12. The stone house of Mr. Sands was " garrisoned." This implies the presence of a body of soldiers.
13. That garrison existed when the men of the Island were only " sixteen and a boy."
14. The mill-pond and mill were near the house and garrison when Mrs. Sands had " but one little child, a girl, just able to run about and prattle a little " when she was drowned in said mill-pond.
15. Said garrison was established in the time of " Philip's War," as a protection against the Block Island Indians.
16. The earth work of an ancient garrison that com- manded said stone house on three sides, is now seen, directly east of the spot where said house stood, and within pistol- shot of it, with a sharp hill back of it or east of it, and adjacent from which the whole region around was visible to a sentinel.
17. The "upland in a great swamp" to which Mr. Niles fled the first time the French came to Mr. Sands' house, was a convenient place of concealment, lying a short distance northwest of the location of said house. The upland and swamp remain, and are easily pointed out, lying a little distance west of Erastus Rose's house.
SIMON .RAY.
It is much to be regretted that we have so little infor- mation of this good man. From what we have, however,
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SIMON RAY.
it will be seen that he devoted his fortune, his talents, and even his life to the welfare of Block Island. His father, Simon Ray, came from England, and died in 1641, leav- ing a large estate in Braintree, Mass., and hence the younger Simon had ample means to pay for his sixteenth part of the Island, to move here in comfortable circum- stances, and also to assist others in its settlement.
He was born in 1635. Six years after, his father, Simon Ray, Sen., died. Nineteen years after said death, the son, at the age of twenty-five, met his fellow-townsmen, " Thomas Faxun, Peter George, Thomas Terry, Richard Ellis, Samuel Dering, all of Braintree," at the house of " Mr. John Alcock, Physician, in the town of Roxbury, in the colony of Massachusetts," "August the seventeenth, 1660, then and there to confer about " the settlement of Block Island. At that meeting Mr. Ray not only pledged himself to pay a sixteenth of the purchase-money for the Island, and to bear his proportionate part of the expense of moving the colony of sixteen families there, but he also with Mr. Samuel Dering, for the greater convenience of transporting the passengers," built a shallop upon their own cost and charge for the promoting and settling of said Island." At Braintree, in April, 1661, he, with his fif- teen colleagues embarked, in said shallop, for Taunton, and thence came to Block Island. Here, for seventy- seven years, he witnessed the vicissitudes of the Islanders with an interest that may well be regarded as paternal. It is a pity that he kept no more of a record of his expe- rience for the benefit of posterity.
Mr. Ray seems to have been a man of great physical endurance, of an even temper and mild disposition, of sound judgment, kind feelings for all classes, even the Indians, and of deep religious convictions, manifested in works of faith and charity. In September, 1704, at the age of sixty-nine, he left us the following index of his
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character, at a time when the inhabitants of New England probably hated no other objects in existence so much as they did the Indians. Mr. Edward Ball was the " crown- er," or the king's attorney or sheriff, on the Island, and is therefore mentioned first, as a mark of respect, in the following address:
" To Mr. Edward Ball, and the rest of the town coun- cil: Whereof, Penewess the late sachem being dead to whom the land reserved for him belonged, and now belongeth to his countrymen whereof Ninicraft being willing for to assist them in the putting of the land to rent so as for to be at a certainty of receiving rent yearly for it, I pray you let there be no bar nor hindrance towards that proceeding, but rather be helpful to them in the matter, for it is fit that they should make the best improvement they can of what belongs to them; which is all I have to trouble you with at present, remain- ing yours to serve in any thing that I am capable.
SIMON RAY, Warden."
His recommendation was adopted by the town, October 6, 1704. By it we learn that the Indians were allowed to hold land on the Island, to collect rent for the same, and that instead of confiscating to themselves the land left unclaimed after the petty sachem's death, the Islanders humanely put in practice the kind feelings of their chief warden. Ninicraft, then, was the chief of the Narragan- setts, and of the Block Island Indians.
The old records of the Island show plainly that Mr. Ray was ever watchful and laborious for the welfare of his townsmen pecuniarily, socially, and religiously. While others fled to escape from invading pirates and French privateers he firmly and patiently submitted to the worst that might come. As evidence of this the following inci- dent is here given: "When the French came into the house they found only the old gentleman and his wife;
SIMON RAY. 289
all the rest of the family were fled. The French de- manded his money. He told them he had none at his command. They, observing by the signs on the floor, that chests and other things were lately removed, and the money, which they principally aimed at, asked him where they were. He told them he did not know, for his peo- ple had carried them out, and he could not tell where they put them. They bid him call his folks, that they might bring them again; which he did, but had no answer, for they were all fled out of hearing. They being thus disappointed, one of them, in a violent rage, got a piece of a rail, and struck him on his head therewith, and in such fury that the blood instantly gushed out and ran on the floor. Upon which his wife took courage, and sharply reprehended them for killing her husband, which she then supposed they had done. Upon which they went off without the game they expected. After the flow of blood was over, he recovered his health, and lived many years in his former religious usefulness." (Niles.)
That he was a man of great religious influence upon the Islanders is evident from the above writer, Rev. Sam- uel Niles, an intimate acquaintance and admirer of Mr. Ray. He says: "He and his son, who was of the same name, and after bore the like distinguishing characters of honor and usefulness that his father had done before who is now lately deceased, as there was no minister in the place, were wont, in succession, in a truly Christian, laud- able manner, to keep a meeting in their own house on Lord's days, to pray, sing a suitable portion of the Psalms, and read in good sermon books, and, as they found occa- sion, to let drop some words of exhortation in a religious manner on such as attended their meeting." Thus, here on this little "isle of the sea," beyond the sound of any church-going bell, without permit by imposition of human hands, but in accordance with a higher commission, the
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
chief warden of the Island, by preaching and practice inculcated or planted the seeds of piety which in after generations have borne most ample harvests.
His residence was on the west side of the Island, but a short distance northerly from the house now owned and occupied by Mr. Raymond Dickens, whose house is built in part of the one anciently occupied by Mr. Ray. His dwelling was unpretentious, and his home had an air much less popular than the more stately mansion of the more public and enterprising Capt. James Sands. At Mr. Ray's house a part of the unfortunate inmates of the Pal- atine were cared for while their diseased and emaciated bodies lingered in life. From his house they were borne to their last resting place, a hillock about seventy-five rods southeast from the hospitable home of Mr. Ray.
What more perfect pattern of a good citizen can be drawn than we find in the life and character of Simon Ray, of Block Island ? From the age of twenty-five to that of nearly one hundred and two we see his fortune, his time, and talents devoted to the temporal and spiritual interests of his fellow townsmen. He penned the pre- amble and resolution to which he called their attention, in his eighty-fifth year, for the preservation of the forest timber, then becoming scarce on the Island. There is evidence also that his hand drew up that first call of the Island to a minister of the gospel-a copy of which call we have given in another place. In harmony with the outlines of his character in the foregoing statements, are the facts inscribed upon his humble monument by those who knew him well. A gray stone slab lying over his grave in the highest part of the Block Island cemetery contains these words: "This monument is erected to the memory of Simon Ray, Esq., one of the original propri- etors of this Island. He was largely concerned in settling the Township, and was one of the chief magistrates, and
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