USA > Rhode Island > A history of Block Island : from its discovery, in 1514, to the present time, 1876 > Part 23
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ANGELL.
This name early appeared upon the records of Block Island, but of late years it has not been numbered among its citizens.
Mr. William Angell, in the latter part of the Revolution hired a farm on the Island, and by permit from the General Assembly moved here his family and furniture. This was in the year 1782.
Hon. William G. Angell, born on Block Island, moved to Burlington, Otsego County, N. Y., and there, in 1825, was elected a representative in Congress, reëlected in 1829, and was a member of the committee on Indian affairs and on the territories. Dr. Angell of Providence has lived here and is a summer visitor, professionally, and for pleasure.
BALL.
The first inhabitant here of this name seems to have been one Mr. Edward Ball who was deputy warden to the town in 1702, and was also entitled "Crowner," as repre-
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BALL.
senting in authority the Crown of England, and held the relation of sheriff to the constable and people.
Mr. John Ball appears next in time on the records, and was admitted freeman on Block Island in 1709. Whether, or how related to Edward we cannot state.
Hon. Peter Ball was admitted freeman in 1709, and in 1734 represented the Island in the General Assembly together with Simon Ray. In 1735, he was among the foremost in building the new pier-in obtaining for it an appropriation from the State of £1,200. He with Simon Ray was appointed by the Assembly to appropriate said money for its legitimate purpose, in 1735.
Mr. Isaiah Ball, one of the old landmarks, passed away about the beginning of the present century, known as a hardy, industrious farmer.
Mr. John S. Ball, son of Isaiah, is now between seventy and eighty years old, living where his father lived, doing as he did, with a plenty of life's necessaries, free from its ostentations, and with a feeling of independence known to but few whose fortunes are top-heavy. He glories in having lived so long " without a doctor," and in a defiance of the medical profession. He is bound to die, he says, a " natral death."
Mr. Samuel Ball, a cotemporary of Isaiah, is well re- membered as a man of energy, straightforward dealing. and extraordinary memory. He seems to have been the oracle of the Island in regard to its ancient traditions. Of him it was frequently said: "He is as good as the records."
Mr. Samuel Ball, son of the former, still survives, occupying the old mansion left by his father, and in his old age is carrying out the good principles which he in- herited. While his strong will exhibited in stirring habits and in a life of rigid honesty, will long be remembered, his decided expressions of love for the right and disap-
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
proval of the wrong, so often heard, in all places, will not easily slip from the memory.
The numerous branches of the Ball family now on the Island are not easily traced to their respective origins. The following is a brief sketch of one of them, who has taken rank among the first men of the Island, and of the State.
Hon. Nicholas Ball, born in December, 1828, inherited a fondness for the sea, and when a young boy shipped as cook for $6.00 a month, and during the next summer had $7.00 a month. Subsequent to this a few years were spent at school, and in working for farmers at ten to twenty five cents a day, until March, 1843, when he again shipped as cook for $10.00 a month, and afterwards as seaman for $15.00 a month, and rose to the position of chief mate, on wages at $28.00 a month, visiting, mean- while, Philadelphia, Albany, West Indies, Liverpool, Havre, and San Francisco, spending 161 days in going around Cape Horn to the last place, in 1849. After two years in California, mining, he returned to Block Island in 1851, and in October following went back to the gold mines again. In 1854, he started his mercantile business on Block Island, which he still continues, and that year was elected representative in the General Assembly, and reëlected in 1855; was elected State Senator in 1858; re- elected in 1859, '63, '64, '65, '66, '67, '68, '69, '70, '71, '72; and in 1873 declined an election to either State or home office. In 1867, assisted by his colleague, Hon. J. G. Sheffield, he began the long and laborious campaign of securing a government harbor for Block Island, for which his townsmen and the public will ever owe him a debt of gratitude. In this brief sketch only an index can be given of the time, money, and personal effort put forth by him in this national enterprise,-one which had repeat- edly proved a failure under the administrations of the
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BRIGGS.
town alone, and the town and colony combined, as seen in the article on the Harbor.
Mr. Ball's good judgment, personal influence, indomi- table perseverance and success in this public enterprise, furnish an example which it would be gratifying to see others endeavoring to excel. Those compliment him a little too highly, perhaps, who credit him with so much success in spite of their superior advantages claimed for the Great Pond as a National Harbor.
His personal interviews with congressmen at Washing- ton, with the Boards of Trade at Philadelphia, at New York, at Providence, and at Boston, visiting some of these cities repeatedly; his petitions obtained by him from mercantile firms in Bangor, Boston, Newport, Provi. dence, Stonington, New London, New York, Philadel- phia, and other places directed to their respective con- gressmen; and his unceasing correspondence, all of which was carried on from 1867 to 1870, required an expense of time, money, and brain which but few could afford. Both approvals and complaints point to Hon. NICHOLAS BALL, as the principal founder of the government harbor at Block Island, and while accepting some of the pecuni- ary fruits of the enterprise, he enjoys the satisfaction of seeing his town enriched thereby thousands of dollars where he is profited hundreds. His retirement from pub- lic life, and devotion to his family, Island society, and the pleasures of the visitors, especially to those at the Ocean View Hotel, of which he is proprietor, afford him ample opportunity for reviewing the past and hoping for the future.
BRIGGS.
About the beginning of the eighteenth century two brothers of this name came from England to the United States, one of whom settled in Maine, and the other,
Joseph Briggs, settled at Kingston, R. I., and subse-
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
quently moved to Block Island where he married Mar- gary Dodge. The old records of the Island in 1758, speak of him as leasing of the town its blacksmith shop. Here, upon the Island, he raised a family of seven chil- dren, namely, Nathaniel, Joseph, Patience, Burton, Sam- uel, Lydia, and Eathon.
Nathaniel, born about the year 1758, held the confidence and esteem of the whole community for his sterling worth and unblemished character in his public and domestic relations. As an active member of the Baptist church he was brought into association with many of the most prom- inent men of the State. The principal part of the mer- cantile business of the Island was transacted at his store. The residence built by him, located about south of the Woonsockett House, on the opposite side of the street, and known as "the great house," was finally taken down, and many of its timbers were put into the two-story house, near the old location, and now owned and occupied by Mr. Solomon Dodge. In the year 1802 Mr. Briggs visited New York for medical treatment, and there died, aged forty-four years. His son,
Collins G. Briggs, was born on Block Island, Sept. 30, 1798, and in the war of 1812 served his country in the United States Navy, and subsequently followed the sea in the merchants' service, until he removed to Exeter, Otsego Co., N. Y., where he married and settled in agricultural pursuits. From thence, in the spring of 1836, he re- moved to the town of German, Chenango Co., N. Y., and there bought and cultivated the " Bowen farm," and dis- tinguished himself as an enterprising, moral citizen. This was in the native place, and during the boyhood of the writer, whose conscience still troubles him a little over the disturbances to which he was accessory at those good old Methodist meetings in the school-house at the "Cor- ners "-meetings in which Mr. Briggs was a class leader.
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BRIGGS.
At that place he died, Nov. 12, 1874, aged 76 years, leaving a sister, Mrs. Mary C. Eldridge, of New York city, and four children, three sons and one daughter, Luzerne J. Briggs, still residing in German; and Manas- seh and Munroe A. Briggs, in Brooklyn.
Manasseh, in the firm of BRIGGS & Co., 90 Wall St., N. Y., carries on the coal and shipping business. His for- mer wife was a Block Island lady, Mary A., daughter of Capt. Nathaniel and Lucretia Littlefield. She died in Brooklyn, June, 1862.
Joseph Briggs, brother of Nathaniel, in early life settled in Exeter, N. Y., where he followed farming until his death, in August, 1841, aged 77 years, leaving two daughters and one son.
Jeremiah Briggs, born on the Island, Dec. 30, 1792, in early life evinced a fondness for the sea, and in the War of 1812 had command of a United States gun-boat. After some years in the merchants' service at sea, he and his cousin, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, established the firm of the "J. & N. Briggs Transportation Co.," between New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore. Subsequently they accepted the agency of the Camden and Amboy Trans- portation Co., known as the inside canal line, and desig- nated as the " Briggs Swift Sure Line," for about forty years. Captain Briggs was one of those energetic, vigor- ous men who by their own activity keep things around them in motion. He had not only a head for business, but also a heart for benevolence, as seen in his connection with the "Seaman's Fund and Retreat," on Staten Island, and with the "Marine Society," of the port of New York. During all his long and busy life his mind reverted to the Island of his childhood with feelings of peculiar tender- ness, and in his old age frequently directed his letters to his old friends thus,-" Block Island-the holy land." His last visit to the Island was in August, 1872, and in
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
the Nautical Gazette of Aug. 24, 1872, it was thus alluded to:
" Capt. Jeremiah Briggs is a veteran of the War of 1812, and now upwards of 80 years old, is well known to our readers as one of the proprietors of the Swift Sure Line of freight propellers plying daily between this city and Philadelphia. He sailed in the first privateer out of this harbor in 1812, and has spent much of his long and use- ful life on the sea. He is a remarkably hale, hearty, and well-preserved old gentleman, and still enjoys life with a zest that would put to shame the blasé fast-time of the day. The captain has a fine farm on the Jamaica turn- pike, at Richmond Hill, Long Island, where he resides with his wife and family of grown-up sons and daughters -a credit to him, as well as a comfort to his declining years." He died at his residence, June 28, 1876, aged 84 years, and is still respectfully remembered on his be- loved "little isle of the sea," where his name is frequently and familiarly spoken as Uncle Jerry Briggs.
Samuel Briggs, a native of the Island, and son of the first of that name here, spent his life in the place of his nativity. His son,
Nathaniel Briggs, born on the Island in 1802, by his fondness for the sea became master of a ship, and for several years sailed from the port of New York, and sub- sequently became the partner of Capt. Jeremiah, as before stated, and continued such until the death of the senior of the firm of J. & N. Briggs, since which event he has retired from active business. He has been distinguished for his benevolence in connection with several public in- stitutions, and is an honored member in the Methodist Episcopal church in Brooklyn, where he has resided for many years.
Eathon Briggs, son of the senior Joseph, born upon Block Island, was lost at sea in early manhood. His son,
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CHAMPLIN.
Eathon C. Briggs, born upon the Island, became master of a ship, and sailed from New York several years, and then entered the mercantile business in said city, and in 1849 removed with his family to Kinsmon, Trumbull Co., O., where he has carried on farming successfully. He and his brother, Capt. Nathaniel Briggs, are the only living male descendants of the original family of Joseph Briggs, the first above mentioned.
For nearly all of the above sketch the writer is indebted to his esteemed friend and companion in boyhood days, Manasseh Briggs, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y. None of the name, for thirty years, have been residents of the Island.
CHAMPLIN.
Previous to the Revolution a family of this name re- sided upon Block Island. In January, 1782, one Henry Champlin, formerly of Westerly, R. I., in a petition to the Assembly, stated that, "about two years ago he hired a farm upon New Shoreham, and went there with his family to reside; that the attachment that he had for the interest and good of his country led him, upon all occa- sions and opportunities, to give such information respect- ing the movements of the enemy, that he is considered by them as a dangerous person to their interest; and that he has had several informations lately that the refugees intend to destroy his property at New Shoreham, seize his person, and carry him off to New York." He was therefore permitted to move from the Island. His son, probably,
Nathaniel Champlin, about the year 1790, married Thankful Hull, of Block Island, daughter of Capt. Ed- ward Hull, and here, for many years was an active, prom- inent citizen, distinguishing himself somewhat by his fondness for and mastery of horses. He was the Rarey of the Island, but in his own way, and subdued intractable
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
steeds by the rule, -similia similibus curantur. For exam- ple, while at the Harbor on horseback, a considerable dis- tance from home, he undertook to carry back a bushel basket. The fiery young horse, seeing the basket handed up to its rider, wheeled, snorted, and would not allow Mr. Champlin to take it. " You have got to take that basket home !" said the rider, and dismounted; tied up the reins, tied the basket to the horse's tail, and let him go with basket following and heels flying. At another time, to cure a horse that was sensitive about rattling noises, he put a few small stones into an empty tin powder can and tied it to the skittish horse's caudal appendage, and let the horse loose in the pasture to enjoy all the free- dom of running and kicking that the rattling can could produce. It is said that a bundle of rye straw on fire was sometimes a substitute for the basket and the tin rattle.
Mr. Champlin reared an excellent family of children, three of them now living upon the Island, Uriah Champ- lin, 81 years old, Peleg, and Christopher, younger brothers, aged, well-to-do, and highly-esteemed citizens. John, son of Christopher, and Edward and Weeden, sons of Peleg, are excellent farmers.
DICKENS.
Roger Dickens was admitted freeman in 1709 as a resi- dent of Block Island, and we find none here of that name any earlier.
Thomas Dickens, in the year 1725, was likewise ad- mitted freeman, was the grandfather of the present Ray- mond Dickens, and was representative for the Island at the General Assembly in 1744, and was on the Island at the breaking out of the Revolution, remaining on it dur- ing that conflict, going off and returning by permit of the Assembly in 1779. He died between eighty and ninety
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DODGE.
years old. He married Sally Franklin, Oct. 9, 1763. She was born Sept. 27, 1734, and died Feb. 4, 1792.
Caleb Dickens, son of Thomas, was born October 2, 1777, and died December 5, 1839, aged sixty-two years.
Mr. Raymond Dickens, son of Caleb, now living at the age of nearly seventy-five years, is one of the most hale, cheerful, and highly-esteemed old citizens of the Island. He well remembers hearing his grandfather Thomas tell about the "Palatine," and of the humane treatment of its unfortunate inmates by the Islanders. His sons Anderson and Luther Dickens are respectable residents.
Daniel Dickens was a resident of Block Island in 1734, and was then admitted freeman.
Amos Dickens was also admitted in 1759.
Much of the above record is obtained from the family Bible, now one hundred and thirty years old, in the pos- session of Raymond Dickens, Esq. It contains names and dates of the Tosh family also.
Elisha Dickens is one of the oldest inhabitants of the Island, and a respected citizen of the West Side.
DODGE.
This name appears on the first records of the Island.
Trustaram Dodge was one of the first settlers who came here in 1662. He was not one of the first purchasers of the Island; like several others who came with him to occupy lands obtained of some of the sixteen proprietors. He died in 1733; his name was sometimes written Tris- tram, and he was admitted freeman in 1664, among the first freemen of Block Island.
John Dodge occupied the Minister's Land in 1691, ac- cording to the old records, and was admitted freeman in 1709, was representative in the General Assembly in 1745 and 1751.
Nathaniel Dodge was admitted freemen in 1709, at the
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND
same time as John's admission, and perhaps they were brothers or cousins.
David Dodge was admitted freeman in 1728, and Alex- ander Dodge in 1721. Samuel, and William, Jr., were admitted in 1734. In 1744, Nathaniel Dodge was ad- mitted, and in 1745, another by the name of William. Hezekiah Dodge was on the Island in 1775, at the begin- ning of the Revolution, and probably remained here through that distressing period.
REV. THOMAS DODGE, a native of the Island, was ordained to the pastorate of the First Baptist church of the Island in 1784, and continued to be its pastor until his death in 1804. See " Churches of Block Island."
The Dodges who were children at his death have grown up, and passed away, until only here and there one re- mains. Edmund died in 1875, and Samuel died January 2, 1877. Others of their name are more numerous than those of any other name on the Island. They are all, or a part, descendants, doubtless, from the Dodge among the first settlers, but their genealogy is so entangled and so imperfectly recorded as to discourage any attempt to trace it out. Amhad, and his brother William; Joshua, his brothers Andrew and Noah; Aaron, and his brother Ed- win, may be considered as links connecting the present with the past generations. Oliver Dodge, father of Sam- uel, is still remembered, though he died many years ago. Robert Dodge is also mentioned as a preacher of a former generation.
"AUNT BETSEY."
It is not from any want of respect that she is here spoken of under this heading. By this name she is best known by all of her many old and young acquaintances. The multitude of strangers who have stood at her cottage window on Block Island, and have there seen her work the old-fashioned treadles, harnesses, shuttle, lathe, and
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"AUNT BETSEY."
beams of her loom, and have heard her pleasant stories of her youth, motherhood, industry, and family of children, would consider any description of the Island incomplete that should say nothing of "Aunt Betsey." What a correspondent of the Scranton Republican said of her will do to repeat :
"And here it must not be forgotten to mention the name of Aunt Betsey Dodge, not as one of the beautiful young ladies, but as a true representative of the olden time. She is seventy-six years of age, straight as an arrow, industrious to a fault, and one of the best talking Yankee women we ever met. She spends her time in weaving carpets, turning out piece after piece to the astonishment of everybody; and standing by her loom, which she has worked upwards of sixty years, the thought arose that it was just such women as Aunt Betsey, with her industrious economy and good sense, who gave caste and character to the American people, and laid the foun- dations of their wealth. Such were the mothers in the infancy of our republic."
The above is sustained by the following statistics: At the age of seventy-six, during the year, she wove one thousand yards of rag carpeting, and four hundred yards of flannel, and spent three weeks "a visiting," besides doing her own general housework. Almost her entire life has been spent at the loom, and the number of yards she has woven seems incredible. What she did the year in which she kept a record, at seventy-six, of course was more than equaled in younger years, and she "always had all she could do." As she was almost constantly weaving for sixty years, if we give her credit for only 1,000 yards a year (including "tow cloth," kersey, flannel, and carpet- ing), the whole of her life-work would amount to 60,000 yards, which, if all put into one piece, would reach from Block Island to Newport, and have enough left to encircle
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
that city. But her highly-esteemed children and grand- children, of whom her mention has caused so many a stranger to smile, and of whom she may well be proud, will be the best monument of "Aunt Betsey," after Time's shuttle has left its last thread in the warp of her busy life's web. She has retired.
For industry and good sense she may be taken as a sample of many other true "help-meets " of Block Island.
GUTHRIDGE.
This is among the early names of Block Island. John Guthridge came to Watertown, Mass., in 1636. William Guthridge was there in 1642. They probably learned of the enterprise of settling the Island through Peter Noyes, their cotemporary and neighbor in Watertown, since he surveyed the Island for the settlers, and soon after.
Robert Guthridge settled upon the Island, and was evi- dently an active, promising citizen, until his death in 1692. By the inventory of his estate we learn that he was in comfortable circumstances, and besides other land owned "42 acres in the west woods," inventoried at "20 shillings pr. acre."
Henry Gardner represented the Island in the Assembly in the year 1741.
HULL.
Two men of this name a century ago were prominent on Block Island.
Captain Robert Hull, in 1741, was here admitted free- man, and in 1743 represented the Island in the General Assembly, and continued to do so until 1758, a period of fifteen years. In 1757, his tax was the highest of any in the town.
Captain Edward Hull, son of Capt. Robert, in 1766, with Ray Sands, Esq., represented the Island in the As- sembly. Just previous to the Revolution he moved to
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HULL.
Jamestown, R. I., but still retained his farms on Block Island; in 1776 was representative from Jamestown in the Assembly; in 1779 and in 1781, obtained permits from the Assembly to visit his estate on the Island, and after the Revolution returned to Block Island, and was its representative in 1786. The farm near Sandy Point, now owned by Hon. J. G. Sheffield, and a tract including the residence and farm of Mr. Almanzo Littlefield, were formerly owned by Capt. Edward Hull, still remembered as a man of influence on the Island.
By the kindness of Mr. Robert B. Hull, of New York city, we are enabled here to present a genealogical line of Hulls connected with many respectable families now living on Block Island a line kindred, and parallel to that in which the distinguished General Hull and Commodore Hull are found, in reference to whom the ancient and less elegant than spirited stanza was sung as follows, tune Yankee Doodle :
" Yankee Doodle, fire away, With cannon loud as thunder ! The brave Decatur, Hulls, and Jones, Make Johnny Bull knock under."
Rev. Joseph Hull, with his wife Agnes, was minister of York, Me., and lived between the years 1594 and 1665.
Capt. Tristram Hull, his son, with his wife Blanche, lived in Barnstable, Mass., between the years 1623 and 1666.
Captain John Hull, his son, married Alice Tiddeman, daughter of Capt. Edward Tiddeman, of London. This Capt. Hull was the instructor in naval tactics of Sir Charles Wager, first Lord of the Admiralty, in 1733 .- See Sheffield's Hist. Ad., Newport, 1876. John Hull was of Conanicut, and Newport, 1654-1732. His son,
Capt. Tiddeman Hull, of Conanicut, R. I., married Sarah Sands, the only child of Edward Sands, a son of
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HISTORY OF BLOCK ISLAND.
James Sands, one of the original proprietors of Block Island. The marriage occurred March 10, 1711. His son,
Hon. Robert Hull, of South Kingston, R. I., 1718-1768, married Thankful Ball, daughter of Peter Ball, of Block Island, and here became a prominent citizen, as above stated. His son,
Hon. Edward Hull, claimed as a Block Islander, mar- ried Mary, the daughter of Daniel Weeden, of James- town, R. I., and by marriage his descendants are numer- ous on the Island, though none of them bear the name of Hull. He was born at South Kingston in 1741, and died on Block Island in 1804. His children were:
Alice ; born Oct. 28, 1764, and married John Gorton, of Block Island:
Weeden ; born March 7, 1766, died unmarried:
Thankful ; born Apr. 27, 1767; married Nathaniel Champlain, of Block Island:
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