USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Narragansett > A history of the Episcopal Church in Narragansett, Rhode Island, including a history of other Episcopal churches in the state, Volume III > Part 4
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* This was called the Westerly church. It was built on a lot of land given for that purpose by George Ninigret, Chief Sachem of the Narraganset Indians. It joined the Champlin farm, and, when the church went down, was held by the Champlins by possession.
The town of Westerly was divided after the erection of the church, and it fell on the Charlestown side of the division line. The church was situ- ated on the north lot of the late Champlin farm, fronting on the public road now owned by Robert Hazard, son of Joseph, and within a half a mile from the residence of the then Sachem. The deed was as follows:
"To all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting. Know ye, that I, George Ninigret, Chief Sachem and Prince of the Naraganset Indians, in the colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New-England in America, for and in consideration of the love and affec- tion which I have and bear for and towards the people of the Church of
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but not now under my Care; another 16 miles to the Northward of me, where I officiate once a Month; and, at a Place fix Miles
England, in Charlestown and Westerly, in the county of King's county, in the colony aforesaid, and for securing and settling the service and wor- ship of God amongst them, according to the usage of that most excellent church, within the said Charlestown, at all times forever hereafter, and also for and in consideration of the sum of five shillings of the currency of said colony, and of the old tenor, to me in hand actually paid, by John Hill, Esq., Col. Christopher Champlin, both of said Charlestown and col- ony aforesaid, and Ebenezer Punderson, 896 of Groton, in the county of New London and colony of Connecticut, clerk, the receipt whercof I do hereby acknowledge, have given, granted, bargained, sold, enfcoffed, con- veyed, and by these presents do fully and absolutely give, grant, bargain, sell, enfeoff, and convey unto the said John Hill, Christopher Champlin and Ebenezer Punderson, their heirs and assigns forever, to the use of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and their suc- cessors forevermore, (which Society was incorporated by Letters Patent under the great seal of England,) one certain tract of land lying in said Charlestown, in the colony of Rhode Island aforesaid, containing forty acres, and whereon the Church of England in said Charlestown now stands, in the occupation of the aforesaid Christopher Champlin, and is butted and bounded as followeth : beginning at a stake with stones about it, thence running South 38 degrees East 45 rods and a quarter to a stone and heap of stones by the county road, and from thence Easterly as the road runs 128 rods to a stake with stones about it, from thence N. 14 W. 40 rods, to a small white oak tree marked on two sides, from thence South 50 W. 12 rods to a stake and stones, from thence a straight line to the first- mentioned corner ; with all erections and buildings standing on said pre- mises, with all the woods, underwoods, pools, ponds, water, and water- courses, with every other appurtenance and privilege of any sort belonging to the said tract of land, or in anywise appertaining, and the reversion or reversions, and the remainders, rents, issues, and profits of all and singular the premises.
"To Have and to Hold, all and singular the said tract of land and pre- mises, with every of their privileges, commodities and appurtenances, un- to the said John Hill, Christopher Champlin and Ebenezer Punderson, their heirs and assigns forever, to the use and benefit and behoof of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and their suc- cessors forevermore, to be by the said Society forever thereafter applied and appropriated for the benefit of the Episcopal minister for the time being, of the Episcopal church in said Charlestown, in the said county of King's county, and his successors forever, and to and for no other use, intent or purpose whatsoever. And I, the said George Ninigret, do hereby for myself, my heirs, executors, administrators, and successors in said Sa- chemship and Principality, and every of them, covenant and warrant to and with the said John Hill, Christopher Champlin and Ebenezer Pun- derson, their heirs and assigns, and also to and with the said Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts, and their successors, that I am at this present time, and by right of indefeasable inheritance, the true, lawful, and absolute owner and proprietor of said premises, and the same are now free and clear of all manner of incumbrances whatsoever,
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farther off, on the Saturday before that monthly Sunday. I gathered a Congregation at a Place called New-Bristol, where now officiates a Miffionary from the Society; and I was the firft Epifcopal Minifter that ever preached at Providence, where, for a long Time, I ufed to go four times a Year ; but that Church has now a fixed Miffionary of its own. I took Notice before of my labours at New-London in Connecticut,
and that I, my heirs, executors, administrators or successors, now do and forever shall and will defend all and singular the said premises, with their appurtenances, unto and to the use of them for the purpose aforesaid, against all claims and demands whatsoever.
"In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this 14th day of January, in the year 1745-6. GEORGE -( NINIGRET his mark
"Acknowledged the same day and duly recorded." (Charlestown Records.)
The Mr. Punderson alluded to graduated at Yale College in 1726, and was afterwards ordained a Congregational minister over the second church in Groton. In 1732, he came into the Episcopal Church, and crossed the Atlantic to be ordained. On his return he reorganized a church at the village of Poquetannuck, in North Groton, in 1738, which has ever since existed, though it has always been small, and has never been able 10 sustain a pastor of its own, but has principally relied on Norwich for ministerial supply. Mr. Punderson was for some years an itinerant missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, and preached at Groton, Hebron, and other places adjacent, from 1740 to 1750. He was the first regular officiating clergyman at Norwich, upon the erection of their church, in 1750. The Society's abstracts for the year ending 1753 say : "The Rev. Mr. Punderson, the Society's itinerant missionary in Connecticut, having petitioned the Society to be settled a missionary, with only a part of his salary (which is [70 per annum), to the members of the Church of England in New Haven, the place of his nativity (where a new church is built, to which Mr. Punderson gave the greatest part of the timber), and to those of the neighbouring towns of Guilford and Branford ; the So- ciety, out of regard to the advanced years of Mr. Punderson, and to his past good services, and to the great troubles he has met with from some oppressive persons in Connecticut, have granted his request ; and have ap- pointed him their missionary to the three towns of New Haven, Guil- ford, and Branford, with a salary of [50 per annum ; and desired him to recommend some proper young person, educated in one of the colleges there, to succeed him in the remaining part of his itinerant mission." In a letter, dated November 12, 1762, he remarks, that although he had entered upon his thirtieth year of service, he had, during that long time, "been enabled to officiate every Sunday except one; and that amid many difficulties and discouragements, he saw much to cheer him. In Guilford, New Haven, and Branford, he had six churches and one hundred and sixty communicants ; and had altogether, by the blessing of God on his endeavours, been the means of raising eleven churches in Connecticut." He shortly after removed to Rye, in the State of New York, where he died at an advanced age.
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and would to God I could boaft of more Succefs! but Toil and Travel has put me beyond my Beft; and, if I am not re- warded with a little Reft in Europe, where my Defires are, I have ftrong Hopes of infinitely more defirable Reft from my Labours, in thofe celeftial Manfions prepared by my dear Redeemer. Befide the Members of our Church, who, I may boaft, are the beft of the People, being Converts, not from Convenience or civil Encouragement, but Confcience and Conviction; there are Quakers, Anabaptists of four Sorts,"46 Independents, with a ftill larger Number than all thofe, of the Defcendants of European Parents, devoid of all Religion, and who attend no Kind of Public Worfhip. In all the other Colonies, the Law lays an Obligation to go to fome Sort of Worfhip on Sunday; but here, Liberty of Confcience is car- ried to an irreligious Extreme. The Produce of this Colony is principally Butter and Cheefe, fat Cattle, Wool, and fine Horfes, that are exported to all Parts of the English America. They are remarkable for Fleetnefs and fwift Pacing; and I have feen fome of them pace a Mile in little more than two Minutes, a good deal lefs than three .* There are above
* The breed of horses called "Narragansett Pacers," 897 once so celebrated for fleetness, endurance, and' speed, has become extinct. These horses were highly valued for the saddle, and transported the rider with great pleas- antness and sureness of foot. The pure bloods could not trot at all. For- merly they had pace races : Littleneck Beach, in South Kingstown, of one mile in length, was the race course. A silver tankard was the prize, and high bets were otherwise made on speed. Some of those prize tank- ards were remaining a few years ago. Traditions respecting the swiftness of these horses are almost incredible. Watson, in his Historical Tales of Olden Times, says : "In olden time the horses most valued were pacers, now so odious deemed. To this end the breed was propagated with care. The Narragansett racers of Rhode Island were in such repute, that they were sent for, at much trouble and expense, by some who were choice in their selections. The aged Thomas Matlock, of Philadelphia, was pas- sionately fond of races in his youth - he said all genteel horses were pacers. A trotting horse was deemed a base breed. All the races were pace races. Thomas Bradford, of Philadelphia, says they were run in a circular form, making two miles for a heat. At the same time they ran straight races of a mile."
Mr. I. P. Hazard, in a communication, states that "within ten years one of my aged neighbours (Enoch Lewis), since deceased, informed me, that he had been to Virginia as one of the riding boys, to return a similar visit of the Virginians to this section, in a contest on the turf ; and that such visits were common with the racing sportsmen of Narragansett and Virginia when he was a boy. Like the old English country gentlemen from whom they were descended, they were a horse-racing, fox-hunting,
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300 Veffels, fuch as Sloops, Scooners, Snows,89ยช Brigantines, and Ships, from 60 Tons and upwards, that belong to this Colony ; but, as they are rather Carriers for other Colonies, than furnifhed here with their Cargoes, you will go near to conclude that we are lazy and greedy of Gain, fince, inftead of cultivating the Lands, we improve too many Hands in Trade. This indeed is the Cafe. There are here, which is no good Symptom, a vait many Law-Suits; more in one Year
feasting generation. My [great ?] grandfather, Governor Robinson, in- troduced the famous saddle horse, the 'Narragansett Pacer,' known in the last century over all the civilized part of North America and the West Indies, from whence they have lately been introduced into England as a ladies' saddle horse, under the name of the Spanish jennet. Governor Rob- inson imported the original from Andalusia, in Spain, and the raising of them for the West India market was one of the objects of the early plant- ers of this country. My [great ?] grandfather, Robert Hazard, raised about one hundred annually, and often loaded two vessels a year with them, and other products of his farm, which sailed direct from the South Ferry to the West Indies, where they were in great demand. One of the causes of the loss of that famous breed here was the great demand for them in Cuba, when that island began to cultivate sugar extensively. The planters be- came suddenly rich, and wanted the pacing horses for themselves, and their wives and daughters, to ride, faster than we could supply them; and sent an agent to this country to purchase them on such terms as he could, but to purchase at all events. I have heard my father say he knew the agent very well, and he made his home at the Rowland Brown house, at Tower Hill, where he commenced purchasing and shipping, until all the good ones were sent off. He never let a good one, that could be purchased, escape him. This, and the fact that they were not so well adapted to draught as other horses, was the cause of their being neglected, and I believe the breed is now extinct in this section. My father described the motion of this horse as differing from others, in that its backbone moved through the air in a straight line, without inclining the rider from side to side, as does the common racker or pacer of the present day. Hence it was very easy, and being of great power and endurance, they would perform a journey of one hundred miles a day, without injury to themselves or rider."
Those kept for family use were never used in harness - draughting stiff- ened their limbs. In the Revolutionary War, trotting horses became more valuable for teaming than pacers, and would sell better in market, and could be easier matched. After the war, trotters were more valuable for transportation, and the raising of pacing horses consequently ceased. Only a few of the country gentlemen kept them for their own use. In the year 1800, there was only one living. An aged lady, now living in Narragan- sett, in 1791, rode one of these pacers, on a ladies' side-saddle, the first day to Plainfield, thirty miles; the next day to Hartford, forty; stayed there two days, then rode to New Haven, forty; from thence to New Lon- don, forty; and then home to Narragansett, forty miles more. She says she experienced no sensible fatigue. (See Appendix F.) Horses and the mode of travelling, like everything else, have undergone the change of fashion.
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than the County of Derry has in twenty; and Billy M' Evers has been fo long your Father's, and your Honour's Conftable, that he would make a very good Figure on the Bench of our Courts of Seffion and Common-Pleas, and no contemptible one on thofe of our Courts of Affize and General Goal De- livery. The Novanglians in general, the Rhode-Iflanders in particular, are perhaps the only People on Earth who have hit on the Art of enriching themfelves by running in Debt. This will remain no longer a Myftery, than I have related to your Honour, that we have no Money among us, but a depre- ciating Paper Currency; and this, in the Current of 30 Years, has dwindled down from 6s. 8d. to about 44. per Ounce. He who difpofes of his Goods on long Credit, and another who lends his Money at 10/. 121/2, or even 154. per Cent. the firft lofes his Profits, and the laft fome of his Principal, be- fides all the Intereft. Indeed, a new Act of the British Par- liament, ill-penned, paffed laft Winter, to reftrain us: But fuch Things are only Bruta fulmina; and we hall go on, I doubt, in our old Way of paper Emiffions, unlefs the Lord, in Mercy to us, fhould difpofe the fovereign Power to vacate our Patent, and prevent our Deftruction, by taking us out of our own Hands. I mentioned Wool as one of the Productions of this Colony; but, altho' it is pretty plenty where I live, yet if you throw the English America into one Point of View, there is not half enough to make Stockings for the Inhabit- ants. We are a vaft Advantage to England, in the Consump- tion of her Manufactures; for which we make Returns, in new Ships, Whale Oil, and Bone, (which grows in the Whale's Mouth) and dry Fith, to the Ports of Portugal, Spain, and Italy, which are paid for by Draughts on London and Bristol Mer- chants. I wifh Ireland were at Liberty to fhip us their Wool- lens, which we fhall always want, inftead of her Linens, which will foon ceafe to be in Demand here. Before I leave this Colony, give me Leave to obferve to your Honour, that the Lord Marquis of Hamilton, Predeceffor to the late Dukes of that Title, bought of the aforefaid Council of Plymouth 60 Miles square of Land, which comprehends moft of this Col- ony, and Part of Connecticut, with 10,000 Acres at Sagada- hock; and only Length of Time, Neglect, and some Mif- fortunes that befel that Family, have deprived them of the
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Benefit of that great Eftate .* The last Duke put a Copy of his Patent into my Hands, when I was in England, in 1737; and from that, and what he told me, it appeared to my Under- ftanding, that his Title was good, and might, were the Times favourable to that Family, be recovered again. At an cafy Quit- Rent of 5s. Sterling per 100 Acres, it would amount to more than 576ol. per Annum, and might be improved to a much greater Sum.
The next Province to Rhode-Ifland is the Province of Maf- fachufets-Bay, whofe Metropolis is Bofton, a Town contain- ing about 20,000 Inhabitants. It is bounded foutherly on the Atlantic Ocean; wefterly, on Rhode-Ifland and Connecticut Colonies; northerly, partly as far as the French, on the Back of us, will fuffer them to extend; and eafterly, and partly northerly, on the Province of New Hampshire. This Province was originally two Colonies; viz. New Plymouth Colony, and
* The boundaries of the tract of land above mentioned are extracted from the deed from the Council of Plymouth to James, Marquis of Hamilton, for sixty iniles square in New England, dated 1635.
"This Indenture, made 22d day of April, in the 11th year of the reign of our Sovereign Lord, Charles, by the grace of God, King of England, &c., between the Council established at Plymouth, in the county of De- von, for the planting, ordering, ruling and governing of New England, in America, of the one part, and the Right Honourable James, Marquis of Hamilton, on the other part, witnesseth, &c., give, grant, bargain, sell, enfeoff, and confirm unto the said James, Marquis of Hamilton, his heirs and assigns, all that part, purpart, and portion of main lands in New England aforesaid, situate, lying, and beginning at the middle part of the mouth or entrance of the river of Connecticut, in New England, and from thence to proceed along the sea coast to the Narragansett river or harbour, there to be accounted about sixty miles, and so up the western arm of said river to the head thereof, and into the land northwestward till sixty miles be finished, and so to cross over land southwestwards, to meet with the end of sixty miles to be accounted from the mouth of Connecticut up northwest, and also all islands and islets, as well employed as within five leagues distance from the premises, and abutting upon the same or any part thereof, not otherwise granted to any by special name, all which part and portion of lands and premises shall from henceforth be called by the name of the county of New Cambridge. Also, all that portion of lands, woods and wood grounds, lying on the east side of the river of Sagada- hock, in the easterly part of New England aforesaid, containing and to contain ten thousand acres, and to be had and taken together, as con- veniently as the same may be, towards the head of the said river, and next unto the land of Edward Lord Gorges there, which henceforth is to be called by the name of -. "
The Council of Plymouth made many indistinct and interfering grants. They became obsolete; the Duke of Hamilton's was one.
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that of the Maffachufets. New Plymouth was fettled in 1620, by the English Brownifts, who had refided ten Years at Ley- den and the Hague, in Holland, and were obliged by the States to remove. Quitting the Name of Brownifts, taken from Brown above mentioned, on their Entrance into New-Eng- land, they became known by the Epithet of Independents; and, upon their Principles and Platform of Church Govern- ment, all the Independents in New-England erected and regu- lated their Churches, if you are pleafed to call them fo. The Mafacbufet's Colony was fettled by an Imbarkation of Pu- ritans in 1629, and a greater in 1630; altho', in 1622, a Number of Epifcopal People had fettled at a Place called W'eymouth; but the Plymotheans foon proved fo bad Neigh- bours to them, and irritated the Natives againft them, that Mr. Morrel,89) their Minifter, and his People, were fain to flee to Virginia, a Church Settlement from the Beginning. Grown wanton with Power and Privilege, it became neceffary to quell the Factions in thefe little Colonies, by iffuing Quo Warranto's againft their Charters, and entering up Judgment in the King's Bench againft them, as forfeited. King William granted them a more limited Patent, by which they are united into one Province, by the Name of the Province of the Mafachufets-Bay, in New-England. The Crown referves the Power of appointing them a Governor, a Lieutenant Gov- ernor, and a Secretary ; and the Governor may approve or dif- approve the Choice of the Speaker of the Lower Houfe of Affembly, and can give his Negative to all Laws. The Free- holders annually chufe Reprefentatives for their General Court, and thofe chufe the Counfellors, who may all be nega- tived by the Governor, except feven, the neceffary Quorum. The Governor acts by a Set of Royal Inftructions; and their Laws muft have the Royal Fiat before they are binding. In- dependency is the Religion of the Publick; yet there are ten Churches of England in that Province,9% under the Care of ten Clergymen, as there are, in Rhode-Ifland Colony, five Clergymen and fix Churches."" They are obliged to other Colonies for many of the Neceffaries of Life, yet they have a great Trade to England with Whalebone, Oil, Pitch, and Tar; and to Portugal, Spain, and Italy, with dried Fifh; to the Weft-Indies, with Cod, Mackarel, Boards, Frames for
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Houfes, and other Sorts of Lumber. They have one College at New Cambridge, and many petty, ill-taught Grammar-Schools; yet, under thefe mean Advantages, they are a more polite and regular People than fome of their Neighbours. This is a very large and populous Province, and has many Irifb Settlements in the Out-Towns on the French Frontier; fo that our Countrymen, tho' lefs efteemed than they ought to be, are yet their Barrier in Time of War.
New-Hampshire Province lyes Eaftward of the Maffachu- fets, and is abfolutely under the King. 'Tis from hence the Royal Navy is furnithed with Mafting, Yards, Spars, and Oars; and whoever is Mafter of this, and the Provinces Eaftward of it, muft be Mafter at Sea in Europe. Of fuch Confequence are thefe Northern Plantations to the Crown, that without thein 'tis not poflible to preferve the Dominion of the Sea. There is one very worthy Clergyman of our Church fixed in Portfmouth, the Metropolis of this Province. His name is Browne,*70% and he was born in Drogheda. The Governor and Council go to Church here; and, were all the Colonies immediately under the Crown, as this is, the Church would gain Ground fafter than She does. In this Province lies that town called London Derry,902 all Irifb, and famed for Industry and Riches.
Next you enter on the Province of Main, which in its Civil Government is annexed to the Maffachufets, as Saga- dabock alfo is; and both rather by Ufe than Right. In thefe two Eaftern Provinces many Irish are fettled, and many have been ruined by the French Indians, and drove from their Homes.
*"I am in the course of preparation of a complete history of my church, in- cluding a notice of Arthur Browne. He was born in Drogheda, Ireland, in the year 1700; was educated at Trinity College, Dublin; received the de- gree of A. M. 29th July, 1729; was ordained by the Bishop of London for a society in Providence, Rhode Island; was, in 1736, sent as missionary to Queen's Chapel, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, where he remained till his death. He died suddenly, at Cambridge, Massachusetts, June 11, 1773, and on the following Monday, the 16th of June, his remains were in- terred in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and a funeral sermon, from Ze- chariah i. 5, was preached by the Rev. Mr. Bass,632 of Newbury, Mas- sachusetts. He left two sons and four daughters. He died at the age of seventy-four. He had a flourishing church, and numbered more than two hundred communicants. CHARLES BURROUGHS
" Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Sept. 15, 1845"
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It is pretty true to obferve of the Irish, in general, that thofe who come here with any Wealth are the worfe for their Re- moval; though, doubtlefs, the next Generation will not fuffer fo much as their Fathers; But thofe who, when they came, had nothing to lofe, have throve greatly by their Labour. He that lies on the Ground can fall no lower; and fuch are the fitteft to encounter the Difficulties attending new Settlers. But I muft fay no more.
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