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 > Part 15
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" The hay fields and meadows, to use my father's expressions, grew full of grass, meaning the grass was very thick all over them, and as high as the tops of the walls and fences, the same as it now grows on the virgin soil of the west, and my father frequently observed in con- trasting them, that he doubted if any western lands would produce more grass than Boston neck would when first settled."
" As a proof of its excellence, my father observed that his grand- father paid for some of his last purchases, sixty dollars per acre, when money was double the value it is now, or more, and new lands, back a little way from the sea, plenty, and at a very small price."
" He kept about four thousand sheep, manufacturing most of the clothing, both woolen and linen for his household, which must have been very large, as I heard my grandmother say, that after he par- tially retired from his extensive farming operations, or curtailed them by giving up part of his lands to his children, he congratulated his family and friends on the small number to which he had reduced his household for the coming winter, being only seventy in parlor and kitchen."
" Grain, and probably hay (but of the last I am not informed) were at that time shipped to the West Indies, but of the extent of his grain crop I know nothing except what my father has told me that he generally loaded two vessels annually, at or near the south ferry, with cheese and grain in the hold, and horses on deck, all the pro- duce of his farm, which sailed direct for the West Indies ; and the balance was sold in Newport, and sometimes in Boston, where his cheese was in high repute, selling at nearly double the usual rates."
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" Agriculture on the sea coast of Rhode Island at that time was on a very different scale from what it is now, as the West Indies which were early settled, furnished a good and ready market for the whole produce of these small British colonies on the Atlantic coast of North America."
" The labor was then mostly performed by African slaves, or Nar- ragansett Indians, who were then, as they still are, a most efficient body of laborers, and of great use to the farmers, during hay harvest particularly.
The Sewall farm kept one hundred cows and produced 13,000 pounds of cheese annually. N. Hazard kept 42 cows, and made 9,200 pounds of cheese from the Champlin farm of 700 acres. Joseph "N. Austin, on the Clarke farm of 350 acres, kept 36 cows, and made 8,000 pounds of cheese. Rowland Robinson improved 1000 acres, and made an immense dairy-one cow would average two pounds of cheese a day. Rents were payable in produce, and from the break- ing out of the French Revolution to the general peace upon the ex- pulsion of Napoleon, the United States being the neutral carriers for Europe, the price of cheese was ten dollars per hundred, and corn, barley, &c., in due proportion, and the rents being paid in cheese and other produce, vast amounts were raised. 6,000 pounds of cheese was equivalent to $600 annual rent for years. The cream was then used in cheese and the Narragansett cheese maintained a high char- acter for richness and flavor, but since the general peace, butter has risen and cheese hath fallen in price, consequently the cream has been wrought into butter, and cheese has lost its value and reputation. Recently a money rent has been substituted for a produce rent, and the productive value of the former staples has diminished.
The wife of Richard Smith brought from Glocestershire to this coun- try, the recipe for making the celebrated Cheshire cheese, and from that recipe the Narragansett was made in imitation of the Cheshire cheese, and it early gained for the table and market an established reputation for superior flavor and excellence, and continued to main- tain its predominating character until the farmers, as before mention- ed, were induced to convert their cream into butter.
Ancient Narragansett was distinguished for its frank and generous hospitality. Strangers and travelling gentlemen were always receiv- ed and entertained as guests. If not acquainted with some family,
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they were introduced by letter, and an acquaintance with one family of respectability, was an introduction to all their friends .- Public houses for the entertainment of strangers were rare. Stran- gers and travellers without letters, were compelled to tarry at them, but citizens were expected to sojourn with their relations and acquain- tances. Newport, distinguished as it was before the Revolution, had few public houses of entertainment, and those small, not exceeding the dimensions of the common dwelling-houses. The old public house of Mr. Townsend, so celebrated in its day, was an ordinary two story house, and rather narrow, and he entertained in it the dis- tinguished travellers of his time. It has been greatly enlarged since. The public houses in Providence were equally inferior in dimensions. The public houses 'or taverns in the country were merely conven- iences for town councils, justices' courts, and the retail of ardent spirits, and were rarely frequented as the stopping places of gentle- men and strangers. Madame Knight well describes these country taverns in her travels through this colony in 1704. Dr. Franklin, in his journeys to and from Philadelphia to Boston, always arranged to tarry with Dr. Babcock, in Westerly, the night. Gentlemen who had once travelled the country by introduction, had regular places for refreshment and repose on all their future peregrinations.
The society of that day was refined and well-informed. The landed aristocracy showed an early regard to the suitable education .of their children. Books were not so general as at this period, but the wealthy were careful of the education of their offspring. Well qualified tutors emigrated to the colonies, and were employed in family instruction, and to complete their education their pupils were afterwards placed in the families of learned clergymen. Charles Thomson, Gov. McKean, and George Reed, who conspicuously figur- ed in our revolutionary history, were educated under Allison, an Irish clergyman. Dr. McSparran received young gentlemen in his family for instruction. Thomas Clapp, the efficient President of Yale College, completed his education under him. Dr. Checkley, a graduate of Oxford University, the missionary at Providence, educated several of the sons of Narragansett, and others were placed under clergymen of Massachusetts and Connecticut for the same purpose. The instruction of youth in the private families of learned men, with the opportunity of associating with their distinguished visit-
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ors and friends improved their minds, and accomplished their man- ners. In this respect probably, the instruction of children would be equal, if not preferable to that obtained where great numbers of young men are collected together in colleges, and where they are deprived of the social cultivation derived from the intercourse and discipline of well-regulated families, and the friends and well-informed gentle- men that visit them.
The young ladies also, were generally instructed in the same man- ner, under well-qualfied private tutors, and then placed in the schools of Boston for further instruction and accomplishment.
That the gentlemen of ancient Narragansett were well-informed, and possessed of intellectual taste, the remains of their libraries and paintings would be sufficient testimonials if other sources of informa- tion were defective. Dr. Babcock, Col. Stanton, Judge Helme, Capt. Jones, Col. Potter, Col. Willet, Col. Bobert Brown, the Hazards, Capt. Silas Brown, the Brentons, owned valuable libraries. Dr. McSpar- ran, Doct. Fayerweather, Col. Updike, and Matthew Robinson, pos- sessed rich collections for that day in classical and English litera- ture.
The family paintings of Dr. Babcock went mostly into the Salton- stall family of New London, and a fine portrait of Col. Harry Bab- cock was with a branch of his family in Stonington, and within a short time has been removed from thence to New York. A bust portrait of Mr. Kay, the collector, was in the family of the Browns, through the Brentons, a few years since. The portraits of Dr Mc- Sparran and wife, painted by Smybert in 1729, at the Doctor's house in Narragansett, are with the family of Frederic Allen, Esquire, in Maine, (Mrs. Allen being the great neice of Mrs. McSparran), and copies only are in Rhode Island. The portrait of Dr. Fayerweather, by Copley, is in South Kingstown. The portraits of the wife and mother-in-law of Col. Updike, (it is supposed) by Smybert, are in the family. Those of the father and mother of Matthew Robinson, Esq. are in the family of the late Hon. E. R. Potter. Mr. Marchant has a fine miniature likeness of his father, the late Judge Marchant, painted by Copley, in London in 1771 ; there is also a portrait of the late Judge Marchant in Boston. The late Edward Hazard possessed three full-length portraits of his father-in-law, the late Hon. Thomas Crans- ton, wife and daughter, (the latter afterwards married the Rev. Luke
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Babcock, son of Dr. Babcock), painted by Copley before the Revolu- tion, which, with the carved frames gilded, cost one thousand dol- lars at that period. The paintings of the other families besides family portraits are now dispersed, and their libraries were divided among their children and are all lost.
This state of society supported by slavery would produce festivity and dissipation, the natural result of wealth and leisure. Excur- . sions to Hartford to luxuriate on bloated salmon were the annual in- dulgencies of May. Pace races on the beach for the prize of a sil- ver tankard and roasts of shelled and scaled fish were the social indulgencies of summer. When autumn arrived, the corn husking festivals commenced. Invitations were extended to all those pro- prietors who were in habits of family intimacy, and in return the invited guests sent their slaves to aid the host by their services. Large numbers would be gathered of both sexes, expensive enter- tainments prepared, and after the repast the recreation of dancing commenced, as every family was provided with a large hall in their spacious mansions, and with natural musicians among their slaves. Gentlemen in their scarlet coats and swords, with laced ruffles over their hands, hair turned back from the forehead and curled and frizzled, clubbed or queued behind, highly powdered and pomatumed, small-clothes, silk stockings, and shoes ornamented with brilliant buckles ; and ladies dressed in brocade, cushioned head-dresses, and high-heeled shoes, performed the formal minuet with its thirty-six different positions and changes. These festivities would sometimes continue for days, and the banquets among the land proprietors would for a longer or shorter time be continued during the season of harvest. These seasons of hilarity and festivity were as gratify- ing to the slaves as to their masters, as bountiful preparations were made and like amusements were enjoyed by them in the large kitch- ens and out-houses, the places of their residence. The great land proprietors indulged in these expensive festivals until the Revolu- tion. People now living relate the fact of John Potter having had a thousand bushels of corn husked in one day. This practice was continued occasionally down to the year 1800, but on a diminished scale of expense and numbers.
At Christmas commenced the Holy-days. The work of the sea- son was completed and done up, and the twelve days were generally 23A
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devoted to festive associations. In former times, all connexions by blood or affinity, were entitled to respectful attentions, and they were treated as welcome guests, as a matter of right on one side and cour- tesy on the other. Every gentleman of estate had his circle of con- nexions, friends, and acquaintances, and they were invited from one plantation to another. Every member of the family had his particu- lar horse and servant, and they rarely rode unattended by their ser- vant, to open gates and to take charge of the horse. Carriages were unknown, and the public roads were not so good, nor so numerous (many of them,) as at present. Narragansett has fewer public roads than most parts of the State. There were driftways from one plan- tation to another, with gates, and this inconvenient obstruction still continues. Quedneset is travelled mostly through gates, and from one extreme of Boston neck to the other, a distance of ten miles, through the richest tract of land in Narragansett, the only mode of travelling is by driftways with gates, and the great Point Judith tract, had no public road, until very lately. When all the riding was done on horseback, servants always attended their masters, the badness of the roads and the troublesome impediments of gates and bars were not as sensibly felt as at this day, when carriages are used and every man is his own servant.
But the wedding was the great gala of olden time. The exhibi- tion of expensive apparel and the attendance of numbers almost ex- ceeds belief. The last of these celebrations was given about the year 1790, by Nicholas Gardiner, Esquire ; it was attended by six hundred guests. I knew Mr. Gardiner. He dressed in the rich style of former days, with a cocked hat, full-bottomed white wig, snuff- colored coat, and waistcoat with deep pockets, cape low so as not to disturb the wig, and at the same time expose the large silver stock- buckle of the plaited neck-cloth of white linen cambric, small-clothes, and white-topped boots, finely polished. He was a portly, courteous gentleman of the old school. Since his death, his estate has been divided into several good farms.
The fox-chase, with hounds and horns, fishing and fowling, were objects of enchanting recreation. Wild pigeons, partridges, quails, woodcocks, squirrels, and rabbits were innumerable. Such were the amusements, pastimes, festivities and galas of ANCIENT NARRAGAN- SETT.
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It may not be uninteresting to mention the names of some of the old families which frequently associated 'as friends and companions. Among them were, Dr. Babcock, Col. Stanton, Col. Champlin, the two Gov. Hazards, Gov. Robinson, Col. Potter, Judge Potter, the Gardniers, Col. Willet, Elisha Cole, John and Edward Cole, Judge Helme, Col. Updike, Matthew Robinson, Col. Brown, Dr. McSparran, and Dr. Fayerweather. They received frequent visits from Dr. Gar- diner, the Sewells, and others, from Boston. Dr. Moffatt, Judge Light- foot, Col. Coddington, George Rome, Judge Marchant, the Brentons, and others, from Newport, several of whom owned estates in Narra- gansett, and spent much of their time there, with their respective friends and acquaintances. These constituted a bright, intellectual and fascinating society. Great sociability and interchange of visits pre- vailed among them, and strangers were welcome, and treated with old-fashioned urbanity and hospitality ; but the political acrimony, strife and discord engendered by the Revolution, broke up and des- troyed their previously existing intercourse, and harmonious relations were never restored. By that event we became another and a new people.
Mr. Isaac P. Hazard in a letter observes : " Few persons are now aware of the change that has taken place in the Society here within the last fifty or sixty years."
" At the time and before the war of the Revolution, it was the seat of hospitality, refinement and luxury ; and the accounts I have received from various persons in my travels about the United States, who visited this country at that time, corroborate the statements I have had from the olden branches of our family, my grandfather, father, and others. Within two years, Mrs. Doctor Lee, whom I met with in New York, and who spent a long school vacation here at the age of sixteen, pictured the romantic scenery and situation of the old mansions, few at present standing, with great vividness, and at the same time, she described the politeness, refinement, and hospi- tality of the inhabitants, as beyond what she had ever before known or conceived of, as fully to convince me of the truth of her state- ment, had I not before have heard it described by others in the same manner-and fully maintained the character of the old English country gentlemen from whom they descended.".
Yes, alas ! the state of society has changed, and the revolution
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has been deep, effectual, complete. The abolition of slavery-the repeal of the law of primogenture-the statute division of estates equally among all, has divided and subdivided inheritances in such infinitissimal portions, that the whole has disappeared from every branch of their families ; and in most instances not a foot remains among them-nay, not even " the green graves of their sires." The houseless, wandering pedestrian descendant, looks at the mansion and plantation of his fathers, and exclaims-
- -" Now thou standest In faded majesty, as if to mourn The dissolution of an ancient race !"
" Dec. 31, 1741. (The bans being duly published in the church of St. Paul's, Narragansett,) Rowland - Robinson, son of William, was married to Anstis Gardi- ner, daughter of John Gardiner, by the Rev. Doctor McSparran."
Rowland Robinson was the eldest son of Governor Wm. Robinson, by his first wife. He was a gentleman of opulence, and sustained many responsible offices under the State government. His noble mansion is still standing in a good state of preservation, and is one of the remaining memorials of the aristocracy of the past age. His child- ren were Hannah, Mary, and William. Mary died single, at middle age ; William married Ann, the daughter of George Scott, of New- port, and died a short time previous to his father, without issue. Hannah was styled the Unfortunate Hannah Robinson ; she was the celebrated beauty of her day, and, if unbroken tradition is sufficient authority, the appellation was justly bestowed. The late Doctor William Bowen, of Providence, frequently conversed about her, and observed, " that Miss Robinson was the most perfect model of beauty that he ever knew ; and that he had frequently visited at her father's. Her figure was graceful and dignified, her complexion fair and beautiful, and her manner urbane and captivating. That the usual mode of riding at that period was on horseback ; of this exercise she was exceedingly fond, and rode with such ease and elegance,
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH. . 189
that he was passionately fond of her, and proposed to her a matri- monial union. She replied, that his wishes to promote her happiness were highly flattering, that, as a friend, she should ever entertain for him the highest respect ; and, in that character, should ever be extremely gratified to see him, but that she was bound to disclose to him, however reluctant she felt to give him pain, that she was engaged." He further observed, " that though disappointed in the hope he had so ardently cherishcd, the refusal was imparted with such suavity and tenderness, united with personal respect, that though disappointed, he felt consoled." The late Hon. Elisha R, Potter, Judge Waite, and others who knew Miss Robinson, fully confirmed Doctor Bowen's testimony in respect to her personal beauty and accomplished manner. Mr. Peter Simons, a young gentleman of Newport, became early attached to Miss Robinson ; they had been schoolmates, and the attachment was reciprocal. Her father, without any apparent reason, was hostile to the connection, and his efforts were unwearied to prevent their union. Mr. Robinson, in temperament, was constitutionally irritable, rash, and unyielding. His antipathies, when once fixed, no reason or argument could re- move. Mr. Simons had early in life become attached to Miss Robin- son ; it had been reciprocated ; their dispositions were congenial ; time had cemented their affections , she had plighted her faith, and no promises or threats could induce her to violate the vows she had made ; she could become a martyr ; she would suffer, but she could not betray her own heart or the faith that another had reposed in her. And as might have been expected, the violent and unreasonable measures adopted by her father, instead of subduing only increased the fervor of their attachment. Her conduct was constantly sub- jected to the strictest scrutiny. If she walked, her movements were watched ; if she rode, a servant was ordered to be in constant attendance ; if a visit was contemplated, he immediately suspected it was only a pretence for an arranged interview ; and even after departure, if the most trifling circumstance gave color to the suspi- cion, he would immediately pursue and compel her to return. In one instance, she left home to visit her aunt at New London ; her father soon afterwards discovered from his windows a vessel leaving Newport, and taking a course for the same place. Although the vessel and the persons on board were wholly unknown to him, his
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jealousies were immediately aroused, conjecturing it was Mr. Simons intending to fulfill an arrangement previously made. He hastened to New London, arrived a few hours only after his daugh- ter, and insisted on her instant return. No persuasion or argument could induce him to change his determination, and she was compel- led to return with him.
Her uncle, the late Col. John Gardiner, commiserated the condi- tion of his unfortunate neice. He knew her determination was not to be changed, or her resolution overcome by parental exaction, however severe ; and aware that the wrongs she had suffered, and the perplexities she had undergone, had already sensibly affected her health, and would soon destroy her constitution, with a generosity and disinterestedness that belonged to his character, contrived inter- views between Mr. Simons and Miss Robinson unknown to her father.
The window where she sat, and the shrubbery behind which his person was concealed at these evening interviews, are still shown by the family residing there. These were perilous meetings, for such was the determined antipathy of the father, that detection would probably have resulted in the instant death of Mr. Simons ; but, as is usual in such cases, their precautions were in proportion to the imminence of their danger.
All efforts to obtain the consent of her father, aided by the influ- ence of her mother, having proved unavailing, and seeing no pros- pect of his ever becoming reconciled to their union, she abandoned all further efforts to reconcile him to her wishes, and consented to make arrangements for an elopement. Having obtained her father's consent to visit her aunt Updike, near Wickford, she left home, accompanied by the servant who usually attended her. On arriving at the gate that lead to her aunt's house, Mr. Simons was in waiting with a carriage, as had been previously arranged, and disregarding the expostulations of the servant-who feared for his own safety should he return without her-she entered the carriage, and that evening they were married in Providence. The intelligence of the elopement, when communicated to Mr. Robinson by the servant, roused all the fury of his ire. He offered a reward for their appre- hension, but no discovery could be made. Every friend and relative became accessory to their concealment. Even the name of the clergy- man who performed the nuptial ceremony could never be ascertained.
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But the anticipated happiness of the beautiful and ill-fated lady was destined to be short lived. The severity with which she had been treated, the unkind and harassing perplexities she had endured, had so materially affected her health, and preyed upon her constitu- tion, that, in a few short months, the fairest of her sex exhibited evident symptoms of a speedy decline. At the urgent solicitations of her mother, Mr. Robinson finally permitted the daughter once more to return ; but it was too late, the ceaseless vigils of a mother's love could not restore her ; and, in a few short weeks, this beautiful and unfortunate woman-the victim of a father's relentless obstinacy -expired in the arms of her husband.
Many visit the cemetery where the remains of the victim of paren- tal severity repose-a spot consecrated by the ashes of one whose life was a hallowed sacrifice of devotion and fidelity to the selected object of her earliest affections.
In June, 1736, Mr. McSparran went to England, on a visit, and returned in August, 1737. During his resi- dence in England, the University of Glasgow conferred on him the degree of Doctor in Divinity.
The unusual severity of the winter of 1740-1, is men- tioned in the history of the times. In addition to its rigor, the appalling ravages of the small pox and other contagious diseases spread mortality on every side. At the same period, the colonies were engaged in a war with Spain, and an informal one with France, which aggravated the distresses and the domestic calamities of the country. Under these afflictive dispensations, Dr. McSparran delivered a sermon on the 15th of March, in St. Paul's Church, Narragansett, from Micah, chap. vi, v. 9. " The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, and the man of Wisdom shall see thy name ; hear ye the rod,
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