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 22
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" The principal purchasers of the first half of the afore-mentioned farm were John Case, Esq., Francis Willet, Esq., Thomas Browne, Esq., Captain John Browne, of Newport, and Matthew Robinson, Esq .; and in conjunction with these, Lodowick Updike and Colonel Thomas Hazard, Esqs.
As to the last half of the purchase of the farm for a glebe, the three first mentioned, viz., Case, Willet, and Thomas Browne, Esqs., each of them gave most liber- ally and generously ; and their names are again repeated to their honor, for they signalized themselves as to both the distinct purchases of said farm; and that, in the whole, their particular donations did not amount to less than two hundred and thirty dollars each. Since which regular deeds have been made of said farm as a glebe
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
and parsonage for the advancement and behoovement of the present and all succeeding ministers of St. Pauls Church in Narragansett, for time immemorial."*
President Stiles, in his history of the three Judges, speaking of Mr. Willet, says-" Colonel Francis Willet, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island, died and was buried in the family burying place on his own estate, one mile north of Narragansett Ferry, February 6, 1776, aged 83. He was descended from Thomas Willet, the first mayor of New York, who died in Barrington, R. I., 1674, aged 64. Thomas Willet came a young merchant to Plymouth, 1629, was conversant in the fur and Indian trade of the whole coast of Kenne- bec to Hudson's river, became very opulent, and settled on a plantation at Swanzey, now Barrington, where remains his grave six miles below Providence. Being an intelligent and respectable person, he went as a counsellor on board of Colonel Nichols' fleet, at the reduction of Manhados, 1664, and was by him appointed Mayor of the new conquered city. He owned houses in New York and Albany. The Dutch resuming the government, he afterwards returned to his settlement, and died in Barrington. On the stones at his grave there is this inscription :-
(Head Stone.) 1674.
(Foot Stone.) . WHO WAS THE FIRST
HERE LYETH THE BODY
MAYOR OF NEW YORK,
AND TWICE DID
OF THE WORTHY THOMAS WILLET, EsQ., WHO DIED AUGUST 4TH, IN THE 64TH YEAR OF HIS AGE, ANNO.
SUSTAIN THAT
PLACE.
He had three sons, Hezekiah, James, and Andrew, by his wife Mary, the daughter of John Brown, Esq. Hezekiah was killed by
* The Church of St. Paul's having, in 1800, been removed from the site where it formerly stood to Wickford, the glebe ceased to be conveni- ent as the residence of the rector; and having become dilapidated and injured by continued tenantry, was sold by the Corporation in 1842, and the proceeds more profitably invested.
1
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
Mary,
born in Plymouth,
Nov. 10, 1637.
Martha,
Aug. 6, 1639.
John,
66
Aug. 21, 1641.
Sarah,
66
May 4, 1643.
Rebecca,
66
Dec. 2, 1644.
Thomas,
66
Oct. 1, 1646.
Esther, born July 10, 1648.
James, born in Plymouth,
Nov. 23, 1649.
Hezekiah,
Nov. 17, 1651.
David, born Nov. 1, 1654.
Andrew,
born in Plymouth,
Oct. 5, 1655.
Samuel,
Oct. 27, 1658.
Mrs. Mary Willet died January 8, 1669, and was buried near her father, John Brown, upon a little hill upon their land in Swansea.
Capt. Thomas Willet died August 4, 1674, and was buried in the same place.
Capt. Andrew Willet, April 6, 1712, in his 57th year.
John Saffin married Martha Willet, Dec. 3, 1658. She died of the small-pox, Dec. 11, 1678. Their children were-John, born 1659, died 1661; John, 1661, died 1678 ; Thomas, 1663 ; Simon, 1666, died 1678 ; Josiah, 1667; Joseph, 1669, died 1676; Benja- min, 1672, died 1672 ; Joseph, 1676. Josiah and Joseph second, died before their father. All these children were born in Boston.
John Saffin was the eldest son of Simon Saffin, of Exeter, in England, merchant, and Grace, his wife, who was the only daughter of John Garrett, sometime of Barnstable in Devonshire. He joined the first church in Boston, 1665. In 1687-8, he removed from Boston to Bristol, R. I. He married in 1680, for his second wife, Mrs. Elizabeth Lidgett ; and in 1688 for his third wife, Rebecca, daughter of Rev. Samuel Lee, of Bristol. Judge Saffin was Speaker of the Assembly of Massachusetts in 1686. He died at Bristol, July 29, 1710."
Capt. Thomas Willet made his will in Swansea, in 1671. It was proved Aug. 12, 1674, and is recorded in Plymouth Records 3, 114. He gave his Plymouth, Swansea, and Rehoboth lands to his sons James, Hezekiah, Andrew, and Samuel ; his Narragansett lands to his grandchildren-viz., to Thomas, son of Martha Saffin, a double portion ; to the sons of his daughter, Mary Hooker, a share
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HISTORY OF THE NARRGANASETT CHURCH.
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the Indians, 1675. James lived on the paternal estate. Andrew was first a merchant in Boston till 1680; he then removed and settled on Boston Neck, at Narragansett Ferry ; and died there in 1712, aged 56, leaving two sons, Francis and Thomas, and a daugh- ter. Thomas died a bachelor, and left the whole family estate to the possession of Colonel Francis Willet, who married and died without issue. This is the gentleman with whom I was intimately acquainted. He was educated a merchant, but did not pursue commerce. He had a good genius, and was a man of much reading and information ; and settling himself on his paternal estate, being very opulent, he lived the life of a private gentleman. He was hospitable and generous, of excellent moral, and a very estimable and highly respected character. The fine tract of Boston Neck was owned by the Sewalls, and other gentlemen of Boston. This, with his father's former residence in Boston, and transacting busi- ness for these Boston land-owners, and for Harvard College, brought him into an acquaintance with the first characters of Boston, who often visited him through life, and gave him great public informa- tion. Once a year these gentlemen visited their estates, and at his father's house ; and after his father's death in 1712, the manage- ment and superintendence of these estates, and of the college estate, together with the extensive Willet family acquaintance, fell unto Col. Francis Willet, whose aunts had married into ministers" families-Wilson in Massachusetts, and Hooker in Connecticut. The Willet farm was a tract extending from Narragansett Ferry northward-perhaps one mile and a half in length on the bay, and about one mile or more east and west from the bay, across to an oblong pond called Petaquamscott, and was the original seat of the great Sachem, Miantenomi. At the north end of this pond, and on the Willet farm, " the celebrated Colonel Whalley, styled one of King Charles' regicide Judges, resided ; and before his death re- moved to West Greenwich, and died there.
The following memoranda were taken from an old memorandum book of Judge John Saffin, son-in-law of the first Thomas Willet, which is now in possession of Willet Carpenter, Esq., who owns and lives on the family estate on Boston Neck, R. I.
" Capt. Thomas Willet married Mary Brown, July 6, 1636. She was daughter of John Brown. Their children were-
.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
ยท
each ; and to his daughter, Esther, or any children she may have, a share each. He calls James his eldest son.
Esther Willet afterwards married Josiah Flint, and her daughter, Dorothy, married Edmund Quincy.
Capt. Andrew Willet was at first a trader in Boston, Mass., but afterwards lived on the family estate on Boston Neck, in Rhode Island, and is buried there. He sold off to Rowland Robinson 300 acres of the South part of the estate-110 rods and 6 feet wide- (L. E. 2, 122, Secretary's office.) He gave the Boston Neck farm to his sons, Col. Francis and Thomas. Thomas, son of Andrew, died in 1725, aged 29, and by will gave his interest in the farm to his brother Francis, and the heirs of his body ; and if he died without issue, then to Willet, son of his sister, Mary Carpenter, and William, son of his sister Martha Pease. Col. Francis Willet married Mary Taylor. He died Feb. 6, 1776, aged 83, without issue. By his will he gave the whole of the Boston Neck estate to Francis Carpenter, his nephew.
Joseph Carpenter, of Oyster Bay, Long Island, married-first, Ann, 1707 ; and secondly, Mary, 1709-10, both daughters of Capt. And. Willet. Their son, Francis, inherited and held the estate under his uncle's will, after several law-suits in the Circuit Court relating to it, about 1790-3. Francis married Esther Helme, and their children were-1. Esther, living. 2. Willet. 3. James. 4. Francis. 5. Mary, married Samuel Gardner. 6. Abigail, living. 7. Sarah.
Willet Carpenter, Esq,, last named, (son of Francis,) now lives on and occupies the Willet estate. He married Elizabeth, the sister of Dr. Benjamin W. Case. Rev. James H. Carpenter, of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension, Wakefield ; Powell H. Carpen- ter, of Providence ; and Benjamin Carpenter, are their children now living.
Mary, daughter of Capt. Thomas Willet, married Samuel Hooker, of Farmington, Ct. Hezekiah, son of Captain Willet, married Anna, daughter of John Brown, 2d of Rehoboth, Jan. 7, 1675 ; and was killed June 26, 1676, in Philip's war. James, son of Captain Willet, married Eliza, daughter of Lieutenant Peter Hunt, of Re- hoboth, April 17, 1673.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
It would seem that Captain Willet had another son, Hezekiah, who died an infant, not named in Judge Saffin's account.
For very imperfect accounts of Captain Willet's family, see Baylies' Plymouth, Daggett's Attleborough, Bliss' Rehoboth, and Thomson's Long Island. The account which we have quoted from Dr. Styles was given to him by Col. Francis Willet, grandson of Captain Thomas Willet ; and the memoranda of Judge Saffin, Capt. Willet's son-in-law, have the appearance of being very accurate. The wills of several of the family are recorded at Wickford, R. I. Samuel, son of Capt. Thomas Willet, was Sheriff of Queen's Co., Long Island. His son, Edward, was born 1701 ; had 13 children, and died at the age of 93. Col. Marinus Willet, Mayor of New York, was son of Edward, and was born at Jamaica, Long Island, July 31, 1740, O. S., and died August 23, 1830.
There have been others of the name of Willet in Dorchester and Newberry, Mass .- (see Dagget's Attleborough, and the history of Newberry.)
MATTHEW ROBINSON was the only son of Robert Robinson, searcher of the customs in Newport, who sustained many honorable posts under the reigns of Queen Anne, Georges Ist and 2nd. He died in January 1761, aged 83. Matthew was born in Newport, in 1709. He studied law in Boston, and opened an office in Newport about the year 1735. Oct. 4, 1741, he married Barsheba Johnson, the mother of Augustus Johnson, afterwards Attorney General of the Colony. She was the daughter of Mr. Lucas, a French Huguenot, who had fled to this country on the revocation of the edict of Nantz. Mr. Robinson practiced law at Newport with reputation, and travel- led the circuits of the State. He removed to Narragansett in 1750, and purchased a large estate. The house which he erected is still standing in a good state of preservation, about half a mile south of the Kingston depot. He named his residence Hopewell. His wife died soon after his removal to Narragansett.
Mr. Robinson was a well-read and learned man, and deeply and critically so in the old and intricate doctrine of estates. Coke upon Littleton was his favorite study. He had a large and well-selected library in law, history, and poetry, probably the largest of any indi. vidual in the colony, at that time. His collection of pamphlets, ma- gazines, and other productions of the times, were valuable for anti-
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
quarian research, and they were preserved with great care. He was a zealous antiquarian, and prided himself on his critical knowledge of English and American history. But these collections were sold at auction after his death, and are now nearly all lost.
He was a diligent student. His information was extensive, but was derived chiefly from books ; his knowledge of human nature be- ing very imperfect. Mr. Robinson enjoyed a large share of practice, and was generally engaged in all the great causes that occurred. He was opposed to the Revolution in principle, though neutral in action ; he abhorred an alliance with our old enemy, the French ; he dreaded lest a steady government should be succeeded by anar- chy ; but after the Revolution, he became deeply attached to Ameri- can institutions, and was a warm friend of the Constitution. His house was the seat of hospitality, and the well-informed and learned were always welcome guests. In the latter part of his life, he un- fortunately became surety for Mr. Johnson, his step-son, and he dy- ing insolvent, it greatly embarrassed Mr. Robinson in his pecuniary affairs, and perplexed his latter days. He was for many years one of the officers of the Church, devoutly attached to its services, a re- gular attendant, and contributed liberally to its support.
He died at South Kingstown, in October 1795, at the advanced age of 86, without issue. He was interred on his farm. A large concourse of people attended his funeral, in testimony of their re- spect for his talents and character ; but it is lamentable to reflect that there is no monument erected at the grave of this learned, wor- thy, and Christian man.
LODOWICK UPDIKE, the only son of Daniel Updike, the Colony At- torney, was born July 12, 1725. He was educated under private tutors, in conformity with the practice of that age. The pupils lived in the family and were the companions of their instructors ; and such were selected by parents as were the most skilful in imparting liter- ature and science, and best calculated to mould the character and polish the manners of youth. His last instructor was the Rev. John Checkley, rector of the Church in Providence, an Oxford scholar and learned divine. Mr. Updike, in after life, was accustomed to relate amusing anecdotes of this distinguished man. Mr. Updike studied for the bar, but rever practiced. He inherited the large estate of his A35
282
HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
father, in North Kingstown, and resided on it, as an intelligent and gentleman farmer, until his death, June 6, 1804.
From the sermon preached on his death, by the Rev. Mr. Warren, Rector of St. Paul's, Wickford, the following passages are extract- ed .:
"To strong intellectual powers, he added an improved taste and great acquirements. His qualifications were such as fitted him to shine either at the bar, in the Senate, or the field. But he prefer- red the shade of private life to the din of war, the tumult of popular assemblies, or the chicane of law.
" In a word, the name of honest man, and peace of conscience, he preferred to the most pompous or worldly distinctions. His hospi- tality was conspicuous. His door was ever open to the way-worn traveller, as well as the more wealthy and splendid guest; and all ages and conditions were pleased and enlivened with his cheerful, learned, and refined conversation.
" His resignation and fortitude in the most trying season, at the hour of death, were manifest. He conversed about his approaching dissolution with that composure which is displayed by the best Chris- tians only, and nothing but a hope of a blessed immortality could inspire. He set his house in order, and arranged his temporal affairs with a deliberation and coolness seldom discovered by men in gene- ral, even in time of perfect health. He always paid respect to reli- gious institutions. As long as his health permitted, he was a con- stant attendant on divine worship in this house of prayer, and to his zeal, under Divine Providence, we are indebted for the erection of a church in this place."
An obituary notice in the Providence Gazette communicated by the late William Goddard, says :
"On Friday, the 8th instant, (June,) the remains of Lodowick Up- dike, Esquire, who died at his seat at North Kingstown, the preced- ing Wednesday, (in the 80th year of this age,) were entombed among his venerable ancestors, with those marks of respect due to his ex - alted merit."
Mr. Updike married Abigail Gardiner, the daughter of John, and grand-daughter of William Gardiner, of Boston Neck, and niece of Dr. McSparran, and Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, of Boston. She sur- vived her husband several years, and died at North Kingstown.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
They left eleven children, viz: Daniel, James, Anstis, Mary, Abigail, Sarah, Lydia, Lodowick, Alfred, Gilbert, and Wilkins.
The regular services of the church had beeen so long suspended, and the great number of communicants that had surrounded the communion table in the days of Dr. McSparran had been so reduced by deaths, removals, and otherwise, that when the sacrament was first adminis- tered by Dr. Fayerweather, only twelve attended; and he observes that he preached on the 5th October, 1762, to one hundred, which was the largest congregation that had assembled at church since he had opened his mis- sion.
" March 5, 1761. Mr. Fayerweather married Mr Carder Hazard to Miss Alice Hazard, daughter of Col. Thomas Hazard, of South Kingstown."
" June 14, 1761. Mr. Fayerweather preached to a large assembly, and baptized Martin Reed, the Parish Clerk, an adult, according to the usual method of the Church of England. His chosen witnesses were Major Ebenezer Brenton, and Mr. Benjamin Mumford."
Martin Reed was a remarkable man. By God's blessing on his talents and labors, he was eminently successful. He was the son of Robert Reed, the commander of a merchant ship, who was acciden- tally killed when entering the port of Newport, leaving all his effects undefined and unattainable. The widowed mother had but time on- ly to bind out her fatherless Martin, then seven years old, to a diaper weaver, before she died, leaving him to the mercies of the world .- He served an apprenticeship of fourteen years, enjoying the benefits of one quarter's schooling. But such was the activity of his mental
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSE' I' CHURCH.
powers, and his perseverance, that he attained, when others slept, an education ample for all the business and enterprise of life, before he was twenty-one. During his apprenticeship, he discovered fixed de- termination to distinguish himself as a manufacturer. He therefore consulted all books on the subject of manufactures which came with- in his reach, and these were few indeed, and was continually en- gaged in drawing draughts and plans of machinery for future use. At the expiration of his apprenticeship, he married a poor but most amiable and pious woman, Mary Dixon, daughter of an Irishman, named Thomas Dixon, also a diaper weaver. With a single loom and the plainest furniture, he commenced life, and progressed with such surprising success, that he became in a few years, the manufac- turer for all the principal families in the surrounding counties, who then depended almost wholly on home materials for clothing and oth- er purposes.
Early in life, he saw and felt the importance of our holy religion , and attached himself to the Episcopal Church under the Rectorship of Doctor Fayerweather. With his characteristic ardor for knowledge, and with a determination to know what he professed, he studied the government, ministry, and worship of the Church, and with intelli- gence and zeal embraced it as the true Church of Christ. Favored with the ample theological library of his pastor, and the publications of the " Venerable Society for the Propagation of the Gospel," it is believed that few men of his day better understood the history, gov- ernment, and worship of the English Church, the story of the blessed Reformation, and the troubles of sects which afterwards arose. The zeal for the Church led him to labor incessantly in the success of the parish. He was always at the vestry, and living near it, he constant- ly had the charge of the Church edifice. Having a taste for music, he at all times led the singing. During the troubles of the Revolu- tion, and years after, while the parish had no Rector, Mr. Reed read the morning service in the Church, and the service at funerals.
. As was natural for such a mind, he was fond of communicating his extensive knowledge of religion and the Church to his family and especially to his youngest son. This son, who early discovered a love for the acquisition of knowledge, is now the highly talented, esteemed, and successful Rector of Christ Church, in the village of Poughkeepsie, in the State of New York, and he has been heard to
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
say, that he learned more from the lips of his father, in early life, of the English Church, of the Reformation, and of Puritanic wildness, er- ror, and schism, than from the many volumes he had since read. Gladly did he hail the day, when Dr. William Smith (afterwards Rector of Trinity Church, Newport, and President of the Episcopal Seminary at Cheshire, Connecticut,) was settled as the Rector of St. Paul's Narragansett. He really feasted on the great learning and true Churchmanship of that divine, always walking, after ser- vice on Sunday, to converse with him. Dr. Smith was a skilled en- thusiast in music, and it is believed that in the Church at Narragan- sett, the " Venite" was first chaunted in America.
Indeed, so well known and so venerated was the character of old Mr. Reed, that when Dr. Smith was about to leave, an individual despairingly remarked to Bishop Seabury, " I am afraid our Church will die." He answered : " It may be chastised, but while you have for wardens such men as Col. Updike, and Martin Reed for clerk, it will never die."
Many anecdotes are told of the venerable Reed. He never but once inflicted corporal punishment on his children, and that was on a Monday morning. After an impressive lecture, he used the rod on his four sons for playing ball the day before. His government of his journeymen and apprentices when at their daily labor was novel. To procure silence and attention to business, he almost constantly employed his astonishing musical powers in singing a great number of chaste Irish songs, or uttering their airs by a melodious whistle, to which the workmen became so accustomed that it became to them a relief in their toils.
Of his moral courage it is told, that when the great and presumptu- ous impostor, Jemima Wilkinson, who had her temple in his neigh- borhood, was in her glory, he hesitated not to call her a blasphemer. On hearing of this, she attired herself in her robes, went to his house with the intention of overawing and subduing him to her purposes as she had done many others. She charged him with profaning her name. Claiming to be the Son of God, she threatened that if he did not repent and humble himself, she would put forth her mighty pow- er, and blast him and his family. He answered that he entertained no gods like her in his house, and that if she did not forthwith leave he would turn her out; on which she troubled him no more. Mr.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
Reed lived to quite an advanced age, but during several of his last years, although retaining to a surprising degree his mental faculties, a paralytic affection, prevented him from doing more than constantly perusing his Bible and book of Common Prayer. At the age of eighty-one, having sent for his son, the present Rev. Dr. Reed, and from his hands having received the Holy Communion, he went to sleep in Christ, revered by all who knew him.
And here I trust my early friend and companion the Rev. Dr. John Reed will pardon me for introducing his name as a son of the little Church at Narragansett. At the early age of twelve, he form- ed the determination of acquiring an education and entering the sa- cred ministry of the Church. From this determination he never swerved, until, by God's continued blessing, he effected his designs. He mentioned this determination to his father, who sighed and said : " God grant it may be so, but the want of means will forbid it." Pos- sessing at least all the talents, enterprise, perseverence, and moral courage of his father, and directed and encouraged by the advice of Dr. Smith, how an education could be obtained, and how it had been obtained in the old countries, without the assistance of paternal wealth, he left his father's home at the age of sixteen, to acquire means for his favorite design, by the teaching of youth. This hon- orable and useful course he pursued, laboriously studying, until he graduated from Union College, at Schenectady, with the highest honors of his class. In the year after leaving college, he was or- dained by the late Bishop Benjamin Moore, and in 1810, he was set- tled in the then small, but respectable congregation of Christ Church, Poughkeepsie, of which he has now been Rector for thirty-five years, and which, under his learning, great prudence, and ceaseless labors, has grown up to be one of the most numerous and respected congre- gations in the State of New York.
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