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 3
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The decision of the king's commissioners had had but little effect upon Connecticut. They alledged that the commissioners' award was void, because Colonel Nichols, who was required always to be one of the board, was absent, and that he had subsequently re- voked the order of the other commissioners. Their committee proceeded to the King's Province, surveyed and laid out new plantations within the disputed boun- daries, and Rhode Island settled others with her ad- herents. Claimants occupied under both governments. Proclamations fulminated from both colonies, conjuring , their partisans to fidelity, and breathing vengeance against intruders. Arrests and captures were made by officers, aided by troops of horse, and laws were enact- ed by each government, threatening forfeiture of estate
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INTRODUCTION.
to all who claimed under or acknowledged the jurisdic- tion of the other.
John Saffin, holding under Connecticut, was convict- ed at Newport, of adhering to a foreign jurisdiction, and his estate confiscated, and others prosecuted, imprison- ed, or bailed. In retaliation, Connecticut seized several Rhode Islanders, and imprisoned them at Hartford and New London. In the midst of this turbulent state of affairs, Rhode Island, in 1680, appealed to the king, and gave notice to Connecticut, that she might prepare for trial without delay, of which the latter accepted, and as- sured Rhode Island in return "that they should exer- cise no further government east of Pawcatuck river until his majesty decided the appeal."
Agents were not dispatched by either party to prose- cute the appeal, and things remained in as disturbed a condition as before.
For the purpose of quieting the animosities which in their progress had much increased, the king, in April, 1683, commissioned Edward Cranfield, Lieutenant Gov- ernor and Commander-in-Chief of New Hampshire, Wm. Stoughton, Joseph Dudley, Edward Randolph, S. Shrimpton, John Fitz Winthrop, Edward Palmer, John Pynchon, Jr., and Nathaniel Saltonstall, Esqrs., "for the quieting of all disputes that have arisen concerning the right of propriety to the jurisdiction and soil of a cer- tain tract of land in New England called the King's
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INTRODUCTION.
Province or Narragansett country." From the constitu- tion of this court, being composed of commissioners selected from the United Colonies, whose feelings had ever been inimical to the existence of Rhode Island, she augured anything but auspicious results. The com- missioners assembled at Smith's Castle, near Wickford, in pursuance of their appointment, attended by the agents of Connecticut and Plymouth, to litigate their respective claims to the King's Province. Rhode Is- land peremptorily refused to acknowledge the authority of the court. Her legislature assembled within a mile, denied their right to adjudicate, and ordered their ser- geant-at-arms, with his trumpet, at the head of a troop of horse, " by loud proclamation, to prohibit them from keeping court in any part of their jurisdiction." They adjourned to Boston, and finally adjudged, as might have been expected, " that the jurisdiction of the King's Pro- vince belonged of right to Connecticut." The sturdy remonstrance of Rhode Island to the king, against the partial organization of the Court, defeated the confirma- tion of its decision.
Another effort was made, as ill-advised as the prece- ding, to terminate the existing agitations. The king, in 1685, commissioned Joseph Dudley, as President of of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and the King's Province-thus uniting the four provinces under one common head. He assumed the government, and by
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proclamation declared the King's Province a separate government, independent of Rhode Island. He assem- bled his council at Smith's Castle, and in the plenitude of authority, established courts, appointed magistrates, and, to obliterate every recollection of their former politi- cal existence, substituted the town name of Rochester for Kingstown, Haversham for Westerly, and Dedford for Greenwich. Rhode Island, enfeebled by dismem- berment, quietly submitted until the arrest of Andros, and the subversion of his government, when she re- established her authority.
All endeavors by the home government to produce harmonious relations proved fruitless. Rhode Island and Connecticut subsequently attempted to settle their boundaries by commissioners of their own, and after much negotiation, an agreement was made in 1703, but this proved unsatisfactory, and was not confirmed by Connecticut. Finally, all efforts to produce a peaceful conclusion of this long and painful controversy failing, Rhode Island, in a letter to Connecticut, dated July 7th, 1720, declared, " as you rejected all endeavors," (mean- ing the line of 1703, which was run near where the boundary is now established,) " as well as all other en- deavors for an accommodation, and will not be satisfied without swallowing up the greatest part of our small colony, we are therefore determined, with the bless- ing of God, with all expedition, to make our appeal to
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the king in council, for his determination and decree of our westerly bounds; and that you may not be sur- prised, we humbly notify you thereof, that you may take such steps as you may think fit to justify and vin- dicate yourselves." Rhode Island appointed Joseph Jenckes, Esq., their Lieutenant Governor, a special agent to proceed to London to conduct the appeal. Connec- ticut appointed Jeremiah Dummer, the resident agent of Massachusetts, their agent for the same purpose, and the trial proceeded. Conflicts ceased, as if both parties were weary of the tedious, irritating, and savage contro- versy, and waited with sullen patience the decision of the common umpire at Whitehall.
In 1726, the king in council promulgated his final decision, establishing Pawcatuck river as the west boun- - dary of Rhode Island; and uniting the KING's PRO- VINCE, which had existed fifty years, as an INDEPENDENT jurisdiction to Rhode Island.
To give a particular account of the various conflicts, negotiations, and events that occurred in Narragansett, or the KING'S PROVINCE, through the course of eighty- three years, during which period, the controversy re- specting jurisdiction lasted ; and the parts enacted in it by the various and distinguished men of Rhode Island ; to portray the blunt and energetic character of Governor Benedict Arnold ; (the courteous and conciliatory course of Governor Brenton;) the firm and unyielding decision of
INTRODUCTION.
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the Cranstons ; the unflinching Quaker spirit of Cod- dington and Easton ; the quick, inquisitive, and argu- mentative mind of Roger Williams, the active defenders of Rhode Island, in her early perils, would require a volume.
4A
HISTORY
1149700
OF THE
NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
A NUMBER of families attached to the worship of the Church of England had, previously to the year 1700, settled in the Narragansett country. They worshipped in private houses, until the Rev. Mr. Christopher Bridge became their regular pastor in 1706. We have no posi- tive information how long he continued to officiate. Doctor McSparran, in his work on the colonies, entitled " America Dissected," printed in Dublin, 1753, observes, " a little church was built in Newport, the metropolis of the colony, in 1702, and that in which I officiated, in 1707. There have been two incumbents before me, but neither of them had resolution enough to grapple with the difficulties of the mission above a year apiece." But the Rev. Mr. Samuel Niles, who was first settled over the Presbyterian or Congregational Society in South Kingstown, in a deposition on the trial concerning the ministerial land, says, " soon after I came to preach the gospel at Kingstown, (now South Kingstown,) i the col-
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
ony of Rhode Island, in the Narragansett country, by an invitation of sundry well-disposed persons in said town, which was in the year 1702, or thereabouts; the Rev. Mr. Bridge, a professor of the Church of England, con- tinued in the north part of said Kingstown, as it was then called, at the same time that he, the said Niles, preached in the south part." Mr. Niles removed from Narragansett to Braintree, in Massachusetts, in 1710. Being a resident of Narragansett at the time, he is more likely to be correct as to the length of Mr. Bridge's in- cumbency than Dr. McSparran, who did not arrive there till many years after that period. This strengthens the probability that Mr. Bridge continued his ministry much longer than a year, and that the society of Episcopalians was gathered, and the church built, under his rectorship.
The REV. SAMUEL NILES was born at Block Island, Rhode Island, May 1, 1673, was graduated at Harvard University in 1699, and was ordained in Braintree, 1711. His first wife was Elizabeth, the daughter of the Rev. Peter Thatcher, of Milton, by whom he had, among other children, Samuel, born in May, 1711; she died in 1716. His second wife was Ann, the daughter of the Hon. Nathaniel Coddington, of Newport, to whom he was married by Gov. Cranston, in November, 1716. By her he had Elisha and Susanna, twins. She died in 1732, and in 1737, he married Elizabeth, the daughter of the Rev. William Adams, pastor of Christ Church, Dedham, and widow of the Rev. Samuel Whiting, of Windham, Connecticut.
Although Mr. Niles entered the ministry late in life, the period of his continuance in it, over fifty years, was comparatively long. In the course of that time, he composed and published the following works, viz :
1745, " Tristia Ecclesiarum, a brief and sorrowful account of the
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
present state of the churches in New England," spoken of as a val- uable work, deserving a republication.
1747, " God's Wonder-Working Providence for New England, in the Reduction of Louisburg, in verse."
1752, " Vindication of Divers Gospel Doctrines. Also a few re- marks on Mr. John Bass' Narrative."
1757, " The True 'Doctrine of Original Sin, in answer to John Taylor of Milton." (320 pages.)
Besides the above, Mr. Niles composed a History of the Indian wars. The elder President Adams, in a letter to the late Judge Tudor, thus spoke of the work and its author, " there is somewhere in existence, as I hope and believe, a manuscript history of the In- dian wars, written by the Rev. Samuel Niles, of Braintree. Almost sixty years ago, I was an humble acquaintance of this venerable clergyman, then, as I believe, more than four score years of age. He asked me many questions, and informed me in his own house, that he was endeavoring to recollect and commit to writing, an his- tory of the Indian wars in his own time and before it, as far as he could collect information. The history he completed and prepared for the press ; but no printer would undertake it, or venture to pro- pose a subscription for its publication. Since my return from Europe, I inquired of his eldest son, the Hon. Samuel Niles, on a visit he made me at my house, what was become of that manuscript. He laughed and said, it was still safe in the till of a certain trunk, but no encouragement had ever appeared for its publication. Ye liberal Christians, laugh not at me, nor frown upon me for reviving the memory of your once formidable enemy. I was then no more a disciple of his theological science, than you are now. But I then revered, and still revere the honest, virtuous, and pious man. Fas est ab hoste doceri. And his memorial of faith might be of great value to the country."
The manuscript was lately found in a box of papers bequeathed by the late Dr. Freeman, of Boston, to the Massachusetts Historical Society, and is published in one of the last volumes of these col- lections.
Mr. Niles died in May, 1762, aged 89. Samuel Niles, Jr., was graduated at Cambridge, 1731. He was a representative from Brain- tree to the General Court, Judge of Suffolk Court of Common Pleas,
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
&c. He married his cousin Sarah Niles, of Kingstown, Rhode Island-died in 1804. Nathaniel and the late Samuel Niles, sons of Samuel Niles, Jr., graduated at Princeton College. The third and fourth sons, Jeremiah and Sands, and his daughter Elizabeth, died at South Kingstown at advanced ages .- Extracted from Hobart's Historical Sketch of Abington.
The Rev. Mr. BRIDGE was appointed by the Bishop of London, assistant minister tothe Rev. Mr. Miles, the rector of King's Chapel, Boston. He arrived in March, 1699. In 1703, at the request of the vestry, Mr. Bridge proceeded to England in order to solicit sub- scriptions for the enlargement of the chapel, a measure made neces- sary by the increase of the congregation. A misunderstanding about this time arose between Mr. Miles and Mr. Bridge, which grew into a serious division, and threatened the peace and prosperity of the church. The Bishop of London (Compton) condemned the course of Mr. Bridge, and in his letter to the church says, "there- fore I shall not be so earnest for his removal, otherwise than I am convinced it is impossible for him and Mr. Miles to live together in peace. I know his spirit is too high to submit to that subordination which is absolutely necessary he should comply with while he stays at Boston, so that I would by all means advise him to go to Narra- gansett, where he may have an hundred pounds per annum, sterling, besides what perquisites he may make upon the place, and then he will be his own master."
About the 1st of October, 1706, Mr. Bridge came to Narragansett. The wardens of King's Chapel spoke of him with regard and respect, and the Bishop promised him the continuance of his favor.
It however appears that Mr. Bridge, after his settlement in Nar- ragansett, created a new difficulty, as we learn from the Bishop's letter to the officers of King's Chapel, dated in May, 1708, he says, " not being yet fully informed to what degree, and upon what grounds Mr. Bridge hath committed that insolent riot upon the church of Rhode Island." What is meant by the violent riot committed by Mr. Bridge upon the church of Rhode Island, alluded to by the Bishop, has not been ascertained.
Mr. Bridge did not remain long in Narragansett, but removed to Rye, in New York, where he was again settled in the ministry, and where he finished his earthly pilgrimage on the 28th of May, 1719.
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
The following obituary notice is from the Boston newspaper of June 1st, to 8th, 1719. " We have an account from Rye, in the govern- ment of New York, of the death of the Rev. Mr. Bridge, M. A., a presbyter of the Church of England, and minister of the gospel in that place, who died on Saturday, the 23d of May last. He was for- merly, for many years together, one of the ministers of the Church of England in Boston, a religious and worthy man, a very good scholar, and a fine grave preacher; his performances in the pulpit were solid, judicious and profitable-his conversation was agreeable and improving. And though a strict churchman in his principles, yet of great respect and charity to dissenters, and much esteemed by them. He was bred at the University of Cambridge in England, and was about forty-eight years of age when he died, very much lamented."-Extracted from Greenwood's History of King's Chapel.
In 1722, the town of Kingstown was divided by act of the legis- lature into two towns, called North and South Kingstown. The church of the parish, built in 1707, fell on the North Kingstown side of the dividing line. The same edifice was, in 1800, removed to Wickford and is still used for divine service as St. Paul's church in North Kingstown.
In 1717, the Society for the Propagation of the Gos- pel in Foreign Parts, appointed the Rev. Mr. Guy, a missionary over the Narragansett parish. He continued until 1719, when, at his own request, he was removed to South Carolina.
The Rev. WILLIAM GUY, in 1712, was appointed by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, an assistant minister to the Rev. Mr. Johnstone, in Charleston, South Carolina. In the same year, he was elected minister of the parish of St. Helen's, in Port Royal Island, in the same colony, and officiated in deacon's orders. In 1713, he returned to England, and received priest's orders, and the Lon- don Society appointed him their missionary at St. Helen's. The parish was very extensive, the whole nation of Yammosee Indians being included in it. He was diligent in the discharge of all parts
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
of his ministerial office. In the Indian war of 1715, he narrowly escaped being cut off by the Yammosees, by taking refuge on board of an English ship bound to Charleston, having abandoned all his effects-some fell into the hands of the Indians and were massacred. On account of this calamity, the Parent Society gave to the suffering missionaries a half year's salary, of thirty pounds each. After the desolation of the parish of St. Helen's, Mr. Guy was sent a mission- ary to Narragansett. He arrived in the latter part of the year 1717, and in the autumn of 1718, he returned to South Carolina on account of his health, and was soon after settled over St. Andrew's church, thirteen miles from Charleston. He continued their rector until his death, in 1751. He is reported to have been diligent in the discharge of his official duties, not confining himself to his own immediate people, but extending his ministrations to a considerable distance. So successful were his exertions, that the parishioners were induced to enlarge their church, while a subscription was raised for building a new one in a different part of the mission .- Humphrey and Haw- kins.
The first entry in the church records is the following : KINGSTOWN, in Narragansett, April 14, 1718.
At a meeting of the parishioners aforesaid, the follow- ing persons were elected for Church Wardens and Ves- try, for the year ensuing, viz :
Mr. SAMUEL PHILLIPS, Church Wardens.
" SAMUEL ALBRO,
" CHARLES DICKINSON,
" GABRIEL BERNON,
" GEORGE BALFOUR,
" THOMAS LILLIBRIDGE,
Vestrymen.
" JOHN KOLTREDGE,
" THOMAS PHILLIPS,
" JOHN ALBRO,
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
On the same day, Messrs. Dickinson, Bernon, Kol- tredge, and Phillips were sworn into their offices, as were also the wardens. And Messrs. Charles Dickin- son, Gabriel Bernon, Samuel Albro, Samuel Phillips, George Balfour, were appointed to go to Boston, with a letter from the vestry, in order to obtain a benefaction or contribution towards finishing the church of Narra- gansett. And Messrs. Phillips and Albro were also ap- pointed to wait upon the gentlemen of Newport, in order to obtain the like benefactions.
In relation to Mr. Bernon's family, we find the fol- lowing entry in the records at a subsequent period.
July 11, 1721. Four children were baptized at Pro- vidence, viz: Mary Bernon, and Eve Bernon, Anna Donnison, and Elizabeth Donnison, by Rev. Mr. Mc- Sparran.
Speaking of Mr. Gabriel Bernon, the work styled " The Hugue- nots in France and America," says
" The records of the Huguenots contain no memorials more inter- esting than those which relate to this excellent man." " The sub- ject of this sketch, Gabriel Bernon, was a protestant merchant, of an ancient and honorable family of Rochelle, where he was born, April 6th, 1644. * He was the son of André Bernon and Su- sanne Guillomard, his wife. His zeal in the Protestant cause had rendered him obnoxious to the authorities for some time previous to the revocation of the edict of Nantes ; and he was two years impris- oned. There exists in the family a small edition of the Psalms, en- titled ' Pseaumes de David, mis en rime François, par Clement Ma- rot et Theodore de Bèze.' Tradition states that this was presented him by a fellow prisoner. This was printed in its minute form, to 5A
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
enable its persecuted owners the more readily to secrete it in their bosoms, when surprised at their simple devotions."
" Gabriel Bernon left his native city and took refuge in England, just before the revocation of the edict of Nantes. He was like the prudent man in the scriptures, 'he foresaw the evil and hid himself.' In his native country nothing met his ear but threats and impreca- tions ; and as was the case before the massacre of St. Bartholomew, even the pulpits propagated the maxims, ' that faith need not be kept with heretics ; and that to massacre them was just, pious, and useful to salvation.' Bigotry reigned ; mercy had veiled her face ; and the choice of the three great evils, thus fell to the poor Huguenot, expatriation, death, or recantation, worse than a thousand deaths. In leaving France, Gabriel Bernon must have been subjected to great trials. He left brothers and every thing that could render life desirable. But all these sacrifices he counted as dust, in comparison to liberty of conscience. He remained some time in England. A notarial certificate of denization, still preserved, together with many other manuscripts, bears date, London, 1687. He came to America soon after ;" to Providence in 1698, and then removed into "the Narragansett country, where the ruins of his house still exist." He purchased several tracts of land in North Kingstown, was elected one of the vestry of St. Paul's, in 1718, and in the succeeding year returned to Providence. Previous to his first arrival in Providence, " he vested part of the property he brought with him from France, in a plantation at Oxford, Massachusetts. His title to this estate was afterwards most unjustly disputed. From a plan drawn by himself, it appears that it measured two thousand six hundred and seventy- two acres, and was estimated to be worth £1000. This he hoped, would prove a solid investment."
The following documents will serve to show to the descendants of the Huguenots in this western world, the perplexities and embarrass- ments that the early settlers and pioneers of civilization had to en- counter. They well merit a record on our pages as exhibiting the bright example of a Huguenot who willingly abandoned the luxu- ries and refinements of the " old, " and fled to the shores of the " new world," then an inhospitable wilderness, for the pure pur- poses of enjoying the privilege of worshipping his God agreable to
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
the dictates of his conscience. These documents, too, will probably present to the many respectable families in Rhode Island, which are lineally descended from him, the only veritable sketch they will ever possess of the eventful life of their distinguished ancestor.
It appears that Mr. Bernon had petitioned the royal council, in Boston, for assistance against the ravages of the Indians, on account of the many taxes, &c. he had paid the king, and for services he had rendered the country in various ways. Instead of the assis- tance prayed for, Joseph Dudley sent him a captain's commission, and he was desired to defend himself ; build forts, &c.
BOSTON, July 7th, 1702. MR. GABRIEL BERNON :
Herewith you have a commission for Captain of New Oxford. I desire you forthwith to repair thither and show your said commis- sion, and take care that the people be armed, and take them in your own house, with a palisade for the security of the inhabitants ; and if they are at such a distance in your villages, that there shall be need of another place to draw together in case of danger, consider of another proper house, and write to me, and you shall have order therein. I am, Your obedient Servant,
J. DUDLEY.
A further brief and interesting outline of additional difficulties and perplexities respecting the New Oxford estate is set forth in a printed memorial, addressed by him to the Royal Governor and Council of Massachusetts.
THE HUMBLE PETITION
OF GABRIEL BERNON,
Of New Oxford, in New England, TO HIS EXCELLENCY, SAMUEL SHUTE, EsQ.
Gabriel Bernon, one of the most ancient families in Rochelle, in France, begs of your excellency and honor graciously to assist him in his great necessity, and that your excellency and honors would be pleased to take into your wise consideration :
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HISTORY OF THE NARRAGANSETT CHURCH.
That your petitioner, upon the breach of the edit of Nantes, to shun the persecution of France, fled to London ; upon his arrival, Teffereau, Esq., treasurer of the Protestant Church of France, pre- sented your petitioner to the honorable, the Society for the Propaga- ting of the Gospel among the Indians in New England ; of which Mr. Thompson, the Governor, offered to install him in the said society, and offered him land in the Government of the Massachu- setts-Bay
Whereupon one Isaac Bertrand du Tuffeau desired your excel- lency's and honor's petitioner to assist him, the said Bertrand du Tuffeau, to come over to New England to settle a plantation for their refuge ; which he did, by advancing unto the said Tuffeau the sum of two hundred pounds sterling ; and since three hundred pounds eight shillings and ten pence : which, with the exchange and interest from that time, would amount to above one thousand pounds.
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