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 30
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John Dickinson was a merchant residing at Coweset, in Warwick, in 1733. He remained here, however, but a few years ; having failed in business as a merchant, he removed, but to what place has not been ascertained.
" September 9th, 1739. Dr. McSparran preached at the church in Warwick, and admitted Mr. Levally to the sacrament of the Lord's supper."
The Mr. Levally here mentioned was probably Peter Levally, who died in Warwick in 1756, and was the ancestor of the Levallys' in Warwick and Coventry. From whence the family emigrated has not been ascertained. Magdalene Levally, his daughter, married a Mr. King : her children John, Mary, Sarah, Ann, and Samuel King, were baptized by Dr. McSparran.
" Dec. 14, 1745. Dr. McSparran preached Moses Lippit's funeral sermon, and buried him in his own ground in Warwick. He died the 12th, about 11 o'clock in the forenoon."
Moses Lippit was the grandson of John Lippit, who was one of the persons chosen and commissioned from Providence to organize the government under the first charter in 1647. He soon after re- moved to Warwick, and died there, leaving two sons, John and Moses. Moses married Mary Knowles, a daughter of Henry Knowles. He left three daughters and an only son, Moses, the
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person mentioned on the record by Dr. McSparran, who was a minor at the time of his father's death in 1703. He married Ann Whipple, " a daughter of Joseph Whipple, of Providence, Nov. 20, 1707. She was reputed a woman of herculean strength. Their children were- 1. Moses, born Jan. 17, 1709. 2. Jeremiah, Jan. 27, 1711. 3. Christopher, Nov. 29, 1712. 4. Joseph, Sept. 4, 1715. 5. Ann Phillis, August 29, 1717. 6. Freelove, March 31, 1720. 7. Mary, Dec. 2, 1723. 8. John, Dec. 24, 1731.
Moses married Wait Rhodes, the daughter of John Rhodes, April 26, 1732, and besides several daughters, left but one son, Abraham Lippit, who was ordained Sept. 7, 1782, elder of the Baptist church of old Warwick, and moved to the western country in 1793.
Jeremiah married Weltham Greene, daughter of Rich. Greene, (the subject of another note,) Sept. 12, 1784. He was Town Clerk of Warwick from June 1742, to his death in 1776, with the exception of the year 1775.
Joseph married Lucy Brown, daughter of Capt. Thomas Brown, of Rehoboth, Feb. 19, 1746-had two sons, Joseph and Thomas, and five daughters.
Ann Phillis married, June 18, 1756, Abraham Francis, son of Abraham Francis, of Boston, then deceased. She was educated in Boston ; engaged to Mr. Francis when residing at Boston, but mar- ried in Warwick. Mr. Francis was reported to be heir to most of the land on which Boston stood, but never obtained it. He did not live many years.
Christopher married Catherine Holden, daughter of Anthony Holden, January 2, 1740, and was father of Colonel Christopher Lippit of the Revolution. The Lippits owned a great estate in Warwick.
Col. Christopher Lippit was the eldest son, and inherited the estate of his father under the old law. Respecting Col. Lippit, John Howland, Esquire, President of the R. I. Historical Society, has furnished the following notice :
" Christopher Lippit was a member of the General Assembly. In January, 1776, he was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the regiment raised by the State-Col. Harry Babcock was commander. He shortly quit the service, and Lieut. Colonel Lippit was promoted to the office of Colonel. I enlisted in Captain Dexter's company.
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We were stationed on the island of Rhode Island. The regiment was taken into the continental service, and the officers commissioned by Congress. After the disastrous battle of Long Island, we were ordered to join Washington's army at New York.
"On the 31st of Dec. 1776, while the army under Washington was in Jersey, the term of all the continental troops expired except Lippit's regiment, who had eighteen days more to serve. The brigade to which they were attached consisted of five regiments, three of which (Varnum's, Hitchcock's, and Lippit's, ) were from R. Island. Col. Hitchcock commanded the brigade, and Lippit's regi- ment counted more than one-third of the whole. This was the time which tried both soul and body. We had by order of the General left our tents at Bristol, on the other side of the Delaware. We were standing on frozen ground, covered with snow. The hope of the commander-in-chief was sustained by the character of these half frozen, half starved men, that he could persuade them to serve another month until the new recruits should arrive. He made the attempt and it succeeded. Gen. Mifflin, at his request, addressed our men ; he did it well. The request of the General was acceded to by our unanimously poising the firelock as a signal. Within two hours after this vote, we were on our march to Trenton. Col. Lip- pet's regiment was in the battle of Trenton, when retreating over the bridge, it being narrow, our platoons were in passing it crowded into a dense and solid mass, in the rear of which the enemy were making their best efforts." The calm and dauntless heroism of General Washington, and the staid coolness of his horse in this hour of car- nage, is too impressive and thrilling to be omitted. "The noble horse," he continues, "of Gen. Washington, stood with his breast pressed close against the end of the west rail of the bridge ; and the firm, composed, and majestic countenance of the General inspired confidence and assurance in a moment so important and critical. In · this passage across the bridge, it was my fortune to be next to the west rail, and arriving at the end of the bridge rail, I was pressed against the shoulder of the General's horse, and in contact with the boot of the General. The horse stood as firm as the rider, and seemed to understand that he was not to quit his post and station.
" They did not succeed in their attempt to cross the bridge. Al- though the creek was fordable between the bridge and the Delaware
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they declined attempting a passage there, in the face of those who presented a more serious obstruction than the water. On one hour- yes, on forty minutes, commencing at the moment when the British first saw the bridge and creek before them-depended the all- important, the all-absorbing question, whether we should be inde- pendent States or conquered rebels ! Had the army of Cornwallis within that space have crossed the bridge or forded the creek, unless a miracle had intervened, there would have been an end of the American army. If any fervent mind should doubt this, it must be from his not knowing the state of our few half-starved, half-frozen, feeble, worn-out men, with old fowling pieces for muskets, and half of them without bayonets-and the States so disheartened, discour- aged, and poor, that they sent no reinforcements, no recruits to supply the places of this handful of men, who but the day before had volunteered to remain with their venerated and beloved commander for thirty days more. Gen. Mercer fell in the action the next day at Princeton.
" Col. Lippit was in the battle of Princeton. The commander-in- chief, after the action, took the commander-in-chief of our brigade by the hand, (Col. Hitchcock) expressing his high approbation of his conduct, and that of the troops he commanded, and wished him to communicate his thanks to his officers and men. We retired to Morristown about the third day after our arrival. The commander of our brigade, Col. Hitchcock, died from the sufferings he had ex- perienced in this dreadful campaign. He was a very accomplished gentleman, and a fine officer-few of the Generals exceeded or equalled him in talents. He was educated at Yale. After this, the brigade was broken up and sent to different stations, ours at a place called Chatham. We were discharged in February, and returned home."
Col. Lippit continued in service during the war. He afterwards removed into Cranston : was appointed Major General of State's militia. He died on his farm in Cranston.
Charles Lippit, the brother of Col. Lippit, died in Providence in August, 1845, aged 91-the oldest man in Providence. Mr. Chas. Lippit was an officer in the Revolutionary war-was for many years a member of the General Assembly from Providence, and through a long life sustained an exemplary character of integrity and honor.
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" June 8, 1746. Dr. McSparran baptized, by immer- sion, a young woman named Patience Stafford, daughter of Samuel Stafford, of Warwick, and then from Mr. Francis' rode to the church, read prayers and preached there."
Samuel Stafford was a descendant of Thomas Stafford, who settled in Warwick in 1652, and died in 1677 or S, leaving three sons, Thomas, Samuel, Joseph, and two daughters.
Samuel married Mercy Westcot, a daughter of Stukely Westcot, died in 1708, aged 82 years, leaving two sons and four daughters. The eldest son, Amos, married Mary Burlingame, daughter of Roger Burlingame, sen. ; died 1689. Samuel, his eldest son, was born Sept. 24, 1692 ; married a daughter of Samuel Bennet, June 20, 1717
Of Thomas, the ancestor, there is this tradition in the family ; that he was a millwright, came from Warwickshire in England, landed or was at Plymouth about 1626, and built the first water corn mill there. That he afterwards came to Providence, and built the mill of John Smith ; and after his settlement at old Warwick, built for the Shawomet settlers their grist mill.
A descendant of the family has communicated the following memoir :
" It appears that Thomas Stafford was born probably between the years 1600 and 1610, and emigrated from Warwickshire, England, to Plymouth, New England, in 1626, or about that time. The first settlement at Plymouth was in 1620, and of course he was one of the earliest settlers in this country. He was a millwright, and at Plymouth erected a grist mill, which is said to have been the first in New England which ground corn by water.
" It appears from some cause he did not remain there long, but removed to Providence. Here he erected the first grist mill in Rhode Island, which was situated at the North end of the town near Mill Bridge. Without remaining there long, he again removed to old Warwick, and spent the remainder of his days. He secured to himself a considerable tract of land at the head of the mill cove, including the present mill seat, where he erected another grist mill.
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He lived on the north side of the mill stream, where stands the house which is now owned by Amos Greene, and was formerly the pro- perty of the Lippit family. Whether he married before or after his arrival in this country, cannot be ascertained, nor any particulars in reference to his family, except that he had three sons, viz., Thomas Samuel, and Joseph ; and three daughters, Deborah, Hannah, and Sarah. Thomas married Jane Dodge, Samuel married Mercy West- cott, daughter of Stukely Westcot, and Joseph married M. Holden daughter of Randall Holden. Samuel Stafford succeeded to his father's estate, where he died at the advanced age of 83, leaving two sons, Thomas and Amos. Thomas inherited the homestead, including the mill, and Amos fixed his residence about half a mile northwest, where he built a house, (which was burnt in the occu- pancy of his grandson, Thomas, in the year 1767, being the same spot where the mansion house now stands.) He (Amos) had 13 children, only 5 of whom survived him, viz., two sons, Samuel and Amos, and 3 daughters, Mary, Marcy, and Freelove. Probably there never lived a more industrious, indefatigable man, than this. It was a maxim of his, " four hours is enough for any one to sleep." He belonged to the Society of Friends, as did his wife and family. He held the office of Town Treasurer for several years. About two years before his death he became blind, and died in the year 1760, in the 95th year of his age. He had a daughter that attended him in his last sickness, who was upwards of 70 years of age. His wife was six days younger than himself ; after his decease she lived six days and died, having lived to the precise age of her husband- a more remarkable circumstance, as it was connected with such ex- traordinary longevity.
" I would mention one more incident in relation to the times, that Samuel Gorton, Randall Holden, and others, were taken from an adjoining lot, situated on the north side of the mill pond, by the authority of Massachusetts, carried to Boston, and there tried for their lives for heresy. These men had assembled in a block-house which had been previously erected, to protect themselves from the natives, who were very hostile. They capitulated or surrendered on con- dition of good treatment, relying on the justice of their cause and their religion. After going through their trial, they were neither condemned nor acquitted, but detained, and finally permitted to
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return to their settlement. On this lot, where originally stood this block-house, was the family burying ground of the first mill wright in New England.
"I have given a few incidents relating to the early settlement of Warwick, and a biographical sketch of one of its old families. I have done it from such records and papers as I have, which are very deficient for such a purpose."
" April 21, 1750. Baptized by immersion, in War- wick, Elizabeth Greene, wife of Richard Greene, and by affusion, Welthan Lippit, wife of Jeremiah Lippit, a sister of said Richard."
"Saturday, June 12, 1756. Dr. McSparran adminis- tered baptism, by total immersion, to two young women at Warwick, viz., Elizabeth Greene, jun., daughter of Richard Greene and Elizabeth, his wife, and to Sarah Hammett, daughter of an Anabaptist teacher, some time ago dead."
Richard Greene was the son of Richard, and grandson of Thomas Greene, a brother of Deputy Governor John Greene. He had a son, Thomas, who was father of the present Judge Thomas W. Greene. He was born on the 17th day of April, 1702. His wife was Eliza- beth Godfrey, of Newport.
He resided in old Warwick, in the same house which had been the home of his grandfather, Thomas Greene, and which was occupied as a garrison house in the Indian war; and being of stone, escaped , the general destruction in which the town was involved at that time.
It was originally built by John Smith, who was President of the Colony in 1649, (and who died in 1663,) and upon the lot originally set off to him.
It stood partly upon the site of the present dwelling of Judge Thomas W. Greene, to make room for which it was taken down by him.
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Thomas Greene, the second brother of the first Richard above- mentioned, left but one son, John, who succeeded to his father's estate, at Potowomut, and died there. Richard, the son of John called Richard Greene of Potowomut, was born October 4, 1725. He married Sarah Fry, daughter of Thomas Fry, of East Green- wich, Sept. 28, 1746, and died 1779.
Mrs. Le Baron, a descendant of the late Richard Greene, of Po- towomut, communicates the following notice of him :
" Richard Greene, the son of John of Potowomut, where he was born, was a branch of the Stone Castle Greene's, so called from our progenitors having built a castle of that material soon after their arrival in North America, for defence against the attacks of the Indians. John Greene, of Stone Castle memory, reached here with his wife and five children in 1630; he was one of the Greene's of Awkley Hall, in England. They were of the established church. John the first, after burying his wife in Warwick, returned to Eng- land, and married a second wife ; who, with himself, was also interred at a place called Canunicut. I once enquired of one of the oldest of our race with which I have been acquainted, what she imagined could have induced them, as they possessed property, to leave their comfortable homes in Europe. She replied, 'I cannot tell, unless they had roving dispositions.' Richard Greene, of Potowomut, and Sarah Fry, daughter of Thomas Fry, of East Greenwich, were married Sept. 28, 1747-so says the record. Mr. Greene owned a farm in Coventry, which was large and valuable ; another in West Greenwich-the number of acres in either I do not know. That on which he resided I have heard contained two thousand acres. I do not believe the number was so great, but am quite certain it was usually stocked with eight hundred sheep, and horses and cattle in abundance. His furniture and wines were imported from England. Servants, both white and colored, were numerous. There was much splendor in his housekeeping for the times in which he lived. Al- ways employing an overseer (who was regularly attached to the family,) accounts for his having leisure to entertain more company, perhaps, than any other private gentleman in Rhode Island, and he was remarkable for very great hospitality. A large proportion of his visitors were some of the most distinguished personages of the day. After the decease of my grandmother, in 1775, my mother
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conducted her father's household affairs, and presided at his table ; and I well remember to have heard her say, that Gov. Bradford was a frequent and highly esteemed guest. Of the clergy, the Rev. Mr. Fogg and the Rev. Mr. Fayerweather she mentioned as often having met there. General Varnum, Judge Lightfoot, the Browns' of Pro- evidence, and the Hancocks' and Quincys' of Massachusetts, visited him. The last time I was in South Carolina, the O'Harras' bore testimony to his hospitality, and said they had experienced the great- est kindness and civility at his house. When I saw them, they were very old and very wealthy. His children were fourteen in number, eleven of whom survived him. The education of his family was particularly attended to, he having always employed a competent private tutor. His children were instructed at home until they were of a suitable age to be sent abroad to boarding schools. He was a handsome man of the middle size, his complexion light, eyes blue, and his hair a rich brown ; his head being set forward a little more than common, gave him the appearance of a slight stoop. He, like myself, was not a ready writer, but he possessed great conversational powers, and had that most happy faculty of always selecting the words most proper for expressing his ideas pleasingly. He dressed with taste, and was scrupulously neat in his person. At the commence- ment of the revolution, he viewed it as a rebellion against lawful authority ; but I firmly believe he ever remained strictly neutral, although he was accused of aiding and assisting the British-be- cause he refused to sell the produce of his farms in large quantities to be sold again at an exorbitant price, but kept it and had it dealt out to the poor as they needed it, and for what it was in reality worth ; and those who had no money were furnished without price. For this reason, and for sheltering and protecting the wife and little children of a person who had fled to Canada to escape undeserved persecution-he was suspected of Toryism, and suffered much in the loss of property. ' His buildings were fired, and an officer with an armed force attempted to drive his cattle from his farm, pretend- ing to believe they were intended to supply the British fleet, which was then lying in the bay, with food, He told him to do it at his peril, and they were not removed. This officer's family and his had been before on the closest terms of intimacy, but friendship was never after renewed. He never purchased soldier's certificates,
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nor ever paid a debt in continental money. He was called by the common people King Richard, to distinguish him from others of the same name ; not because of his loyalty to the crown, but for his charity to the poor, and his magnificent manner of living. He was fond of cards, which displeased his father, a zealous Quaker, and on that account I think he discontinued playing. His outer doors were never fastened. * He never had what we call watchers when a death occurred in his family, but always slept in the room with the corpse himself.
" My grandfather was more than twenty years afflicted with a can- cerous tumor, for which he had been twice operated upon ; and in 1778 or 9, went to Newport (which was then garrisoned) with a flag of truce for the benefit of the advice of the British surgeons, ac- companied by my mother, his eldest daughter, and Doctor William Bowen, of Providence, who intended to remain during my grand- father's stay, but was not permitted to land. Cicuta was one of the remedies prescribed, and unfortunately he accidentally took too powerful a dose (he intended to leave the next day for home). The effect soon warned him of the approach of death. He went to his chamber, followed by my mother ; gave her some necessary direc- tions ; said if he had been less liberal, he should have left a much larger patrimony for his children, but did not regret it, as there was still enough ; advised her never to absent herself from church, and desired that none of his descendants should submit to the knife in case of cancer. Thus calmly, on the 19th of July, 1779, died this noble gentleman and poor man's friend.
" The large estate which Mr. Greene owned and lived on in Poto- womut, is now chiefly owned by Mrs. Hope Ives, widow of the late Thomas P. Ives, Esq., of Providence."
Yours, &c.,
JOHN HAMMETT was on the 18th of June, 1744, ordained as assist- ant to Manassah Martin, the Elder of the Six-Principle Baptist church in Warwick, and is spoken of by the historians of that church as an eminent servant of Christ, by whose ministry many gladly received the word.
He baptized in May, 1750, at Freetown, Mary Wells and Isabella Sweet, both deaf and dumb.
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He died, as the same historian says, " in the height of his useful- ness, zeal, and ministerial labors ;" he was " suddenly called to his reward in Christ, Dec. 28, 1752," and that it was " a solemn event, and caused great grief to the church and congregation at large, among whom he had labored in dispensing the word of life."
" May 19, 1753. At the old town of Warwick, at Mrs. Lippit's, were baptized by Dr. McSparran, Mary Wickes, daughter of Thos. Wickes, and Ruth, his wife." · " June 12, 1756, read prayers and preached at Mrs. Lippit's, and baptized Elizabeth Wickes, daughter of Thomas Wickes, and Ruth, his wife."
Thomas Wickes was the son of John Wickes, a representative in the General Assembly from Warwick in 1706-7, 1709-10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and 15; was assistant (senator) from 1715 to 1738, and in 1740 and 1741; town clerk from 1712 to his death in December, 1742, with the exception of the year 1720; and third in descent from John Wickes, one of the first settlers of Shawomet, and fellow- sufferer with Samuel Gorton. Of this ancestor, Callender says: " he was slain by the Indians, 1675, a very ancient man." He became, in fact, one of the first victims within the colony of Rhode Island of the war of 1675. In relation to his death there is this tradition : that on the approach of danger, when garrisons had been provided, and the inhabitants had generally repaired to them, he could not be persuaded that he required any protection against the natives. From his past experience of their uniform kindness and good-will towards him personally, he was slow to believe himself in danger, and to the oft-repeated admonitions of his friends to be more careful of his safety, his answer was, that he had no fears of injury from the Indians-that they would not hurt him. With this mistaken confidence in their fidelity, he ventured beyond the protection of the garrisons ; and going at evening into the woods in search of his cows, he did not return. His fate was first known to his friends on seeing his head set upon a pole, near his own dwelling, on the following morning. This they immediately-and before venturing
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in search of the body-buried near the stone garrison, and within a few rods of it. The body, which was found on the succeeding day, was interred beside the head, but in a distinct grave ; and two little hillocks, which mark the spot, are still shown as the grave of John Wickes.
He left one son, John, who from the time of his father's death resided at Mosketo Cove, Long Island, for several years, and married Rose Townsend, daughter of John Townsend.
Of the three sons of this marriage John, the eldest, married Sarah Gorton, a granddaughter of Samuel.
Thomas, the fifth son of this last marriage, was born in Warwick, September 8, 1715, upon the estate which had been successively the estate of his ancestors, originally assigned to John Wickes at the first settlement of the town, and prior to 1647. On this estate he continued to reside till his death, in 1803.
He left but two children : Mary, who married Rowland Brown, of South Kingstown, and Elizabeth, who married Benjamin Gardi- ner, who resided in Middletown, on Rhode Island ; both by his first wife, Ruth.
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