USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > Jamestown > History of Jamestown on Conanicut Island in the State of Rhode Island > Part 7
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On August 2, 1940, the Jamestown Bridge was officially opened, and the romance of the centuries old ferries in the West Bay came to an end. The cost of the bridge was $2,900,000. $1,414,000 was an outright grant of the federal government, the balance being privately financed. It is 6982 feet long and extends from the Narragansett shore to the west end of Eldred Avenue at the place where the old North Sailboat Ferry landed. There is now considerable activity in favor of another bridge connecting Jamestown and Newport.
GOVERNOR CARA
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BEAVER TAIL WATCH HOUSE AND LIGHTHOUSE
Beaver Tail is the southern point of Conanicut Island which separates the entrance to Narragansett Bay into the East and West Passages. Today there are lights at Point Judith, Whale Rock and Dutch Island in the West Passage and Brenton's Reef Lightship, Castle Hill and Rose Island in the East Passage, with Beaver Tail Light at the point of separation of the two entrances to the bay. Thus the importance of Beaver Tail light to vessels entering the harbor will be seen. It is conceivable that the early settlers recog- nized this fact for in the Proprietors' Records for the second month (April) 1705, is the following entry: "Ordered and made by the authority of this pres- ent Councill that there shall be a chimney built to the Watch house at the dis- cretion of Capt. Stephen Remington." From this it is evident that the Watch house had been built some time previous, and the following entries show that it was used.
At a Meeting of the Town Counsell of Jamestown this 9th day of June 1712 called by the Governors order to sett a watch and build a Beacon. It is ordered that John Hull Grant a warrant to Gershom Remington to warn the Indians to build a beacon as soon as possible / It is further ordered that John Hull Grant forth a warrant to Benedict Arnold to look after the Watch and see that it be faithfully kept and if any Parson or Parsons should neglect his duty you are hereby ordered to make complaint unto the wardens that they may be delt with all. It is further ordered that any that shall neglect his watching or warning shall pay three shillings for his defect by distraint or otherwise. It is ordered that Gersham Remington warn the Indian men to build a beacon at beaver Taile and to come to John Hulls house for his directions, wheare and how to make it Viz. Dick, Isaac, Peter, Anthony, Daniell, Tobe, Davide, Stetienson, upon the forfeiture of three shillings cach man that is Defective. It is further ordered that the Clarke draw a list and draw the order the watch to observe, and the Clark to sign the order in behalf of the Counsell.
Proprietors Records, May 20, 1740
"Voted and ordered that Abel Franklin build a beken att bever tail pint and paid out of the Town Treasurer.
Voted and ordered that John Wilson is apointed to finish the chembley in the watch house att bever tail and paid out of the town treasurer.
May 17, 1741
Voted and ordred yt town treasurer to pay Abel Franklin for a yard and a gate.
Town Council, Jone 16, 1744
Voted and resolved that Thomas Carr procure a good Stock Lock and Key for the Watch House on bever tail Point & put the same well on upon the south door and mend said door & prepare a good Bolt for the North Door to Bolt on the inside and also that the sd Thomas Carr provide a good and suitable Gun or small arm for the use of the town & to reposite the same in the said Watch House and to be paid out of the Town Treasury."
At this time England was at war with France (Queen Ann's War) and any vessel of the enemy was legal prey. Commissions for privateering were granted to Rhode Island vessels and many prizes were brought into Narragansett Bay. Newport became the principal port for these operations
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and it is conceivable that the beacon and watch house at Beavertail could have been used as an aid to navigation as well as a watch house for an approaching enemy. This possibility, however, is not recognized by the divi- sion of the U. S. Coast Guard, in charge of lighthouses.
In August, 1738, a "bank" for raising money was issued by the colony. One reason for the issue was, "and whereas there is a necessity of building a Light house at Beavertail, which will be of singular service for vessels coming into the harbour in the night season, and prevent great damage which is occasioned for the want thereof." The erection of the lighthouse was author- ized but work was not started because of war breaking out between England and Spain. In 1749 the General Assembly appointed a committee with an authorization to build the lighthouse, and this is the date recognized by the U. S. Coast Guard Lighthouse Department; making Beavertail Light the third to be erected on the Atlantic Coast. (The first having been erected in 1715-16 on Little Brewster Island at the entrance to Boston Harbor and the second on Brant's Point, Nantucket, in 1746.)
Mr. Joseph Harrison served on the committee to superintend the erection of the lighthouse which was designed by Peter Harrison, architect of the Redwood Library, Newport, and accepted as America's first architect. The lighthouse was described by Dr. William Douglas as follows "Diameter at Base is 24 feet and at the Top 13 Feet. The height from the Ground to the Top of the Cornice is 58 Feet, round which is a Gallery, and within that stands the Lanthorn, which is about 11 Feet High, and 8 Feet in Diameter."
Unfortunately the construction was of timber and on July 23, 1753 only three days after the General Assembly had paid Joseph and Peter Harrison's bill of £329-7s-4p for paint the structure burned to the ground. Mr. Franklin, the first light keeper continued his duties at night with an ordinary lantern until a new lighthouse, authorized at the August session of the General Assembly, was built. This new lighthouse, designed by Peter Harrison and constructed by William Reed, was built of stone and brick taken from Fort George on Goat Island.
A report (June, 1754) of the committee in charge states "We do adjudge that 2 acres of land will be necessary: that is to begin at the Point and to extend so far northward as to make two acres ..... and do also give it as our opinion, that there ought to be a way left on the east side of said land, to extend from the North part of said land down to the Point, between where the light- house is intended to be built and the dwelling house, for all people to pass and re-pass." Thus the road to the Point was established and it has been maintained for the benefit of the people to this day.
The land upon which the lighthouse was erected was part of that chosen by Benedict Arnold as his share of the original purchase of the island. Evi- dently a controversy arose over the purchase of the two acres recommended by the committee, for Josiah Arnold, son of Benedict and owner of the land at that time, was summoned before the General Assembly "to render a reason, if he have any, why two acres of land, adjoining the lighthouse at
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SKETCH OF BEAVER TAIL ABOUT 1755
Courtesy of R. I. Historical Society
Beavertail, is not set off for the use of the Colony." Again in May, 1755, it was voted by the General Assembly that "Col. Godfrey Malbonc, with Messrs Thomas Wickham, Evan Malbone be appointed a committee to treat with Josiah Arnold Esq. about the land at Beavertail upon which the light- house stands in order to purchase the same from him for the use of said light ; that when they shall have agreed, they take a deed from him unto the Colony, and draw money out of the general treasury, to pay for what they purchase; and when the said Josiah Arnold hath made and executed such a deed, that they move him to take upon himself the care and charge of said lighthouse; but if he will not sell and give a deed to the Colony, that the committee engage one of the best attorneys in the Colony to defend, at the Colony's expense, against the said Josiah Arnold, in the suit he hath com- menced; and that the said committee take care of the lighthouse until the end of the General Assembly's next session." This controversy went on for many years and was never satisfactorily settled. In June, 1784, an act was passed "empowering the Indendants of Trade in this state to collect monies for the support of the lights in Light-house at Beaver Tail."
The lighthouse was partially destroyed by the British in 1779, when they evacuated Newport, but was repaired and continued in service until 1854, when a new lighthouse was built. In a report dated November, 1838, the old lighthouse was described as "being 98 feet above the level of the sea, and its limit of visibility 153/4 miles. The rubble stone tower was 68 feet high ascended by an interior spiral stairway of wood with landings at convenient places. The oil was stored under the lower landing.
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BEAVER TAIL LIGHTHOUSE, 1798 Courtesy of R. I. Historical Society
There were 15 lamps, with reflectors, arranged around two circular copper tables, cach 3 feet in diameter, the lower table supporting 8 lamps, which illuminated every point of the horizon and the upper table seven lamps, the vacant space being towards the land. The original dwelling, built at the same time as the tower, being too near the water and on bad foundation, was destroyed in September 1815. The dwelling in existence at that time (1838) had been erected in 1816, the walls of rough stone being "badly laid."
In 1789 the newly formed government of the United States accepted cession of the title to, and jurisdiction over, the lighthouses on the coast. Beavertail was one of twelve so taken over. On October 12, 1790, President George Washington wrote Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury;
"I have received your letter of the 5th instant-The public service requiring the arrangements, which you have made, relative to the Light Houses Newport (Beavertail) and Portland, they are perfectly agreeable to me and receive my approbation."
However it was not until May, 1793, that the General Assembly resolved to transfer the lighthouse to the U. S. Government "provided, nevertheless, and be it further enacted, by the authority aforesaid, that if the United States shall at any time hereafter neglect to keep it lighted and in repair, the light- house aforesaid, that then the grant of said lighthouse shall be void and of no effect." Incidentally, the salary of the first light-keeper was $160. a year.
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In 1851 another report states that Mrs. Damaris H. Wheaton was keeper of the light, having taken over upon the death of her husband, who had been appointed light keeper in 1844. Buildings reported in bad repair "worst built tower yet seen, built of soft shale; not been repaired in seven years."
On August 3, 1854, Congress appropriated $14,500 for a new light- house, illuminating apparatus and a fog signal. The new structures were erected 1855-57. The lighthouse proper was erected farther back from the shore embankment and the new fog signal house was erected approximately on the foundation of the old lighthouse. The light was equipped with a lens apparatus of the third order by Fresnel and the signal house with a Daboll horn fog signal, operated by an Ericsson hot-air engine which, in cold weather, took 60 minutes to start the fog signal. In 1873 the fog signal was in opera- tion 493 hours and in 1875, 623 hours. New and improved equipment replaced the old from time to time as it became available.
Evidently the controversy with Josiah Arnold was not settled to the satisfaction of the government, for in 1889 Congress appropriated $3,500 for the purchase of land for the fog signal buildings. Legal expenses $323 and $177 were returned to the treasury.
The hurricane of 1938 entirely destroyed and washed away the fog signal house, better known as the "whistle house", and left exposed the foundation of the old lighthouse, the location of which had been forgotten even by the oldest inhabitants. A new and completely modern siren was in operation the next Spring. On the foundation of the old lighthouse the Jamestown Historical Society has placed a placque reading as follows :
Foundation of the original Beavertail Lighthouse erected in 1749 Third Lighthouse to be established on the Atlantic Coast.
BEAVER TAIL LIGHT AND WHISTLE HOUSE
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THE WINDMILL
Indian corn or maize is of American origin and was not known in the old world until the discovery of the new. It was the first gift of the Indians to the white man and immediately became their chief article of food. To be used for human consumption it has to be ground into a fine meal. This the Indians did by pounding the kernels of corn with a stone or pestle in a hollowed out stonc.
But the inventive genius of the white man carly developed the water mill and later the wind mill, the one in Newport being built in 1663. It was a long journey from Jamestown to Newport and the building of a mill on the island must have been an carly consideration, but when or where the first mill was built is still unknown. On North Ferry Road, on a high hill, stands an old house the front door step of which is an old mill stone, and it is probable that the first mill was in that immediate vicinity. However, the first record of any action taken regarding the building of a windmill is July 16, 1728, when it was voted at Town Meeting that "Richard Tew and David Green go and buy stores and irons for the building of a wind-mill and that Richard Tew and Thomas Carr Provide lumber for the aforesaid mill." Incidentally this was the same Richard Tew and Thomas Carr who were ordered to get lumber to build a "pare of stocks and whipping post," which never were built. At the next Quarterly Meeting, it was voted to rescind the former vote to build a windmill and it was ordered "that Thomas Carr and Richard Tew have authority to buy a mill complete and the charge to be paid by the town treasurer." While there are records in Newport of wind- mills having been sold complete and moved, it is very unlikely that, in those days, a mill could have been ferried across the bay.
It is to be assumed that they proceeded to build their own mill. On April 15, 1729, it was voted to "hire Sixty pounds for the use of the mill", and on July 5 it was voted "that the Treasury Give Richard Tew a bond in the Towns behalf for his acco't of Charges on the Mill which amounts to £78 00 6p." The same action was taken on the account due Thomas Carr. On May 19, 1730, it was voted "that the mill be fitted upon ye Town's charge and the keeper of s'd mill to Deliver her in the same good order as he rec'd her." It is thus evident that this, probably the second windmill, was grind- ing meal during the summer of 1730. It is believed to have stood somewhat north of the present mill on Windmill Hill. At an adjourned Quarterly Meet- ing held at Wm. Battey's house August 4, 1730, they decided to have a permanent miller and voted "That Nicholas Carr shall have ye mill that is erected on Jamestown at ye Publick Charge of the Town; for his own Proper Estate for Ever. He ye S'd Nicholas Carr Paying the Sum of fifty pounds into the Town Treasury, and be obliged to keep S'd mill in good Repair for and during ye terme of Twenty Years If ye maine post of S'd mill with good manigement will stand so Long; and to give bond for ye Trew preformance of all ye above articles unto ye Town Clerk who shall Receive ye same upon ye Towns acct."
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1
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JAMESTOWN WINDMILL
Photo, J. M. Watson
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From the reference to the "maine post" this would seem to be the mill described by T. R. Cole in the Jamestown section of the "History of Newport County," which is as follows;
"The first of these mills of which any definite knowledge can now be gleaned was the Post Mill. It was built on the principle of a turn-stile, and when the wind changed a yoke of oxen was hitched to the end of a long lever, and the whole building, which stood upon a single post or pivot, was turned until the arms of the shaft came fair into the wind. The frame is of heavy oak timbers, and the wind wheel is fifty-four feet in diameter."
Evidently all went well with the mill for several years for there is no further mention of it until January 19, 1742, when it was voted at a Quarterly Meeting "that Gersham Remington and John Martin is apinted to talk to Nicholas Carr to keep the mill in Repare." Nicholas Carr had removed to Newport sometime before this vote was taken. No report of Remington or Martin is found, and that seems to be all the information available. What happened to the mill is unknown. Sometime between 1742 and 1760 that "maine post" must have given out for at Town Meeting January 15, 1760 a vote to build a grist mill was passed in the negative.
Eight years later Isaac Howland must have made a proposition to the town, for the warrant calling the meeting included the question "whether the town will Raise one Hundred Dollars by Rate to assist Isaac Howland in Erecting a Windmill on his Land under proper Regulations as shall be agreed on by the town." At the meeting (January 19, 1768) the above question was "Resolved in the Affirmative by a Majority of Voices, five." "It was thereupon put to Vote whether the s'd sum of one Hundred Spanish Mill'd Dollars should be raised by a rate or tax, on the polls & ratable Estates of the Inhabitants of this town, for the Purpose afore s'd which vote passed in the Negative by a Majority of five Voices." Their action seems a bit confused. Evidently they were willing for the town to raise the money but not by a rate or tax. There is no evidence that a mill was built at this time either by the town or by Howland.
Not until 1787 was the matter again considered, when a committee was appointed to investigate the cost. They proved themselves thrifty men by petitioning the General Assembly for the grant of a part of Col. Joseph Wanton's farm which had been confiscated. Wanton was a Tory and had left the island when the British evacuated Newport. The petition was granted and the town was given half an acre for this purpose. If, however, the mill became useless or unused for a period of two years, the land was to revert to the state. The mill was built and part of the money was raised by the sale of the high- ways "running between the North Point Farm and Jonathan Hopkins' and Tiddeman Hull's, and the highway running through Joseph Martin's Farm."
Jethro Briggs was the first miller and was required to give bond in money or "as much corn as one hundred dollars will purchase." Briggs moved to Newport in 1793 and the mill was without a miller. In 1795 it was sold at public auction to Benjamin Carr, but evidently he never took possession,
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for the next year Briggs sold it to Nathan Munroe for 301 Spanish milled dollars. From here on the record is complete to 1893, the mill having been owned by ten persons in that period. The highest price, $3,000, was paid by Isaac W. Potter in 1874. Thomas A. H. Tefft was the last operating owner and his brother Jesse, the last miller. It was not operated after 1896.
The mill remained idle and neglected for many years. The inside wood- work and fittings had been torn out for fire wood, and the mill was fast falling to decay.
In 1904, Mrs. Frank H. Rosengarten, a number of other summer resi- dents and those at the Carr Homestead formed an informal Windmill Society and, in a determined effort to raise money to preserve the old mill, sent out the following appeal:
"We, the undersigned, hereby pledge ourselves to give the amounts written opposite our names, for the purpose of purchasing and repairing the old wind mill. It has been ascertained that the mill and land enough to drive around it with right of way thereto, can be purchased for a maximum sum of three hundred dollars and repairs sufficient to keep the mill standing for many years can be made for four hundred dollars. Unless these repairs be made at once, it is evident that the old structure must soon be a thing of the past, for it cannot stand through another winter in its present condition. We earnestly believe that this destruction should not take place before our eyes without an effort on our part to prevent it; for if the mill is once destroyed, no amount of money can ever replace it. Not only is it an object of beauty in itself and a fine specimen of a type of building very rare in this country, but it is one of the few remaining links which bind us to the past, and almost the only object of interest of which Jamestown can boast. We therefore believe that the afore- mentioned sums of money cannot be better expended than in preserving this old land mark for future generations."
The response was enthusiastic and the Windmill was purchased. Miss Louise Carr and her mother, who then owned the Wanton farm on which the mill stood, gave half an acre of land, thereby providing an entrance to the mill from the road. Mr. Theophilus B. Stork executed the deeds and attended to all legal matters. The deeds were retained by Mrs. Rosengarten until 1912, when the Historical Society, first proposed by Mrs. Elizabeth Carr Locke of Los Angeles, was formed. The two societies combined under the name of the Jamestown Historical Society, and with Miss Lena Clarke as the first president, the old mill became the property of this new society.
The present condition of the mill is still as described by Miss Maud Stevens in her brochure "The Jamestown Windmill", (1926) which we quote:
"The mill as it stands at present is externally in its original condition. Within, unfortunately, the depredations already alluded to, have entirely destroyed its ancient appearance. Hopper, meal chest, stairs even were broken up and burned. Nothing remains but the mill stones which are in a somewhat unusual position. Most of these old mills are what is known as "double gear," a part of the machinery being under the lower mill stone, or bed stone. This mill is "single gear," finding room for its reduced number of wheels in the attic story above. Thus it is not necessary to raise the stones as high as the second story, but instead they rest on a low platform. The second story was used simply as a store room.
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Though the mill has been thus stripped of its fittings, the society has been fortunate, during the past summer, in the gift of a hopper from a disused mill in Narragansett, presented by Mr. George H. Clark, of Shannock, R. I., and it is hoped that this much appreciated addition may be supplemented in the future by other fittings. The society is anxious to restore the old features now, while there are those still living who can give exact information on the subject. It would be a most interesting thing to see the mill once more in operation, and the miller again with his toll dish, taking his share from the corn brought in to be ground."
DUTCH ISLAND
Dutch Island was included with Conanicut in the original purchase from the Indians. For many years it was held in common, cach of the proprietors being allowed to use it as a pasture, generally for sheep. About 1750 it was divided up among the proprietors of Conanicut in proportion to their holdings at that time. Those not interested in holding their share disposed of it. In his will Caleb Carr gave to his son Nicholas "also that right in the share of Dutch Island which belongeth to said farm." Finally in 1860, after nearly one hundred years, the entire island was owned by Powell H. Carpenter. Four years later (1864) it was taken over by the U. S. Government and the army fortified it with long range guns and erected barracks for men stationed there. For many years the ferry from Jamestown made regular stops there. The island now is deserted of soldiers and the guns have been dismantled. The lighthouse at the south end of the island was erected about 1840.
JAMESTOWN SCHOOLS
It is stated in Callender's "Discourse" that the first school in Newport, if not in New England, was established August 20, 1640, and "Rev. Robert Lenthal was, by vote, called to keep a public school for the learning of youth, and for his encouragement there was granted to him and his heirs one hundred acres of land, and four more for a house lot." Practically all the carly settlers of Jamestown came from Newport and, of course, realized the advantages of having a school. They were too few, however, to support a school; the increase in population was slow and it was many years before their first school house was built. Field states "This town ( Jamestown) had its share of early private schools but no records were kept. It is a tradition that somewhere in the town a stone school house was built before the beginning of the present century (1800) but the first one of which anything positive is known was erected in December, 1802."
Referring to the town's records one finds the following interesting entrics:
Quarterly Meeting April 20, 1731.
"Voted that John Hammett be paid his house rent which is Ten pounds per annum out of the Town Treasury.
Voted that John Hammett as School master be allowed and paid out of the Town Treasury the sum of Ten pounds for the rent of his house for the past year, the 25 of March last, according to the former vote of the Town."
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