USA > Rhode Island > Newport County > History of Newport County, Rhode Island. From the year 1638 to the year 1887, including the settlement of its towns, and their subsequent progress > Part 45
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10,000 Dollars THE HIGHEST PRIZE for 5 Dollars.
Adventurers ! You have now a fine chance to make your fortune. If you do not buy a ticket you will not draw a prize. Tickets in the Newport Methodist Chapel Lottery of John C. Shaw, No. 3 Washington Square.
and later followed :
Nothing Venture, Nothing Have. Now is your time, Adventurers to try your good fortune or lose only five dollars. You may gain Ten Thousand Dollars on trial in the Newport Chapel Lottery. JAMES PERRY.
This plan of raising money for public purposes by lottery was common during the last half of the last century and in the beginning of this. It was usual in the colonies and states. The Newport lottery, however, seems never to have been drawn.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
The church was not fully completed at the time of its dedi- cation in May, 1807. Samnel Merwin, the preacher in charge, preached the sermon. The society now began to attract new members, and is said to have had an element of " worldliness " unusual in that day and not precisely in accord with the origi- nal spirit of the early Wesleyans.
In 1829, when the term of service of Mr. Norris as preacher in charge expired, the number of members was reported as ninety- five. When the towns of Newport and Portsmouth were united under a single charge the full membership was one hundred and sixty-four. In 1832, during the term of Asa Kent, a period of adversity for the church began in the charge of murder brought against Mr. Avery, the pastor of the Bristol church, who was brought to Newport for trial. Opinions as to his guilt were di- vided within as well as without the church and feeling ran high. Animosity to the individual turned to hatred of Methodism in general. Kent held firm in his work though the membership of the church fell off one half and at times the service was almost wholly deserted. The acccused was aquitted but the cause of Methodism suffered until 1834, when a revival of religion, unex- ampled in its history, restored its waning fortunes.
In 1844 the annual conference was held in Newport, Bishop Hedding presiding, assisted by Bishop Janes, and the influence of the church again took increase and an era of unchecked pros- perity set in. In 1855 Frederick Upham was appointed to New- port as pastor and his administration was of great advantage to his people.
In 1871 a new act of incorporation was obtained from the leg- islature for the first church. Before this the church had not been incorporated in accordance with the forms prescribed by the "Book of Discipline." Under the new charter the parish holds the legal title of the First Methodist Episcopal Church of Newport. The first charter, however, remains in force under the title of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Congregation. The two work together. In December, 1881, during the pastor- ate of Mr. Angelo Carroll, the society met with calamity in the almost total destruction of the first church by fire. They were not without friends in their disaster, the Friends offering them one of their large rooms and the Second Baptist society inviting them to join with it in worship. The Congregationalists gave them a similar invitation and the Central Baptists offered the
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use of their building half of each Sabbath, an invitation which was heartily accepted. The injured building was promptly re- stored with many convenient changes and in July, 1882, the congregation bade farewell to their hospitable friends and re- turned to their old home.
Incorporators of the First Methodist Episcopal Church : Reu- ben Hubbard, James Perry, Joshua Appleby, John Hull, Jo- seph Boss, Jr., George .Irish, Henry Moore, William Dennis, Lloyd Beale, William Moore, Jr .. Benjamin Wightman, John Spooner, Albert W. Gardiner, John Pitman, Panl M. Mumford, Jonathan Heath, Benjamin Pearce, George Cox, Isaac Sherman, Samuel E. Carr, John A. Shaw, Nicholas R. Gardiner. - (Davis' History of Newport Methodist Church).
Pastors of the First Methodist Church : Reuben Hubbard, 1805; Samuel Merwin, 1807; Daniel Webb, 1809; Benjamin F. Lambert, 1811; Daniel Webb, 1814; Enoch Mudge, 1825; Sam- nel Norris, 1827; James Porter, 1829; Thomas W. Tucker, 1830; Asa Kent, 1832; John Lord, 1834; Louis Janson, 1835; Thomas Ely, 1836; Jonathan Cady, 1837; Isaac Stoddard, 1838; Frank- lin Gavitt, 1840; Joel Knight, 1842: Robert M. Hatfield, 1843; Elisha B. Bradford, 1845; Richard Livesey, 1846; Bartholomew Otherman, 1848; Asa U. Swinerton, 1850; John B. Husted, 1852; John Lovejoy, 1853; Frederick Upham, 1855; Micah J. Talbot, 1857; John B. Husted, 1858; Henry S. White, 1859; Charles H. Titus, 1861; Lncins D. Davis, 1863; Daniel A. Wheadon, 1866; George M. Hamlin, 1868; Edwin S. Stanley, 1869; Dudley P. Leavitt. 1871; William F. Whitcher, 1874; . Edgar M. Smith, 1877; Angelo Carroll, 1880; Daniel A. Wheadon, 1882; Joseph Hollingshead, 1883-5; Thomas J. Everett, 1886; Joshna A. Rich, 1887.
SECOND METHODIST EPISCOPAL (THAMES STREET) CHURCH. - This second organization of the Methodists, originally intended as a mission in the southern part of the city of Newport, was formed in 1856, during the pastorate of Mr. Upham. Twenty- seven persons took letters from the First church, and were placed under the charge of Mr. O. N. Brooks. They had at first met for prayer and class instruction at private houses. In 1854 they held stated meetings in an old school house in Mil- burn court, and soon after in a vacant store on Sisson's wharf. They still continned a part of the First clinich until the next year, when the conference assigned Mr. Brooks to South New-
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
port. He found the church without a single member. Bishop Janes joined the two organizations in one charge, and Mr. Brooks was appointed assistant. A house and lot were pur- chased on the corner of Thames and Brewer streets, the build- ing was converted into a temporary chapel, and the next year the new society was formed. The leading spirits in this move- ment were Clark Burdick and Isaac W. Sherman.
Founders of the Second ( Thames Street) Methodist Episcopal Church: Clark Burdick, Martha Burdick, Isaac W. Sher- man, Emily D. Sherman, William T. Holt, Eliza G. Holt, Ed- ward S. Hildreth, Seth Swinburne, Ira S. Eldredge, Sarah II. Eldredge, William D. Morehead, Sally Morehead, Alexis M. Slocum, Mary G. Albro, Susan A. Carr, Levi J. Greene, Ben- jamin A. Sayer, Jacob H. Lamb, Harriet F. Lamb, David Reed, Charles Williams, Rebecca Williams, Hannah Peabody, Mary E. Mowry, Sarah Slocum, Mary E. Sherman, Susan C. Kanll.
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Pastors of the Thames Street Church : Orlando N. Brooks, 1855; Edward A. Lyon, 1858; William II. Richards, 1860; Wil- liam Livesey, 1862; Edward A. Lyon, 1864; Frederick Upham, 1866; Asa N. Bodfish, 1868; Benjamin A. Chase, 1870; Shadrack Leader, 1874; William T. Harlow, 1876; Oliver H. Fernald, 1878; Samuel T. Carroll, 1880; Edgar F. Clarke, 1883-5; Fran- cis D. Blakeslee, 1886; Orange W. Scott, 1887.
The house of worship of the First Methodist Episcopal church was erected in 1807. It is said to have been the first Meth- odist church with pews, a steeple and bell, erected in Amer- ica; and there is a tradition that Bishop Asbury "lifted his hands with holy horror when he first saw it and predicted that a church which began with a steeple would end with a choir and perhaps even with an organ." The partial destruc- tion by fire in 1881 left the steeple undamaged, but the bell has been changed and the old square pews have given way to more modern seats.
House of Worship .-- The church occupied by this congregation stands on the corner of Thames and Brewer streets. It was erected in 1866 and the chapel rebuilt in 1873. In 1879 great changes were made in the chief building, the walls frescoed. stained glass windows introduced and a good organ provided.
The methods of the Methodists are now more like those of their worldly neighbors than in the simple beginnings of the foundation of their order.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
THE UNION CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH (COLORED). - This church was organized in 1824 with fourteen members. It orig inated from a society formed in 1780, called the Union Society for General Improvement. The present edifice, which is located on Division street, was erected in 1871. The pastor is Rever- end M. Van Horn, who commenced his service in 1868. The church has about two hundred members.
THE JEWISH SYNAGOGUE .- It is said to be of record in the annals of the order of Masonry that fifteen Hebrew families from Holland arrived at Newport in 1652, and brought with them the first three degrees of the craft. If it be true it is the earliest mention of Jews in Newport. In 1677 two of this race, Moses Pacheco and Mordecai Campanal, bought for the use of the Hebrews then resident in Newport a plot of land "for a burial place," and the deed assigns it to the said Jews and their heirs and assigns and successors forever. The piece of land thus conveyed was forty by thirty feet. This was the begin- ning of the cemetery of the ancient Hebrew congregation, which picturesque and well ordered burial place is to be seen on Kay street, at the head of Touro.
Among the proceedings of the general assembly held at New- port June 24th, 1684, the following is recorded : "Voted, In answer to the petition of Simon Medus, David Brown and asso- ciates, being Jews, presented to this assembly, bearing date June 24, 1684, we declare that they may expect as good protec- tion here as any stranger, being not of our nation, residing amongst us in this his Majesty's colony, ought to have, being obedient to his Majesty's laws."
This is the first mention of the Jews as a class, or indeed at all, in the colonial records. The answer of the assembly to the petition is not a law but a declaration, and is in entire accord with the first article "touching Lawes" in the "Lawes and Orders " adopted and promulgated in 1647, which reads, "That no person in this colony shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseized of his Lands or Liberties, or be exiled or any other- wise molested or destroyed but by the Lawfull judgment of his Peers or by some known Law and according to the Letter of it Ratified and confirmed by the major part of the General As- sembly lawfully met and orderly managed."
The patent for Providence Plantations, granted in 1643, gave the colony full power to rule themselves and ordain their civil
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
laws and constitutions and infliet punishments, provided that the said laws, constitutions and punishments for the civil gov- ernment of the said Plantations be conformable to the laws of England so far as the nature and constitution of the place would admit. The charter granted by Charles the Second in 1663 contains this phrase: "That our royall will and pleasure is that noe person within the said colony [Rhode Island and Providence plantations] at any time hereafter shall be in any wise molested, punished or called in question for any differ- ences in opinion in matters of religion, and doe not actually disturb the civil peace of our sayd colony; but that all and every person or persons may from time to time and at all times hereafter freely and fully have and enjoye his and their own judg- ments and consciences in matters of religious concernments."
The general assembly at their meeting of May, 1664, in conform- ity to this clanse declare, "At present this General Assembly judgeth it their duty to signify his majesty's gracious pleasure vouchsafed in these words to us verbatim (viz): That no person within the said colony at any time hereafter shall be in any ways molested, punished, disquieted or called in question for any difference of opinion in matters of religion and do not actually disturb the civil peace of the said colony." But it must not be supposed that either the charter or the acts of the assembly invested any person with political rights. The original settlement of Aquidneck was under a compact by in- corporators. They styled themselves " Freemen incorporate of this Body politick." Subsequent freemen were admitted. This body alone claimed, held, and exercised all civil anthority. The records of 1641 give the court roll of freemen and note the disfranchisement of four of their number and order the names to be cancelled out of the roll. A distinction is made between those admitted to be inhabitants and those admitted as freemen. Later the records do not make mention of formal admission of inhabitants, but there can be no question that the resident Jews were by usage and consent so held.
In 1762 two persons professing the Jewish religion petitioned the superior court of the colony to be made citizens. Their pe- tition was denied; and whatever may be thought of the wisdom of this denial it is absurd to say that any community from whom the power has not been withheld by charter or constitu- tion has not the natural right to judge for itself whom it may
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admit to the share in its government and the framing of its laws. Mr. Arnold (History of Rhode Island) says that "long anterior to the Revolution, Jews were not only allowed in Rhode Island as they were nowhere else in New England, the quiet enjoy- ment of their religious faith and forms of worship, but were on several occasions upon petitions to the assembly naturalized as citizens of the colony."
Certain facts of history are hardly to be found outside of le- gal records, newspapers and letters. As the Jews were not free- men of the town they are seldom mentioned in the first; the second were not printed in any of the colonies till after the be- ginning of the eighteenth century; and such as have come down of the third class of information of course do not touch upon the concerns of a race who lived apart, rarely mingled with their Christian neighbors, were by nature and habit secretive and re- served, and at this time had little interest in literature or the arts. It is probable that the first Holland emigrants of Jewish race were of Spanish descent, driven out from their southern home by the Jesuit inquisitions. And here it may be remarked that the southern Jew was and is of a higher order than those of Middle and Northern Europe. The better class of Jews left Jerusalem in the first great exodus and settled along the shores of the Mediterranean, while those from whom the Jews of the Rhine derive were of the lower order and sent up as slaves with the famous Sixth Legion which. after the destruction of the Holy City by Titus, was ordered to garrison the frontier posts in the neighborhood of the present cities of Mayence and Frankfort. This digression is made to account for the esteem in which the Jews in Newport were held and the position they were accorded in the social life of the eighteenth century. Some account of their relation to the trade and commerce of Newport appears in another chapter.
It has been seen that true to the traditions of Abraham, their first public act was to secure a burial place set apart and conse- crated to their use. But toward the middle of the eighteenth century they had increased in numbers and in wealth sufficient- ly to erect for themselves a place of worship; and in the year 1759 they secured a plot of land on which, following the precept of their religion as to constructions, they erected a building which still stands; a worthy monument to the unobtrusive na- ture, the quiet push and the ideas of permanence which char-
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acterize the best varieties of their race. This structure was com- pleted in 1763. There were at that time over sixty families of Jews in the town, some of considerable wealth.
An account of the dedication of this, their synagogue, ap- peared in the Newport letter of the Boston Post Boy of the 12th of the same month, 1763: " NEWPORT, December 5 .- On Friday last, in the afternoon, was the Dedication of the new Synagogue in this Town. It began by a handsome Procession in which were carried the Books of the Law to be deposited in the Ark. Several portions of the Seripture, and of their Service with a Prayer for the Royal Family were read and finely sung by the Priest and People. There were present many Gentlemen and Ladies. The Order and Decornm, the Harmony and Solemnity of the Musick, together with a handsome Assembly of People, in an edifice the most pefect of the Temple kind perhaps in America and splendidly illuminated, could not but raise in the mind a faint Idea of the Majesty and grandeur of the ancient Jewish Worship mentioned in Scripture."
Callender writing in 1739 says: " There are at this time seven worshipping assemblies, churches or societies in this town, be- sides a large one of the People called Qnakers at Portsmouth, the other end Part of the Island:" three Baptist, two Con- gregational, one Church of England, one Friends. Morse's Gazetteer in 1797 records that Newport had ten houses for public worship.
To-day, in 1888, there are nineteen churches or houses of worship: four Episcopalian, four Baptist, three Methodist, two Congregational, one Friends, one Swedes, one Synagogue, and two Roman Catholic; one of the Baptist, Methodist and Congre- gational for colored people.
HISTORY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN NEWPORT .*
The history of the Catholic church in Newport county, like its history everywhere, is full of interest. From a small begin- ning it has steadily increased and is now an important factor in the promotion of law and order in the community. All things considered, its story reads like a romance, so rapid has been its development, so marvellous the fidelity of its scattered children. To-day, whithersoever we turn, monuments of Catholic zeal and enterprise meet our gaze-monuments, too, that are the direct * By Reverend James Coyle.
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result of sacrifices such as the world has seldom witnessed. Sixty years ago Catholics in Newport county were extremely few in number and poor in all that regards worldly posses- sions.
Historically speaking Newport can claim the honor of being the cradle of the Catholic church in Rhode Island. During the war of independence, in 1778, the sacrifice of the Mass was offered up by the chaplains of D'Estaing in the south room of the present state house. It is certain that there were Catholics in Newport after the departure of the French allies, for records in the Boston cathedral, bearing date 1791, show that Bishop Carroll of Baltimore, and Father Thayer of Boston had conferred the sacrament of baptism in that town. Bristol and its environs were visited in 1811 and 1812 by Bishop Cheverus and Doctor Matignon of Boston, who there baptized the children of the French-American portion of the population. In February, 1827, Reverend Patrick Byrne, also of Boston, visited the Catholics employed at Fort Adams and in the coal mines at the northern part of the island and prepared over one hundred and fifty of the operatives for the reception of Holy Communion. Encour- aged by Father Byrne's report, Bishop Fenwick authorized Reverend Robert D. Woodley, then residing in Providence, to attend Newport as an ontmission.
In 1828, Father Woodley purchased and fitted up a small school building on Barney street, the first Catholic church in the state of Rhode Island. In October, 1828, Bishop Fenwick visited this modest edifice, where he preached and confirmed eleven persons. During his sermon he urged the purchase of additional lands for future needs.
In 1830 Reverend John Corry succeeded Father Woodley in the care of the Newport mission. The latter, relying on his rapidly increasing congregation, began the erection of a more pretentions edifice on Mount Vernon street, which was dedi- cated to the service of God Angust 20th, 1837. The new church was known as St. Joseph's, and had a seating capacity of be- tween seven and eight hundred. In the fall of 1837 Father Corry was succeeded by Reverend C. Lee, who was in turn succeeded by Reverend James O'Reilly in 1839.
On Father O' Reilly's departure for New Bedford Bishop Ty- ler appointed as Newport's resident pastor a man whose name is still a household word, Reverend James Fitton. Father Fit-
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ton considered the Mount Vernon street edifice unsafe, and fore- casting the future of Newport, secured on Spring street the site of the present splendid temple of Our Lady of the Isle. In his onerous work Father Fitton had not only the support of his own faithful flock, he had moreover the cordial co-operation of his fellow citizens irrespective of creed or class. To his aid, too, with princely munificence, came those worthy descend- ants of the Carrolls of Carrollton, Mrs. Harper and her devoted daughter Emily, both of Baltimore. Their substantial aid was of incalculable value to Father Fitton in his gigantic under- taking. The corner-stone of Our Lady of the Isle was laid June 14th, 1849, the two hundred and tenth year of the settlement of Newport, there being then within its limits a Catholic popu- lation of five hundred and eighty-six souls. During its entire progress the work was superintended by General Rosecrans, then an officer at Fort Adams. Our Lady of the Isle was ded- icated in 1853 by Right Reverend Bernard O' Reilly, the then bishop of Hartford.
Saint Mary's, as the church is now called, was among the first and best efforts of that prince of Catholic architects, P. C. Keeley of Brooklyn, who might base his claim to undying re- membrance on this glorious temple alone. In 1855 Father Fit- ton was succeeded by the Very Rev. William O' Reilly, V. G. Father O'Reilly entered upon the work of his new charge with ardor, and in 1865 replaced the old school building on William street by the present massive granite structure. After the death of Father O'Reilly, in December, 1868, the affairs of the parish were conducted by Father O'Connor, till the arrival of the pres- ent incumbent, Reverend Phillip Grace, D. D., in September, 1869. The new pastor found that much had been done, but that more remained to be done. Debts, numerous and pressing, stared him in the face. With a loftiness of purpose that won him hosts of friends, Doctor Grace began his great life work. The task was Herculean but priest and people were a unit in well-doing, the result unequivocal success. The history of Doc- tor Grace's nineteen years pastorate is stamped on every move- ment, where scholarly ability and unbounded devotion were called into question. His zeal and self-sacrifice have had their fruition in the absolute clearance from debt of everything con- nected with Saint Mary's. A stately convent, a magnificent church, a majestic school and a beautiful rectory, all free and
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nnincumbered, speak volumes for the ceaseless generosity of the resident and visiting Catholics of Newport. To this proud record might be added many less notable works, among them two cemeteries where the faithful toilers, pastors and people, united even in death, slumber together.
The Church of Our Lady of the Isle was solemnly conse- crated by Right Rev. Thomas F. Hendricken, Bishop of Prov- idence August 15th, 1884, in the presence of the Most Rev. Archbishop of Boston and other prominent dignitaries of church and state. The sermon on the occasion was delivered by Very Rev. C. H. McKenna, the far-famed Dominican preacher.
In January, 1885, the new Saint Joseph's parish was estab- lished, the needs of the residents in the northern portion of the city necessitating the division. In May. 1887, Doctor Grace took possession of the costly and spacious rectory built on the site of the old parochial residence. This last and crowning glory renders Saint Mary's parish complete in every particular. The new edifice, like all the other buildings, is entirely paid for, a fact that speaks volumes for the united and generons efforts of pastor and people.
SAINT JOSEPH'S PARISH. - The history of the new Saint Jo- seph's parish, though covering but a brief space, is full of in- terest. It embraces the northern portion of the city, and has a resident population of abont sixteen hundred souls. The formation of Saint Joseph's was officially announced on Sun- day, January 18th. 1885, from the pulpit of Saint Mary's. One week later its first pastor, Reverend James Coyle, held initial services in the old Unitarian church on Mill street, with large and interested andiences in attendance. Here the people as- sembled till the March following, when a more commodious edifice, that of the Zion church corporation, corner of Touro and Clarke streets, was secured. The sum paid for this prop- erty was $15,025, a price by no means exorbitant, inasmuch as the site is deemed by far the finest in the city. After making some necessary repairs and alterations, the church and chapel adjoining were solemnly dedicated on Sunday, September 6th, 1886, by Right Reverend Thomas F. Hendricken, Bishop of Providence. The high mass on this occasion was sung by Rev- erend Leo P. Boland of Boston, and the vespers by Reverend William Stang of the Cathedral, Providence. The bishop preached to large and attentive audiences at both services,
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