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 81
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" The first contractor for carrying the Block Island mail was Captain Samuel W. Rose, on a salary of $416 a year, leaving the island on Wednesday morning at eight o'clock, and return- ing from Newport at the same hour on Thursday. Captain Rose was succeeded by his son, Captain John E. Rose, who, rather than be underbid by his competitor, contracted to carry the mail to Newport for one cent a year, and after four years of faithful service to the government he had received only one cent of the four due, and that one was paid by a Providence gentleman who wanted the honor of paying from his own pocket the whole expense of carrying the Block Island mail one year. Now, in summer, the mails are daily, and part of the time several each day, and the Islanders, by their own steamer and telegraph, are thoroughly identified with other nations."
The following list gives the names of all the postmasters of Block Island and the dates of their appointment: William L. Wright, December 13th, 1832; Samuel Dunn, July 26th, 1837; Alfred Card, June 12th, 1841; George Rose, September 23d, 1845; Rev. Charles C. Lewis, April 17th, 1852; Rev. Elijah Mac-
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
comber, May 17th, 1855; Samuel J. Osgood, August 4th, 1860; William L. Millikin, June 5th, 1861; C. W. Willis, present, May 9th, 1878.
Block Island has two light honses. The first one was erected on Sandy Point in 1829. It stands on the northern extremity of the island, and hence its name, the North light. A second one was erected on the same point in 1837, and a third in 1857. All these were rendered unserviceable by storms and shifting sand. The present one, a substantial granite building, was built in 1867. It gives promise of withstanding the agencies of nature for a long time.
Mr. William A. Weeden, of Jamestown, R. I., was the first keeper of this light. He held the position till 1839, when he was succeeded by Simon Babcock. The latter was relieved by Edward Mott, who received his appointment from President Harrison in 1841. He served till 1861, when his place was filled by the appointment of Hiram D. Ball, the present keeper, who was appointed by President Lincoln.
The South light, sometimes called the New light, is situated on the southeastern part of the island, near the edge of the famons Mohegan bluff. The building is of brick, and the lantern stands at an elevation of two hundred and four feet above the level of the sea. It was ereeted in the summer of 1874, at a cost of $75,000. The glass of the lantern, consisting of prismatic lenses, scientifically arranged so as to produce the best effect, is said to have cost $10,000. It was lighted for the first time February Ist, 1875. It burns one thousand gallons of oil a year, and its light is visible thirty-five miles at sea.
The fog signal connected with this house is an immense trumpet, opening toward the sea. The trumpet is of metal, seventeen feet long, and is blown by a four horse-power steam engine. Mr. H. W. Clark has charge of this light and fog sig- nal.
The cable office of the United States Signal Service, or mili- tary telegraph, is in a wing attached to Mr. J. T. Dodge's gen- eral store. The cable extends from a point near the North light to Point Judith, about eleven miles distant, and the wires go thenee over the land to Narragansett Pier, where they con- nect with the Western Union telegraph system. The cable was laid by the government in the spring of 1880, petitions for it having been circulated and forwarded to congress by Hon.
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Nicholas Ball, and headed by the late Professor Joseph Henry, in the year 1876, and again in 1878. The telegraph is available to the public for private messages as well as for its official work.
On Block Island there was a wrecking organization, consist- ing of about sixteen men, which did all the business until about twenty years ago. Then Darins B. Dodge and twenty-eight others formed a rival company, under the name of "The Inde- pendent Wrecking Company." After the usual reverses, in face of organized and successful competition, this new company made a beginning, and within two years compelled recognition, and an equal division of the earnings in the Block Island district. The influence of this business matter npon local politics is quite phenomenal. Prior to 1872 there were only two dozen demo- crats on the island, only seven votes being cast for Horace Greely. After the company was organized and began business Mr. Dodge, the originator of the organization, was nominated for general assembly, and was elected by eighty-four majority. Since that time the town has been represented in the legislature by democrats only.
Simon R. Ball was one of the original eight in the old wreck- ing company, as also was Francis Willis. Hiram D. Ball was captain and Samuel Allen was contractor. The company was made up of trained and practical seafaring men.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
SAMUEL ALLEN, born in 1824, has been warden of the peace, councilman, and was one year in the legislature. His children are: Pheba, Helen, Samuel, Wantou J. and Sylvester R. Mrs. Allen is Mary A., daughter of Simon R. Ball.
HON. NICHOLAS BALL .- On the last day of the year 1828, in an humble Block Island cottage, situated about hallway between Salt lake and Trimm's pond, so called, and overlooking the bay on the east, a son was born to Edmnud and Charity (Dodge) Ball. He was a descendant of Hon. Peter Ball, of English lineage, who was prominent as a representative in the colonial legislature, and a prime mover in obtaining a pier for the island in 1735. This pier, however, like others built later, served only a temporary purpose: and the subject of this sketch was nsh- ered into life on an island without a harbor, subject to the toils aud hardships of a remote seafaring community, and enjoying few of the comforts of civilization.
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At the age of eight years he began to attend a private school, very primitive, and in session only about half the year. His text-books were the old English Reader, Webster's Spelling Book and Daboll's Arithmetic; his schoolmates preferred play to work; but his teacher was an earnest lady of rare tact, and the boy performed his tasks carefully and conscientiously, mak- ing rapid progress. His two ciphering books, aggregating nearly four hundred pages of foolscap, are still preserved, and are filled with the solutions of problems, accompanied by state- ments of principles and rules, and interspersed with well drawn pictures of full-rigged ships. They show no sign of the trait which some people manifest in starting a diary with minute fidelity, and day by day giving it less attention; for to the very last page there was no diminution of the care with which every letter or figure was made, and the heading of every subject or page ornamented and shaded. It may be doubted if two books of this size were ever filled more carefully by one so young.
He attended only one entire school year, for during his ninth summer he went to sea as a cook at a salary of six dollars per month, which was increased to seven dollars the following sum- mer. Thus, attending school some four months each winter, and making short voyages summers, or working for farmers at from ten to twenty cents per day, he passed his time until March, 1843, when he secured a berth as cook for ten dollars a month, and afterward as a seaman, his wages steadily increas- ing until, as chief mate of a large vessel, he received twenty- eight dollars per month. In addition to all the ports along our Atlantic coast, his voyages took him to the West Indies, Eng- land, France, and, in 1849, after a trip of one hundred and sixty- one days, around Cape Horn to California. His father was proud of the industry and enterprise of his son, but would have liked for him to exchange his roving disposition for the quiet home life of his brothers and sisters. He was accustomed to say that all of his numerous children were sure to prosper ex- cept Nicholas, who was not likely "to store much honey in the hive." The young man seemed to share this idea, for on Jan- mary 19th, 1851, from the mines at Rattle Snake Bar, North Fork American River, he wrote to his brother-in-law, Joseph Sherman, brother of General T. W. Sherman of Newport, a let- ter containing these words: "You express a wish that I may soon return with my pockets full of shining dross. I cannot
Nicholas Saw
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
promise that my pockets will be full, for this gold is very slip- pery, as all the world knows, and very heavy. My pockets full would make me rich for life, according to my present idea of riches."
In 1851 he made a short visit to his home, and then went back to California. where, either mining or in voyages along the Pacific coast, he remained until 1854, when he re- turned to Block Island and engaged in mercantile pursuits. He was at once elected representative to the general assembly of Rhode Island and re-elected the following year. He was made a state senator in 1858, and, except in 1860, 1861 and 1862, he held that position until 1873, when, on account of increasing business, he declined to be a candidate for any office. From the time he first sailed for California until he finally abandoned the sea, he had been part owner or captain of the vessels on which he had served ; and the money he was thus enabled to save, together with his acquisitions at the mines and his later profits in the home business, gave him the means for traveling and buying books or papers whenever he wished to probe a legisla- tive question to the bottom. He soon became very influential among legislators, as he had formerly been with ship owners and officers. He was noted as a financier, also for keeping track of every bill pending before the legislature or in congress, and for always knowing what was the proper thing to do next with any important measure. In his voyages he had learned the possibilities of improving his native island, and as a legislator he soon saw how the desired improvements must be obtained, if at all, and he threw his whole being into the work.
His first triumph, obtained by his own indefatigable efforts and the aid of powerful coadjutors, was the government break water, which has cost some $300,000, and now extends its huge arm seaward from Block Island 1,500 feet. An idea of what was necessary to obtain this may be gained from a paragraph by the historian, S. T. Livermore: "In this brief sketch only an index can be given of the time, money and personal effort put forth by him in this national enterprise-one which had repeat- edly proved a failure under the administrations of the town alone, and the town and colony combined. Mr. Ball's judg- ment, personal influence, indomitable perseverance and success in this public enterprise furnish an example which it would be gratifying to see others endeavoring to excel. His personal in -
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terviews with congressmen at Washington, with the boards of trade at Philadelphia, at New York, at Providence and at Bos- ton. visiting some of these cities repeatedly; his petitions ob- tained by him from mercantile firms in Bangor, Boston, Newport, Providence, Stonington, New London, New York, Philadelphia and other places directed to their respective congressmen; and his unceasing correspondence, all of which was carried on from 1867 to 1870, required an expense of time, money and brains which but few conld afford. Both approvals and complaints point to Hon. Nicholas Ball as the principal founder of the Government harbor at Block Island, and while accepting some of the pecuniary fruits of the enterprise, he enjoys the satisfac- tion of seeing his town enriched thereby thousands of dollars where he is profited hundreds."
An idea of how these petitions and appropriations were ob- tained may be gathered from a paragraph from the Boston Journal, February 18th, 1867: " Hon. Nicholas Ball was before the Senate Committee of Commerce this morning to advocate the appropriation for a breakwater at Block Island. The com- mittee were so impressed by Mr. Ball's plain facts they voted to recommend an appropriation of $40,000.00."
Having witnessed from boyhood the great destruction of prop- erty wrecked on the island, with its attendant risk or loss of life, he turned his attention to devising and obtaining means for its protection, as soon as he obtained rest from his labors for the breakwater. By similar persistent efforts he secured a life saving station on the west side of Block Island in 1872, and soon afterward one near the breakwater. The same course was pur- sued in getting the immense siren and the light house at South- east point, the latter costing 875,000, being one of the finest in the world. In 1877 Mr. Ball sent to Congress a petition headed by Professor Joseph Henry, signed by many prominent com- mercial men from Calais, Me., to Philadelphia, and recom- mended by many boards of trade in our seaport cities, asking for an appropriation for a signal station at Block Island, to be connected with the main land by a submarine cable. After re- peated disappointments and as constantly renewed attempts, the appropriation was made; and at 5 o'clock P.M., April 21st, 1880, Mr. Ball had the pleasure of making the congratulatory address on the laying of the long desired cable, which has since
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
been of great service to commerce, to the signal service, and to the general public.
Space does not permit detailing the minutia of his story. which is closely interwoven with various other improvements of both local and national importance. Although his career has been essentially a public one, his private enterprise has been no less marked. Himself a hard worker, the execution of his plans has given employment to hundreds. His mer- cantile career was very successful, but was brought to a close in 1874, when he turned his attention to the erection of the Ocean View Hotel, which has become famous as the summer home of prominent men, and which has grown to colossal size under the demands of a constantly increasing business. As is well known, its reputation is hardly equalled by that of any other hotel on the Atlantic coast.
Though not inclined to be radical in his views, he is a strong supporter of the republican party, of which he has been a member since its organization. He married, in 1851, Eliza Milliken, daughter of Abraham and Sybil (Littlefield) Milli- kin, of Block Island. Their surviving children are: Cassius C., Effie A. (Cundall), and Schuyler C. L. Mrs. Ball died April 14th, 1870, and Mr. Ball subsequently married Mrs. Almeda R. (Dodge) Littlefield, daughter of Solomon and Catharine Dodge.
The above is but a brief outline of the history of a man who, deprived of his mother when but seven months old, experi- enced in his early life such hardships and privations as wonld crush the youthful aspiration and ambition of most boys; yet who stemmed the tide of circumstance and rose superior to his misfortunes and poverty. lifting his native island with him; for the contrast between his present wealth and his former want is not greater than that between Block Island as he found it and as he will leave it. With no great examples of human en- deavor around him to inspire, with but scanty advantages for education, and without the great incentives to action found in large communities, his invincible native energy and his strong determination to make the most out of the stuff that was in him, manifested itself very early in life and impelled him to a career in which he has made an impression upon his age which will continually deepen as his story becomes better known. The visitor to Block Island can see on every side evidences of
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the work of Nicholas Ball; but his monument will be the break- water which stays the proud waves of the ocean and affords shelter to many a storm-tossed vessel.
And there shall it stand for centuries after its great founder has gone, a huge monument of granite, stretching its mighty arm of protection fifteen hundred feet into the sea, a perpetual reminder to the many thousands who shall enjoy the great blessings of security, of wealth, and of the comforts it shall bring, of the indomitable energy and unswerving purpose of Block Island's greatest citizen.
HIRAM D. BALL, for twenty-six years keeper of the North light, is a brother of Nicholas Ball. He was born in 1821, fol- lowed the sea in the merchant service, coastwise and in the West India trade, about twenty years. His wife was Mary Ann Mott. They have four children: Hiram Ansel, Charity, now Mrs. Edward S. Payne, Macy A. and Adriatta.
SIMON R. BALL, retired seaman and farmer, was born in 1816, and named for his father, Simon Ray Ball. At fourteen he went coasting, then to the West Indies and in European trade as mate in the ship "Tremolion," of Boston. He married Celia Ann Mitchell, who died leaving four children: Mrs. Samuel Al- len, Celia Adelaide, Amos D. and Emma A. His present wife, Alice, is a danghter of Samuel Dodge. Their children are: Ed- ward M., William N., Simon R., Jr., Hiram D., 2d, and Pheba R. Mr. Ball was with the Old Wrecking Company during those years when that business was very profitable. He was seven- teen years overseer of the poor.
WILLIAM PITT BALL, whose father bore the same name, is a grandson of Simon Ray Ball. He was born in 1835, and married Saralı, daughter of Christopher E. Champlin. They have four sons: Irving O., Eugene, Everett and Fenner .. Of the two older boys, the former is a student at the State Normal school and the latter at Deans' academy. Mr. Ball has been in the town council and has served several years as assessor.
MARTIN V. BALL, brother of William P., was born in 1839. His wife, Mary J., is Edward H. Champlin's daughter. Their children are: Susie R. and Florence A. Mr. Ball has had the mail contract to and from Block Island nearly all of the last eighteen years. He is an officer and one of the owners of the steamer " G. W. Danielson, " and has considerable farm interests in town.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
LEANDER A. BALL, born in 1831, is a son of Gideon D. Ball, whose father was Isaiah Ball. His wife is a daughter of Robert C. Mitchell, a son of Amos Mitchell. They have two sons and fonr daughters. At the age of seventeen he began work as car- penter and builder, learned the trade, and followed this busi- ness until 1879. In 1882-3 he built the " Union House," which accommodates fifty guests, and which he now owns.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM G. CARD, carpenter, born in 1844, is the son of Alfred Card, who, prior to 1870, was for twenty-five years a prominent man here. Captain Card was for five years in the First Rhode Island cavalry, and was captain of the New Shoreham life saving station seven years. In 1875 he opened the first public bathing houses here. Mr. Card is married to Ann E., daughter of James Dodge. Their only child is Junietta Card.
JOUN P. CHAMPLIN .- While two hundred and twenty-six years have been working the inevitable extinction of many of the old family names which were a part of the pioneer record of the white race on Block Island, other family names have from time to time been brought into prominence, so that the third century of local history seems destined to be strongly marked by families unknown here in the first century of the white man's occupancy.
One of these is the Champlin family. The name Champlin and Champlain, quite generally disseminated through New Eng- land, suggests the probability of a common ancestry, although the orthography here used has come down in an unbroken line for at least five generations.
Christopher Elihm Champlin, son of one Joseph Champlin, the ancestor of all who bear the family name on this island, was born in North Stonington, and spent his active years in Wake- field, R. I. His son, Nathaniel L., married Captain Hull's daughter, Thankful Hull, of Block Island, a wealthy farmer, from whom they there inherited a considerable land property. This Nathaniel came to the island prior to his marriage, which was probably about 1775. He was a thorough and successful farmer, of which many instances bear evidence. Here his seven children were born. The sons were Uriah, Peleg C., John, Edward II., Christopher E .; the third being named in honor of grandfather Hull. In the settlement of the estate Peleg and
55
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John had the land. John died at the age of fifty-one, leaving five children, who sold their place and left the island.
The youngest son, Christopher E., was born February 16th, 1807. In 1831 he purchased the estate on which he died May 30th, 1885, and here he reared his family of seven children. His only son was his third child, John P., born December 15th, 1837, who was married in 1859 to Lydia M., a daughter of Wil- liam M. and Wealthy Maria Rose. Mr. Rose was a man well and favorably known here. He bore his part in local public affairs, being town clerk several years and in the town council. He owned and ran the mail packet for a long time, and was once customs inspector for New Shoreham.
Mr. and Mrs. John P. Champlin have three sons: Hon. Chris- topher E. Champlin, Dr. John C. Champlin and William Rose, a lad of nine years.
Christopher E. was born in 1860. His early education was in the common schools. He also availed himself of the advantages offered by the high school of Block Island, and was afterward employed two years as teacher in the district schools. Aiming at a professional career, he became a student in Greenwich Academy, and finally completed his preparatory studies in Brown University. In 1882 he entered the Boston University Law School, taking his degree in 1884, and on the 8th of July following was admitted to the Suffolk county (Boston) bar. His office training was with Edward H. Hazard and Charles H. Parkhurst, of Providence. His admission to the Rhode Island bar soon followed in 1885, when he opened an office in Provi- dence. In the spring of 1887, being still regarded as a resident of Block Island, the democratic party of that town selected him as their candidate for state representative, in a campaign promis- ing to be, as it proved, one of the most sharply contested com- bats ever settled by ballot on Block Island. The canvass closed, showing a large majority for Mr. Champlin, over John C. Shef- field, the republican candidate.
Doctor John C. Champlin, the second son of John P., was born February 12th, 1864. He, in early boyhood, had a long- ing for a life on the sea, and at one time had his clothes packed awaiting an opportunity for his escape. He was finally per- snaded to give up the idea, and he returned to his books and received, like his brother, a liberal education. Being of that turn of mind which would naturally adapt one to his profession,
John F. Champion 1
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
he decided to turn his attention to the unfortunate of earth ; and in the fall of 1882 he entered the Boston University Med- ical College, taking his degree with marked distinction in the class of 1885. Early in the course he joined and became a prominent member of the Hahnemann Medical Society, from which he also received a diploma. Soon after he graduated, being importuned by friends, he returned to his native town and opened an office in the fall of 1885, being the first resi- dent physician Block Island ever produced; where he still re- mains building up a splendid business, and highly esteemed by many friends.
The senior Mr. Champlin, whose name appears at the head of this article, was bred to the farm. At the age of twenty-four, two years after his marriage, he began the improvement of his father's farm, and upon him, as the only son, soon devolved the duty of managing, more or less, the affairs of his father, in his declining years. As a farmer he is counted among the first in the town in point of system and success. His farm property, very pleasantly situated, comprising the old homestead estate of his father, is one of the most valuable on the island. He is one of the original members of the Independent Wrecking Com- pany, to which his father also belonged.
In the spring of 1873 Mr. Champlin was elected a member of the town council, taking his seat as a democrat. The following year he was again chosen, and in 1876 he was elected second warden and vice president of the council. This position he held until 1884, when, as a just recognition of his fidelity to public interests, he was placed at the head of the town gov- ernment as first warden and president of the council. Each year since then his townsmen have endorsed his course by a re-election.
It has long been Mr. Champlin's judgment that the Great Salt pond in New Shoreham should be opened to the sea. This is a measure to which the democracy of Block Island has been pledged for several years. Since Mr. Champlin has been at the head of town affairs a bill, endorsed by Hon. Joshna T. Dodge, has been passed by the state legislature authorizing the work and empowering the town to raise $12,000, if needed for the purpose. The work was begun in September, 1887. The recent influx of summer boarders and cottage builders has turned pub- lic attention somewhat to the rights of the town in the bathing
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