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 83
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When the laying of the present telegraph cable from Block Island to Narragansett Pier was being agitated, the only man from Block Island who went to Washington in the interest of the measure was Mr. Mitchell. He presented to Secretary Endicott, of the war department, his argument in behalf of the town for an appropriation for this purpose. General Hlazen, the chief signal officer, was next interested in behalf of the cable, and the plea for the appropriation, as thus en- dorsed, went to the United States senate committee on the Urgent Deficiency Bill, and was made an amendment to that bill and passed with it. Mr. Mitchell is still chairman of the meteorological committee for Block Island, charged with the monthly inspection of the means and the methods at the gov- ernment signal station here.
Probably no one feature, except harbor protection, has given this island so great an impetus as that which naturally flows from good electric connection with the outside world. Brokers now direct, from the corridors of the hotels here, the movements of their affairs in Wall street, almost as readily as from a Broad street office.
Mr. Mitchell is affiliated with the great Masonic brotherhood through membership in Atlantic Lodge, and is a member of the First Baptist church of Block Island. He esteems the building of churches and the maintenance of the Christian ministry a
B.B. lehell
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
duty lying along the line of good citizenship, and hence con- tributes liberally to their support. He donated one half of the site for the new Episcopal chapel built in 1887.
Mr. Mitchell, although widely and favorably kuown in polit- ical and social life, is likely to be longest remembered through his successful business career as proprietor of the Spring House, the popular summer resort, mentioned in another section of this chapter. No doubt the crowning event in his career was out- side of all these relations in life which we have noticed; for upon the foundation of a man's home, if it be a happy one, rests the whole superstructure of what the man may be. His wife was a daughter of Archibald Milliken and a sister of Capt. Arnold R. Millikin, an old family of which proper mention ap- pears in its proper connection in this chapter.
D. A. MITCHELL, born in 1845, the proprietor of the "High- land House," is a son of Anos D. and a grandson of Amos, a son of Jonathan Mitchell. Mrs. Mitchell was Rozenia Ball. They have one son, John E. Mr. Mitchell built his hotel in 1875, and the annex in 1886. This house, which accommodates one liundred guests, is on the highest ground occupied by a hotel in this part of the town.
AARON W. MITCHELL is proprietor of Mitchell Cottage, which was built in 1866, accommodating thirty guests. His wife is Jane M., daughter of Cornelius Rose. Mr. Mitchell's father, Robert C., was a son of Amos and a grandson of Jonathan Mitchell.
SYLVESTER H. MOTT, born in 1828, is the last of the five chil- dren of Thomas Mott, who was born in 1792 and died in 1868. Thomas' father, Edward, was a son of Daniel and a grandson of Edward Mott. From the age of thirteen until five years ago Mr. Mott was engaged in fishing and coasting. His wife was Hannah Elizabeth Littlefield. They have two children: Eliza C. (Mrs. S. D. Mott) and Lovina G. (Mrs. Jolin R. Payne, Jr.)
EDWARD MOTT, second, is a son of Samuel, grandson of Sam- uel, and great grandson of Daniel, who was a son of Edward Mott, the ancestor of this family. Mrs. Mott was Isabelle, daughter of Luther Dickens. They have one son, Leon L. Mr. Mott followed the sea five or six years, built the Pequot Honse at the harbor, conducted it four years, and is now engaged in farming on the heights north of the center.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
JOIN R. PAYNE. born in 1825, is a son of Rebo Payne, who died in 1854. His ancestors in direct male line for several gen- erations were named John. His wife, Pheba C., is a daughter of Edward Sands. Their children are: Edward S., John R. and Fannie E. Mr. Payne has served several years in the town coun- cil. IIe is considered a model farmer. He owns part of the old Sands' property, including the house built about two hundred and eight years ago.
ALAMANZO J. ROSE, the proprietor of the Woonsocket Honse, is a son of Alanson D. Rose, who built this house in 1872. The grandfather was the old town clerk, Gideon Rose. The hotel was visited when new by a large party from Woonsocket, hence the name it bears. The proprietor was born in 1859. His mother is a sister of William P. Lewis. Mr. Rose was a men- ber of the general assembly two years, 1885-1887.
JOHN ROSE, carpenter and contractor, was born in 1852. He learned something of the trade under Alamanzo Littlefield and with C. B. Angel in Providence. His father, Caleb L. Rose, was a son of Caleb L. and a grandson of John Rose. The Rose family is one of the oldest in Block Island. Mrs. Rose was Caroline Mitchell. They have one son, Samuel M. Rose.
Six generations of the Sands family have been known in the local history here. Once numerons, the family name now in- cludes but three voters. William C. Sands and Robert T. are sons of Edward and grandsons of Treadwell Sands, whose father was John, son of Edward Sands. William C. Sands married Joanna H., daughter of Christopher E. Champlin. They have two daughters : Maria E. (Mrs. Albert W. Smith), and Marian R. (Mrs. Macy A. Ball).
SIMON RAY SANDS, born in 1815, is a son of William Pitt Sands and a grandson of Edward Sands. He was named in honor of Simon Ray, one of the original white proprietors of the island in 1661, and is also handed down in the name of Simon Ray Sands, Jr., an only son. Mrs. Sands, deceased, was Mary Ann Gorton. The present Mrs. Sands was Tamar R. Mott. Mr. Sands was in the general assembly in 1840-1848, and in the town council several terms, of which body he was moder- ator one or more years.
JOHN G. SHEFFIELD and Homer A. Sheffield and Arthur N. are sons of Hon. John G. Sheffield, who was born in 1819 and died in 1886. His father was Nathaniel L. Nathaniel L. Shef-
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
field's father was Edmond, son of Edmond who, with Godfrey Sheffield, owned a tract of land on Block Island, to which Nathaniel L.'s father moved in 1756, and died shortly after. He was buried in Newport, where are the graves of three earlier generations of the Sheffield family. Nathaniel married Mary Ann Gorton, daughter of " Gov." John Gorton, one of the most influential men of the island in his day. The Sheffield home- stead is the old Governor Gorton place. John G. Sheffield's wife was Anna, daughter of John R. Payne. She died in April, 1886, leaving two children.
SIMEON R. SHEFFIELD is the only son of the late George Sheffield, who was a brother of the senior William P. Sheffield, of Newport, and consin of the Hon. John G. Sheffield men- tioned in this chapter.
FRANCIS WILLIS, the proprietor of the "Seaside Honse," was born in 1825. He married Hannah I., daughter of Iliram Dodge. Orlando F. Willis is their only son. Mrs. Anna D. Winslow, of Putnam, Conn., is their only daughter. Mr. Wil- lis followed the sea for ten years prior to 1851, spent two years in California, built the "Seaside House " in 1853, and has since made farming his business.
C. W. WILLIS, postmaster and merchant, born in 1845, is a son of Hiram D. Willis, whose father was Hiram D. He was with Benjamin Tallman, of Portsmouth, in the menhaden business for two years; he kept the "Adrian Hotel" at one time, and was three years partner with Nicholas Ball, in the firm of Ball & Willis, merchants. He bought the old "Surf Cottage" in 1876, and built the new cottage in 1884. His wife, Permelia A., is a daughter of Hamilton L. Mott. Their children are: Adella P. (Mrs. Charles E. Littlefield) and Jennie B.
56
CHAPTER XVIII.
TOWN OF TIVERTON .*
BY H. W. BLAKE.
The Boundary Question .- The White Man and his Title .- Purchasers of Po- casset .- The Commons and the House Lots .- The Proprietors of Puncatest .- The King Philip War .- Tiverton as a Town .- The Period of the Revo- lution .- Howland's Ferry and Stone Bridge .- Postal and Railroad Facilities .- Tiverton Four Corners .- North Tiverton .- Prominent Localities .- Mills,- Taverns .- Highways .- Churches .- Schools .- Library and Reading Room .- The Town Government.
T HAT portion of Newport county occupying the peninsula east of the Seconnet river and which now comprises the towns of Tiverton and Little Compton, was a part of that unex- plored country which the English charter of April 10th, 1606, presumed to confer upon the Plymouth Company. It was therefore transferred by that more marvelous document of 1620 which created the Council of Plymonth to supersede the company of 1606, and which, over the royal seal of James I., put more than a million square miles of land into the absolute control of forty men.
Not all the printed books on New England, that topic and field so rich in historic interest, contain a page of the local his- tory of the Tiverton of to-day. Whoever, then, would write of her history must navigate a trackless sea; having not the op- portunity which he who comes hereafter will enjoy, of an out- line chart on which, the criticisms of the many being passed, he may correct somewhat the traditions and memories of the few.
An important relation obtains between the Plymouth colony,
* Among the many who rendered assistance in the preparation of the sketchies of Tiverton and Little Compton especial thanks are due to John T. Cook and Frederick R. Brownell, Esqs., for extracts from public records; to Benjamin Barker, Esq., and the late Holder N. Wilcox for the use of the proprietors' records; and to Honorable William P. Sheffield of Newport and Peleg D. Hum- phrey, Esq., of Nanaquacket.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
the state of Massachusetts and the two towns of Tiverton and Little Compton; and as no other towns in Newport county sus- tain that relation to the parent colony, something more than a passing mention is required at some point in the disenssion, regarding those political relations which were sustained by these two towns to Massachusetts prior to January 27th, 1746-7.
The history of Tiverton in its relation to the white race may be regarded as beginning in 1629, when William Bradford and his associates obtained a charter from the forty English gentle- men who had secured nine years before such substantial evi- dence of royal favor. Although there is no evidence that this charter to Mr. Bradford was ever confirmed by the crown, yet the colonists were recognized by the kings of England and held their jurisdiction over the territory for more than one hundred and sixteen years. In the charter to Mr. Bradford his western boundary included one-half of the waters mentioned as the Narragansett river. This was understood to refer to the river east of the island of Rhode Island; for in 1643 Roger Williams' first charter from the Earl of Warwick recognized the same boundary as the east line of "The Plantations" and in that year, while the colony of Rhode Island was denied admission, Plymouth, separated from it on the west by the Seconnet, be- came a member of the United colonies of New England. Thus the boundary between the two colonies, which is now the west- ern line of Tiverton and of Little Compton, remained nndis- puted while Cromwell, the friend of the colonies, succeeded the headless Charles, and was in turn succeeded by the second Charles, who in 1663 gave Rhode Island another patent by which he thought to put the dividing line some three miles farther east. To this the eastern people objected, and in 1664 the commissioners appointed to hear the case reported against the new line, but their report was confirmed by the crown, and thus the Seconnet again became the recognized boundary.
Plymonth colony, in 1685, was divided into the three coun- ties of Plymouth, Bristol and Barnstable. Tiverton was then embraced in Bristol county, which, with the other two, in 1691, was united by order of William and Mary to the colony of Massachusetts.
Forty-nine years after the union of Plymouth with Massa- chusetts the people of Rhode Island, in 1740, applied to the
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
king for a re-examination of their eastern boundary, which, as we have seen, had remained essentially the same as defined in the Plymouth charter of 1629.
The policy of George II. to lessen the territory and limit the influence of Massachusetts had been already foreshadowed, and he appointed a committee, whose report he confirmed on the 28th of May, 1746, by which Tiverton, Little Compton and three other towns were added to the jurisdiction of Rhode Island. To define the new state boundary thus provided for, the two colonies were to appoint surveyors instructed to run six lines, each three miles long, from six certain points on the eastern bounds of Rhode Island, and to unite their eastern ends by other straight lines, which, together, should form the proper bound- ary between the two states. Rhode Island appointed James Honeyman, Jr., Gideon Cornell, George Brown, George Wan- ton and Walter Chaloner on the 11th of November, 1746, and on the 2d of December they ran the line without the aid of the Massachusetts surveyors. From their report they appear to have followed the king's order that land within three miles of the shore of Seconnet river be set off to Rhode Island; for they established three of the six points in the new state line, each point from the shore due east three miles, and the two lines connecting them was reported as the state line, so far as it con- cerned the towns of Tiverton and Little Compton. One meas- urement was made from a point in the present city of Fall River, on the shore four hundred and forty rods south of the mouth of the Fall river, one from the cove south of Nancquastkett [Nanaqnacket] in the town of Tiverton, and one from Church's cove in Little Compton.
The northeast corner of Tiverton, by this survey, was on Ralph's neck, southeast of North Wattuppa pond. The whole of South Wattuppa pond and Sawdy were in this town. The conrse surveyed from Ralph's neck was described as south, 22º west, 2,125 rods. The next course, on the east boundary of Little Compton, was south, 2º 15' west, 1,941 rods, to the east coast of Little Compton.
'This business was approved by the Rhode Island legislature January 6th, 1746-7, and Massachusetts, supposing the bounds had been properly run and marked, accepted the new line, and did not examine it until 1791, when she questioned the survey and appointed commissioners, with power to examine the sub-
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
ject, with the aid of a similar committee, should Rhode Island so appoint. These commissioners found that the territory of Massachusetts had been infringed upon, but were unable to de- termine the true intention of the king's order of forty-five years previous.
It was noticed above that one of the courses was run east from a point on the shore south of the mouth of the Fall river. Now the length of this line determined the width of Tiverton east- ward from the river, but its position determined the boundary between Tiverton and Freetown, Massachusetts, on the north; hence, when Fall River came to be in fact, if not in name, a city, built up on both sides of the northern boundary of Tiver- ton, the position of the line came to be of more importance than its length. Accordingly, in 1844 each state appointed three commissioners, and five of the six agreed upon a line. The legislature of Massachusetts, under the pressure of Fall River influence, ilatly refused to ratify the report of their commis- sioners, and in 1852 the whole question was taken in equity to the supreme court, which, in 1860, appointed engineers to es- tablish a line. The decree of the court the next year settled the dividing line where it now is, giving Massachusetts jurisdiction after March, 1862, over a territory that in 1860 contained over three thousand of the population of Rhode Island, and so chang- ing the eastern boundary of Tiverton as to leave in Massachu- setts the ponds, South Wattuppa and Sawdy, with their con- necting stream, from which a valuable water supply is afforded to Fall River.
Although the white man's relations to Tiverton date from 1629, the fifty years that followed that date were marked chielly by those diplomatic relations already noticed. Then the terri- tory was yet the hunting ground of the tribes whose extermin- ation, as a factor in the public economy of New England, was practically accomplished within that fifty years. The sachems of Pocasset had sold the lands of their people to William Brad- ford and his people, and with a more just title than the king had given them, the first permanent white settlers made homes for themselves, in 1680, in the hunting grounds of the Pocassets. The red man had no longer any rights here which the white man had need to respect, but for a dozen years the name of the tribe was given to the little settlement by those descendants of the Pilgrims who chiefly composed it.
888
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
From the date of settlement until 1694 a sort of provisional government existed in lien of anything that could properly be called a town, but in that year the Puncatest and Pocasset communities were incorporated by Massachusetts as the town of Tiverton. This provisional government and the relation it sustained to the body politic will more clearly appear in the two following sections, wherein the purpose will be to show how, in two great tracts, the soil of Tiverton came to be the property of two bodies of men, not wholly distinct as individuals, but known then as now by the distinctive titles, " Purchasers of Pocasset " and "Proprietors of Puncatest."
THE PURCHASERS OF POCASSET. - It has already been no- ticed that William Bradford and his associates held chartered rights to this territory, and under the corporate title of New Plymouth they had purchased from the sachems for an ac- cepted consideration the tract possessed or claimed by the Po- casset Indians. When, two years after the accession of Charles II., this tract was deeded by the officers of New Plymouth to eight persons named in the "Grand Deed," a new factor was created in the government of the colony, to become known in law and in history as the " Pocasset Purchasers." Their terri- torial jurisdiction was co-extensive with their ownership. It comprised the northern two-thirds of what is now Tiverton and a vast tract lying east and north, including most of the present site of Fall River. To them was given, by various orders of the superior court of Plymouth, control over local affairs before the town government was organized. In this control, ownership was a condition precedent to the right of a vote; the community of interests being primarily a financial or property interest, the idea of the right to the ballot being one of the accompani- ments of land ownership, was forcibly fixed in the public mind. Finally, in view of his probable inheritance of the land, the oldest son of an owner might vote in anticipation of his pros- pective ownership.
In their quasi judicial capacity the proprietors met from time to time, and the record of these meetings constitutes that quaint and interesting document known as "The Proprietors' Records." By the courtesy of Benjamin Barker of Tiverton and Fall River, whose father, Abraham Barker, was the last clerk of the proprietors, we are enabled to give extracts from his and former clerk's entries.
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HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
The original of the Grand deed itself has been scrupulously preserved. It is written on the real parchment of that day in which it was made, a skin some twenty by thirty inches in size, and in elegant chirography, with ink scarcely dimmed by two hundred years, we read:
" To all to whom these presents shall come, Josiah Winslow, Esq., Governor of the Colony of New Plymouth, Major Wm. Bradford, Treasurer of the said Colony, Mr. Thomas Hinckley and Major James Cudworth, Assistants to the said Governor, send Greeting; and whereas we, the said Governor, Treasurer and Assistants, or any two of us, by virtue of an order of the General Court of the Colony aforesaid, bearing date November, A. D. 1676, are impowered in the said Colony's behalf to make sale of certain lands belonging to the Colony aforesaid, and to make and seal deeds for the confirmation of the same, as by the said order remaining on record in the said Court rolls more at large appeareth ; now, know ye that we, the said Governor, Treasurer and Assistants, as agents, and in behalf of the said Colony, for and in consideration of the full and just sum of one thousand and one hundred pounds in lawful money of New England, to ns in hand, before the ensealing and delivering of these presents, well and truly paid by Edward Gray, of Plym- onth, in the Colony aforesaid ; Nathaniel Thomas, of Marsh- field, in the Colony aforesaid ; Benjamin Church, of Puncatest, in the Colony aforesaid ; Christopher Almy, Job Almy and Thomas Waite, of Portsmonth, in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; Daniel Wilcox, of Puncatest, and William Manchester, of Puncatest, in the Colony of New Plym- outh aforesaid, with which the said sum, we, the said agents, do acknowledge to be fully satisfied, contented and paid, and thereof do acquit and discharge the said [grantees] and their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns forever ; by these presents have given, granted, bargained, sold, aliened, enfeoffed and confirmed ; and by these presents for ns and the said Col- ony of New Plymouth, do freely, fully, and absolutely give, grant, &c., to the said [grantees] all those lands situate, lying and being at Pocasset, and places adjacent in the Colony of Plymouth aforesaid, and is bounded as followeth :- Northward and westward by the Freemen's lot, near the Fall River ; west- ward by the Bay or Sound that runneth between the said lands
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and Rhode Island ; sonthward partly by Seaconnet bounds, and partly by Dartmouth bounds, and northward and eastward up into the woods till it meets with the lands formerly granted by the Court to other men, and legally obtained by them from the natives, not extending further than Middlebury town bounds and Quitquissit ponds." Several small reservations previously sold are here named, and the deed proceeds in the usual form, and adds " that is to say, to the said Edward Gray nine shares or thirtieth parts ; to the said Nathaniel Thomas five shares or thirtieth parts ; to the said Benjamin Church one share or thir- tieth part ; to the said Christopher Almy three shares and three-quarters of one share ; to the said Job Almy three shares and one-quarter of a share; to the said Thomas Waite one share ; to the said Daniel Wilcox two shares ; to the said Wil- liam Manchester five shares." [The rest of the deed is in the usual form of a warrantee deed.]
Signed, sealed and delivered in the presence of witnesses, March 5, 1679-80.
JOSIAH WINSLOW, Governor. WM. BRADFORD, Treasurer. THOMAS HINCKLEY, } Assistants. JAMES CUDWORTH,
The deed was acknowledged on the day following, and is reg- istered by Samuel Howland, register, in the Deed Book of Bris- tol county, Mass., under date of December 19th, 1723. The official record of the Pocasset proprietors begins with April 11th, 1681, when a meeting was held wherein "It was ordered and agreed That the fall River with ' land to it be Left in common undivided to belong to all the Proprietors according to Proportion of each mans share.' Also it is agreed that the land from sinning flesh River to Ferry be laid out into thirty house Lots & one Lot for a Minister & two ferry lots with Common ways & streets to the said Lots. And that all the Rest of the land be laid out into great Lots according to quantity & quality at the discretion of the layors out, & to run so high from the salt water, as the Pond, which is near the Road that goeth over the fall River, is from the Bay or salt water afores'd. And that there shall be a highway across all the lots from the . . . . land to the ferry & fromm the ferry to Puncatest Lands, the persons chosen to lay out the afors'd
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IHISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
lands are Christopher Almy, William Manchester, John Man- chester, & Nathaniel Thomas, Surveyor."
" Also the Proprietors voted & agreed all of them that no one shall keep Publique ferry but only such as the said ferry lots shall be let or hired unto." The laying ont of the Purchase into larm lots and honse lots was the public business of primary importance. The land which they voted to leave in common, undivided, included that water privilege that has since de- termined the location of a great manufacturing city. It was thirty rods wide, extending to the Wattuppa pond, and con- tained sixty-six acres. This piece also was divided into thirty shares, and sold by the original proprietors. Colonel Church and his brother, Caleb Church, of Watertown (who was a mill- wright), bought twenty-six and a half shares of the sixty-six acres, and thereby became the chief owners of the water power. On the 8th of August, 1691, Caleb Church sold his right in this property (thirteen and a half shares) to his brother Benjamin, who thus became the owner of twenty-six and a half shares. Probably John Borden, of Rhode Island, purchased the other three and a half shares. In 1703 Colonel Church had moved to Fall River, and improved the water power by erecting a saw mill, grist mill and fulling mill. He continued at Fall River but a few years; and September 18th, 1714, then living at Little Compton, sold the above named twenty-six and a half acres (his son Constant signing the deed with him) to Richard Bor- den, of Tiverton, and Joseph Borden, of Freetown, sons of John; and thus the land on both sides of the river, with all the water power, came into the possession of the Borden family as early as 1714.
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