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 91
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99
62 .- B. Frank Macomber, born in 1830, is of Scotch descent, being a son of Benjamin F. and grandson of Job Macomber (Mac Cumber). His father had abont a fourth of an acre in- proved where Mr. Macomber has since developed a clean, neat farm of a half dozen fertile fields. He followed the sea as a whaler twenty years, and was in the merchant service during the civil war. Ilis wife is Sarah 1., daughter of Philip Gray (38).
63 .- Hon. Andrew H. Manchester (John3, 1790-1873; John", John1) was senator three or four years and representative seven years. He married Elizabeth, daughter of Asa Gray, who was town clerk for many years. They have one daughter, Phobe C., now Mrs. Samuel Cory. Her only child is Andrew M. Cory.
64 .- Charles Manchester, born in 1813, son of John Manches- ter, married Sarah L. Durfees (Charles', 1793-1849; Thomas', 1759-1829; John2, died 1812; Job', died 1774). Mr. Manchester
968
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
was a whaler eighteen years of his life, and is now farming. His children are Charles D. and Fannie D.
65 .- Charles Manchester, a farmer on the Lake road, is a son of Benjamin and grandson of Gardner Manchester. His wife is Hannah, daughter of Abel Grinnell and granddaughter of Stephen, who was lost at sea on a voyage to the West Indies. Their children are: Charles E., Mary G. (Mrs. David Gray), Benjamin F., Abel G., Andrew L. and Ruth D. Mr. Manches- ter was on two whaling voyages, one trip to Europe in the mer- chant marine, and one voyage to New Orleans. He was born in 1823.
66 .- Gideon C. Manchester, farmer, is a son of Oliver Man- chester, grandson of Philip and great-grandson of Isaac, who was a son of William Manchester, one of the proprietors of the Puncatest purchase. His wife is Betsey, daughter of Albert Manchester. Their children are Ida M. and Evelyn J.
67 .- John E. Manchester, born in 1840, son of John S. (1795- 1880) and grandson of John, married Rachel G., daughter of William Manley (45). They have two children, Mary J. and John E., Jr. Mr. Manchester is a farmer and has been tax as- sessor. His wife is one of sixteen children, and his father was one of thirteen children.
68 .- Philip Manchester, born 1798, died 1844, was the oldest son of Matthew, and grandson of Christopher Manchester, a major in the revolutionary army. His wife, Eliza, who died in 1885, was a daughter of Job Manchester. Their family con- sisted of three danghters: Elizabeth S. (Mrs. Rev. Mckenzie), Deborah P. (Mrs. Henry Manchester) and Sarah S.
69 .- Edwin Meeson, born in 1815 at Little Compton, is a son of Edward Meeson, who came from England when a boy, and married Phoba, daughter of John Simmons, of Little Compton. Mr. Meeson is a calico printer by trade. He has lived and op- erated at Fall River. His wife is Maria Gray, of this town. They have raised ten children, two of whom, Alfred and Frank- lin, were in the navy during the civil war and lost their lives. Mr. Meeson's residence is the old Brown homestead, where Adoniram7 (13) lived.
70 .- Gideon Mosher, born in 1813, is a grandson of Amos Mosher and his wife, Mary Davol. His wife is a daughter of Walter Cornell, who was a son of Thurston and grandson of Anthony Cornell. Mr. Mosher followed the sea from fourteen
969
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
years of age until ten years ago. His son, Andrew J., now whaling, was in the navy during the civil war. His daughter, Julia, is Mrs. H. A. Gambleton, of New York. His other child- ren are: Abbott, Warren, Asa and M. Etta, now Mrs. Captain Frank Macomber.
71 .- William H. Negus, stonemason, is a son of Samnel Ne- gus and a grandson of Samnel Negus. He has been engaged for fifteen seasons in the trap and purse fisheries. He was with Captains Albert Gray and Philip S. Grinnell. He was one year captain of a gang of five or six boats before steamers were gel- erally used in the business.
72 .- Captain George F. Nickerson was born in Tiverton in 1843. His father, Sylvanus, lived here the later years of his life. Captain Nickerson at eighteen years of age began fishing, and has run a steamer for the last fourteen years. Since 1879 he has been a member of the firm of William J. Brightman & Co. His wife, Mary M., is a granddaughter of Knight Springer, who was seven years in the continental army during the revo- Intionary war. He has four sons.
73 .- George M. Orswell, son of Salisbury Orswell, has been engaged, for twenty years prior to 1887, in the senpp and men- haden fisheries. Ilis wife was Diana Macomber. Their daugh- ter is Eunice Orswell. East of their place, on the southwest shore of Sawdy pond, is the old Sawdy house, the oldest build- ing in this part of the town.
74. - Daniel Page, born in 1749 and died in 1829, was the last male Indian of the Pocassets. In Barton's expedition to cap- ture General Prescott, he was the man who returned for the general's sword. He lived and died near the home of his fathers, and, save a few aged squaws, he was the last of the Pocassets.
75 .- Philip (Metacom or Metacomet) was the second son of Massasoit. He became ruler of the Wampanoags at the death of his brother, Alexander, and followed the destinies of that ill- fated people until he was murdered in August, 1676. The best written biography in the English language is Washington Irv- ing's essay on his life and character, under the title of " Philip of Pokoanokat." Benson JJ. Lossing classes Philip with the " Eminent Americans."
76 .- Alexander S. Pierce® (Peleg*, John', Nathaniel', George?, George1) was born in Little Compton in 1826. His wife is Ann W., sister of George W. Hambly (51). They have three chil-
970
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
dren: Sarah P., Edward R. and Emily R. Mr. Pierce has been conspicuously interested in the proposed Seconnet railroad for the last three years, and is one of the directors.
77 .- Rev. Jared Reid was the pastor of the Congregational church at Tiverton Four Corners at the time of his last sickness. Ile died in 1854. He was assistant pastor from 1841 to 1851. His widow, Mrs. Nancy S. Reid, is a danghter of Cornelius (deceased) and granddaughter of Philip Seabury.
78 .- George Reynolds, born in 1838, became a resident of Tiverton in 1879. He has a fish business at Fall River, and a stock farm on Stafford road, where he has bred several fine horses-"' Addie B.," "Callie A.," "Golden Horn," and others. His wife was Caroline A. Davol. Their sons are Charles S. and George L. Mrs. Charles S. Reynolds is Addie Tripp. Mr. Rey- nolds was lieutenant in Company D, 3d Massachusett Volun- teers in the civil war.
79 .- Captain William R. Rose, son of Charles and Abbie Rose, was born in 1848. His mother is a daughter of Richard Smith. He began with the Church brothers at fifteen years of age, and at twenty four was a captain with Albert Gray in the trap and purse fisheries. Ilis wife, Mina, is a daughter of Samnel Manchester. Their sons are William R., Jr., and Frank M. Captain Rose is the inventor of one of the most valuable modern features of the scupp trap.
80 .- Henry Schlegel, born in 1834, and his brother Andrew, born in 1844, came to Tiverton in 1860 from Hesse Cassel, Ger- many. When they had been here about six years they bought the place where they now live, of William Gifford. These brothers are heads of families. Henry's children are Katie, Maggie and Philip. Andrew's are Lizzie, Jacob, John, Emma, Etta, Alice, Louisa and Mary C. Henry resigned his position as private in the German army to come to America.
81 .- Charles F. Seabury, son of Samnel and grandson of Wil- liam, was born in 1815. He married Lydia F., daughter of Charles and granddaughter of Judge Thomas Durfee. They have three children: Samuel 2d, Mary J. and Charles Lincoln.
82 .- James A. Shaw, farmer, born in 1862, is a son of David Shaw, who was born in England. He was fishing five seasons with Captain Nickerson. His wife is Ella Ray, of Fall River, Mass.
071
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
83 .- Richard W. Sherman®, born in 1831 (Benjamin3, Daniel", Richard1), married Abbie E., sister of Charles A. Hambly (48). He was thirteen years fishing with Albert Gray. He has held the office of surveyor and other local offices. His children are: Benjamin F. and Lena B.
84 .- Amasa Simmons4, farmer, (Thomas3, Peleg?, Moses') is one of a family of eighteen. His father was thrice married, and became the ancestor of a long-lived as well as numerous gene- ration. Amasa went to service at fourteen years of age, and followed the sea for about twenty years, beginning at the age of sixteen. His wife is a daughter of Stephen King. Their daughters, Caroline M. and Ann M., are now Mrs. Simeon R. Hart and Mrs. Andrew J. Williston. The grandchildren are: Charles E. Williston and Amasa A. Williston (45).
85 .- David W. Simmons, farmer, is a son of William L. Sim- mons, and a grandson of Ichabod, the revolutionary soldier. Mrs. Stephen C. Hart, who is still living, remembers well the tales of Bunker Hill, as related to her by Ichabod, who was her mother's father. She thinks he was a private, although the family tra- dition places him as an officer. His uncle, Peleg Simmons", was an officer. David W. Simmons' mother is Bathsheba, a daughter of Joel. and granddaughter of John Albert. Mr. S. married Gideon Grinnell's daughter, Grace. They have three sons and five danghters. He once owned half of the Borden mill in Tiverton, and was largely interested in the porgie and oil busi- 'ness for several years.
86 .- Otis L. Simmons®, born in 1831 (Benjamin', Thomas', Thomas3 (84), married Eliza A., daughter of Joseph Barker. She died in 1875. Her children living are: Eliza J. (Mrs. Wood), Otis B., Joseph Albert and Giles H. Mr. Simmons was thirteen years whaling and six years in California. He owned the Bor- den mill at one time, and is now engaged in farming.
87 .- William B. Simmons®, a farmer, was born in 1831, and is descended from Ichabods, Ichabod', Thomas3 (84). Ichabod' en- listed at sixteen in the continental army, and served seven years in the revolution. William B.'s wife, deceased, was Cornelia Grinnell, who left three children: Frank W., Jennie and Lizzie. Jennie is Mrs. Cyrenns Wilbur. Mr. Simmons' present wife is Naney Grinnell. His business was with the fish and oil enter- prise for about fifteen years, and for six years he was whaling.
88 .- James Slocum, son of Benjamin, and grandson of
972
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
Thomas, was born in 1851. He was nine seasons with Capt. George F. Nickerson in the purse fishing, and eight seasons in the same business with others. He married Estell, a daughter of Elijah Wilcox and his wife, who was a danghter of David Manchester, and a granddaughter of John Manchester (67).
89 .- Thomas A. Slocum, son of Aaron, and grandson of Benjamin, married Emaline, danghter of James W. Monroe. Mr. Slocum is a surveyor of highways, was two seasons in the fishing business, and for abont seventeen years in the butchering business.
90 .- Peleg S. Stafford, son of Peleg and grandson of Stephen, married Abbie A. Borden, danghter of Richards (S). They have six children: Sarah I., now Mrs. Daniel Springer; James; Adelaide I., now Mrs. Willis Palmer; Stephen E., George and Sybil P. Mr. Stafford has been a member of the legislature one year, and of the town council two years.
91 .-- Isaac S. Tripp, merchant, born 1812, is a son of Stephen and grandson of Timothy Tripp. His trade was carpentry. He kept a store for twenty years prior to 1875, which was man- aged largely by his wife. Seventeen years of his life have been spent in the whaling business and merchant service. He was whaling captain on one voyage. He built his present store on the Crandall road in 1878.
92 .- Robert Tripp4, born in 1812 (Abial3, Rufus2, Abial'), was married to Hannah C. Peck of Seekonk, Mass., in 1834. Their children are: Robert P., Thomas and Phoba R., now Mrs. James P. Millard of East Providence. Mr. Tripp worked at his trade, carpentry, until he was abont fifty years of age. He is now engaged in farming. His farm lies on the south town line near Cold Brook.
93 .- Wetamoo, the widow of Alexander (1), was a princess of the Pocassets. She had three hundred warriors at the battle of Pocasset. She was the daughter and successor of Corbitant, the sachem who was so implacably opposed to the friendly at- titnde of Massasoit toward Governor Winslow. After the death of her husband, Alexander, she married Petananuet, the sachem who declined to aid King Philip in his war, and she therefore separated from him and aided Philip, whose wife was her sister. She was drowned in the river between Tiverton and Mount Hope, August 6th, 1676.
94 .-- Lysander F. Westgate, farmer and stone mason, born in 1833, is a son of James Westgate, who lived in the old tavern
973
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
building north of the Judge Osborn homestead. Mrs. West- gate is Mary E, daughter of Stephen Crandallº, 1806, (Stephens, Eber“, Eber3, Samuel", Samuel' 1662-1736). They have two daughters : Nancy C. (Mrs. Edward O. Iliggins), and Frances E. (Mrs. Frank H. Snell). Mr. Westgate was seven years commissioner of the town asylum and three years in the town council.
95 .- Andrew White4 was born in 1815 on the farm where he now resides. When twenty-one years old he went out whaling. From seventeen to twenty he was learning the cooper's trade. While at sea, a period of nine years, he was a cooper, a position equal to second mate. He is one of ten children, four of whom are living. He married Louisa Tripp, of Westport, Mass. Their children are : Charles H., Andrew P. (96), Edgar R. (deceased), and Lonisa P. (now Mrs. David Hart). Isaac G. White, brother of Andrew, was born in 1821.
96 .- Andrew P. White®, born in 1845, (Andrew' (95), Gideon S.', Peregrine", Christopher') was but twenty years old when he began business in the firm of C. H. White & Brother, at Pitts- ville. He is one of the few who have succeeded as merchants in this town. His wife deceased and his wife living are both sisters of Captain Nickerson (72). Mr. White has one daughter, Cora. He has been postmaster at Tiverton Four Corners since April, 1878.
97 .- Henry Frank Wilbour, farmer, born 1862, is a son of Henry7 (166). His wife was Saidee A. Robertson, whose home was with the family of the late Christopher Brownell. Their children are Benjamin F. and Viola E.
98 .- Fernando A. Wilcox was born in New Bedford, Mass., in 1840. His home was with Captain Arlington Wilcox. At the age of nineteen Fernando A. began fishing with Captain Charles Cook. Afterward he became associated with Captain Cook and William Cory in the fish and oil factory at Pierce's wharf, owning a share in the firm. He has for the past ten years been engaged independently in fishing. He married Helen Fairfield. They have two children, Henry and Florence.
99 .- Captain Gideon Wilcox is a son of John Wilcox and his wife, Anna, a danghter of Thomas Wilcox. Captain Wilcox went to sea in 1829, whaling, and followed the sea until July, 1848. In 1849 he went to California as captain by appointment for completion of a whale voyage on the ship " John Adams" of New Bedford.
CHAPTER XX. TOWN OF LITTLE COMPTON.
BY H. W. BLAKE.
First Land Titles .- The Proprietors of Seconnet .- Distribution of the Great Lots .- The Commons .- The Aborigines .- The Body Politic .- Public Char- ity .- Land and Water Routes .- The Revolution .- The Federal Constitu- tion .- The Local Government .- Churches .- Cemeteries .- Adamsville .- Pot- ter's Corners .- Secular Education .- Public Library .- Business Interests.
T HE history of Little Compton in its relation to Newport county covers now one hundred and forty years, marked by but few events to distinguish it from the common history of all the rural communities of Rhode Island, but rich in those domestic incidents the records of which are so highly prized. The general historical interest in Little Compton as the scene of stirring events, fraught with far reaching consequences, centers in the four score years which preceded its incorporation as a town of Newport county. In the history of Tiverton the pecu- liar relations which, during that period, were sustained alike by Tiverton and Little Compton to the parent colonies were noticed, and those troublesome controversies regarding the eastern boundary of these two towns having been fully dis- cussed, we will in this chapter consider more particularly the history of Little Compton in its individual interests as a town and in its more peaceful relations to Plymouth and to Massa- chusetts. Some facts to be recorded here will serve as relevant commentaries upon the meager records given in the Tiverton chapter of the two great communities to the northward at Pun- catest and Pocasset. The charter of January 13th, 1629, giving William Bradford and his associates proprietary rights and magisterial authority over part of the great territory, then called the property of the council of Plymouth, included in its terms the land now comprised in the town of Little Compton. The authorities agree generally in fixing the year 1674 as the
975
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
date of the first white settlement in the town, or more properly in the wilderness which afterward became the town of Little Compton. This is no doubt the date when Benjamin Church built a house here, but the thirteen years preceding that are of more than passing interest, and the scanty records of those years still furnish data of great value as illuminating many points in the contemporaneous history of the town with which we have regarded Little Compton as historically associated.
Francis Baylies, in "Memoirs of the Plymouth Colony," says: "A Duxbury company had purchased a part of the Seaconet lands and had commenced a settlement [1656] but the settlers did not exceed five or six and they were seated on insulated tracts. The Seaconet tribe still occupied the long neck known by the name of Seaconet Point." Three years later, according to Arnold, the sachems sold in 1659 a large tract, including Se- connet, to William Pabodie, Josiah Winslow and others. He says a son of Pabodie settled on a part of this purchase, and afterward sold another part to Benjamin Church, who, in 1674, became the first white settler of Little Compton, having moved there by the advice of Samuel Gorton. If, as Baylies says, settlements were made in 1656, we are satisfied they were not within the present bounds of Little Compton. The quotation cited treats the present town, or most of it, at least, as "the long neck," suggesting the probability that the Seconnet lands were thought to embrace more than what is now in the town. To raise tradition to the dignity of history, by research and verification, is a pleasant task, but no comparisons support the tradition that there were settlers here in 1656.
In 1661, while the Council of Plymouth, as the successor of the Plymouth Company, had yet jurisdiction over the territory, the authority was vested in the great court of Plymouth. It would appear, by implication, at least, from the Plymonth rec- ords, that there were two classes embraced in the population, and that to the one lands were granted by the other, in recogni- tion of services rendered. A record, the earliest known to re- late especially to Little Compton, bears date June 4th, 1661, and shows that "Libertie is granted unto some who were for- merly servants whoe have land due unto them by covenant to Nominate some persons to the Court, or to some of the Magis- trates, to bee deputed in their behalf, to purchase parcell of land for their accommodation att Saconett." Nearly a year
976
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
elapsed before the "Libertie" thus granted was exercised, and it seems to have been thought proper by the court to give some persons an interest in the grant who were not of the class called servants; for on the third of June, 1662, "Captain Willitt is ap- pointed by the Court to purchase the lands of the Indians which is granted unto such that were servants, and others that were ancient freemen, which the * * thinks meet to add to them to have interest in the said grannt ye tenure whereof is extant ** * * of the Court."
Many apparent contradictions and manifest discrepancies ex- ist in the scanty records of the first land titles acquired from the Indians, by purchase, in nearly every portion of southeast- ern New England, but in no instance more conspicuously than in the title records to the lands at Seconnet. These incongrui- ties arise, no doubt, very largely from a practice quite foreign to our modern ideas of title deeds. A tract of land bought at one time by the white man would become the subject of a sub- sequent deed from Indians who were strangers to the records in the first instance. Thus a sort of cumulative title was ac- quired by the settlers, and it is a puzzle now, and would doubt- less have perplexed even the purchasers themselves, to have said when or by whom their lands were actually sold to them. The two entries last quoted indicate the action of the court of Plymouth, but by far the most pertinent evidence of the trans- actions of the early days here is found in the records kept by the people themselves, who finally, by one way or another, came to be recognized by red men and white men alike, in law and in equity, as the rightful owners of the soil. These people took the designation in the courts and in history as the "Pro- prietors of Seconnet." Their transactions were at first simply the acts of owners in common of a great landed property, unim- proved and even unexplored.
In 1673 they recorded this: " Forasmuch as the Honored Court of New Plymouth have formerly granted a certain tract of land at or about a place called Seconet unto the Old Servants as may appear npon record. And at a Court held at Plymouth afore- Said (viz) the second Session of the General Court held June 1673 did further order that the records of said land shall be as followeth. Whereas there is a tract of land granted to the Old Servants, or such of them as are not supplied, lying at Seconet, the Court doth determine the Bounds thereof to be from the
977
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
Bounds of the grant made to Plymouth in Punkateest and the Bounds of Dartmouth, and so all lands Southwardly, lying be- tween that and the sea."
This, as the subsequent events indicate, would approximately bonnd the tract on the east by that portion of Dartmouth which now comprises the town of Westport, Mass., and on the north by the Pancatest tract, now forming the southern tract of Tiv- erton. Thus it is that the town of Little Compton, as now bounded, corresponds more nearly to the territory of an original division than any other town in Rhode Island, with the single exception of New Shoreham. The court of Plymouth also, at the same time, to provide for having the lands allotted and the original rights determined, entered an order that "all persons that have rights to the grant of lands unto them as Old Ser- vants at Seconet, shall make their appearance at Plymouth the 22d of the present July then and there to make out their rights and also to pay such Disbursements as shall necessarily be re- quired, or else lose their rights." Comformably to the purport of this order, twenty-nine men appeared at Plymouth on the 22d of July, 1673, and proved their respective shares in the grant of land at Seconnet. Of these, Josiah Winslow, Esq., Mr. Constant Southworth, Daniel Wilcox, Nicholas Wade, Thomas Williams, William Sherman, William Merrick, Simon Ronse, Peter Collomer, Josiah Cook, Thomas Pope, Ephraim Tinkham, Thomas Pinson and William Shirtlif proved them- selves entitled to rights in the lands. John Washborne, Sr., claimed a share as a freeman. Hugh Cole, John Rouse, Jr., John Rogers, Jr., Martha Dean, William Pabodie, Edward Fobes, John Irish, Jr., Daniel Hayward, John Richmond, Wal- ter Woodworth and Nathaniel Thomas claimed respectively the rights of James Cole, Sr., Sammel Chandler, Williams Tubbs, Joseph Beedle, Abraham Samson, John Fobes, John Irish, Sr., John Hayward, Sr., John Price, Thomas Simmons and Nicholas Preslong. Benjamin Church claimed in the right of Richard Bishop and Richard Bear; Joseph Church claimed in the right of John Smalley and George Viekory; John Cushen had an in- terest in the right of Nicholas Wade.
These were the original proprietors of Seconnet, upon whose title, then obtained and subsequently confirmed, depends to-day the title rights of the present owners of the broad farms, the fertile fields and elegant homes of Little Compton. The first
978
HISTORY OF NEWPORT COUNTY.
act of the proprietors in their collective capacity as such, was to agree upon William Pabodie, one of their number, as their clerk. At the same time they made five rules or laws unto them- selves, and with this brief constitution of five sections, they set up a government in a dominion which, by English ideas, they could call their own. Their brief record of this important pentalogne is:
I .- Expenses paid according to each proportion.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.