USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island, Volume I > Part 21
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In their property the settlers slowly gathered about them such personal belongings and other possessions of a movable character as opportunity came to them. But little stock could be obtained, but after a few herds of cattle had been secured the care of the planters rapidly increased the number. Goats and swine are thought by some to have been the first specimens of live stock brought hither. But there is no doubt that the ambition of the settlers rested with nothing less than herds of beef cattle. The common pasture plains on the west side of the river, then known as Weybosset, afforded an excel- lent field in which the settlers in common turned their cattle for pas- turage. An old Indian trail led down at the north of the present Steeple street, over a shell bank which made a fording place to a neck of the island reaching to where Washington Row now is, across the island and over a ford on the west side to the Weybosset meadows. Over this trail the cattle were driven back and forth to pasture.
It is thought the first grist mill in the town was established under the patronage of the town in 1646, by John Smith "the miller," who
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came with Roger Williams at an earlier date, but for some reason seems to have delayed the needed improvement of setting up a grist mill for several years. Perhaps a lack of capital, or want of confi- dence in the stability of the settlement deterred him from sooner entering upon the enterprise. This mill was located at the lower fall of the Moshassuck. Here the land and water privilege necessary were granted him by the town, with the monopoly of the business, on condition that he would erect the mill and keep it in order, and be prepared to grind corn for the people of the town on the second and fifth days of each week, taking toll of one-sixteenth for grinding. The plan of the mill is said to have been a pounding process, imitat- ing the mortar and pestle which it superseded. The erection of this mill created a center for the scattering village, and in its vicinity other business efforts followed, a new street being laid out to afford an approach to the mill from the Town street. The first bridge across the river was built just north of the mill. Near it were also located in due time, a tavern, a tannery, a cattle pound and a jail.
In November, 1654, an election of military officers appears for the first time on the records. The town then chose a lieutenant, an ensign, and a sergeant. A further sign of progress is shown in the order the same year, that the laws of the town should be written in a book. The growth of the town was slow. It was at that time but little larger in numbers than Warwick, which was much smaller than either Portsmouth or Newport. The little town of Providence then did not look like becoming a greater body than all its sisters put to- gether many fold. The freemen of this town in 1655 were 42 in number, as follows: William Arnold, Thomas Angell, James Ash- ton, John Browne, Samuel Bennett, William Burrowes, Henrie Browne, Hugh Buwitt, Thomas Clement, Nathaniel Dickens, Gregorie Dexter, William Carpenter, John Feild, William Feild, Arthur Fen- ner, William Harris, Thomas Harris, William Hawkins, Thomas Hopkins, Edward Jermon, John Joanes, Roger Mowrie, Edward Manton, Thomas Olney. Sen'r, Thomas Olney. Jun'r, Nicholas Power, Henrie Redick, Thomas Roberts, John Sailes, Thomas Suck- linge, Christopher Smith, Richard Scott, Thomas Slowe, John Throg- morton, Roger Williams, Robert Williams, Robert West, Richard Waterman, William Wickenden, Thomas Walline, Josua Winser and Mathew Waller.
Of internal improvements bridges were among the necessities which became apparent and pressing at an early date. About the year 1650, or perhaps a year or two later, there was at least one bridge being kept in order at the expense of the town. What bridge it was does not appear plain. The records show that the town treasurer paid about the time mentioned, three pounds, for " mending the bridge, highways beyond the bridge, mile-end cove, fence at Dickens and the pound these several years." At what time Weybosset bridge
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was first established is not known. It may have been built about the year 1660. The records show that in that year the town had expend- ed £160 in the erection of a bridge at some point not specified. Staples inclines to the probability that it was Weybosset bridge. It appears to have been in existence as early as 1663 at least for in April of that year one George Sheppard made a gift of lands for the support of this bridge. The town could poorly afford to keep in order a bridge, and if any other means could be devised of meeting such an expense to the relief of the public treasury it was gladly ac- cepted. Roger Williams was allowed to assume control of this bridge and exact tolls from all who crossed it, provided he would keep it in order without any expense to the town. This continued from 1667 to 1672, after which it was taken under the patronage of the general assembly and that body made grants for the expense of its maintenance.
At this period the precious metals were scarce and taxes as well as all private debts, were paid in wheat, peas, pork, horses and cattle, at stated values. The population of the town steadily increased, but its increase was slow, and it was doubtless a serious and uncertain question in the minds of many of the settlers whether the plantation of Providence would gain a permanent foot-hold or after a few years be abandoned. Progress was slow under the discouraging circum- stances which beset them. These dangers threatened from neigh- boring colonies, with whom they were not in favor; from the Indians whose vengeful passions were being continually aroused by those neighboring colonies; and from the many rash opinionists, holding different and inharmonious views, whom the peculiarly liberal con- stitution of the town had allowed to enter its society. Certainly it required a strong faith to enable the freemen of this town to risk their lives and fortunes on the ultimate triumph of the little town. Various discordant questions also arose between this town and its neighboring towns of the colony. The charter of 1643 was not satis- factory in its results. To add to the perplexities of the people the apparent efforts of William Coddington of Newport to gain some ruling advantage in the colony broke like a thunderbolt on the sus- picions of the people, and the citizens of this town could not be in- different to the general excitement.
In January, 1656, the town gave permission to such as pleased to do so to erect a fort on "Stampers' Hill." Tradition has preserved the statement that soon after the settlement was commenced, a body of Indians approached the town in a hostile manner. Some of the townsmen, by running and stamping on this hill led the Indi- ans to believe that a large force of men was stationed there to oppose them, and so they gave up the designed attack and retired. From this circumstance the hill has always been called Stampers' hill. Stampers' street passes along the brow of this hill. Other acts of
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the same town meeting were one establishing a new town court hay- ing jurisdiction over disputes not exceeding 40 shillings in amount, Roger Williams, Thomas Olney and Thomas Harris being first elec- ted judges of the court; and another declaring all the inhabitants, though not admitted as freemen, liable to be elected to office, and liable to fine for refusing to serve when so elected.
In 1657 a grave charge of high treason was preferred by Roger Williams against William Harris, at a general court held at Newport in May. Proceedings were postponed to a subsequent court meeting, when the following decision was given.
" Concerning William Harris his book and speeches upon it, was found therein delivered, as for doctrine, having much bowed the scriptures to maintain it, that he that can say it is his conscience, ought not to yield subjection to any human order amongst men. Whereas the said Harris has been charged for the said book and words with high treason, and inasmuch as we being so remote from England cannot be so well acquainted in the laws thereof in that behalf provided, as the state now stands, though we cannot but con- clude his behaviour therein to be both contentious and seditious, we thought best therefore, to send over his writing, with the charge and his reply to Mr. John Clark, desiring him to commend the matter, in our and the Commonwealth's behalf, for further judg- ment as he shall see the cause require, and in the meantime to bind the said Harris in good bonds to the good behaviour until their sentence be known." A bond of £500 was required. What termination the case ever reached we are not informed, but as he appears for many years afterward to have been a prominent repre- sentative in the councils of the colony we presume that he was not found guilty of the charge.
The number of freemen required to make a town meeting was at one time ten, but in 1658 the number was reduced to seven. As early as 1662 the proprietors of common lands began to be recognized as a distinct body, and to hold meetings by themselves, independent of the town meeting, but they still had the same clerk and their pro- ceedings were recorded in the town record book. In April of this year they made Mr. John Clark a member of their body, and granted him full rights with themselves as a proprietor. This appears to have been done in recognition or return for his services in their be- half as agent of the colony in England.
Among the diversity of character and manners which no doubt showed itself in this primitive community, Mr. George Sheppard, whom we have already spoken of as the donor of lands for the bene- fit of Weybosset bridge, is worthy of notice. He was evidently a very retiring man, refusing to take part in town meetings, and de- claring his cheerful acquiescence in the vote of the town disfranchis- ing him, on account of his thus absenting himself. In a letter to the townsmen explaining his position, he says:
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" For what land you were pleased to bestow upon me, I am bound to thank you for your free love therein, but be pleased to know, that it was not for land that I came hither, but the enjoying of my con- science, therefore, if any be offended at the quantity of that gift and also of my acceptation, being advised thereto by friends. I do most willingly surrender it unto you again, desiring that you would be pleased, if it might be inoffensive, to bestow upon me a smaller quantity, according to your custom, for the which I shall acknowledge myself much engaged unto you; otherwise you will expose me to think upon a removal where I may enjoy my freedom: but I hope you will take my condition into your serious consideration, that I may partake of that liberty, which, out of your tender care to consciences. you do hold forth, provided, as I desire not to be in anything a dis- turber of your civil peace or order but a well wisher and submitter thereto."
The leaders of the people in all the towns of Rhode Island were at work pressing the necessary action to secure a more satisfactory charter. This was accomplished in 1663, Roger Williams of Provi- dence being prominently instrumental in the enterprise. The new charter was signed by the king July 8th, 1663, and officially received and accepted by the people amid appropriate and solemn ceremonies at Newport on the 24th of November of the same year. In prepara- tion for this event Benedict Arnold, then president of the colony, gave notice on the 16th of the month to the officers of the town of Providence to require all the freemen of the town to accompany the commissioners, in their arms, " on the 24th day of November instant. being Tuesday, or as many as can come, to Newport, there to solemn- ize the receipt of the charter, according to advice of the colony's agent to the council."
A town meeting was immediately held, and William Field, Roger Williams, William Carpenter, Zachary Rhodes, William Harris and Stephen Arnold were chosen commissioners and authorized to repre- sent the town at the coming celebration. They appear to have all gone except Williams and Arnold, whose places were filled by the commissioners themselves, according to custom, by the election of Richard Tew and Joseph Torrey. The town declined to send any soldiers to take part in the parade. There was gathered a very great assembly of people, and in the presence of them all "the box in which the king's gracious letters were enclosed was opened, and the letters, with the broad seal thereto affixed, were taken forth and read by Captain George Baxter, in the audience and view of all the people; and the said letters, with his majesty's royal stamp and the broad scal, with much beseeming gravity, were held up on high and presented to the perfect view of the people, and so returned into the box, and locked up by the governor in order to the safe keeping." The most humble thanks of the colony were directed to be returned to his
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majesty " for the high and inestimable, yea incomparable grace and favor."
Under the new charter a few changes were made in the election of officers and other regulations. The apportionment of assistants to the different towns at this time was as follows: Newport, five; Provi- dence, three; and Portsmouth and Warwick, two each. The town council, composed of six persons, was to be composed of the assist- ants of the town and the remaining number to be elected by the peo- ple. The assistants were chosen by the assembly, or the state at large, so the town of Providence had only the power to choose three of its council. This was not altogether satisfactory.
Some idea of the comparative importance of Providence may be gained from the figures of a tax of £600 laid by the general assembly in 1664. Of this tax Newport paid £285; Providence, £100; Ports- mouth, £80; Warwick, £80; Pettiquamscutt, £20; and Block Island, £15. In December a town tax of £130 was ordered, and this was made payable in wheat at 4s., 6d. a bushel; peas at 3s , 6d .; and pork at £3, 10s. a barrel.
On the regular annual election day of June, 1667, one of those un- fortunate misunderstandings arose, which are not infrequent sources of trouble in an unsettled condition of government by the people. And indeed the peace of old established local governments has some- times been sadly disturbed by similar breaches. A misunderstand- ing arose between the assistants, whose place it was according to law to call town meetings. The details of the misunderstanding are not known, but it appears that two different calls were issued by different assistants, one by Arthur Fenner, and the other probably by William Harris. Thus, two meetings were held, and two sets of deputies to the general assembly were chosen. A special session of that body was called in July, by Mr. Harris, to oppose the action of the Fenner party. But the assembly decided adversely and admitted the depu- ties chosen at the meeting called by Fenner to their seats. Harris then preferred an indictment against Fenner and his delegates for illegal and disorderly proceedings, but they were acquitted, and on the other hand the assembly imposed a fine of £50 on Harris for call- ing the assembly together without sufficient cause. He was deposed from his office, and another assistant chosen in his stead, but the fine was afterward remitted.
The Fenner party, in the name of the town, had sent communica- tions to the other three towns of the state, setting forth in severe par- tisan language their interpretation of the division and the action of Harris in the matter. They gave him the name of a "Fire brand," and among other charges they declared that he had on the town meet- ing day, by the help of "his partner, William Carpenter, deprived a great number of freemen of liberty to vote for officers. Some of them had been townsmen twenty-six years, all above eighteen years of age,
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and landed men, and had given their engagement of fidelity to his majesty, according as is provided in the colony. The objection why they should not vote was, they had not given their engagements be- fore the town; then one steps forth and desireth to give his engage- ment, then, that, also they refused. Another objection, their names were not returned to the clerk, then the assistant tendered a list of those names to be recorded, that had given their engagements; that was also refused, so, that this man, with his partner, would neither accept them that were engaged, nor let him engage that offered him- self, before them; what they would have we now begin to see. The people beholding their liberties and privileges by these men endeav- ored to be violated and destroyed, being about two parts out of three resolved not to endure it; but moved Mr. Fenner, Assistant, to stand with them to help maintain their privilege, and to work they went, to the business of the day. to choose their moderator in the same room. the town clerk and constable: and when they were engaged, de- manded the town books to be delivered to the town clerk, chosen by the major part of the freemen of the town. This man with his asso- ciates, having got the table, denied the books. The said Arthur Fenner, moderator, in the name of the town demanded them three distinct times, and one of them dared the company to touch the books. But we dared to do it, only we did know it would but add fuel to the firebrand, which would do no good, neither to colony nor town; re- membering that our [liberty] is watched for roundabout us, and chose at present another way, procured paper, recorded our act and officers, completing the business of the day (as in respect to the election) and chose four men to draw this remonstrance to the three towns, that, if be possible this firebrand may be quenched. Moreover, this man, whilst we were peaceably acting, his associates having left the room, came again and commanded the said moderator of the town, about ten times, in his majesty's name, to depart that house from the rout; so that with us the case lieth thus; that when we meet together in peace to agree about our occasions, not warned by this man or his partner, we are called by him a rout, and when warned by them and do not as this man would have us, we are then also termed a rout. What other firey work this man will make, we watch to see, that we may quench it if it be possible."
This communication may have had some weight in procuring the summary treatment of Mr. Harris of which we have spoken, but it did not "quench the fire-brand" by any means. The favor which Harris had acquired in the colony called for a petition to the general assembly from the town in August, 1668, remonstrating against his being appointed to any office or employment in the colony. In this remonstrance, which is officially given over the signature of Shad- rach Manton, town clerk, it is declared that Harris was disfranchised in 1644 and cast out of town meeting "for assaulting a neighbor and
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blood shedding in the King's highway." He was charged with being an intrud, era usurper, a dweller "in the woods," with publishing treason- able expressions and being an element of disorder generally. All the invectives that rampant party spirit could suggest seem to have been used in describing his character, but for all that the assembly and the colony were not ready to remand him to the shades of obscurity. In 1668 the colony again elected him to the office of assistant, and the same honor was conferred upon him in 1669. His side of the controversy is not represented by any explana- tion now existing, but the facts mentioned show that by some means he secured a party of friends strong enough to sustain him in the positions mentioned.
It appears probable that his party was strong enough in the town to carry on so much opposition as to obstruct the harmonious action of the town. A double town meeting and election of two sets of delegates appears to have been held in 1668, and a similar condition of things existed in the following year. In 1669 two certificates from two town clerks appear to have been issued, in one of which it is stated that no deputies were elected, and in the other that a certain specified list of deputies was elected. The general assembly ex- pressed its sympathy for the "grevious symptoms that appear of the dangerous contests, distractions and divisions" by which they declare the town of Providence was incapable of transacting their own affairs in any measure of satisfactory order, and so tinable to send deputies to assist in the transaction of business for the whole colony. A com- mittee was accordingly chosen, to repair to Providence "and endeavor to persuade them to a loving composure of their differences," and to call a meeting for the election of town officers and deputies. No satisfactory result was reached.
In March. 1670, the assembly again took the matter in hand, and after reciting the facts "that there have been great distractions amongst the inhabitants of the town of Providence, there being two parties accusing each other, that they have obstructed legal proceed- ings and that they have acted illegally," appointed John Easton and Joshua Coggeshall to go to Providence and hold a town meeting and see that those possessing the legal qualifications, and only such, were allowed to vote. By this means a town meeting was held, an election of officers was secured, Mr. Harris and his party seemed to fall into obscurity, and the local machinery of government began to move more freely.
Despite all the discouraging and distracting influences of which we have spoken, the population of Providence continued slowly to increase until the period of that serious commotion known as King Philip's war. At the beginning of that period the population is esti- mated to have been about 1,000 souls. The results of the Indian hostilities at this time greatly changed the population as well as
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other material appearances of the place. A brief notice of the de- tails of this trying time is called for at this point.
In the earlier history of settlement, Massasoit, sachem of the Wampanoags, submitted himself and his lands to the Erglish, ard concluded a treaty with them. This treaty assured the Wampanoags of the protection of the English against the Narragansetts, of whose power and enmity the former tribe stood in great fcar. The treaty was kept inviolate during the life of Massasoit. After his death his eldest son, Alexander, succeeded him, renewing, together with his brother Philip, the treaty with Plymouth, under whose fos- tering wing the Wampanoags had grown stronger. Alexander had increased his power also, by marrying Weetamo, squaw sachem of the Pocassets, who was described as a princess not exceeded in power by any of her regal associates. It was suspected that Alexander was plotting with neighboring Indians for an onslaught upon the English. He was summoned to meet the court at Plymouth, but failed to do so, excusing himself by saying that he was waiting to see Captain Wil- lett who was then absent. This excuse was not accepted, and an armed force was sent after him, bringing him as a prisoner before the magistrates of Plymouth. He was soon released, but a few days after returning home he was taken sick of a fever and died. Indian suspicion at once declared that he was poisoned by the English.
Philip, the brother of Alexander, now became sachem of the tribe. He doubtless believed in the suspicion of poisoning, and true to the Indian character, smothered his revenge for a more opportune time to give it vent. He laid his plans first to secure the alliance of all the neighboring tribes and then to strike one simultaneous and de- cisive blow against all the English settlements. Concealing his designs and movements, while he offered gifts and matured his plans with the Indians, he renewed treaties of peace and amity with the English, and finally set the time when the mask of friendship should be thrown off and the plan which had been for years maturing should be consummated by the war-whoop, the scalping knife and the fire-brand. Circumstances compelled an exposure of his hostile attitude, and in the summer of 1675 the villages of Plymouth colony were destroyed. In preparation for the commencement of hostilities the Wampanoags sent their women and children to the Narragan- setts for safe keeping. Canonchet, the chief sachem of the Narra- gansetts, was required to give them up to the English, but he reso- lutely refused to do so. Thus, the neighboring tribes of Indians were aroused to participation with the Wampanoags, and on the other hand the whole power of the United Colonies was called into action to suppress them. Rhode Island, not being included in that tinion of colonies, was in a very dangerous position, but might hope as its only chance, to maintain a neutral position and thus escape the vengeance of the Indian. At the close of 1675 Philip took up his
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