USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > History of Providence County, Rhode Island > Part 51
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The young town of Lincoln started in life with no town asylum and no town house-both of those used by the old town of Smithfield going to the present town of Smithfield. The only inheritance received from the mother town was the sum of $2,500 in cash, the records and archives of the old town-which are now in the town clerk's office-and the duty of paying a share of the old town's debt, which was $26,000, the total debt being $53,000.
The town by the act was divided into two voting districts, and has since remained so divided, voting district No. 1 being the same as voting district No. 3 in the old town of Smithfield, and voting district No. 2 embracing the rest of the town. This town was to send two. representatives to the legislature until the next state apportionment. The town life dates, for the purpose of electing senator and repre- sentatives to the general assembly, from the first Wednesday in April, 1871, and for all other purposes from the first Monday in June, A. D., 1871. The first members of the general assembly elected from the town of Lincoln were: Senator, Edward L. Freeman; representatives, Edward A. Brown and Samuel Clark.
The first town council consisted of Charles Moies, John A. Adams, Joseph W. Tillinghast, Benjamin Comstock, Stephen Wright, Hazard Sherman and William D. Aldrich, elected on the first Tuesday in June. 1871. Charles Moies, who had been a member of the town council of the old town of Smithfield for 15 years and president thereof for ten years, was retained in the new town until quite recently- William H. Gooding, the present town clerk, was first elected to this office in 1873. The first town treasurer was Thomas Moies, who held that position till 1886, when he was succeeded by his son, Charles P. Moies.
At the first meeting of the town council, the ordinances of the old town of Smithfield were passed and established as ordinances of the town of Lincoln; and on June 24th, 1871, Joseph M. Ross, John P. Gregory and Frederick N. Goff were appointed a committee to draw up, codify and report ordinances of the town of Lincoln, which duty they performed in a most satisfactory manner.
As before stated, this town originally had no town asylum, or place for the taking care of the unfortunate poor. Recognizing the duty of
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caring for the unfortunate, the town council appointed Mr. Henry Gooding as overseer of the poor, and after arranging with the town of Smithfield for the temporary care of such of the poor as could not be cared for at their own homes, but needed the accommodations of a town asylum, the town officers devoted themselves to securing a proper place for a town asylum. After much negotiation it was finally decided to purchase the Christopher Kelly place (so called) for $3,000, and also an adjoining lot from the Lonsdale Company for $1,000, for a town asylum, and on the 31st of December, 1871, the deeds of the estates were accepted and money ordered to be paid.
The total amount expended in the care of the poor the first year of the town, over and above the expense of providing a town asylum, was $2,005.02; and of this was expended in the care of state paupers, or those having no legal settlement in this town, the sum of $1,083.12, leaving the amount necessary for the care of what may be considered as home poor only $921.90, which, for a population of 7,889, was cer- tainly a favorable showing, and indicated a prosperous state among the people generally at that time. In 1888 relief was furnished 121 families, outside of the asylum, with coal, wood, shoes, groceries, etc. Receipts from the farm were $978.71. Total expense of the asylum was $1,746.64, the net cost being $767.93.
Up to 1872 the town had been without any town house or hall, or even office of its own; the town clerk's office having been in a build- ing on the premises of and belonging to the town clerk, Mr. Clark, and the council meetings and justice courts having been held in vari- ous halls in Central Falls. But in this year a committee, consisting of Charles Moies, Albert P. Carpenter, Jonathan Chace and Henry S. Fairbanks, having the matter in charge, decided upon the present lo- cation of the town house, on Summit, near Broad street, Central Falls, and the land was purchased from Andrew Jenks, for $1,812, in Sep- tember, 1872. The erection of a town house was immediately com- inenced, and it was finished and ready for occupancy in October, 1873, having cost, together with the land, furniture, etc .. $13,485.98. Oc- tober 25th, 1873, it was voted that the trial justice courts be held thereafter in the hall of that building, where they have been held ever since.
In the year 1873 there were a number of internal improvements in the town. The town house was built; a new iron bridge was built at Valley Falls, and a substantial bridge was built, under the superin- tendence of George Kilburn, Esq., at Berkeley, to take the place of the tumble-down structure that had been there for years, and a large sum was expended for repairs on the bridge at Ashton. The total amount expended for Lincoln's share of these two new bridges (one- half the expense being borne by the town of Cumberland) was $10,- 500. In addition to the above improvements, and the usual opening and fixing of new streets always going on in a town that is rapidly in-
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creasing in population, it became necessary this year to go to large expense in grading and draining Washington street. A committee, consisting of John A. Adams and Alfred H. Littlefield, was appointed to attend to the same. It became obvious to this committee that the only expedient method of providing for the drainage of Washington street was to purchase the land of Edward Dwyer and turn the drainage of a large portion of the street into it, and this was finally done. These improvements, together with the opening of the new streets necessitated by the growing and spreading of the manufactur- ing part of the town, were absolutely necessary; and yet their imme- diate beneficial influence was confined in great part to the southeasterly and easterly parts of the town.
The increased taxation necessary to pay for such expenses, to- gether with the knowledge of the fact that the town owed heavily in its share of the debt of the mother town of Smithfield, caused a strong feeling to spring up in the more rural part of the town to the effect that they were being dragged into a vortex of debt by the pushing, enterprising, but (they deemed) ill regulated spirit of the manufac- turing population of the Central Falls Fire District. The inhabitants of the latter, at the same time, had, many of them, the feeling that they could not get their needed improvements authorized and per- formed by the council so fast as their best interests required, and that they should never be able to do so as long as they were tied to the excessively conservative spirit of their rural co-citizens.
The result of these feelings was that petitions were drawn up in various parts of the town petitioning the legislature to set off portions of the town of Lincoln to adjacent towns, principally to set off the vil- lage of Central Falls to the town of Pawtucket, but they did not suc- ceed. In the autumn of 1874 the question of dividing the town was revived in a new shape, and appeared in the form of petitions to set off a portion of the villages of Valley Falls, Lonsdale, Ashton and Al- bion to the town of Cumberland, of which notice was given to the town council on October 31st, 1874, that it would be presented at the ensuing January session of the legislature; and also two petitions to set off a portion of the town of Lincoln to the town of North Provi- dence, of which the town council was notified on November 28th, that they would be presented at the ensuing January session of the legislature.
There did not seem to be so much enthusiasm on the matter of division this year as in the year before. This was probably on ac- count of the feeling among the people, who had suffered uneasiness at the rapid increase of the debt, that they had succeeded in passing a vote at the last town meeting (June, 1874) that no moneys should be expended, in any department of appropriation, beyond the amounts specifically appropriated, and that they had just taxed themselves very heavily to be able to pay up the debt. So a general feeling had
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spread abroad that a conservative policy was the best, and there was no feeling of indignation in the town generally when these projects were suffered to die in the legislature in the same manner as those of the year before. There have since been no attempts made to carry out this further division of the town. In the year 1873 the town was troubled to an unusual extent, chiefly among the operative class living in the villages on the Blackstone river, by the prevalence of small- pox. In the winter of 1873-4 it grew to be a very serious scourge, but it was not till the winter of 1874-5 that it reached its height. It at one time prevailed to such an extent, principally in the neighbor- hood of Manville, as to almost create a panic. The frightful disease was at last stayed by the town, but not till it had cost it $6,131.59, and some considerable loss of life.
Owing to the necessities for the expenditure of money heretofore referred to, the town found itself, in 1873, in debt, owing a Lincoln town debt of about $12,000, and on account of the old town of Smithfield debt a then unknown amount. It was considered that enough money would be raised by the tax of $1.20 per $100 in that year to pay off the Lincoln town debt, but owing to the large number of outstanding claims against the town that had not then been presented, on the 30th of April, 1874, the town still found itself with a Lincoln town debt of about $5,300 and its portion of the old Smithfield town debt, ascer- tained to be $26,000, to be paid.
Resolutely putting their shoulders to the wheel, the citizens pressed onward through the heavy track of debt, paving their way out by heavy taxation, assessing this year a tax of $1 per $100, and by April 30th, 1875, had paid up the Lincoln town debt, all but $15,000 of the old Smithfield debt, had paid an unexpected call for $3,600 on account of small pox cases, and had $7,614.73 cash on hand, with orders out- standing for about $2,000.
A tax of 80 cents on $100 was ordered in June, 1875, and on the 30th of April, 1876, the town had paid, in addition to its ordinary ex- pense, an extraordinary one of $4,114.13 (a judgment for land damage, in opening a street, against the town), paid $10,000 of the old Smith- field debt, owed in all kinds of demands (including the balance of old Smithfield debt) not to exceed $5,800, and had a cash balance on hand . of $4,363.72, leaving the actual net debt less than $1,500.
The real estate valuation of the town in 1888 was $7,292,650; per- sonal estate, $2,325,800; total, $9,618,450. The total amount of tax was $76,947.60.
One of the first acts of the first town council was to appoint a school committee, consisting of George A. Kent, Lysander Flagg, and Henry A. Jenckes. From June 1st, 1871, to April 30th. 1876, $74,157.43 was expended for school purposes. There are 13 districts in the town. The town appropriation for 1888 was $18,000, and from state and all sources, including town, the amount raised was $29,737.41. Half of
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the money appropriated for the support of the public schools is ex- pended in the village of Central Falls, to educate more than two- thirds of the children of the town, and the work here is exceptionally well done. The new building, so admirably adapted for both the grammar and higher grades, is an ornament to the village. The evening schools here are reported as being very efficient in their work. The committee on schools consists of Samuel Clark, Frank Millett, and A. H. Nickerson.
The valley of the Moshassuck was originally a region of great beauty, and has been a locality wherein successful business enterprises have alternated with the most disastrous experiments. The Lime Rock country is diversified by hills, but has a soil rich and permanent. It is a center for the manufacture of lime of the very highest quality. While this territory was yet a part of the town of Providence it was provided by law that the limestone quarries should be and remain the property of the town; they were not to be set off as other lands to the inhabitants, nor sold. This attempt at sovereign prerogative failed, however, although the town of Smithfield made some attempts to re- vive it, and the quarries went into private hands.
The manufacture of lime has been carried on with great success, and continuously, by the Dexter Lime Rock Company and the Harris Lime Rock Company and their predecessors. The village of Lime Rock, which at one time was the location of the Lime Rock Bank and the seat of considerable local business, is now, owing to the construc- tion of the Providence & Worcester railroad and the tendency of the times toward centralization of capital, comparatively deserted.
Stephen, eldest son of Gregory Dexter, began making lime at the Dexter Ledge, and the business was continued by himself and his de- scendants until 1854, except at the time of the Indian raid in March, 1676. In 1854 the business passed into the hands of a stock company and is still managed by them. There is one store in the place, which is and has been for many years successfully carried on by Charles Perkins.
The Harris Quarry was opened and worked at an early period by Thomas Harris, of Roger Williams' time, and continued in the hands of his lineal descendants until 1823, when the Harris Lime Rock Com- pany assumed the business. The excellence of the lime here pro- duced is proverbial. Stephen Wright is now interested in this enter- prise.
The Smithfield Ledge, known as Arnold's Ledge, is on the west bank of the Moshassuck.
Passing down the valley one reaches within a few miles the Quins- nicket country, Quinsnicket signifying in the Indian language "the large place of rock houses." So recently as in the days of the late Stephen H. Smith, the ruins of many of the Indian huts were in ex- istence upon his place. Mr. Smith beautified the immediate vicinity
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·of his residence, at Quinsnicket, by damming the Moshassuck and forming a beautiful lake, and by surrounding his house with such a wealth of trees, plants and creeping vines as to make it one of the most noticeable situations of the town.
The " Butterfly Factory," located in the immediate vicinity of the house of Mr. Smith, was originally erected for a cotton mill. It has been used for various purposes, but never with any permanent com- mercial success. Just below this building is a small privilege which was first occupied by Samuel Arnold, who, about the year 1816, estab- lished a distillery there. This enterprise proving unremunerative, Mr. Arnold and the late ex-Governor Lemuel H. Arnold, about 1826, converted the establishment into a print works, under the name of the Arnoldville Printing Company. This company was soon dissolved, and Holder C. Weeden took the place of ex-Governor Arnold. The ·concern was, not long after, burned to the ground. It was rebuilt, Mr. Weeden carrying on the business, but was again, about 1844, destroyed by fire. In 1846 Theodore Schroeder took possession of the establish- ment, which had been rebuilt, and changed the name to " Manchester Print Works," and for a time was eminently successful, but it was blown up by the explosion of steam boilers, and Mr. Schroeder failed about the year 1858. The works were again rebuilt and operated by Brown, Dean & Macready, who failed about 1862. The establishment having been purchased by Messrs. W. F. & F. C. Sayles, was occupied by the American Worsted Company for the manufacture of worsted braids and yarns. This was the first attempt to manufacture worsted braids in this country, and the pioneer in a business which has since been developed to such an extent as to supply the needs of the country and practically shut out imported braid. The company consisted of Messrs. W. F. & F. C. Sayles, Darius Goff and D. L. Goff. In 1864 the company was dissolved, the Messrs. Goff starting the business at Paw- tucket, and Messrs. W. F. & F. C. Sayles continued the old business under the name of the Union Worsted Company, until 1867, when the buildings and machinery were burned to the ground. This was the end, so far, of the attempt to manufacture on this site.
The police department of Lincoln is under the control of the fire- ward, as are also the fire department, water supply and street lights, and all these are to a certain extent connected. The town appoints a ·certain number of police constables and they are distributed through the various localities. They are paid by the fire-ward corporation. Central Falls, Lonsdale Company and Manville each have their watch- men. The fire department of Central Falls was reorganized in 1853 under the Pacific Fire Engine Company No. 1. They have a substan- tial engine house and a large force of men.
Central Falls is a flourishing manufacturing village, and derives its name from the fact of its location midway between Pawtucket and Valley Falls. In 1822 it contained but four dwellings. The stone
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house just north of the Stafford Mill was used for a place of worship for many years. Elisha Waterman, George Wilkinson and the Jenckes- erected the old chocolate mill, which was the first manufacturing es- tablishment in operation here. As late as 1856 Central Falls had but a few dwellings. Among those who were here early was Anthony Gage, who came from Cape Cod in 1812. He made his debut with an ox team and cart laden with his household goods. His wife was a very religious woman and held meetings at the old stone house regu- larly for some years. Doctor David Benedict was accustomed to preach occasionally. In 1821 the place had but 60 inhabitants. The old chocolate mill was torn down about 1824.
The post office was first established in 1867, and the first postmas- ter was G. F. Crowningshield. He held the office until 1876. Central Falls has no banking institution. The only hotel in the place was erected in 1824 by David Jenks, and was run by him for a number of years and then closed up. It has been used since then for different purposes, principally as a tenement house.
Central Falls is an important manufacturing village, and the place bears evidence of thrift, comfort and independence in consequence of it. The first intimation we have of the use of the water of the Black- stone river at Central Falls was that Benjamin Jenks erected a snuff mill near the dividing line between the towns of Smithfield and North Providence, and got his power by extending a trench by the side of the river up stream, into the river, which was the usual way of utiliz- ing the water of the Blackstone. At what time this business was abandoned is uncertain.
The next intimation we have is that Stephen Jenks (great-grand- father of Stephen A. and Alvin F. Jenks) bought, in 1763, of Gideon Jenks and Ezekiel Carpenter, three-fourths of an acre, on which was built the trip-hammer and blacksmith shop, which was afterward known as the blacksmith shop lot, and is now owned by the mill owners of Central Falls. Whether Stephen Jenks utilized the water of the Blackstone previous to the erection of the dam by Charles Keene, in 1780, is not known. Captain James S. Brown thought there was no use of the water previous to the building of Keene's dam, in 1780.
In 1777 William Jenks, of Wrentham, Mass., sold a lot of land, comprising some ten acres, located near the old dam at Central Falls, to Benjamin Cozzens, of Providence (clothier), who had a fulling mill at Pawtucket Falls, which was carried away in the great freshet of 1807. This purchase was evidently made for the purpose of using the water power for his business. In 1780 Benjamin Cozzens sold to Charles Keene that portion of this estate purchased of William Jenks, which now includes the Stafford Manufacturing Company's mill estate, stone house and blacksmith shop lot, chocolate mill lot and the dam lot, so called.
Charles Keene built the first dam across the river at Central Falls,
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and perhaps the first dam across the Blackstone anywhere. The dam was built for Mr. Keene by Sylvanus Brown. Keene erected a build- ing for the manufacture of scythes and other edge tools, and was called an edge tool manufacturer. A part of the building was occupied by a man named Wheat, for the manufacture of chocolate, which gave the name of Chocolate Mills to the village, and it retained that name down to 1824.
In 1784 Keene sold one-third of the estate to Levi Hall, merchant, of Providence. At this time Keene & Hall owned the whole water power at Central Falls, although there are intimations in the deed from Gideon Jenks and Ezekiel Carpenter to Stephen Jenks of the three-fourths acre lot, and also in the deed of Cozzens to Keene, re- serving one-third of three-fourths of an acre, but as has been said be- fore, it is not found that any water power was used previous to 1780 and before the building of Keene's dam.
In 1796 Anna Keene, widow of Charles, sold to Stephen Jenks, Ste- phen Jenks, Jr., and Moses Jenks, two-thirds of the Keene & Hall es- tate, and in 1806 Sarah Hall, widow of Levi Hall, sold to Stephen Jenks one-third of the Keene & Hall lot. On the three-fourths acre lot, by Jenks, in 1763, afterward known as the blacksmith shop lot, was built the trip-hammer and blacksmith shop, in which were manu- factured iron ship bolts and other ship work, the ship anchors being made by Stephen Jenks and Oziel Wilkinson, of Pawtucket.
The water power, in 1806, was principally owned by Stephen Jenks, including the blacksmith shop lot and the Keene estate. The Keene building, called the Chocolate Mill, was, in 1807 or 1808, owned and occupied by the Smithfield Manufacturing Company, and used for the manufacture of cotton yarns. In this mill, about 1812, and after, were employed Anthony, Eliza, Alexander, Isaiah and Richard B. Gage and others. Their office and place of putting up their yarns was in Paw- tucket, near where the Congregational church now stands. It is said the company, with their small amount of machinery (400 spindles) suf- fered more from the lack of water than 40,000 spindles do now.
In 1811 Stephen Jenks made a contract with the United States government to manufacture 10,000 muskets for $11.50 apiece. He erected a building to finish the guns in, part of which was afterward used by Stephen Jenks & Sons for a machine shop, and the balance for the manufacture of cotton cloth. This building was burned in January, 1829, and was on the site of what was afterward the Duck Mill, built by Lemuel H. Arnold and Palemon Walcott, for the manu- facture of cotton deck.
In 1832 Charles Moies and George F. Jenks bought the Duck Mill estate, and the mill was occupeid by Moies, Ingraham & Co. for the manufacture of cotton thread, the firm consisting of Charles Moies, H. N. Ingraham, Benjamin F. Greene, and Samuel Saunders. The lot on which the mill stood was sold, many years afterward, to Rufus
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Stafford, and is now a part of the Stafford Manufacturing Company's estate.
In 1823 the owners of the water power at Central Falls had their property platted and divided into separate water privileges, numbered from one to six inclusive, which were apportioned among the owners according to their ownership, which appears on the records of the town of Smithfield. Each privilege was to have an aperture in the side of the trench six feet long and two feet below the top of the dam, making the aggregate length of the apertures 36 feet and two feet deep below the top of the dam, which, it was considered, would be the full capacity of the river at that time. The apertures have since been in- creased to 156 feet in length and 16 inches deep.
Lot and privilege No. 1 were bought by John Kennedy and a brick mill erected for the manufacture of cotton cloth in 1825. It afterward went into the hands of William Jenkins, of Providence, from him to John Gardner and others, and from them to Rufus Stafford and others, and now belongs to the Stafford Manufacturing Company.
In 1824 a mill was built upon privilege No. 2 by David and George Jenks. Upon the completion of this the mill and the Central Falls bridge were dedicated. There was a foot-bridge built previous to this time. It was a gala day for the village. The meeting was held in one of the rooms of the mill and attended by nearly all the inhabi- tants of the village-men, women, and children-and a large number from Pawtucket, where some of the principal owners of the village re- sided. James C. Starkweather, of Pawtucket, was the orator of the day. After speeches were made and toasts drank, Stephen Jenks arose from his seat and proclaimed that the village should be named Central Falls, which was received with clapping of hands, stamping of feet, and swinging of hats and bonnets. The meeting continued until 12 o'clock at night. It was a moonlight night, and at that hour the citizens of Pawtucket who had attended the meeting were seen wending their way over Central hill toward Pawtucket.
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