USA > Rhode Island > History of Rhode Island > Part 7
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Mr. Clarke left three brothers-Thomas, Joseph, and Carew. The numerous family of Clarkes, of Rhode Island, mostly sprung from them. Joseph Clarke settled in Westerly, R. I. We find that the Rev. Joseph Clarke, jr., was in the Seventh-Day Bap- tist church of Westerly, now Hopkinton, also the Rev. Joseph Clarke, sen., stands enrolled as a member of said church. In
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
1692, he was clerk of said church, and resigned that office May 21, 1708, and Joseph Clarke, jr., was appointed to fill that place. Rev. Joseph Clarke was ordained Aug. 12th, 1712. Rev. Thos. Clarke was ordained as elder, Oct. 2, 1750. Rev. Joshua Clarke, his son, was ordained as elder, in May, 1768. All the foregoing Clarkes, except John, have been pastors of the church of Hop- kinton, then Westerly .- From the Church Records.
Judge Samuel Clarke, of Portsmouth, R. I., is in regular descent from this highly distinguished family. He has six broth- ers and two sisters, now living at Clarkesville, Brookfield, N. Y. The Hon. John H. Clarke, Senator to Congress, from Rhode Island, is also of the same family, and has distinguished himself in the various important stations which he has been called to occupy. Also W. Edward Clarke, Esq., of Providence, who has in his possession the Bible, formerly belonging to John Clarke.
TO THE MEMORY OF DOCTOR JOHN CLARKE,
One of the original purchasers and proprietors of this Island; and one of the founders of the First Baptist Church in Newport, its first pastor, and munificent benefactor. He died on the 20th of April, 1676, in the 66th year of his age : And is here Interred.
THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY HIS TRUSTEES.
May the descendants of the Clarke's follow the example of their illustrious predecessor.
Jeremiah Clarke .- We have not been able to trace any con- nection between this family and that of John Clarke, one of the first settlers. It is possible that they were remotely connected, though we should rather be inclined to doubt it. Jeremiah Clarke was Governor of the colony in 1745, and died in New- port, 11th month, 1751, and was buried in a tomb which now stands by the water side .- Friends' Records.
He was father of Governor Walter Clarke. Weston Clarke, the Recorder, and Rev. James Clarke, of the Second Baptist church of Newport, were grandsons of Jeremiah Clarke. They were among the early settlers of Newport. Many of their des- cendants have been highly respectable.
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THE COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF NEWPORT.
There is a tradition that this family originated from the Hon. Lewis Latham, who was Falconer to His Majesty, King Charles I. This was an office of distinction. He is also said to have been an illegitimate child of King Charles, the sot, and lived to the advanced age of 100 years. This Latham subsequently mar. ried, and had two daughters, one of whom married Randal Houlden, of Warwich, one of the original settlers, and the other a Clarke, the father of Jeremiah, and the grandfather of Walter Clarke, and these are the descendants of said Lewis Latham. The name of Latham is often found as the Christian name of families in Newport. We had in our possession, until within a few years, a portrait of Lewis Latham, but by some unac- countable negligence on the part of the person who had it in charge, it cannot be found. He was a venerable looking man, with a long flowing beard reaching to his bosom : there was also a coat of arms appended. We think that, considering all the circumstances, Jeremiah Clarke, the father of Walter, could not have been related to John. Walter Clarke was, how- ever, a distinguished man in the colony. He owned the land from the corner of the Parade, as far as to the Jonathan Marsh estate, afterwards belonging to Wm. I. Tilley, to the water, and extending to Clarke-street, named in honor of him. There is one singular fact connected with the Clarkes of Rhode Island, that the name ends with an " e," by which they can be distin- guished from the other families who bear the name.
We have said much more of this family, especially of John Clarke, than we otherwise should have done, had there not been a disposition on the part of historians, to treat his name and good deeds with indifference, in order to exalt Roger Williams, and Providence, of which he was the founder, at the expense of the honor and glory of Newport.
THE COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF NEWPORT.
As late as 1769, Newport outrivalled New-York, in her for- eign and domestic commerce. The inhabitants of New-York, New-Haven, New- London, &c., depended entirely on Newport for a market to supply themselves with foreign goods, and here they found a ready market for the produce of their own States.
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
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Her merchants were among the most enterprising and wealthy. Mr. Aaron Lopez, is said to have employed more than thirty sail of vessels, of different descriptions, at one time. Mr. Lopez was the first, or among the first, to push the whaling business as far as the Falkland Islands. Col. Godfrey Malborn, was an extensive ship-owner, and did much in building up the town, of which we shall speak more particularly. Jonathan Nichols was an enterprising merchant of Newport, and son of Deputy- Governor Nichols ; he was distinguished for his enterprise, pub- lic spirit, hospitality, and charity-rare virtues combined. He was extensively engaged in foreign commerce, and owned at the time of his death, sixteen sail of vessels. His residence was the estate on the Point, now owned by the heirs of the late Hon. William Hunter, which at that time had one of the best wharfs and ranges of stores in Newport, all of which he built. The work- manship of the interior of this house, is truly elegant and costly ; the stair ways being of English oak, and twisted, with the rich carved pannel work, shows the taste of its former owner, and the great superiority of the ancient buildings over the modern. There is also the Cheesborough estate, at present belonging to the heir of the late Hon. C. G. Champlin ; the Redwood House, on Bridge-street, now in possession of the widow Pierce; the Tillinghast property, now in possession of Gov. W. C. Gibbs; the Redwood House in Thames street, with its heavy iron gate, now the residence of the widow of S. F. Gardner, Esq. ; and the Gov. Wanton estate, in Thames street, with others, which clearly proves that a sad deterioration has taken place in the mode and manner of building, and corresponds well with the minds of the present age. Mr. Nichols was for many years a deputy from Newport, afterwards an assistant, and at the time of his death was Deputy Governor of the Colony. He died on the 8th of September, 1756. He was great-grandfather to Edward Hazard, Esq., of the Park House, Newport.
Messrs. E. and F. Malborn, Henry Collins, the Wantons, and many other merchants, also did an immense business before the revolution. The remains of the foundations of old wharves, from Robinson's Wharf on the Point, to Overing's at the ex- treme south, a distance of one mile, which at that interesting period were crowded with commerce, will give the reader some idea of the prosperity of Newport.
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THE COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF NEWPORT.
The town at this time was in the zenith of her commercial prosperity. The population is said to have been 12,000. She had about two hundred vessels employed in the foreign trade, . and between three and four hundred coasting vessels, including a regular line of London packets, and employing no less than twenty-two hundred seamen.
Such was the amount of business done at that period, that goods were not stored, owing to the want of room, while the wharves were literally covered with merchandize, viz. : sugar, rum, molasses, and every kind of foreign and domestic articles.
The coasters would take on board the merchandize, as before remarked, and proceed to New-York and Connecticut, where there was a quick demand, which went to build up and enrich the town of Newport.
We have been told an anecdote of Capt. Hicks, of Warren, who, coming to this port with a load of hoop-poles, found great difficulty in finding a place to land, having passed every wharf without finding room for his cargo, until he reached Overing's wharf at the extreme south of the town.
Her West India trade was immense. This grew partly out of the quantity of rum which was there distilled, there being, in full blast, about thirty distilleries. This gave constant employ- ment to coopers,-their shops were to be found on almost every wharf-brass-founders, and to draymen, and others, for all par- ticipated in the benefits resulting from this extensive trade. There was around the Cove, some ten or twelve distilleries, as the remains of the old cisterns plainly show.
Simon Newton owned two ; the great-grandfather of the firm of E. F. Newton, brothers, Samuel Johnson, the Rich- ardsons, and William Burroughs, each owned a distillery. In this section of the town, the business done was immense. There was seven wharves in the Cove, and before the Long Wharf were extended, vessels entered the Cove and discharged their cargoes ; and subsequently, through the drawbridge.
The town, at the same time, contained seventeen manufac- turers of sperm oil and candles, also three sugar refineries, one brewery, and five or more ropewalks.
- Tweedy, apothecary, a large importer and exporter of drugs ; such was his business, that he supplied Rhode Island, a part of Massachusetts, all Connecticut and North Carolina, with
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
drugs, and had an establishment in New-York, where mer- chants might ascertain his prices; this appeared from his books, when in the hands of the late Dr. Edmund T. Waring.
Stephen Dellois, Esq., had a large wholesale hardware store, as also Stephen Ayrault, Samuel Ayrault, Thomas Wilkinson. These were all importers, and did an extensive business. New- port, at this period, was the grand emporium of trade. We have heard aged men remark, ' that they have known of the arrival of eighteen West Indiamen in one day." It was said, at that period, however strange it may sound, "that possibly New-York might, in time, equal Newport." A degree of activity then prevailed, which would astonish us at this day.
CUSTOM HOUSE RECORDS.
It is to be regretted that the books and papers at this period are lost, in the regular set, which would have afforded us cor- rect statistics of the amount of merchandize imported into Newport.
We have procured, quite incidentally, from Mrs. Dudley, widow of the late Hon. Charles Dudley, Esq., former Mayor of Albany, who was the only son of Charles Dudley, Esq., Collector under the Crown, some portions of the records of the Customs, which will aid the reader in forming an opinion of the extent of commerce at the period of 1768-9. These quarterly returns were forwarded from England by the executor of Charles Dudley, Esq., a few years since. What became of the regular set of books, and papers, belonging to the Customs, is entirely unknown.
It appears by the books and papers in the author's possession, that in the year 1768-9, the entries and clearances amounted to some hundreds of vessels.
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CUSTOM HOUSE RECORDS.
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" INSTRUCTIONS,
BY THE COMMISSIONERS OF HIS MAJESTY'S CUSTOMS IN AMERICA, To CHARLES DUDLEY, EsQ.,
Who is appointed COLLECTOR OF THE CUSTOMS, at the Port of RHODE ISLAND, in AMERICA.
" You being deputed to be Collector of the Customs at the Port of Rhode Island, and you having given bond to His Majesty, with sufficient security, in the sum of one thousand pounds sterling, for the due execution of said employment, you are to take the following oath, besides the oaths prescribed by the Act of 1st Geo. 1st, 13, before you enter upon your office.
[FORM OF OATH.]
" I, - , do swear, to be true and faithful in the execution, to the best of my knowledge and power, of the trust committed to my charge and inspection, in the service of His Majesty's Customs ; and that I will not take any Reward or Gratuity, directly or indirectly, other than my Salary, and what is or shall be allowed me from the Crown, or the regular Fees established by Law, for any service done, or to be done, in the execution of my employment in the Customs, on any account whatsoever.
" So help me God. ·
Collectors, Comptrollers, Land Surveyors and Searchers,
Land Waiters,
Tide Surveyors,
Tides-men,
Coast Surveyors and Riding Officers,
Waiters and Searchers, and Preventive Officers,
Boatmen or Watermen."
{From the original printed Instructions, in a pamphlet form, containing thirty nine pages.]
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
" Amount of Molasses imported into Newport, for the Quarter ending the 10th of October, 1769,-3,000 hogsheads. The Names of the Vessels which brought the same, with the Masters and Owners :
- Ship's Name.
Sally Ranger
Master's Name. Simon Smith Jeremiah Cranston
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Where from. Surinam Hispaniola --- do. Jamaica Aaron Lopez St. Lucia Hispaniola do. Silas Cook do. St. Eustatia Myer Pollock
Myer Pollock ChristopherChamplin John Collins
Diamond
Nancy
Pinnock
Henry Bowers
John Fletcher
William Reed
Dolphin
Polly
Polly
George Rolland John Briggs James Thomas Joshua Bliven Giles Stanton
Jamaica St. Lucia Jamaica Hispaniola Jamaica do.
William Vernon
E. & F. Malborn
George Gibbs
Dolphin
Henry Weeden
do.
Charles Wickham
CHARLES DUDLEY, Collector, JOHN NICHOLL, Comptroller.
Port of Rhode Island,
Quarter ending 10th of October, 1769."
The amount of duties paid was $4,000. It should be borne in mind, however, that it was considered just and equitable to rob the king of the revenue. Hence, but a portion of the cargoes was entered at the Custom-house, while the remainder was run. The officers of the Customs under the Crown, were not very conscientious ; and it has been said that a guinea, being placed over one eye, had considerable effect, while another guinea rendered them blind to what was going on. The bulk of the cargoes was placed on board of coasters and sent off ; this was usually done in the night, as being a more favorable time to accomplish their object. An aged man, who was employed on Col. Malborn's wharf, informed the author, that " the scenes enacted there, indicated spirit and activity, rarely witnessed in any commercial town, even at this day."
Recovery Industry Betsy
James Rathbone. John Peters
Merchant's name.
Jos. & Wm. Wanton Peleg Thurston & Son
Hope
Adventure
John Stanton Phineas Gilbert William Ladd Joram Place Joseph Littlefield Sabinus Palmer
Abigail
Speedwell
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CUSTOM HOUSE RECORDS.
(L. S.)
" DUDLEY, Appellant,-SHAW, Respondent. . " Colony of Rhode Island, &c. ) COURT OF VICE- ADMIRALTY. S " George the Third, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c.
" To the Marshal of our Court of Vice- Admiralty, &c., or to his lawful Deputy,-Greeting :
" Whereas, an information was filed in our Court of Vice- Admiralty, by Robert Keeler, Esq., Commander of His Majes- ty's ship, the Mercury, against one hundred and nine casks of molasses, and two casks of coffee, for violation of the acts of Parliament; and on the twenty-eighth of November last past, the Hon. John Andrews, Esq., decree was promulgated, whereby the said one hundred and nine casks of molasses, and two casks of coffee, were condemned and forfeited, and did further order and decree that said molasses and coffee be sold at a public , vendue, and the monics arising from the sale thereof, to be dis- tributed agreeably to act of Parliament, &c.
" You are therefore hereby required, pursuant to the afore- said decree, to sell the said one hundred and nine casks of molasses, and two casks of coffee, this instant, being the fifth day of March, A. D., 1773, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, to the highest bidder, for sterling money, and you are to make true return of said sale, into the Register's office of said Court.
Witness, JOHN ANDREWS, EsQ.,
Commissary and Judge of said Court, at Newport, the 5th day of March, A. D., 1773, and in the thirteenth year of our reign. THOMAS VERNON Deputy Register."
" Newport, March 5, 1773. " At ten o'clock in the forenoon, pursuant to the within war- rant, I have sold one hundred and seven casks of molasses, con- taining 9,813 gallons, to Charles Dudley, Esq., at 10d sterling, per gallon, £408. 17 6
And two casks of coffee, to ditto, weight, 364 Ibs., at 6d per Ib., 9 20
£417 19 6
The said Charles Dudley, Esq., being the highest bidder.
WILLIAM MUMFORD, Deputy Marshal." (A true copy from the original manuscript.)
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
POWER OF ATTORNEY.
" I, Charles Dudley, of Newport, in the County of Newport, Esq., do hereby make, and appoint, and in my place put James Honyman, and Henry Marchant, both of Newport, aforesaid, Esqrs., my attornies, and cach of them my attorney in a certain action of trespass, upon the case commenced and prosecuted by Nathaniel Shaw, jun., of New-London, in the County of New- London, and Colony of Connecticut, merchant, against me, the said Charles Dudley, at the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, to be held at Providence, for the County of Providence, upon the third Monday of June, A. D., 1773. And do hereby em- power the said James Honyman, and Henry Marchant, jointly, and each of them separately, and by himself, in my name, and to appear in the Inferior Court aforesaid, or in any other Court whatsoever, and there to plead, defend, and pursue to final judgment and execution, with full power of substitution.
" Witness my hand and seal, the 14th day of June, A. D., 1775, and in the thirteenth year of His Majesty's reign, George the Third, King, &c. CHARLES DUDLEY. (L. S.)
" Signed, sealed, and delivered, - in presence of
John Grelea, jun., Ben. Peckham." 7
" NEWPORT, SS .- At Newport, upon the day and year afore- said, in his proper person, cometh Charles Dudley, above-named, and acknowledged the above power of attorney to be his act and deed. Before J. GRELEA, jun., Justice of the Peace."
A true copy from the original manuscript in the author's pos- session. This action grew out of the seizure and sale of the molasses and coffee above-named.
George Rome, Esq., (pronounced Room,) was a native of England, and for several years a successful merchant of New. port. He owned a valuable house, with a wharf and stores, on Easton's Point, on the spot known as Gibbs' ship-yard, where he carried on an extensive business. On the commencement of hostilities, he returned to England, and his valuable pro-
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CUSTOM HOUSE RECORDS.
perty in Newport and Narragansett, was confiscated. He lived in splendor, and entertained his friends with sumptuous hospitality. He had a summer residence in Narragansett, which he styled " Bachelor's Hall." He occasionally gave large par- ties, at which the ladies and gentlemen of Boston, Newport, and Narragansett, would equally mingle. Punch was the fashion- able beverage at that period, and the entertainment at " Bache- lor's Hall" was extravagant.
In the Stamp Act excitement, he strongly espoused the cause of the Crown. The gross charge of Mr. Rome, of corruption and partiality, against the Legislature, the Courts and Juries of the Colony, with the advice to annul the charter, and create a government more dependent on the Crown, produced an exas- peration too powerful to be withstood, and apprehending dan- ger, soon after his release from prison, he fled on board of the Rose, man-of-war, then lying in Narragansett Bay.
Having noticed the extensive business of Mr. Rome, on the Point, we would also notice the manufacturers of furniture, which at that period was quite extensive on the Point, and which was shipped to foreign markets. On Bridge street was Constant Bayley, Thomas Townsend, Job, Edmond, Christo- pher, and John ; these all had establishments, and employed a great number of hands, manufacturing furniture, for which a ready market was found in New-York and the West Indies. John Goddard, and Benjamin Peabody, had also cabinet- makers' shops on Washington-street, which carried on a large trade with Surinam.
On the east side of Washington-street and corner of the Long Wharf, stood the store of Joseph Hammond, a shipping mer- chant, who built the large house, since known as the Washing. ton House.
Next, north, stood the spermaceti works of Myer Pollock, who was extensively engaged in manufacturing oil and candles, and stored large quantities of goods for others.
The stores of David Huntington and Benjamin Barker, were also on the Point; both these men were extensively engaged in manufacturing furniture, which they shipped to New-York and the West Indies. Besides the above, there were three tanneries on the same street, and all in successful operation ; they were owned by Robert Taylor, William Potter, and - Bently.
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HISTORY OF RHODE ISLAND.
Holmes'. Wharf, was a great place for business ; on it stood Carter's cooper's shop, Monroe's block-maker's shop, Graftin's sail-loft, and over that a rigging loft.
Bowen's ship-yard.
John Collin's wharf and store; he was engaged in successful trade until the war, when the British destroyed his property, one house excepted.
During the war, 17 buildings were destroyed on Bridge- street. .
It will, no doubt, appear quite novel to the reader to be made acquainted with these facts, when contrasted with present ap- pearances. But in no section of the town, at that day, was there want of employment. It was the great commercial mart, and merchants resorted there, to trade and traffic, as well as to enjoy the hospitality of the inhabitants, which was then un. bounded.
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HENRY COLLINS, ESQ.
Henry Collins, deserves to be recorded with gratitude and respect. He was a native of Newport, and born March, 1699. He was educated in England, and on his return to his native country, adopted the profession of merchant, in which he was for a time eminently successful. He was a man of cultivated taste, and fond of literature-he animated and encouraged kin- dred spirits, and in 1730, with several associates, formed a lite- rary and philosophical society in Newport, which was the first that was ever formed in the colony, and probably was one of the earliest in America. This society afterwards comprised many of the prominent men in the colony, and some in Massa- chusetts and Connecticut. He is said to have been the pro- jector of the plan for a Library Association, in Newport, for which purpose he gave the valuable lot of land on which the edifice of the Redwood Library waserected, and was for many years one of the directors of the Institution.
He was a munificent patron of the arts, and by his patronage to Smybert, Alexander, Tocke, &c., we are indebted for many valuable paintings of the ancient Patriarchs, which are still to be found in Newport.
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3.6
I Bonar :14 Passan )
Market and Granary Erected 1763
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HENRY COLLINS, ESQ.
He formed a gallery of paintings, which the venerable Dr. Waterhouse remembers to have seen in his youthful days. In a letter to the Rev. Romeo Elton, he thus speaks : " Henry Col- lins was a wealthy merchant and man of taste-the Lorenzi de Me- dici, of Rhode Island ; he caused a painting to be made of Parson Callender, as well as some other divines, as Hitchcox, Clap, and Dean Berkley, which I have often admired in the Collins' collec- tion." The painting of Mr. Clap is now in the possession of the Congregational church in Spring street, and we would suggest to the First Baptist church of Newport, and of America, too, that they should take immediate measures to obtain the portrait of Mr. Callender, which has been taken from Newport and placed in the Historical Building in Providence, where it does not justly belong. Such things should never be permitted to exist, without obtaining redress.
Mr. Collins was at the head of every public improvement in Newport ; as the extension of the Long Wharf, and the building of the Brick Market, or Granary, in the year 1763. The architect was Peter Harrison ; it was built after the Ionic order. The upper story, for many years, was used for a theatre, before it was altered into a Town Hall.
" Whereas, the Proprietors of the Long Wharf, in Newport, aforesaid, have made a grant, on the twenty-fourth day of July, A. D. 1760, to the said town of Newport, of a lot of land, for erecting a Market House, &c., it is therefore voted, that Mar- tin Howard and Josias Lydon, Esqrs., be a committee, and they are hereby confirmed to make and give a good deed of said lot, to the town of Newport, agreeable to said grant.
" And that the upper part be divided into stores for dry- goods, and let out to the best advantage; and all the rents thereof, together with all the profits that shall arise on said building, shall be lodged in the Town Treasury of said town of Newport, towards a stock for purchasing grain, for supplying a Public Granary forever. And that said building be erected agreeably to a plan to be agreed on by said Proprietors, to be estimated at twenty-four thousand pounds, old tenor, to be raised by the lottery now on foot.
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