USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > History of the state of Rhode Island and Providence plantations, Vol. I > Part 39
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29.
Aug. 1.
25.
Sept. 17.
A court was held at Westerly, in his Majesty's name, by the magistrates of Rhode Island, at which an oath of allegiance to the King and fidelity to the colony was ad- ministered, and signed by thirty-three freemen. The Con- necticut Court for that county was then sitting at New London. A protest was sent by Governor Leete upon this subject. A prompt reply was returned by Governor Cran-
1 These papers are all filed in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. pp. 44, 68, 69, 66. R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 52, 56-60.
2 Original of this letter is in New England papers, vol. iii. p. 59, in Br. S. P. O., R. I. Col. Rec., iii. 43-6, 1 M. H. C., v. 223.
3 1 M. H. C., v. 226. Not found in Br. S. P. O.
457
KINGS PROVINCE DISPUTE.
ston, justifying the proceedings of the Rhode Island Court. CHAP. The same energetic course was pursued by the Court of Trials. John Saffin, one of the signers of the obnoxious handbill, before described, and who had posted the same in Newport, having been arrested, was imprisoned, tried, and sentenced to pay a fine and to forfeit his estates in Narraganset. Richard Smith was arraigned at the same term but discharged, owing to a flaw in the indictment.1
The Connecticut Assembly, in compliance with the King's command, empowered the council to send an agent to England to defend the claim of that colony to Narra- ganset, and designated William Harris of Pawtuxet as a suitable person. They also disavowed the late Court held by Governor Cranston at Westerly, forbidding the inhabi- tants of Stonington in any way to recognize the same, and protested against any other act of jurisdiction heretofore, or hereafter to be, exercised by Rhode Island in the Nar- raganset country. Massachusetts also resented the griev- ances of her people, and upon the suit of Jolin Saffin ar- rested Capt. John Albro, an Assistant of Rhode Island, then in Boston. He was discharged at once, and the slight expense incurred by this annoyance was met by the Assembly. This body met at the usual time and contin- ued in session, with several adjournments, more than two months. Their first action was upon a petition from the town of Westerly that the western line of the colony should be run. It was voted to do so, surveyors were ap- pointed, and notice was sent to Connecticut requesting the concurrence of that colony in the survey. This was a cool rejoinder to the recent fulminations from that quarter, but was perhaps the best notice that could be taken of them.
The same subject was at this time occupying the royal council. A brief historical sketch of Narraganset, drawn
1 This was at the May term of the Court. Letters from Saffin and Smith, dated May 23d and 26th, to Sec. Allen of Connecticut, giving an account of their trial are in MS. records of Conn., vol. i. p. 250-2, in R. I. Hist. Soc.
XI. 1679. Sept.
Oct. 9.
28.
30.
Nov. 10.
Dec. 4.
458
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. up by Holden and Greene, was read,1 and a full report XI. was made by the Board of Trade soon after, upon the gov- 1679. ernment and propriety of Kings Province, reciting the Dec. progress of the dispute to this period, and recommending that a commission be sent out to examine the subject, as it was too complicated for the Board to decide.2
11. 1679-80. Jan. 6.
Connecticut replied to the last proposition of Rhode Island, refusing to run the line, and giving notice of the appointment of an agent to adjust the dispute in England that Rhode Island might also send one if she chose.3 At an adjourned meeting of the General Assembly, a letter was addressed to the King, advising his Majesty of the ap- pointment of an agent by Connecticut, and asking that time may be allowed to Rhode Island to make her reply before final judgment in the case.4
12.
Feb. 4.
March 8.
The grant of Mount Hope to Plymouth by royal let- ter5 decided the petition of John Crowne, so long pending before the council. He then made a new application, pe- titioning the King for the grant of Boston neck in Narra- ganset.6 This, like its predecessor, was referred to the Board of Trade, and met the same fate. The lands of Potawomet, about which there had been frequent conten- tion between Warwick and her neighbors, both Indian and English, were finally disposed of in town meeting, by di- vision into fifty equal parts or rights, and the names of the proprietors were inserted on the records.7
10.
A letter containing twenty-seven queries from the Board of Trade, relating to the condition of Rhode Island,
1 Br. S. P. O., New Eng. vol. iii. p. 45.
2 This report is without date, in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 12- 13.
3 Conn. MSS., vol. i. p. 264 in R. I. Hist. Soc. A copy of the Connecti- cut instructions to W. Harris is in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 107.
4 Original filed in Br. S. P. O., New Eng. vol. iii. p. 93, R. I. Col Rec., iii. 76.
5 N. E., vol. xxxii. p. 315, Br. S. P. O.
6 N. E., vol. iii. p. 55, Br. S. P. O.
7 Warwick records, March 8th, 1680.
459
DEATH OF GOVERNOR CRANSTON.
having been received, was probably the cause of a special meeting of the Assembly. A committee of seventeen per- sons was appointed to collect the necessary information in reply. The severe illness of the governor compelled an ad- journment. He expired the next day, being the third gov- ernor who had died in office within two years.
CHAP. XI. ~ 1680. March 11. 12.
Governor John Cranston had borne a distinguished part in the history of the colony, and filled the highest military and civil positions in its gift. He was the first who ever held the place of Major-general, having been se- lected to command all the militia of the colony during Philip's war, and he was the father of a future governor who became still more distinguished for his protracted public service. Major Peleg Sandford was elected by the Assembly to fill the vacancy. This was confirmed by the people at the general election, and Walter Clarke was again chosen deputy governor. A bell was now provided for calling together the Assembly, the Courts, and the Council, and ordered to be set up in some convenient place. A committee was appointed to make a digest of the laws " that they may be putt in print.": The prudent limita- tion of the power to be exercised over the Courts, prescribed by a previous Assembly,? was swept away at this session by a vote "that in all actionall cases brought to the Generall Courts of Tryalls, if either plaintiff or defendant be aggrieved after judgment entered in Court, they may and have liberty to make their appeale to the next Gen- erall Assembly for reliefe, provided such appeale be made in the Recorder's office tenn days' time after judgment en- tered as aforesaid ; as also such person or persons soe ap- pealinge, shall first pay cost of Court, and give in bond as
1 We infer that they did not discharge the whole of their duties, as the earliest printed copy of the laws now known is dated 1719, and repeated at- tempts were vainly made by the home government to procure from Rhode Isl- and a copy of the laws, as we shall presently see ; and this could not have been the case had a digest been provided.
2 August, 1678
16.
May. 5.
460
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. 1680. May
in case of review, and thereupon execution shall be stopped till the determination of the Assembly be knowne." It should be remembered that the General Court of Trials was composed of the General Council, being the governor and assistants, or what afterwards became the upper house of Assembly, who, at this time, formed a part of the Gen- eral Assembly sitting as one body ; and it was not till nearly seventy years later that a reorganization of the Courts effected a complete separation of the legislative from the judicial branches of the Government. An alter- ation in the time of holding the Courts of Trials was made, as they often interfered with the sessions of the Assembly. They were hereafter to be held on the last Tuesday in March and the first Tuesday in September, instead of in May and October as heretofore. The pay of members of both bodies was fixed at seven shillings a week. The statistical ac- count of Rhode Island, in reply to the inquiries of the Board of Trade, having been completed, it was sent, with a letter from the governor, to England.1
The dispute with Connecticut continued with unabated violence. That colony attempted to set up Catopeci, a Pequot, as joint Sachem of the Niantics with Weeounk- hass, daughter of the deceased Ninigret, and hereditary queen of the tribe. The same policy that had placed the usurper Uncas at the head of the Mohegans, now sought to distract the remnant of the once powerful Narragansets who remained faithful to Rhode Island. The injured queen petitioned the King against this violation of her rights, setting forth the conduct of Connecticut, and of the Atherton purchasers, as alike prejudicial to his Majesty, to herself, and to Rhode Island, and praying that
1 The original replies and letter are filed in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. pp. 115-121. As this is the earliest official information upon these points, and gives some interesting facts, we insert the substance in Appendix F. The queries may be gathered from the replies. They were addressed to all the colonies, and are printed in Antiquities of Connecticut, p. 130. Hart- ford, 1836.
8.
461
ARRESTS AND REPRISALS.
the jurisdiction of the country might be left, as it ever had CHAP. been, in the hands of the latter.1 A constable of Stoning- XI. ton was seized by warrant of Governor Sandford, for exer- 1680. cising authority in Westerly, by arresting one Wells upon July. a warrant from Connecticut, and carried to Newport. A 6. sharp letter from the Connecticut council followed, de- manding his release, and for peace' sake agreeing " not to meddle on the east side of Pawcatuck river " till the mat- ter was decided in England. The governor replied, giving the reason for the arrest, but retaining the prisoner for 9. trial. The council issued a formal protest against the conduct of Rhode Island, to be published by the marshal of Stonington on both sides of the river, prohibiting the 15. recognition of any authority not derived from them. They also wrote a letter to the Board of Trade containing seven pleas for their claim to the jurisdiction and soil of Narra- ganset.2 Further than this they proceeded to make re- prisals. The marshal and his posse broke open the house of Joseph Clarke in Westerly, before sunrise, and carried him off as a prisoner. The governor and council of Rhode 21. 23. Island and Kings Province demanded his release, in a let- ter setting forth their right of jurisdiction, both by charter and commission, over the invaded district. Clarke was released upon recognizance in the sum of two hundred pounds sterling for his appearance at the October term. Connecticut replied, placing the seizure of Clarke on the 20. ground of retaliation, denying the allegations of the Rhode Island letter, and asserting her claims to Kings Province. Mr. Blathwayt, secretary of the royal council, wrote to Randal Holden and John Greene concerning the boundary dispute, and also the Warwick case with Harris. In their
1 The original petition, translated by Job Babcock, interpreter, dated 4th April, 1680, and signed " Weeounklass, the Queen in the Nihantick Cuntrey in the Kings Province in New England -- with the consent of her Counsell," is in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 77.
2 Antiquities of Connecticut, p. 128.
462
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. reply, a minute account of the history of Narraganset and the grounds of the Rhode Island claim is given.1 The 1680. secretary's letter shows a leaning on the part of the council Aug. 23. in favor of Rhode Island. Connecticut continued to ex- ert authority over the people of Westerly, summoning them to the Stonington town meeting to elect deputies, and to perform military duty ; while Rhode Island exer- cised her rights in bringing suits for eviction, in cases of land title under grants from Connecticut, in that town- a proceeding that brought out a strong remonstrance from Hartford,2 closing with a proposal to negotiate.
Private no less than public concerns, in the colonies, were often the subjects of petition to the throne. Thomas Savage, one of the eighteen original proprietors of Aqued- neck, who had returned to Massachusetts, now wrote to the Government of Rhode Island, claiming his right in the undivided portions of the island to which he was entitled, as well as to the eight acre lot that he received at Pocas- set, by the original agreement of the purchasers. Copies of the necessary papers were given to his son, and also a letter to the town of Portsmouth, to the same effect, which was presented at town meeting, but refused record or hearing by the freemen. Major Savage then petitioned the King, stating the facts and asking that a commission from the adjacent colonies be appointed to try the case ; but no notice appears to have been taken of it.3 The claim of one-eighteenth part of the island was a large one, and although technically well founded, would have worked practical injustice if allowed, since the settlers who re-
1 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 81. This account differs some- what from the received opinion of the settlement of Narraganset. See note ante ch. vi. p. 195.
2 Conn. MSS., vol. ii. p. 8-10, to which Rhode Island replied, 13th Sept., that she was ready to treat, as proposed by Connecticut, at any time. Do. p. 11.
3 The original petition of Mr. Savage is in Br. S. P. O., New England, v. iii. p. 128.
25. 30.
463
THE NARRAGANSET PROPRIETORS PETITION.
mained had given up their equal rights for the benefit of new comers as fast as such were admitted freemen of the colony.
CHIAP. XI. 1680. Sept.
At the same time the proprietors of Narraganset sent a long petition to the King, reciting the history of their country, praying to be separated from Rhode Island, and annexed to Plymouth or Connecticut, or to be erected into a distinct government. The acts of the royal commission- ers are particularly dwelt upon, and much stress is laid on the dissent of Col. Nicholls, and subsequent revocation of the order for the Atherton company to quit the settle- ments. They had sent by William Harris all the papers relating to their case, but these were carried to Algiers,1 and being too poor to send another agent to England, they ask that John Lewin and Thomas Dean, to whose care the petition is sent, may be received as their attorneys before the council, and also that a court of claims, made up from the other colonies, may be constituted to examine land titles and report to the King .? The Government of Rhode Island sent a remonstrance against this petition, recapitu- lating the history of the colony, the agreement of Winthrop and Clarke, and the terms of the Connecticut charter, which so explicitly assigned Narraganset to Rhode Island. The date of every settlement in the colony is given, and the assertion of Richard Smith that he was the pioneer in Narraganset is directly denied, a Mr. Wilcocks and Roger Williams having preceded him by some years, and before the purchase of Warwick. The violent conduct of Con- necticut is described, and an issue of the differences, by a confirmation of the charter of Rhode Island, is earnestly re-
1 While the writer was examining the archives in London, all these docu- ments, and many more relating to the capture of Mr. Harris, were found in the bundles marked " Algiers," where they had been filed for one hundred and seventy years. They are now restored to their proper place among the New England papers.
2 Original in Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 84. Received Oct. 11th, 1680
4.
464
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. quested. Papers in proof of the averments of the petition accompanied it, with a letter 1 of the same date from Gov. 1680. Sandford. John Saffin also wrote to Lord Culpeper re- Oct. 5. hearsing the points of the Narraganset petition, and re- questing him to represent their case, and to favor their agent, Harris, and the attorneys.2
7. 27.
The trial of Clarke took place at Hartford. He was sentenced to pay a fine of ten pounds and costs. The General Assembly assumed the case and granted relief, which was the only business of public interest transacted at the session.
A measure was now adopted in England of the most vital character in its results upon the colonies. A deter- mination to enforce the famous navigation acts 3 and their corollary, the acts regulating the plantation trade, was sig- nified to all the colonies by royal edict. Upon the recep- tion of this decree, the governor and council ordained, in pursuance of its mandates, that a naval office, or custom-
1 Original letter and petition in New England, vol. iii. pp. 85-87, Br. S. P. O.
2 Br. S. P. O., New England, v. iii. p. 113.
3 The author of the first of these acts was George Downing of Salem, a nephew of the famous Hugh Peter, the father of New England commerce and the founder of her fisheries. Its object was to give to British shipping the monopoly of the home trade. Its motive was to weaken the overwhelming commercial and naval power of Holland, then the carrier of the world and mistress of the seas. It was introduced into Parliament on the 5th August, 1651, by Whitelock, the republican leader, and passed 9th October. It has been well styled the Charta Maritima, and so beneficial was its effect that Adam Smith is compelled to pronounce it " the wisest of all the commercial regulations of England," although it is diametrically opposed at every point to his favorite theory of free trade. Immediately after the restoration it was remodelled and passed by the King's Parliament in 1660, and its author re- ceived the honors of knighthood at the hands of Charles II. The glory of England in this as in many other important points, was the result of meas- ures initiated by the republican Parliament. " The navigation act, " says Upham, "was not only the wisest, it was the boldest, it might almost be said, the most high -handed legislative proceeding ever passed." It built up the maritime power of England, but it was one of the earliest sources of op- pression to her American colonies, in connection with the kindred acts for the control of the plantation trade.
Nov. 12. 1681. March 28.
465
THE CURSE OF CLAWSON.
house, should be established at Newport for the proper en- CHAP. try of all vessels arriving in this jurisdiction. The bonds
XI. required by the act were to cost six shillings for every ves- 1681. sel above forty tons burden, and two and sixpence for those April of less tonnage. The act was published by beat of drum 1. in the town of Newport. The time was to come when the same drum-beat should call the people to resist these acts as being among the most oppressive impositions of a des- potic government !
May 4.
No changes were made in the general officers at the next election. Benjamin Hernden, Jr., or Herendeen, of Providence, having without provocation fired upon an In- dian, the Assembly passed an act to prevent such outrages in future, and caused it to be published, "with all expe- dition " at Providence. This man was a desperate char- acter, as was his father before him. A romantic legend of the latter is preserved, which, as it serves to illustrate one phase of border life, when this was a frontier settlement of the English, may be here related. In the earliest list of "twenty-five acre men" received as inhabitants of Providence ' are found the names of John Clawson and Benjamin Herendeen. Their families were very intimate, and it is probable were connected by marriage. Clawson was a hired servant of Roger Williams. One night ? he was attacked from behind a thicket of barberry bushes, near the north burial ground, by an Indian named Waumaion, whom Clawson supposed to be instigated thereto by Hcrendeen. At the first assault Clawson's chin was split open by a blow with a broad axe, from the effects of which wound he soon afterwards died, but not before he had pronounced the strange curse upon his mur- derer, which the legend records as having been so singu- larly fulfilled, " that he and his posterity might be marked with split chins and haunted with barberry bushes." More than a century later, testimony was collected in proof
1 January 19th, 1645-6.
2 4th January, 1660-1.
VOL. I .- 30
466
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. of the fulfilment of this dying malediction. By this it XI. appears that the descendants of the murderer were remark- 1681. able for the excavated or furrowed chin, which caused the June curse of Clawson to be kept in remembrance, and many a quarrel was excited among them at huskings and frolics by mention of the word " barberry bushes." 1
23. At an adjourned session, the towns were empowered to choose one or more additional constables at regular town meetings, the same as on election day. A slight difficulty July. arose between the Mohegan and Narraganset Indians, owing to a murder committed by the latter, which led to a friendly correspondence between Rhode Island and Con- necticut, by which trouble was prevented, the dispute be- ing settled by arbitration. This was the only intercourse of an official nature that took place between the two col- onies for more than a year.
Sept. 12.
The Narraganset proprietors sent through Lord Cul- peper another statement of their claims, contradicting the positions taken by Holden and Greene. This statement was received while a commission for settling these disputes was being discussed by the council.2
Oct. 26.
The next regular session of the Assembly was held at Providence, being the first Assembly ever held there under the new charter, and only the second that had met at any . other place than Newport. This was perhaps owing to a disagreement then existing in the town as to the number of which the town council should consist ; one party de- siring that two or three members should be added to make the council equal in number to those of the other towns,
The curse of Clawson, with the singular and undoubted evidence of its fulfilment, collected from the most respectable sources by the Hon. Theodore Foster, and also the account of the murder and trial, with a copy of a letter from Roger Williams to the town of Providence, dated May 11th, 1661, con- cerning the estate of the murdered man, are preserved in the Foster MS. papers.
2 Br. S. P. O., New England, vol. iii. p. 109. Potter's Narr. R. I. H. C., iii. 226. 1 M. H. C. v. 229.
467
A CUSTOM-HOUSE ESTABLISHED.
the other party opposing any alteration. Every town CHAP. council consisted of six persons, including the resident as- sistants, who were chosen by all the freemen of the colony. Three of these being from Providence, left but three mem- bers to be elected by the town, the rest being chosen by the colony. This was a regulation prescribed when the charter was adopted, and for which it is difficult to see the reason. It certainly worked injustice to the townsmen in this case. The Assembly authorized the assistants to call a town meeting to elect a council of six persons in ad- dition to the assistants. This was to be done annually, and was carried into effect at the next town meeting. 14. Fast riding within the compact parts of Providence was also prohibited by the Assembly.
Attention to the acts of trade and navigation, the 1682. stumbling-block of New England, began now to be urged upon the colonies. The dictatorial bearing of Randolph, the special commissioner appointed from England to en- force these acts, as surveyor general of customs, maddened the people of Massachusetts almost to open resistance, but as yet no trouble from this source was felt in Rhode Island. The reciprocal engagement of the colony to the governor was amended by adding thereto a pledge to stand by him May 3. in his performance of the said acts as required by the oath therein imposed. The ordinance of the governor and coun- cil establishing a custom house, upon receipt of the royal decree the year before, was confirmed by the Assembly. The decree, or " charter concerning trade and navigation," as it was termed, was presented to the Assembly by Fran- cis Brinley, and placed by them in custody of the governor. Sandford and Clarke were again chosen to their respective offices. The quarrel between Warwick and Kingstown for the possession of Potowomet had proceeded so far that the Assembly now interfered, to preserve peace, and for- bade any persons whatever from entering thereupon until further orders. They also warned certain intruders upon
XI. 1681. Dec.
468
HISTORY OF THE STATE OF RHODE ISLAND.
CHAP. XI. the said lands to depart forthwith, but permitted the War- wick proprietors to mow and improve the meadows there 1682. as heretofore. The town officers of Kingstown, distracted June. by the rival claims to the jurisdiction of Narraganset, had avoided taking their engagement to this colony. Two " conservators of the peace " 1 were therefore elected for that town, and the governor was desired to hold a Court there and to call a meeting of the town to elect officers ; or in case the town should refuse so to do the Court was requested to elect all of them, to continue until further orders or till new ones be chosen.
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