USA > Rhode Island > Kent County > East Greenwich > History of the town of East Greenwich and adjacent territory, from 1677 to 1877 > Part 16
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
" ' MARIETTA, 18th December, 1788.
" ' MY DEAREST FRIEND:
"'I now write you from my sick chamber-perhaps it will be the last letter you will ever receive from me. I expect to leave this, on Sunday next, for the Falls of the Ohio; thence to New Orleans, and the West Indies, to seek a warmer climate, the only chance of my recovery. My physician thinks the chance of recovery is in my favor; I am neither elevated or depressed by the force of this opinion, and will indulge a hope that I shall once more embrace my lovely friend in this world; and that we may glide smoothly down the tide of time, for a few years more, and mutually enjoy the more substantial happiness, as we have already the desirable pleasures of this life.
"' But my lovely friend, the gloomy moment, will arrive, when we must part; should it happen during our present separation my last and only reluctant thought will be employed about you; life is but a bubble; it soon bursts, and is remitted to eternity; when we look back to the earliest recollections of our youthful hours, it seems but the last period of our rest, and we appear to emerge from a night of slumber, to look forward to real existence.
"' When we look forward, time appears as interminable as eternity, and we have no idea of its termination, but by the period of our dissolu- tion; what particular connection it bears to a future state, our general notions of religion cannot point out; we feel something constantly active within us, which is evidently beyond the reach of mortality; whether it be a part of ourselves, or an emanation from the Great Source of all ex- istence, or reabsorbed when death shall have finished his work, human wisdom cannot determine. Whether the demolition of our body intro- duces only a change in the manner of our being, and leaves us to progress infinitely, alternately elevated or depressed, according to the propriety of our conduct, or whether we return to the mass of unthinking matter, philosophy hesitates to decide.
"' I know, therefore, but one source from whence can be derived com- plete consolation in a dying hour; and that is the divine system contained in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There life and immortality are brought to light; there we are taught that our existence is to be eternal; and secure of an interest in the atoning mercies of a bleeding Saviour, that we shall be inconceivable happy. A firm, unshaken faith in this doc- trine must raise us above the doubts and fears that hang upon every other system, and enable us to view with calm serenity the approach of the King of terrors, and behold Him as a kind, indulgent friend, spend- ing his shafts, only to carry us sooner to our everlasting home.
"' Should there yet be a more extensive religion beyond the vail, the Christian religion is by no means shaken thereby, as it is not opposed to any principle that admits the perfect benevolence of the Deity. I hope and pray the Divine Spirit will give me such assurance of an acceptation of God, through the death and suffering of His Son, as to brighten the way to immediate happiness.
"' Dry up your tears, my charming mourner, nor suffer this letter to give you any inquietude; consider the facts at present, as in theory, but the sentiments such as will apply, whenever the great change shall come. Give my sincere love to all those you hold dear. Adieu! my dearest
176
HISTORY OF EAST GREENWICH.
friend; and while I fervently devote in one undivided prayer, our im- mortal souls to the care, forgiveness, mercy, and all-prevailing grace of Heaven, in time and through all eternity, I feel as if I must now bid you -- a long-long-long farewell. JAMES M. VARNUM.'
" General Varnum died a few days after the date of this letter, at the Falls of the Ohio. I knew that General Varnum had indulged to a great extent in skeptical and philosophical opinions, hence the very great and additional value of this mature effusion of his most secret soul, on his dying bed. For this reason I have introduced his senti- ments. They exerted a benign influence upon my own mind, and I earnestly hope they may be equally useful to others."
JOSEPH L. TILLINGHAST.
Joseph L. Tillinghast was born in Taunton, Massachu- setts, in 1791, and removed to Rhode Island in his boy- hood. He graduated at Brown University in 1809, and soon after took charge of Kent Academy, at East Green- wich, as teacher and principal. He studied law and de- voted himself to its practice in Providence with marked success for thirty years, and was a Representative in Con- gress from Rhode Island from 1837 to 1843. In 1833 he was elected a member of the Board of Trustees of Brown University. He was also for many years a member of the State Legislature, and was elected Speaker on several oc- casions. To him was awarded the authorship of the free schools, and of the improved judiciary systems of this State. He died in Providence December 30th, 1844.
Although Mr. Tillinghast never resided in East Green- wich while practicing law, yet as he was principal of Kent Academy for many years, he is in a degree identified with those having an interest in our town.
ALBERT C. GREENE.
Albert Collins Greene was born in East Greenwich in 1792. He was a son of Perry Greene, a brother of General Nathanael Greene. He read law in New York, returned to his native town and State, and here commenced the prac- tice of his profession. He was not a graduate of any col- lege, but was considered the most eminent lawyer in Rhode Island. In 1815 he was elected to the General Assembly of this State. In 1816 he was elected a brigadier-general of the militia, then of more importance than now, and sub- sequently became a major-general. From 1822 to 1825 he
177
LAWYERS.
served again in the Legislature of the State, and was chosen Speaker. From 1825 to 1843 he was Attorney- General of Rhode Island. From 1845 to 1851 he was a Senator from Rhode Island in Congress ; and having again served a term in each of the two Houses of the State Legislature, he retired from public life in 1857, and died at Providence, January 8th, 1863.
NATHAN WHITING.
Nathan Whiting, characterized in his obituary as a " lawyer of deep judgment and erudition," was long a prominent resident of this town. Born in Franklin, Mas- sachusetts, in 1774, he entered Brown University in 1793, and graduated in due course. He was admitted to the bar in 1800, and came directly to East Greenwich. Immediately after his arrival he delivered an oration on the death of Washington, by the invitation of a joint committee of East Greenwich and Warwick. It still remains in the pos- session of his descendants to testify to his unusual powers. He continued to reside in East Greenwich during his life- time, and was devoted to the practice of the law and to teaching. He died September 24th, 1842.
WILLIAM G. BOWEN.
William Gorton Bowen, a good and reliable lawyer and a man of unblemished reputation, was born in Coventry, Rhode Island, May 14th, 1799. He studied law with ยท General Albert C. Greene, in East Greenwich, and was ad- mitted to the bar about the year 1824. From that time until his death, which occurred March 4th, 1854, he con- tinued to practice law with good success at East Green- wich. During this time he was elected to the General As- sembly, and received other tokens of public confidence. He married a Miss Susan Packard, of South Kingstown, and left one son, William S. Bowen, M. D., who is now a suc- cessful oculist and aurist at Hartford, Connecticut.
JOSEPH WINSOR.
Joseph Winsor was born in Glocester, Rhode Island, January 15th, 1821. He graduated at Brown University in 1840. After teaching two years in Prince George's County, Maryland, he returned to Rhode Island in 1842,
12
178
HISTORY OF EAST GREENWICH.
and studied law with Samuel Y. Atwell, in Providence. When admitted to the bar he immediately removed to East Greenwich, and began practice with an office in a building at the north end of Main street. Soon after he lost his library and some other valuables by fire. To prevent the recurrence of a similar disaster, he built a fire-proof office of stone, with iron roof, iron door, and iron shutters. This building is now standing on the lot in the rear of Mr. Sheffield Arnold's house on Main street.
Possessing a great business capacity, he seemed more fitted for a financier than for a lawyer, and by his shrewd- ness and foresight in purchasing land, laying out streets, building dwelling-houses, and selling them to good advan- tage, he gave the first impulse to the growth of East Greenwich, which has increased so wonderfully since. If he could have lived to man's usual age, he would have been the most successful business man in our community ; but as he overtasked his power of endurance, he brought on pre- mature decay, and died from consumption in East Green- wich, December 20th, 1853, and was buried in St. Luke's Cemetery, by the side of his wife, who was a Miss Louisa McClellan, an aunt of General George B. McClellan.
Mr. Winsor took great interest in various projects, be- side building, for extending the business relations of East Greenwich, and was, among other things, the founder and first secretary of the Farmers' Mutual Insurance Company of this village, which in a transformed shape, still survives in our own day as the Steam Boiler Insurance Company.
WILLIAM E. PECK.
William E. Peck was born October 13th, 1815. He studied law with Francis E. Hoppin and Richard Ward Greene, was admitted to the bar in 1850, and commenced practice in the City of Providence. In 1852 he was elected a Representative to the Legislature from Providence, and was appointed Judge of the Court of Magistrates. In 1855 he removed to East Greenwich, but continued to practice in Providence. In 1857 he was elected a Senator from East Greenwich. In 1864 he entered as lieutenant the Third Rhode Island Cavalry, and accompanied his regiment to Louisiana. There he contracted chills and fever, and died from an attack of congestive chills, August 13th, 1865, while still in the service of his country, at Napoleonville, Louisiana.
/
CHAPTER XIV.
THE KENTISH GUARDS.
IN 1774 a number of the inhabitants of East Greenwich petitioned the Legislature for an " Act of Incorporation " forming them and those who should join them, into a com- pany, by the name of the Kentish Guards. The following act is copied from an old schedule of the doings of the Gen- eral Assembly in the year 1774 :
"An act establishing an Independent Company by the name of Kentish Guards.
" Whereas, The preservation of this Colony in time of war depends, under God, in the military skill and discipline of its inhabitants and whereas a number of inhabitants of the Town of East Greenwich, (to wit) : James Mitchell Varnum, Christopher Greene, (son of Philip), Nathanael Greene, Jr., Daniel Greene, Griffin Greene, Nathanael Greene, (son of Richard), Christopher Greene, (son of James), John Greene, Charles Greene, Sylvester Greene, William Greene, (son of Richard), Hopkins Cooke, Richard Fry, Joseph Jos- lyn, Micah Whitmarsh, Augustus Mumford, John Cooke, Richard Mathewson, John S. Dexter, John Fry, Gideon Mumford, William Arnold, Archibald Crary, John Glazier, Stephen Mumford, Andrew Boyd, Eser Wall, Abial Brown, Oliver Gardiner, Clark Brown, Benjamin Spencer, James Searle, Gideon Freeborn, Wanton Casey, Job Peirce, John Reynolds and Samuel Brown, have petitioned this Assembly for an act of Incorporation, forming them and such others as shall be joined unto them, (not exceeding One Hundred Men, Rank and file), into a Company by the name of the Kentish Guards ;
" Wherefore, This General Assembly to encourage a De- sign so laudable, have Ordained, Constituted and Granted,
180
HISTORY OF EAST GREENWICH.
and hereby do Ordain, Constitute and Appoint, that the said Petitioners and such others as may be joined to them, (not exceeding One Hundred Men, Rank and File), be and they are hereby declared to be an Independent Company, by the name of the Kentish Guards, and by that name shall have perpetual succession, and shall have all the Rights, Powers and Privileges in Grant hereafter mentioned.
"First, It is Granted unto the said Company, that they, or the major part of them, shall and may once in every year, to wit : on the last Wednesday in April, meet and assemble themselves together, in some convenient place by them appointed, then and there to choose their Officers, to wit : One Captain, Two Lieutenants and One Ensign, and all other Officers necessary for training, disciplining, and well ordering said Company; at which meeting no Officer shall be chosen, but by the greater number of votes then present ; The Captain, Lieutenants and Ensign, to be ap- proved of by the Governor and Council for the time being ; and shall be commissioned in the same manner as other Military Officers in this Colony.
" Secondly, That the said Company shall have liberty to meet and exercise themselves upon such other days and as often as they shall think necessary and not be subject to the Orders or Directions of the Colonel or other Field Officers of the Regiment in whose District they live in such meetings and exercisings ; and that they be obliged to meet for exercising, at least four times in each year, upon the penalty of paying to, and for the use of the Company to wit : the Captain for each day's neglect, three pounds, lawful money, the Lieu- tenants and Ensign, each twenty shillings lawful money, the Clerk and other subaltern Officers, each twelve shillings lawful money, and private Soldiers, six shillings lawful money, to be collected by warrant of distress, directed to the Clerk from the Captain or other Officer.
"Thirdly, That said Company or the greater number of them make all such laws, Rules and Orders among them- selves as they shall deem expedient for the well ordering and disciplining said Company and lay any Penalty or Fine for the breach of such Rules, not exceeding twelve shillings, lawful money, for one offence to be collected as aforesaid.
"Fourthly, That all those who shall be duly enlisted in the said Company, so long as they shall continue therein, shall be exempted from bearing arms, or doing other mili- tary duty (watching and warding only excepted) in the
181
THE KENTISH GUARDS.
several Companies, or Train Bands, in whose District they respectively live, excepting such as shall be Officers in any of the said Company's or Train Bands.
"Fifthly, That if any Officer or Officers of the Company shall be disapproved by the Governor or Council, or shall remove out of the said County of Kent, or shall be taken away by death, that then, and in such cases the Captain of said Company, or Superior Officer, for the election of another, or others in their or his stead, who shall be so re- moved.
"Sixthly, For the further of said Company, it is granted that the Captain of said Company shall be of the rank of Colonel, and that the first Lieutenant be of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, that the second Lieutenant be of the rank of Major, and that the Ensign be of the rank of Captain ; that the said Officers shall be of the Court Mar- tial and Council of War, in the Regiment, in whose district. they live; that upon all General Reviews and General Musters, the said Company shall rank the First Independent. Company for the County of Kent, and that in time of alarm the said Company shall be under the immediate direction of the Commander-in-Chief in the Colony.
"It is Voted and Resolved, that the Secretary of this Colony be, and he is hereby directed to make a fair copy of the preceding Act, establishing the Company called the Kentish Guards, affix the Colony Seal thereto, and transmit the same to the said Company.
"And it is further Voted and Resolved, at the request of the said Company, that the following Officers be, and they are hereby appointed to command the same :
" JAMES MITCHELL VARNUM, Captaln.
RICHARD FRY, First Lieutenant. CHRISTOPHER GREENE, Second Lieutenant. HOPKINS COOKE, Ensign."
This Company furnished more officers of importance for the Revolutionary army than any other in New England, or perhaps in the United States. It furnished one major- general, Nathaniel Greene; one brigadier-general, James M. Varnum ; two colonels, Christopher Greene and Archi- bald Crary; one major, John S. Dexter; and one captain, Thomas Arnold ; besides a large number of inferior ones.
A few years ago I came into possession of some valuable papers belonging to Wanton Casey, Esq., (who was the first cashier of the Rhode Island Central Bank), and among them the following letter, very interesting as a
182
HISTORY OF EAST GREENWICH.
record of the writer's personal experience. It was written to Judge Johnson, of South Carolina, who published a " Life of General Greene " :
" I was one of the petitioners to the General Assembly to grant a Charter for an Independent Company called the Kentish Guards; said petition was granted in October, 1774 ; previous to the battle of Lexington in 1775. The Company was dressed in uniform, well armed and dis- ciplined, amounting to between eighty and one hundred men, rank and file. On the morning after the battle of Lexington, and in two or three hours after the news arrived, we were on the march with one hundred and ten men, rank and file, for the scene of action, several volunteers having joined; we marched to Pawtucket, about twenty miles from East Greenwich, and there received another ex- press, saying that the British Troops had returned to Boston; we therefore returned to East Greenwich, where we continued to do duty by keeping up a regular guard for a long time.
" Captain Wallace, who commanded a British ship, mounting between twenty and thirty guns, and Captain Ascough, mounting about twenty, with several smaller ves- sels as tenders, kept us constantly on the alert; Captain Wallace, being the senior officer, could land, including marines, between two hundred and fifty or three hundred men ; he landed with a number of his men on Canonicut Island, and burnt most of the houses on the Island, and burnt or took away the furniture, provisions and sheep, shot many cattle and killed some of the inhabitants, and others he made prisoners.
" East Greenwich, situated on Narragansett Bay, was exposed to his depredations, and I believe that nothing but the continued efforts of the Kentish Guards prevented their burning the Town. We erected a Fort at the entrance of the harbor, and had eight or ten cannon mounted, to pre- vent their Boats and Tenders getting into the harbor, and kept a regular guard there for a long time ; a vessel had been driven on shore and taken by the enemy at Warwick Neck by two Tenders full of men ; the Commander of the Kentish Guards, Colonel Richard Fry, proposed to retake her; we crossed the outer harbor (about four miles) in boats, and marched down opposite the vessel, behind a beach, and after occasionally firing and receiving the fire from the two Tenders for three or four hours, we drove
183
THE KENTISH GUARDS.
them off, and retook the vessel ; during this action one of our men named Ned Pearce was wounded, and was obliged to have his arm amputated.
"Some time afterward, Captain Wallace came up the Bay from Newport, and anchored between Bristol and the Island of Prudence, and plundered the inhabitants ; Colonel Fry proposed our going to prevent their landing ; we accordingly took boats, it being about six miles by water, and landed very early in the morning; while eating breakfast at the north end of the Island, we received news by a man who ran very fast, that the enemy were landing three or four miles below ; we had already sent back the boats we came in, for a reinforcement, being disappointed in not meeting ninety men from the Island of Rhode Isl- and, who had engaged to meet us; our resource was to brave the danger as well as we could, being only about eighty men, rank and file, when we knew that the enemy could land two hundred and fifty ; we immediately formed, with drums beating and colors flying, which daring had the desired effect ; on discerning us, they returned to their ves- sels, and we were reinforced in the afternoon; during the night following the enemy got under weigh and returned to Newport, while we returned to East Greenwich.
" Some time after this, the enemy landed on Prudence and burnt most, if not all the houses on the Island ; our Company was frequently called out in the night to march to Quidnesitt, two or three miles below East Greenwich, to prevent the enemy taking off cattle, and plundering the in- habitants ; the British were joined by a number of Tories, well acquainted with that part of the country, and until . there were two pieces of Artillery attached to the Com- pany, we could not keep their boats at a respectful dis- tance ; before and after the British fleet took possession of the Island of Rhode Island, in 1776, detachments from our Company were frequently called for to take up Tories and suspected persons, many of whom were in the Colony at that time, particularly in our neighborhood, and as I kept a fleet horse, was often called on; I well remember going out one night, under the command of General Varnum and Colonel Sherbourn, in search of a man named Hart, (a spy from the enemy), and after riding all night and taking some suspected persons, who informed us where to find him, we surrounded a house in Exeter, just at daylight, and after searching sometime we found where he was
184
HISTORY OF EAST GREENWICH.
secreted ; he was tried by a Court Martial in Providence and convicted ; he had enlisted a number of men, some of whom procured boats and joined the enemy on Rhode Island.
" Our Company (the Kentish Guards,) was on Rhode Island, at what was called Sullivan's Expedition, but we came off before the battle, our time having expired, and there being no prospect of attacking the enemy ; but as soon as we heard the firing of the advance guard on the day of the action, (which we could very distinctly from East Greenwich) we embarked on board of a sloop with the in- tention of landing on the north end of the Island as a rein- forcement; but after passing Prudence Island, an armed vessel of the enemy endeavoured to cut us off, and we were compelled to bear away and land on Pappoosesquaw Point, about two miles north of Prudence Island and directly op- posite the Town of Bristol; we there learned that the enemy intended to retreat from the Island, and we had orders not to go on, but helped to take care of the wounded who were brought to said place.
" During the latter part of the year 1775 and in 1776, thirty-five members of the Kentish Guards entered the Con- tinental service; among whom were General Nathanael Greene, General James Mitchell Varnum, Colonel Christo- pher Greene, who defeated the Hessians at Red Bank- having under him a number of Officers from our Company- Major Flagg, Colonel Archibald Crary, Major John S. Dex- ter and others."
The old fort at East Greenwich, alluded to by Mr. Casey, was erected on the bank near the entrance of our harbor, about midway between our village and Chipinoxet, and nearly opposite Long Point. After the war, the cannon mounted there were removed to West Point, and the em- bankments of the fort gradually went to decay. At the present time not the slightest trace of Fort Daniel is to be seen.
Mr. Wanton Casey was born in East Greenwich, in 1760, and consequently was only fourteen years old in 1774, when he joined the Kentish Guards, being one of the original petitioners for the charter, and probably was the youngest man in the country who took up arms during the Revolu- tionary War. He continued to perform duty in the Com- pany until 1778, at which time, in consequence of constant exposure, his health was so much impaired that he was
185
THE KENTISH GUARDS.
compelled to leave the army. His physician advised a sea voyage and a milder climate. He therefore went to France, where he resided for a number of years, extensively engaged in business, as one of the firm of the large importing house of Silas Casey & Son, of East Greenwich.
In Bartlett's "Colonial Records," I find the following paper referring to East Greenwich :
" Subscription for the Relief of the Inhabitants of Boston and Charlestown, in the Town of East Greenwich :
" EAST GREENWICH, August 29th, 1774.
" We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of East Greenwich in the Colony of Rhode Island, taking into the most serious consideration the present alarming situation of our brethren in the towns of Boston and Charlestown, in the Province of Massachusetts Bay, occasioned by the late cruel, malignant and worse than savage acts of the British Parliament ; and whereas a tame submission to the first approaches of lawless power will undoubtedly involve this extensive continent in one scene of misery and servi- tude, than which, a glorious death, in defence of our un- questionable rights is far more eligible ; convinced likewise, that the only true glory and unfading grandeur of the British Monarch consists in governing his extensive empire with equal and impartial laws, founded in reason and ren- dered sacred by the wisdom of ages; and that every attempt to impair that noble constitution, which hath ever been the envy and terror of Europe, constitutes the blackest treason-from the most earnest abhorrence to the deep-laid schemes of his prime minister, whom we esteem the most determined foe to royalty ; and from our love to our coun- try, which nothing but death can abate, we do promise and engage to pay by the first day of October next, the respec- tive sums to our names annexed, to James Mitchell Varnum, Esq., Messrs. A. Mumford, Preserved Pearce and William Pearce, to be laid out and expended in such articles of pro- visions, for our distressed brethren, as the majority of us shall agree upon to be sent to the committee of ways and means for employing the poor in Boston, by the first con- veyance."-Providence Gazette.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.