USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Smithfield > History of the town of Smithfield [R.I.] from its organization, in 1730-1, to its division, in 1871 > Part 13
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SEC. 32. The school commissioner shall apportion the school money for said town of Smithfield, and the portion of said town hereby set off and annexed, as aforesaid, in accordance with the last census taken by the authority of the United States, in the said town of Smithfield, under which an apportionment has been made, to be divided as follows: The school committee of the said town of Smith- field shall cause a census to be taken prior to the first day of June, A. D. 1871, of all the children under the age of fifteen years in said Smithfield, and in the portion of said town hereby set off and annexed, and shall report the same to said school commissioner, and he shall
152
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
distribute said school money to said town of Smithfield, as hereinbe- fore provided, and to the said town of Woonsocket, in ratio to the number of children in said town of Smithfield as at present organized, exclusive of the portion hereby set off and annexed, and in said portion so set off and annexed to the apportionment made to the town of Smithfield under the last census under which an apportionment has been made, until the publication of the census taken under the authority of the United States, in the year A. D. 1870. The towns of Smithfield and Woonsocket shall pay in equal proportions the ex- pense of taking said census.
SEC. 33. The said town of Smithfield shall assume and remain holden for all debts and other liabilities of said town, arising out of any contract made by said town prior to the passage of this act; and for all claims hereafter arising in consequence of anything done, or omitted to be done by said town, prior to the passage of this act; and the town of Woonsocket, as at present constituted, shall pay to the town of Smithfield, as at present constituted, on or before the first day of May, A. D. 1871, the sum of seven thousand five hundred dollars.
SEC. 34. Except as provided in section 33, of this act, all rights and remedies of every-kind or nature, which said town of Smithfield had or was entitled to, in any wise growing out of or pertaining to that portion of said town, set off and annexed as aforesaid, shall be- long and appertain to said town of Woonsocket, and except as pro- vided in said section 33, all the obligations, duties and liabilities which said town of Smithfield is now under or in any way subject to, rising out of, or pertaining to the portion set off or annexed, are hereby imposed upon, and shall be assumed by the town of Woon- socket, in the same manner and to the same extent as said town of Smithfield would have been liable therefor if this act had not been passed; and all suits and proceedings in relation thereto shall be brought by and against said town of Woonsocket.
SEC. 35. All proceedings, civil and criminal, commenced or pend- ing prior to the passage of this act, before the trial justice in said portion set off and annexed as aforesaid, shall remain within the jurisdiction of said justice, who is hereby authorized to proceed to final judgment and execution therein, as if this act had not been passed.
SEC. 36. All proceedings commenced or pending, prior to the passage of this act, before the Court of Probate of the town of Smith- field, arising from or within said portion set off and annexed as afore- said, shall remain within the jurisdiction of said Court of Probate of
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
the town of Smithfield, which said court is hereby authorized to pro- ceed upon said matters, as if this act had not been passed.
SEC. 37. Except as provided in sections 35 and 36, of this act, the town and other officers of the town elected by said town of Smithfield shall continue to exercise their several offices in said portion set off and annexed as aforesaid, so far as relates to town business, until the next annual election in the town of Woonsocket, and until the officers elected at such election shall be qualified to act.
SEC. 38. The court of magistrates of Woonsocket shall, from and after the passage of this act, have exclusive jurisdiction (except as provided in section 35, of this act,) within the limits of said portion set off and annexed as aforesaid, in all civil actions and criminal cases and proceedings whatsoever, jurisdiction over which is, or may have been given by law to the trial justice residing in said portion set off and annexed as aforesaid.
SEC. 39. From and after the passage of this act the valuation of the town of Smithfield as it then remains, as a basis of the State tax provided by Chapter 749 of the Statutes, shall be $1, 762,443; and the valuation of Woonsocket, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be $6,208,- 632; the valuation of the town of Lincoln, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be $4,406,107; and the valuation of the town of Slater, for the purpose aforesaid, shall be $1, 762,443.
SEC. 40. The town clerk of said town of Smithfield shall, on or before the fourth day of April, A. D. 1871, transmit to the town clerk of said town of Woonsocket a certified list of all persons residing in said portion set off and annexed as aforesaid, who would have been qualified to vote in said Smithfield on the fifth day of April, A. D. 1871, upon any proposition to impose a tax on or for the expenditure of money in said Smithfield had this act not been passed. And also a certified list of all persons residing therein, who might have been qualified to vote for general officers on said fifth day of April, A. D. 1871, had not this act been passed.
SEC. 41. The town farm, town house, furniture, stock and tools now the property of the town of Smithfield shall be and remain the property of the town of Smithfield, as the same should be bounded after the passage of this act.
SEC. 42. On or before the second Monday in June next the town of Smithfield, as at present organized, shall pay to the town of Slater, incorporated by this act, the sum of five thousand dollars; and on or before the second day of June next shall pay to the town of Lincoln, incorporated by this act, the sum of two thousand five hundred dollars.
20
154
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
SEC. 43. The bridewell in the village of Bernon, the property of the town of Smithfield, shall be and remain the property of the town of Woonsocket.
SEC. 44. The poor in the asylum of the town of Smithfield shall be taken care of by the town of Smithfield until the towns of Lincoln and Slater shall respectively have reasonable time to provide for such as they may be legally liable to take charge of, said town of Smithfield to be paid the actual amount expended in keeping said paupers.
SEC. 45. Charles Moies, Job Shaw, Arlon Mowry and Cyrus Arnold are hereby appointed a committee to run the lines and set up stone bounds between the several towns named in this act, and to ap- portion equitably the expense thereof between said towns, which said towns shall be held to pay.
SEC. 46. Charles Moies, Latimer W. Ballou and Bradbury C. Hill, are hereby appointed a committee to adjust equitably the proportion of any of the debt of the town of Woonsocket, which the portion hereby set off, and annexed of and from Smithfield, should assume and pay, and their report, or that of any two of them, shall be final.
SEC. 47. All appropriations made by the town of Smithfield prior to the passage of this act, shall be paid and expended in the same man- ner, and upon and for the same territory as though this act had not been passed.
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SEC. 48. The town of Smithfield as bounded and organized after the passage of this act, may and shall send to the General Assembly one representative until the next re-apportionment of representatives by the State.
SEC. 49. There shall be drawn in the town of Smithfield as con- stituted after the passage of this act, for the supreme court, when holden in the county of Providence, and for the court of common pleas, in said county, one grand and two petit jurors.
SEC. 50. The town of Lincoln shall be divided into two voting districts. Voting district number one shall comprise all the territory in said town, which is now voting district number three, in the pres- ent town of Smithfield. Voting district number two shall consist of all the remaining territory in said town of Lincoln.
SEC. 51. All business commenced, or pending before the court of probate of the town of Smithfield, as at present organized, which shall be and remain unfinished on the second Tuesday of June next, shall be transferred to, and proceeded with and concluded by the town council of the town of Lincoln, in like manner, and with the same effect as the same would and might have been proceeded with, and concluded by the court of probate of Smithfield, if this act had not
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
been passed, and the records thereof shall be made and kept in the books of the town of Smithfield, as at present organized.
SEC. 52. The town of Woonsocket as constituted by this act, may and shall send to the General Assembly three representatives until the next reapportionment of representatives by the State.
SEC. 53. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith, are here- by repealed.
AN ACT IN ADDITION TO AND IN AMENDMENT OF AN ACT (PASSED AT THE PRESENT JANUARY SESSION) SETTING OFF A PORTION OF SMITHFIELD TO WOONSOCKET, AND DIVIDING THE REMAINDER INTO THREE TOWNS.
Passed March 24, 1871.
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows :
SECTION 1. Section eleven of said act is hereby amended by chang- ing the name of Slater in said section, to that of North Smithfield; also, in each subsequent section, where the name of Slater appears, it is hereby changed to that of North Smithfield.
SEC. 2. William H. Seagraves is hereby empowered to issue his warrant to any officer or other person whom he may appoint to warn the qualified electors of the town of North Smithfield to meet for the purposes required by law and the provisions of this act on the second Monday in June, 1871.
SEC. 3. So much of the act to which this is in amendment as re- quires either of the towns named therein, to draw Grand jurors for the Supreme Court for the county of Providence is hereby repealed.
SEC. 4. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.
SEC. 5. This act shall take effect from and after its passage.
Smithfield was the largest town in the State; it was in- corporated, (being set off from Providence, ) in 1730, and was always an important municipality. It is not strange that many of her citizens regretted the change of circumstances which demanded her dismemberment, although almost all had come to see that the thing was inevitable, and the vast majority to feel that, sentiment aside, a division would be preferable in all respects. Woonsocket gains something like three thousand in population, and two millions of taxable property, making its population, speaking roundly, twelve
156
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
thousand, and its valuation six millions of dollars. Never in its history was this thriving place in a more promising con- dition. In addition to the large woolen and cotton mills which have so long stood as monuments of its enterprise, and many of which have recently been much enlarged, it now pro- poses a large establishment for the manufacture of rubber goods, a washing and wringing machine factory, a large foundry, with other and different manufactures, giving it a varied and prosperous industry. The returns of the six in- stitutions for savings, which are located here, show a very gratifying condition, pecuniarily speaking, of the inhabi- tants. There is accumulated capital, every facility, save tide water, for doing business, real estate is advancing, man- ufacturers, merchants and business men generally are on a firm and substantial foundation, and Woonsocket is growing rapidly and safely. With its now diversified and important interests, its easy and rapid communication with Providence, Boston and New York, its mechanical ingenuity and appli- ·ances, its pure water and healthy location, it is destined, humanly speaking, to become one of the most active and populous, as well as wealthy towns in the State.
The town of Slater, being the northernmost of the towns carved out of old Smithfield, comprises about twenty-five . square miles, and its valuation, in the act of division, 1,762,- 443 dollars. Within its limits is that portion of the Water- ford woolen mills which lie in Rhode Island, a valuable but unimproved water power at Branch village, the scythe works of Mansfield Lamb at Forestdale, the Forestdale cotton mills, the village of Slatersville with its busy mills and thousands of spindles, and the beautiful Union Village, which, although deserted by trade, was a lively place before Woonsocket, . known save for its falls, its grist mill, and pine hills, and is still, in some respects one of the most attractive locations in this vicinity. This town may be as economically managed as any town need be. The two important bridges, one of
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
wood at the Branch Village, and the stone arched bridge at Slatersville, are in good condition, and the latter will need no repairs, apparently, for a century to come. The farmers are, as a rule, well-to-do ; school-houses are sufficiently num- erous and large, the roads are in good order, and without littleness, the population is prudent, and conservative, with- out being indifferent to a genuine progress. Largely agri-
cultural, the farmers find their markets in the adjoining vil- lages, and fully appreciate the fact that without these vil- lages their lands would be of comparatively little value. Their wood, their butter, their poultry and vegetables bring good prices and ready sale, and it is easy to see that a com- pact town, where every man knows every other man, and meets him often, will be more carefully, not to say honestly managed and governed than one twenty miles in length with many conflicting and sectional interests, the population of which rarely ever comes together except once a year at the June town meeting, to protect or plunder, as the case may be, the town treasury. Seventeen thousand people, scatter- ed over seventy-five square miles, part living in compact villages, and part in the rural districts, can scarcely be said to be a homogeneous, and experience has shown, is not likely to be an harmonious population.
The town of Smithfield, as at present bounded, lies south of Slater and west of the new town of Lincoln. It covers an area of twenty-eight square miles, is very nearly a square in form, and is rated in the act of division, at the same val- uation as the town of Slater. Within its limits are the man- ufacturing villages of Georgiaville, Allendale and Greenville, the latter the largest, and a very pretty village. This town has the smallest population of the three, into which the old town has been divided. It has more roads in proportion to its population and wealth than either of the others, although its bridges are less expensive. It retains the old town house and town farm, as well as the name, to which its inhabitants
158
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
clung with great and very proper pertinacity, inasmuch as it is likely to remain intact, and to preserve the old traditions and habits longer than would either of the others. More repugnance was felt in regard to the division, in this section of old Smithfield than elsewhere; for a long time the feel- ing against it was almost universal, and it was only the logic of events, which, and as they thought rather expensively, influenced the people of this region to acquiesce in the new order of things. In the arrangement of representatives, new Smithfield took only one, although she has not for many years been honored with the Senator. She will here- after have a member in the upper house, and is quite capa- ble of sending one worthy to sit in, and aid the delibera- tions of that body. Greenville will be the central and prom- inent village in this town, and with the renewal of operations in the large woolen mills there, we shall hope to see it enter upon a new era of prosperity. One thing is certain, this will be a substantial town, which will, in all that goes toward making a vigorous and progressive community, be an honor and an advantage to the State.
Lincoln lies south of Woonsocket and east of Smithfield. It contains about eighteen square miles, and has a valuation of 4,406,107 dollars. In this town are Manville, Albion, Ashton, Lonsdale, Valley Falls and Central Falls. The pop- ulation is about nine thousand. This it will be seen is the smallest and wealthiest of the three towns. Bounded on the east by the Blackstone river, with great manufacturing in- terests, with the compact and go-a-head village of Central Falls, it will be as busy and as productive as almost any town in the State. In the nature of things, however, it is not likely to remain as at present limited for any great length of time. At Manville, the mills are in Cumberland, while the village is in Lincoln ; at Ashton the mill and one village are in Cumberland, while another village belonging to the same company is in Lincoln ; at Albion, the case is the same as at
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
Manville ; at Lonsdale, the Lonsdale Company have on the one side of the river in Lincoln, a large establishment, com- prising several mills and a bleachery, and over the river, in Cumberland, a large mill and its accompanying village. Valley Falls is situated-mills and village on both sides of the river, and Central Falls is in like condition, and spread- ing rapidly on either side. If there was any reason-and there were cogent and conclusive reasons-for what has now been done, a short time will probable suffice to show that much more is to be done to meet the necessities of the times, and keep pace with the requirements of our ever in- creasing industries, and the progress of the people in pecu- niary, social and governmental affairs. In many respects Central Falls is a model of enterprise, and it has perhaps, within its limits as many different branches of business as any place of its size anywhere. Should it hereafter be joined to Pawtucket, Pawtucket would be certainly industriously managed, and without doubt, judiciously and profitably. But we were to write only of what is, not of what is to be, or may be.
The Smithfield which Samuel F. Man, Lewis Dexter, Ses- sions Mowry, Asa Winsor, Thomas Mann, Thomas Buffum, Joseph Wilkinson and Morton Mowry knew, is a thing of the past. They and others as able and original though less known, made an impress upon it which lasts and is a force even yet. The ancient town house has resounded with their quaint and sensible remarks, the town council is yet imbued with many of their ideas ; and so strong were their intellects and so powerful their wills, that even the great change in the business, wants and population in the town, has not suf- ficed to efface their influence.
But we have no right to live wholly in the past ; new cir- cumstances create new duties, and we shall best pay tribute to the memory of such men as we have named, by perform- ing in our day and generation that which is required of us,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
as earnestly, and if possible, as effectually as they did in theirs. Agriculture has given place to manufacture ; a rural population, measurably, to villages; the stage coach is al- most forgotten ; railroads, steam and the telegraph are the symbols and medium of our daily life ; our eyes are turned forward, and with an almost unconscious sigh in losing the old, we look with hope and trust to the new. We shall not wholly forget the past, may we realize our confidence in the future, And so, Old Smithfield, " Hail, and Farewell."
APPENDIX A.
LIST OF CITIZENS OF SMITHFIELD, WHO HAVE HELD THE OFFICES HEREINAFTER DESIGNATED.
Members of the Continental Congress.
Peleg Arnold 1787 to 1789 Daniel Mowry . 1780 to 1782
Speakers of the House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island.
Thomas Steere May, 1853, to January, 1854 (Resigned, having been appointed U. S. Consul at Dundee, Scotland.)
Sullivan Ballou 1857 to 1858.
Presidential Electors.
Stephen Stone . · William S. Slater 1864 to 1876
1844
LIST OF JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT AND COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF PROV- IDENCE, FROM SMITHFIELD.
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
Peleg Arnold . May, 1796, to June 1809
Peleg Arnold
May, 1810, to May, 1812
Assistant Justices.
Gideon Comstock . May, 1766, to May, 1767 Gideon Comstock June, 1769, to June, 1770 Gideon Comstock. . May, 1779, to May, 1781 Thomas Buffum May, 1819 to May, 1823
21
162
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
Justices of the Court of Common Pleas.
Major William Jenckes, C. J 1734-1737
Major William Jenckes, C. J 1743-1745
David Comstock . 1747-1749
Thomas Lapham 1750-1760
David Comstock, C. J 1761-1762
Thomas Lapham
1763-1764
David Comstock . 1765-1768
Caleb Aldrich
1769-1774
Daniel Mowry, Jr
1776-1780
Caleb Aldrich . .
1781-1787
Abraham Mathewson
1788-1793
Arnold Paine
1794-1802
Thomas Mann
1806-1809
Thomas Mann, C. J.
1810
Samuel Hill, Jr
1811-1817
Thomas Mann
1818-1820
Thomas Mann, C. J
1821-1832
Lewis Dexter
1835
David Daniels .
1838-1839
George L. Barnes
1840
Lewis Dexter
1841
111111 1 1 1 1
1
1
1
1
1
APPENDIX B.
LIST OF ASSISTANTS AND SENATORS IN THE GENERAL ASSEM- BLY FROM THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD, 1731 to 1798 INCLUSIVE.
Assistants.
1731. Major Wm. Smith.
1741 to 1743 . John Dexter. 1746 . John Comstock.
1758 Gideon Comstock.
1765.
Ezekiel Comstock.
1774 to 1778
Col. John Sayles, Jr.
Col. John Sayles, Jr. 1779
Gideon Comstock. 1780.
1781 to 1789 Col. John Sayles, Jr.
Sylvanus Sayles. 1790
1791 to 1795
Peleg Arnold.
Senators.
1806 to 1808 James Aldrich.
1810 ..
Daniel Mowry, Jr.
1812 to 1816 Robert Harris.
1817 to 1819 Thomas Buffum.
1831 to 1832 Stephen Steere.
Isaac Wilkinson. 1833 to 1834
1835.
Stephen Steere.
1836 to 1837
Daniel Angell.
1838 to 1841
Ezekiel Fowler.
1842
Sessions Mowry.
Isaac Wilkinson. 1843
1844
Sessions Mowry. Daniel Pearce.
1845
Thomas Mann. 1846 to 1847
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
1848 to 1849 Gideon Bradford.
1850.
Thomas Buffum.
1850 to 1852 Gideon Bradford. 1853 to 1854. Robert Harris. 1855 to 1856 Stephen N. Mason. 1857. Daniel N. Paine.
1858 to 1859
Stephen N. Mason. . William S. Slater.
1860 to 1861
1862.
Stephen N. Mason. . Bradbury C. Hill.
1863 to 1864
1865 to 1866
. Charles Moies.
1862%
George C. Ballou.
1868 to 1869
. Lysander Flagg.
Edward L. Freeman. 1870
APPENDIX C.
LIST OF DEPUTIES AND REPRESENTATIVES IN THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FROM SMITHFIELD.
'Deputies. 1731.
May Session,
October,
Jonathan Sprague, Capt. Silvanus Scott, 1732.
William Arnold. Daniel Jencks.
May,
October,
Jonathan Sprague, James Aldrich,
James Aldrich. Daniel Jencks.
1733.
May,
October,
Daniel Jencks, same,
James Aldrich. same.
1734.
May,
October,
Daniel Jencks, Maj. William Smith, 1735. Maj. William Smith, Maj. William Smith, 1736.
Capt. Joseph Mowry, Daniel Jencks.
James Aldrich. Daniel Jencks.
May,
October,
Daniel Jencks, Maj. William Smith, 1737.
Thomas Sayles. same.
May,
October,
Thomas Sayles, same,
Daniel Jenckes. same.
1738.
May,
October,
Thomas Sayles, Capt. Richard Sayles,
William Arnold. same.
May,
October,
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
1739.
May, July, October,
Resolved Waterman, same, John Ballou, 1740.
William Jenckes. same. Thomas Lapham.
May, October,
Resolved Waterman, same,
Daniel Comstock. same.
1741.
May, October,
Resolved Waterman, same,
1742.
May, October,
James Aldrich, Daniel Jencks,
John Sayles. Thomas Steere.
1743.
May, October,
Thomas Steere, Maj. William Smith, 1744.
David Comstock. Thomas Steere.
May, October,
Maj William Smith, David Comstock,
Thomas Steere. David Wilkinson.
1745.
May, October,
John Sayles, same,
Thomas Arnold. same.
1746.
May, October,
Thomas Steere, same,
David Comstock. same.
1747.
May, October,
Thomas Lapham, same,
Jonathan Arnold. same.
1748.
May, October,
Jonathan Arnold,
Israel Wilkinson. same.
May, October,
Thomas Lapham, Lieut. Thomas Arnold, 1750.
John Aldrich. same.
May, October,
same,
1749.
Thomas Lapham, same,
Lieut. Thomas Arnold. John Aldrich.
John Sayles. same.
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HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SMITHFIELD.
1751.
May,
October.
Thomas Arnold, Thoms Arnold,
John Aldrich. same.
1752.
May,
October,
Thomas Arnold, same,
John Aldrich. Thomas Lapham.
1753.
May, October,
John Aldrich, Thomas Arnold,
Thomas Owen. same.
May,
October,
Thomas Arnold,
David Comstock,
1755.
May, October,
John Aldrich,
Jonathan Arnold,
1756.
May, October,
Thomas Owen,
same.
John Sayles, Jr. same.
1757.
May, October,
Thomas Arnold,
same.
Jeremiah Mowry. same.
1758.
Thomas Arnold,
Jeremiah Mowry.
1759.
February,
Thomas Arnold,
May, John Sayles, Jr.,
June, Joseph Mowry, Jr.
August, John Sayles, Jr.,
October, Thomas Arnold,
Joseph Mowry, Jr. same.
1760:
February, Thomas Arnold,
Joseph Mowry, Jr.
Day before general election-
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