USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Lafayette, Rhode Island; a few phases of its history from the ice age to the atomic > Part 12
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James E. Phillips, son of John W., came down from a farm near the Exeter line, in the 70's, and opened a small shop, next east of the Edwards stand, on land where his father had built a couple of houses. This was almost opposite the Wickford Junction station. In this shop, James sold lunches and a variety of refresh- ments such as oysters, pigs' tongues, bottled soda, tobacco and cigars, and was an early vendor of "Sweet Caporal" cigarettes which the "dudes" of the day were beginning to use. He did quite a business with railroad passengers and employes (the Wickford Branch having then been built), strangers being attracted by the small but big-lettered sign "OYSTERS" over the shop door. It was a popular place on winter evenings for the men of the neighborhood. "Drummers" were
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patrons of the livery business which he established in a good-sized barn in the rear of his shop. He also main- tained a farm near his ancestral home on the North- Kingstown-Exeter line, and cultivated that extensively for years.
After James' death, his shop location was taken over by Gillette Franklin who built a new and larger store on the site, which he operated with the help of his wife, Mabel (Barber), and two clerks. Gillette was a veteran in the store business. He was born in Exeter, began his store career as a boy of 13, in a grocery, and at 23, owned his own store in East Provi- dence. He came to the Junction neighborhood in the late 90's and ran a general store in two or three loca- tions there, before building his present building. In connection with merchandising, he operated taxis in later years, and a bus for school children. He and his wife celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1946. Gillette died in 1948.
Just below the Junction, on the south side of the Ten Rod, Rowland Perry, a some-time preacher at the "Hornbeam," and father of Morton, railroad bag- gage-man, and John, locomotive engineer, owned two small houses, and kept a variety shop in one of them in the early days. Next to this property, John W. Gardiner built a house and used part of it as a barber shop. He sold the house to Burrill Davis, moved to East Lafayette, bought a house there, and continued his barber business in the new location.
East of the first John Gardiner house, Burrill Arnold ran a livery service for railroad passengers, until he moved to East Lafayette. Daniel Webster, who bought the Erie Huling house across the Ten Rod from John
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Gardiner's, also operated a similar passenger service, using horses at first and an automobile afterward.
Farther down on the north side of the Ten Rod, John F. Egan, father of Mary Reilly, lived in the Parker Sweet house with his daughter and her two sons, Thomas and David. Mr. Egan carried on a shoe- repairing business here for some time. Then he and the family moved to East Lafayette where they had built a new house. He continued his shoe-repairing business there. Thomas Knapp afterward lived at the Parker Sweet house and had a barber shop there in connection with a harness repairing business. He also removed to East Lafayette later. Following him, Joseph Eccleston bought the Sweet property and im- proved it extensively. In time, he operated a taxi service and filling station until he removed to Hamilton Park. The filling station was afterward operated by Wesley Chamberlain until his recent death. Across the Ten Rod, on land bought from George W. Phillips, Lou- ville Franklin built and operated a filling station in more recent years. This is now owned and operated by Leon Huling, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin W. Huling.
On the south side of the Ten Rod, opposite the Robert Rodman house, Alvin Phillips, son of George T., built a modern house where he lived with his wife, Rose (Warburton), and their children, until he re- moved to Exeter where he was boss-farmer on the Grinnell estate. Ernest Cooper bought this Phillips house and now lives there, making it a headquarters for his ice business. At one time he also operated a filling station at this location. Farther down the Ten Rod, in back of the "Hornbeam," John Nichols, at a
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later date keeper of the new boarding house, con- ducted a harness repairing business in a small shop, until compelled to give it up on account of ill-health.
The Vale of Pero was formerly a swampy spot, with three or four small ponds through which the Ten Rod made its way. The ponds are mostly gone now, from filling large parts of them with ashes from the mill boiler-room, and from drainage provided in the rebuilding of the famous old highway. Some fill has also been made in the construction of various buildings. The Arnold Brothers (Josiah and James Hubbard), from Exeter, were the first to improve this section by building a livery stable here. This was in the early 80's. In 1891, the business was bought by John O. Kettell. He arranged an exchange of the land and building for the land and buildings of George A. Rose, who was doing a blacksmith and carriage-repair business farther along the Ten Rod, on the easterly edge of the Vale of Pero. Mr. Rose converted the stable property to suit the needs of his line, and con- tinued there quite a while. Charles Sweet, a well- known wheelwright, was associated with Rose. Fol- lowing the Rose occupancy, the stable property was acquired by Ernest Bailey and operated as a garage in connection with his large modern garage on the old Clark Huling place. He has now converted the build- ing into apartments.
Oliver A. Steadman, at one time a mill employee, opened a barber shop on the upper floor of the stable property (then known as the "Rose Block"). He soon moved his shop to a house he had built just west of the stable property. There he sold ice cream, candy, cigars and tobacco, periodicals and such like, in addi-
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tion to carrying on his barbering business. Later, he moved the house across the Ten Rod and onto the front of a lot of land he had bought and which ex- tended from the Road to the Wickford Branch Rail- road. He built a barber shop adjoining the house on its new site and was a well-known business man there for years. His shop was a center for racing, boxing, base- ball and other "fans" of the day. Since Oliver died in 1936, the barber shop has been run' by the present proprietor Oliver J. Wheat. Kate (Lawton) Stead- man, widow of Oliver, owns and lives in the house, with her sister Lottie. On the former site of the Stead- man house, west of the stable, a small shop was built. This has been used as a small variety store by various occupants.
In the very center of the Vale of Pero, on the north side of the Ten Rod Road, were two adjoining build- ings, one a small shop where, for a time, Greene Hen- drick, brother of James, had a variety store and refresh- ment stand. At one time Thomas Knapp had a barber shop on the second floor. It is now occupied by Anthony J. Calvey who does a greatly extended busi- ness in the refreshment line, as Calvey's Spa. The other building, a 21/2-story structure, was built by Ann Riley, in the 80's. Miss Riley was a dressmaker and milliner, and lived on the upper floor. The ground floor was variously occupied as a millinery store, as a doctor's office, as a watchmaker's shop, and by other tenants.
Next beyond the Riley Block, John O. Kettell greatly expanded his business during the occupancy of the property he had acquired by exchange with George A. Rose. John died in 1911, and his son Earl
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continued the business until his death some years ago. For a time afterward, Earl's widow, Agnes (Phillips) carried it on. On the front of the Kettell land, Massena Gardiner, who occupied a near-by house, built a small shop which he used as a meat market for several years. William Chappell followed Massena in the same line for a time. This shop has now been dismantled and removed.
At the corner of King Street and the Ten Rod, James Cook built a house, with a basement store, in 1885. He ran the store for a few years, when Edwin E. Ball, son of George W., having bought the prop- erty, opened up a general store which was successful over a long period. After Edwin's death in 1935, his widow, Lizzie (Dawley), rented the store to Charles C. Sweet who had previously conducted a store at the Junction, and was well versed in the trade. Sweet did a good business for a time, but having another business opportunity in Providence, he closed out the Lafayette store. After that, the premises have been used for various purposes by short-term tenants.
The largest business property in East Lafayette to- day is the Ernest Bailey garage and the farm and build- ings associated with it. This was the old Franklin farm originally, later well known as the Clark Huling place. Mr. Bailey bought it in recent years, and made plans for a spacious garage. He proceeded to erect a sub- stantial building, which is a model of its kind, and has attracted more business than he had planned for. In addition to the garage, he has built a house and other buildings on the property, and has razed or revamped the older structures. In recent fuel shortages, he found a ready market for the hard wood cut from the exten-
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sive forests in the back acres. He operates an ample road-side filling station which serves to help illuminate the main roadway in the early evenings. His establish- ment is indeed a bright spot in the stretch of much- traveled Ten Rod that passes through Lafayette.
Again farther down the Ten Rod, on the south side, was a store conducted by John Henry Warburton for several years. It was located at the rear of the lot and house owned by his father. The younger man had the misfortune to lose his sight from an accident in early boyhood. He was a student at the Perkins In- stitute for the Blind, in Boston, for quite a while, and there acquired an education in music and in various appropriate trades, as well as in general subjects. He was an accomplished piano player and tuner, and worked proficiently at trades he had been trained in. He was of an agreeable disposition, always happily pleasant to meet, and a cheerful conversationalist. He traveled safely about the village before the coming of the automobile, making calls on friends, and by reading Braille, kept up with the news of the day. When the roads became so uncertain for all foot-travelers, he em- ployed his time mostly in the store. He knew the proper place for everything and kept it there. His trained mind and memory were keen, and his handling of metal money was rarely in error. He married Alza- die, daughter of Erie W. Huling. They had one son, Earl James. John died in 1933. His widow and son still live in the Warburton house.
John W. Gardiner, previously mentioned as having a barber shop at the Junction, moved to East Lafayette in the early 80's. He bought the Byron Himes house, two or three houses below the Warburton home. John
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branched out considerably in his new location, adding to his tonsorial line such refreshment items as oysters, candy, ice cream, bottled soda etc. He furnished ice cream of his own make, and other items, for parties, dances, and other social gatherings over quite a wide territory. Some of his barber shop customers came from long distances, for those days, as he had a big list of acquaintances. In 1883, Henry T. Chadsey, of Wickford, one of the early owners of the old Lafay- ette mill property, visited John's barber shop for a shave, and wrote in the margin of a book there, the following "in a bold handsome hand":
"Henry T. Chadsey, aged 71 years, 11 months, 13 days, shaved in this shop October 13, 1883. I was shaved by Mr. Lunt on Little Rest (Kingston) Hill when he was 91 years of age. He was an old Revolu- tionary soldier and informed me that he had shaved General Washington and held him by the nose. Writ- ten without glasses."
After John Gardiner's death, the shop was dis- mantled of its equipment, and for some time, was used as a laundry for family washings.
Down at the far eastern end of Lafayette, on the south side of the Ten Rod, Stephen Gardiner, son of Clarke and Delia (Northup) Gardiner, built a shop near the house he inherited from his father. He opened it as a market in connection with a meat-wagon route he maintained through the village and near-by ter- ritory, for several years. "Stevie," as he was familiarly known, was popular with his patrons of both shop and cart. He no longer operates either. He still lives in the house, and is employed at Ryan's market in Wickford.
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Such a thriving community as Lafayette, in the late 70's and the 80's, furnished ample patronage to keep its stores and shops busy. But outsiders were keen to get a share of this trade. Among the earliest transient traders to visit the region, were the "pack-peddlers," mostly from Providence. They carried their stock on their backs, in the form of a sack of wool, with an outer casing of bed-ticking or oil-cloth as a protection against the dust of the roads or possible rain. Trudging on foot, from house to house, they made their entrance into kitchens, when admitted, and deposited the pack . on the floor. When the coarse knot by which the pack was tied had been loosened, it revealed a neatly piled compact of the sort of dry goods that an ordinary household of the day might be in need of.
A glib line of talk went with the gradual unfolding of the pack, with colored textures that were sure to entice the housewife, notwithstanding she might have stated at his coming that there was nothing she needed. Usually, some bright-patterned piece of goods weak- ened her sales resistance to the extent of asking the price. Then a period of haggling ensued with the result that the peddler had gradually lowered his price to the point where all sales resistance was broken down entirely. That sale, with possibly others, was made. A real "cagey" peddler would sometimes start to tie up his pack, leaving the attractive article as almost the last to be put in.
It must be remembered that "pack-peddlers" stock was shrewdly put up so as to contain such things as were not obtainable at country stores, or, if they could be obtained there, the peddler's price was haggled down to a convincing competition. Then, too, city
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markets were far away, both in distance and expense. Some of the pack-men made regular trips a number of times a year, and thus became well-known along their route. They put up overnight, when necessary, at an accommodating household, which service was paid for in a morning's selection from the pack.
These early peddlers traveled on foot, in heat and cold, with their heavy back-burdens. One of them, by name Isaac Marcus, was quite enterprising. He as- tonished the villagers with a highly-colored lettering on a covered wagon, and a horse that was rated well by the knowing stablemen who put up the outfit. The Marcus wagon was really a traveling store, with cloth- ing, watches, jewelry, toilet articles and other wares hitherto unknown in the stock of any one peddler. Isaac could make more frequent visits too, and what he didn't have on one trip, could be brought on the next. Marcus clothing and watches were worn or carried by many of the village men, while the ladies were profitable patrons of his other lines. But Marcus passed, as the "pack-peddlers" had passed, in the changing times.
Mention has been made of the meat wagons and their owners and drivers. One of the earliest in this line was "Jim" Brayman's cart, later driven by his son-in-law "Doc" Rose. One or the other of them made the Lafayette route three times a week for many years. Brayman's market, however, was in Wickford.
Fish peddlers, with their tin horns, were numerous in the period named. A man named Champlin was among the earliest. He lived in Davisville and special- ized in clams. When winter came, he peddled "hulled corn." "Ike" Macomber, of Wickford, carried a gen-
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eral line of fresh fish which he cleaned on the tail- board of his cart. He lived on the north side of the Ten Rod, at the foot of Distillery Hill. He had a large family of children, one or more of whom often ac- companied him. A good run of mackerel in the spring would bring out chance peddlers of that delicious fish at from 5 to 10 cents apiece. The scallop crop, always in abundance and without State restrictions in those days, likewise produced a flock of strange peddlers. Scallops were considered "awful high" when they reached a price of 40 cents a quart.
Then there were the tin-cart men who carried about everything in the common tinware line. Colvin Gardi- ner, grandfather of Hazel Tisdale, was the best known of those covering the Lafayette route.
Ladder wagons also appeared from time to time. One tradition about these conveyances was that they always brought rain. They carried many wooden ar- ticles besides ladders, things like chairs, settees, ironing boards, wash tubs and wash boards, wooden pails, etc.
Photograph wagons occasionally would rent road- side stands for short periods, and would encourage the formation of clubs of 10 or more members to have their pictures "took." The earlier wagons produced mostly tintypes, but some really good card photos of later wagons have been preserved in old family albums. One such wagon was "parked" for quite a while at the side of the Ten Rod, just below the Junction and nearly in front of the present residence of Louville Franklin. It did a big business.
Then, of course, there were the milkmen. The best known in the early days was "Josie" Arnold of Scrab- bletown, who brought his can to each door and meas-
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ured out the daily requirements. It was an all-season job, and he was hardly ever known to miss a delivery, even in the heavy snowfalls of those days. For a long time his price was 5 cents a quart. As the village grew, other milkmen appeared from Swamptown, Exeter and other near-by places, sometimes offering cut rates, but "Josie" had the cream of the trade for a good many years.
One odd character in the traveling trade was a man named Vars, of Newport, who came over on the steamer "Eolus" each week. He chose his coming on pay-day at the mill, and took his stand outside the mill gate during the noon hour. He offered a luscious pulled" sugar-candy for sale. He was an amateur ventriloquist and ballyhooed his wares with amusing conversations and wise-cracks from an imaginary "side-kick." He must have done a profitable business for he kept his local pay-day dates for a long period.
Ice cream wagons put in an appearance in the 80's. Maine of Wakefield had "I Scream" emblazoned be- neath an eagle on the side of his wagon. Joe Sealey of Wickford, followed with his product, then Jack Jenkins, and so on.
Naturally, from the surrounding farming country many chance peddlers of berries, fruits, vegetables, and other produce, came through the village at the appropriate seasons.
Thus was Lafayette served in many ways, by many people, to the mutual profit, happiness and prosperity of all concerned.
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20.
Churches and Creeds
THE REVEREND DR. McSPARRAN, in his "America Dissected," written in 1752, says that "Rhode Island has no established religion." "A man there," he adds, "may, with impunity, be of any society or of none at all." Consequently, he found in the Col- ony some adherents to his own Church of England, many Quakers, four kinds of Anabaptists, various In- dependents, and a still larger number devoid of all religion, and who attended no kind of public worship. In all the other Colonies, he alleged, the law lays an obligation to go to some sort of worship on Sunday, but "in Rhode Island, liberty of conscience is carried to an irreligious extreme." It has been stated by one writer that in 1710, Providence, with a population of 1500, had only 11 Bibles, and Newport and Narragan- sett were no better off in the possession of copies of Holy Writ.
Of the early settlers in the western North Kings- town wilderness, the Phillips family was the most pronounced in religious affiliation. The early genera- tions of that family were members of old St. Paul's Church in Narragansett and are buried in the ancient churchyard at the Platform near Penderzeke's Corner. So far as the records show, the Beriah Browns' re- ligious association and belief are "hid under a bushel." The English origin of the Browns and their early marriages here indicate a possible affiliation with the
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Church of England. Alexander Huling, born in New- port, R. I., where various sects flourished, appears to have been of a religiously liberal mind. In 1703, he gave land to "loving friends of the Baptist Church of Christ," for building thereon "a meeting-house for the worship and service of God." The building, now known as the Stony Lane Baptist Church, erected about 1710, still stands. Alexander was buried in the churchyard of this "meeting-house." His mother, how- ever, was buried in an Episcopal churchyard in Lewes, Delaware. His wife's mother was baptized in a New York Dutch church. Apparently, the Huling family had a many-sided religious foundation.
Roger Williams, one of the founders of the "Baptist Society" in Providence, later withdrew therefrom and devoted himself to a "Way of Seeking by preaching and Praying." In his last letter of which we have knowledge, written in 1682, the year before his death, he speaks of certain discourses (or sermons) which "by many tedious journeys" he had delivered to the scat- tered English at Narragansett. He adds, "there is no controversy in them." It is well known that he used to go once a month to Richard Smith's (Cocumcussoc) to "uphold a public worship," and that many people came to hear him.
Some years before Williams' death, a Baptist minis- ter named Thomas Baker, recently ordained, was in- vited to come over from Newport to Cocumcussoc. He came somewhere around 1666 and proceeded to or- ganize a "Six Principle Baptist Church" of which he was the first pastor. Until a suitable structure could be built, it is probable that meetings were held at Smith's, or at a scattered house here and there, or
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when weather permitted, in the open air. Elder Baker died in 1710, about the time the "Stony Lane Baptist Church" was built, on the land donated by Alexander Huling. Since both Alexander and Elder Baker came from Newport, it seems likely that the two got to- gether on the necessity for a church building. How- ever, it is hardly likely that Elder Baker had much opportunity to officiate in the new church. Several noted preachers succeeded Elder Baker, and the church became a famous center for worship to a large com- munity. Elders Sweet, Sprague, Albro, Wightman, Slocum, John Gardiner, and Samuel Matteson bring the line to the 1860's when the membership dwindled. The services became sporadic and the preachers oc- casional. For years, Betsy Ann Briggs who lived nearby kept up an interest in the church and acted as care- taker up to her death in the early 1900's. Mrs. Wash- ington Sweet and her daughter, Miss Mae Sweet, have maintained a like interest in the historic structure since "Blind Betsy's" death, and for some years held a regu- lar Sunday School there. The convenience of approach to the ancient church by three or four roads made it a popular place of worship in the early days, until the building of other churches within its former domain drew attendance elsewhere.
In 1782, the First Baptist Church of North Kings- town was organized, with Elder William Northup as pastor. Meetings were held at various houses in the Town at first. Later, a church was built at Allenton, and Elder Northup faithfully and famously served it for 59 years without receiving a salary. Petitions from Wickford and Quidnesset resulted in the establish- ment of Baptist churches in those localities, the Bap-
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tist church at Wickford having been built in 1816 (remodeled in 1836), and that at Quidnesset in 1842 (destroyed by fire in 1905 and replaced by a new structure in 1906). Meantime, in 1800, the old St. Paul's Church, built in 1707, had been moved from the Platform to Wickford, where it is still preserved and used for service in the month of August each year. The newer St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Wickford was built in 1848.
The beginning of the 1800's found the neighbor- hood of the present Lafayette fast awakening to the call of industry. The sale of land in smaller parcels had resulted in the building of a house here and there along the Ten Rod Road, to the east from Huling's Corners, and to the west from Collation Corners. Also, new farms and houses were being established in such places as Scrabbletown, Swamptown, and Exeter. The budding village, however, had no church building. The God-fearing people of the vicinity either had prayers and religious services in their homes, some- times led by a visiting or traveling elder, or , at- tended services in the churches at Stony Lane, Allen- ton, or Wickford, according to their respective persuasions.
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