USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Lafayette, Rhode Island; a few phases of its history from the ice age to the atomic > Part 9
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Burrill Arnold, who had been a track foreman on the railroad main line, built and occupied the next house, after selling his property on the site of the new Lafayette mill. He ran a carriage service at the Junc- tion. Later he moved to East Lafayette. His daughter, Mandana, was telegraph operator at the railroad sta-
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tion. She married Daniel C. Sweet, insurance agent at Wickford. Another daughter, Ida, married William Lanphear, station agent. A son, Edwin, married a daughter of John Smith of Mowbra Castle (the old Phillips mansion at Belleville station), and lived at the Castle the latter part of his life, serving as agent at the Belleville station also. Burrill Arnold married Emily Warburton for a second wife and lived at East La- fayette thereafter. Just east of Burrill's house at the Junction, a railroad conductor, Adfer Bartlett, built and occupied a house on land bought of George W. Phillips ..
The present George W. Phillips cottage with ell, east of the Bartlett house, was built in 1859. Some of the boards used in its construction were sawed from logs carted to the saw mill in Wickford. George had two daughters, Cepheantus, who married Absalom Straight of Wickford and had one son, Lucius, and Alzada who married an Adams of Providence and had one son, Lewis. George also had three sons. Al- phonse was conductor on the main line for years. George W., Jr., worked on the Wickford Branch and was a fireman on the main line. He married Annie Gardner, granddaughter of John Ritson, boss dyer. The third son, Emerson, helped to manage the farm. Previous to 1859, George and his family lived in the old Benedict Brown house, near-by. This was a very old house, built close by the Shewatuck brook, prob- ably by Ebenezer Brown, father of Benedict, and a nephew of Abigail Phenix's grandson Charles Brown. Ebenezer's will mentions his son Benedict, so it is likely that the house got its name from Benedict who lived there. Either Benedict or his heirs sold the land
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to the Phillips family who had come down from Exeter and bought up a good deal of the property formerly owned by the Brown descendants. After the building of his new house, George W. Phillips rented the Benedict Brown house for several years. The John Nason family lived in it at one time. It was torn down about 1912. A mound and a clump of lilacs mark its site.
Across the Ten Rod from the George Phillips house was a tract of pasture land and woods owned by Wil- liam F. Noyes. In recent years, the higher part of this has been cleared and houses built thereon. One of these is owned and occupied by Louville Franklin, son of Gillette. Adjoining the Noyes land to the east, was the house of Parker Sweet, scene of his tragic suicide in the 70's. Some time after, John Egan, shoe- maker, lived there with his daughter Mary Reilly who had two sons, David and Thomas. They later moved to East Lafayette where they built a house. Thomas Knapp, barber and harness maker, with his wife Rhoda (Huling), occupied the premises for a time. The Knapps had a son William whose son Raymond is a talented musician. In more modern days, Joseph Ec- cleston built a house and filling station occupying a part of this site and a part of the adjoining Noyes land. When Joe moved to Hamilton, Wesley Chamber- lain took over the filling station. The Eccleston house is now owned by William Moore, Jr.
Next came the site of the Capt. Jimmy Huling house built in 1764. A family named Osgood was an early occupant of the old house, some of them being em- ployed at the mill. They moved to Providence long ago, where two of the sons established an undertaking
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business. A following occupant was Charles Shippee, with his wife Esther. They had three sons, Fred, Herbert, and Joseph, and a daughter Mary. The father was the Rodman boss-farmer, and patiently plowed up much of the previously uncultivated land. He used to sing at his work, and one old inhabitant can remember hearing his tuneful refrain when his plow hit one of the numerous rocks that studded the terrain:
"Rocks and stones I'll fear no more, When I reach that golden shore."
Son Herbert was prominent in the Providence Fire Department in after years, and Joseph forsook the village for a business career in the city. Hiram Huling, his wife Annie, his daughter Ada, and his son John occupied the basement of their ancestor's home for several years. In back of the Capt. Jimmy house was a more modern cottage house early occupied by a family named Drury. The father was a Rodman hostler and had a son George. The family moved to Providence years ago. This house has been extensively enlarged and remodeled in recent years, and is now the com- fortable home of Mr. and Mrs. Robert F. Rodman, Jr. Mrs. Rodman was the former Janice M. Robinson of Fall River. They have two sons, Robert F. Rodman, III, and Richard E. Rodman.
Next east on the Ten Rod, from the Capt. Jimmy Huling house, was the Lafayette schoolhouse, the story of which is given elsewhere herein. Then east of the schoolhouse came the residence of Mr. and Mrs. George O. Allen. This house was enlarged and rebuilt in 1882. Mrs. Allen (Robert Rodman's daughter Hor- tense) was a most gracious and kind-hearted gentle-
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woman. She took a great interest in the neighborhood welfare, and taught a Sunday School class in the local church. There were three Allen children, Almira, Mary, and Viola. The mother died in 1891. Since then, the daughters have married and removed to other States. The house is now owned by Fannie (Rodman) Downs, wife of Robert T., and they now occupy it. They have one daughter, Fannie R., wife of Cyril B. Hartman. The Hartmans have two sons, Cyril B., Jr., and David Downs, and now live in Pelham Manor, N. Y.
Then came the original Robert Rodman house which most recently had been owned and occupied by the late Col. Robert F. Rodman, son of Franklin, and grandson of the first Robert. Previous to the Colonel's occupancy, Emily Rodman, daughter of Robert and Almira (Taylor) Rodman, had lived here with her parents, until after her marriage to William H. Rod- man in 1884. She was a local member of the Advent Christian Church and was a leading spirit in its Sun- day School. She had a wide and familiar acquaint- ance throughout the entire community where her genial presence and good works made her a most wel- come visitor. After her marriage, she and her husband removed to Providence where he was engaged in the mercantile business. They had two children, Emily Almira and William R. The latter served as United States Marshal at Providence for several years.
In 1891, following the death of his mother, Albert Rodman, second son of the original Robert, took up residence with his father at the Lafayette house. Albert and his wife Mary (Allen) had been living at Silver Spring, but maintained their Lafayette residence until
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Albert's death in 1916. Meantime, in 1894, Robert Rodman had deeded his Lafayette estate to his son Albert, and the latter by will bequeathed the estate to his wife Mary. In 1917, she quit-claimed the prop- erty to Col. Robert F. Rodman, and took up her resi- dence in Providence. Col. Robert then occupied the estate until his death in September, 1947. In 1901, he had married Caroline McAvoy of Westerly. She was deeply interested in the Girl Scouts movement and was instrumental in getting a reorganization of the local council of that organization, and acquiring a Girl Scout House, known as "La Kettelle" in East La- fayette. She devoted her time and energies to the ex- tension of the movement in the whole Town, and was successful in her endeavors. She was likewise interested in both war and civic activities. Her untimely death occurred in 1933. Col. Robert F. and Caroline Rod- man had three children. Robert F., Jr., General Man- ager of the Rodman Manufacturing Company, has been mentioned in a previous paragraph. Oliver Haz- ard Perry Rodman married Dorothea Heath of Brook- line, Mass. They have three children, Oliver Hazard Perry Rodman, Jr., Reginald H. Rodman, and Frank- lin Rodman. Caroline Rodman, the only daughter of Robert F. and Caroline, has remained unmarried. She has maintained her mother's interest in Girl Scouts and has been an enthusiastic leader in that field as well as in civic and war activities. Upon her father's death, she inherited the original Robert Rodman estate. Recently she sold the house and grounds to Washing- ton Lodge of Masons, of Wickford, and the Lodge began the alteration of the house for its uses.
Across the Ten Rod again. The William Noyes
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house has been modernized and is now occupied by Howard W. and Donna (Duffy) Anderson. The Noyes family was among the earlier home-builders in this vicinity. The family was prominent in South Kingstown also, having considerable land-holdings in both Towns. The family had some well-known school teachers of its day, and there is a tradition that this Lafayette house was used as a private schoolroom at one time. The house is of ancient construction, and the kitchen fire-place has one of the oldest type ovens which is built into the fire-place itself. There is also a fire-place upstairs which lends support to the private school tradition, as it could have been used for the comfort of pupils. William F. Noyes was a well- known resident of Lafayette 75 years ago. He and his wife Charlotte (Sherman) had two children, Sarah and George. Neither child married. Sarah was a weaver in the mill for many years, and George, among other occupations, dug pond-lily roots out of the Old Bog and shipped them to landscape gardeners in New York and other cities. Both were extremely reserved in their life and habits. Sarah died in 1924, at a very old age, while George had died in 1895 at the age of 58. There were several other occupants of the old house previous to its acquisition by the Andersons.
To the east of the Noyes estate was the Peter Phillips land, later owned by his son Thomas. Two modern houses have been erected on it, one built by Alvin Phillips, son of George T. and grandson of Thomas, who lived there a while with his wife Rose (Warburton) and family. It is now occupied and owned by Ernest Cooper. The other house was built by Walter Rodman, Jr., who occupied it before re-
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moving to the Post Road. Then comes the old Phillips homestead site. This was occupied upstairs by Almanzo Arnold, engineer at the old mill, who had a son Edgar. George T. Phillips, son of Thomas, and a boss- farmer for the Rodmans for years, lived downstairs. He had two sons, Alvin (mentioned above), who was for some years boss-farmer at the Grinnell estate in Exeter, and Walter. The old house, later acquired by Nathaniel Hendrick, was burned in 1936. It was a village landmark. It had seven fire-places (a man could stand in the one on the first floor), the frame timbers were hand-hewed oak, and hand-made nails were used in the boarding. On the corner of the Swamptown Road, opposite the old house, stands the "Hornbeam" church, or chapel, now in its 100th year, and described elsewhere herein.
East of the "Hornbeam" is the Burrill Arnold cot- tage, with ell, moved up from the new mill site. Ben- jamin Bray, boss-dyer, lived here at one time. His son, Benjamin, was an expert snare-drummer, playing in the Lafayette Band several years. He had a fine bass voice and was a member of the church choir.
Across the Ten Rod is the house built by Walter Rodman. He married Caroline Taber, station agent Taber's daughter of Kingston. Walter was a fine, un- assuming gentleman, of an artistic nature, and main- tained beautiful gardens. He was a thorough and efficient business man, and a skilled accountant in the handling of his father's extensive affairs. He died in 1909. His wife took an active part in church work and in the civic life of the community. She died in 1922. They had five children: Walter, Jr., who has been Treasurer of the Rodman Manufacturing Company
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for many years. He married Louise Peirce of Provi- dence. They have one daughter, Elizabeth, who is a librarian at Kingston College.
Gertrude, who married Eugene B. Lester of Paw- tucket. They have a son, Eugene, a music student, and a daughter, Cynthia.
Roger, who was a Wickford merchant, and has been the long-time head of the Town's Fire Depart- ment, and is Secretary of the Rodman Manufacturing Company. He married Jessie Maglone, daughter of John. They have two daughters, Nancy who married Francis A. Walsh, and Janice.
Hope, who married Edward J. Ryan well-known merchant of Wickford. They have five sons, Paul Rodman, Edward, James E., David, and Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan have occupied the Walter Rodman house.
Gilbert, who was for some time in charge of the Shady Lea mill. He married Marguerite Mignault. They have two children, Jane and Gilbert, Jr.
The Franklin Rodman home, latest built of the Rodman houses, is next to the east of the Walter Rod- man house. Franklin married Sarah Allen, sister of George O. She was an exemplary wife and mother, and was solicitous for the welfare of every family that was afflicted with sickness or sorrow. Franklin was a genial man, having a speaking familiarity with the most of the hundreds of employes in and about the mill. He had a technical knowledge of all the details of the mill operations, and made daily rounds of in- spection during the long years of his service as Super- intendent. He died in 1906. His wife died the follow- ing year. They had five children:
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Ernest Linwood, familiarly known as "Lin," was educated in the public schools and in a Providence commercial school. He served as accountant in the Lafayette mill office for several years. On the death of his uncle Albert in 1916, he was elected President of the Company and continued in that position until his death in 1948. "Lin" was fond of sports and par- ticipated in them as a young man. He was also fond of music and acquired a marked proficiency on certain instruments. He was superintendent of the local Sun- day School for some years, and was interested in church and civic affairs. He applied himself faithfully to his business, and was seldom absent during his office business hours. He married Harriet, daughter of Daniel Webster. She died in 1922.
Irving, the second son, had a genius for art and music, and achieved success in both those lines. He did not participate actively in the family manufactur- ing business, but maintained a residence in Lafayette, with other members of his family, since he never mar- ried. He died in 1944.
Robert F., the third son, was educated in the Town schools and in the Friends School in Providence. He was preparing for college when illness compelled his going to Colorado. He recovered his health and, hav- ing become interested in engineering while in the West, he pursued the study of that profession on his return. For a time, he was in the City Engineer's office in Providence. He was Highway Commissioner for the Town of North Kingstown for six years, and Engineer for the State Board of Public Roads after that. He took a great interest in politics, and became prominent in that field in both Town and State. He
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was appointed Colonel on the staff of Governor William Gregory in 1900. "Bob," as he was popularly known, had a pleasing personality which earned him a wide acquaintance in all circles of the Town and State. He was greatly interested in baseball, and in his younger days was a noted pitcher on the Lafayette team. He devoted much time to his gardens in later years and entertained many callers. His counsel was sought on many public problems, and he took part in worthy movements for the community's welfare. After his marriage, he lived for a time in the house formerly occupied by his great-aunts, at the corner of the Ten Rod and the street leading to the Advent Christian Church. Upon acquiring his grandfather's estate, he lived there, as mentioned heretofore.
Fannie, the only daughter of Franklin and Sarah (Allen) Rodman, has been mentioned previously. She has taken part in many activities relating to the village and Town, holding membership in several societies and associations. She was particularly active in the various campaigns conducted during and after the World Wars. Her husband, Robert T. Downs, a re- tired Providence banker, was a member of the North Kingstown School Committee for several terms.
Albert L., the fourth son of Franklin and Sarah (Allen) Rodman, was educated in the schools of the Town and in Brown University. He learned the mill business from the bottom up, became Vice President of the Company, and upon the death of his brother Ernest L., was elected Company President.
"Bert," as he was commonly known, was interested in athletics in his younger days, having played on the Brown University baseball team. Although apply-
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ing himself closely to the mill business, he found time to take part in the Town's affairs, and to encourage and contribute to matters pertaining to the com- munity's welfare. He married Mary, the daughter of Col. Thomas J. Peirce of Wickford. For a while, they lived in an apartment in the store block, across from the mill office. After acquiring his father's house, he and his wife have continued to occupy that estate.
Farther along in the "Rodman Row," is the cottage house owned and long occupied by the late Ernest I. Rodman. It was formerly occupied by his father, and afterward by various pastors of the church, before a parsonage was acquired.
Crossing the Ten Rod again, there are four houses that carry back to the early mill life of the village. East of the Burrill Arnold cottage is a two-tenement house that has housed many families. One of the largest was the Gavitt family. William, the father, was a boss- spinner. His wife was Eliza (Briggs). Their sons were Reuben, William, Jr., who later was a fireman on the main line railroad, Theodore, George who married Clara Warburton, and Horace. Their daughters were Ellen who married John Perry, a railroad engineer, Marianna who married Thomas Arnold, Emma who married Alvin Himes, Carrie, and Hattie. Daniel Webster and family once lived in the other tenement. Jacob Boyce and family also lived here. He was a teamer for the Company. He had three sons, William, Arthur, and Burleigh, and a daughter.
Next comes the so-called basement house where three families resided. One upper tenement was oc- cupied by the Benoni Rose family. He was a boss- finisher. He had two sons, John F., a boss-weaver, and
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Horace. One daughter, Emma, married Charles Arnold of Sunnyside, and another daughter, Laura, married James Brooks. Benoni was the first to build a house on the Swamptown Road, at what was known as Phillips Hill, now High Street. Another occupant of this three-family house was the Hazard family, later living at the Junction. Still another family was that of Henry Ash. He became keeper of the new boarding house. He had two sons, John and Walter, and two daughters, Addie and Sadie. All the children removed to Providence later. The basement quarters were oc- cupied by Ezekiel Johnson's family. He was long- time sexton of the "Hornbeam" and the new church. There were two Johnson daughters.
To the east of the basement house, is the so-called "flat-top." Col. Fred Lawton, as a boy, lived here with his mother and grandmother. Another Lawton family also lived here at one time. The widowed mother, Mary Ann Lawton, had two sons, Daniel and Benjamin A., and a daughter who married Beecher Reynolds of Wickford. Mary Ann later built a house in East Lafayette and moved there with her family. William Boyce was also a tenant here. He married Fanny Warburton. They had three children, Charles, Ella and Emma. He later moved to East Lafayette where he had built a house.
On the corner of the driveway into the mill-yard, was the store building, so-called, having the general store on the ground floor, and living quarters above. Ambrose C. Taylor, brother of Mrs. Robert Rodman, kept the store for many years and lived on the floor above. He married Mary, daughter of Potter Sweet.
Diagonally across the Ten Rod from the store, on
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an opposite corner, was a house occupied by two maiden ladies, Mary Ann and Frances Taylor, known and highly respected as Aunt Ann and Aunt Fannie. They were sisters of Mrs. Robert Rodman and Am- brose Taylor. They held Sunday School sessions in the kitchen of their home in the early days. The house is now occupied by Lawrence W. Merry.
Next comes the site of the home of Edward S. Hall, one of the older houses in the village. Mr. Hall was station agent at the Junction for a long time as men- tioned elsewhere. He moved the old house back when he built a new one which is now the church parsonage. His granddaughter, Frances Snow, lived with her grandparents here for some years. She married George H. Huddy, a prominent attorney of Providence.
Then comes the commodious store and post office, erected by Ambrose Taylor in 1882, with modern liv- ing quarters on the second floor. Mr. Taylor then moved from the old store and took up his residence in the new structure. His former premises were given over to storage and occasional assemblies on the first floor, while the living quarters above were occupied by various families.
Clarke Gardiner, boss-carpenter, owned the cottage house on the terraced hill east of the new store. Upon his removal to West Wickford where he built a house now owned by Edwin W. Huling and wife, he sold the Lafayette residence to John T. Arnold, teamer, who had previously lived in a house back of the mill and abutting the Wickford Branch. The latter house had a wonderful "August sweeting" apple tree in its yard. John T. was known as "Snappy John," from his habit of snapping a long whip at the boys who
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bothered him around the barn. He married Mary Davis, sister of Burrill. They had three daughters, Lula, who married William C. Sherman, Leonora, who married Frank Spink, and Nellie, who married William Nutting. Lula and her husband occupied the house after her parents' death. Their two daughters now live there.
The new boarding-house, next in line, was operated by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Ash for a time. Later, it was managed by Mr. and Mrs. John Nichols who had two sons, John and Frank, and two daughters, Sadie and Blanche. Other managers followed, but with the build- ing of so many private homes and the coming of the automobile, the necessity for such living quarters near the mill gradually waned, and the building is no longer used for its original purpose.
In the old boarding-house, next to the new one, two of the early occupants were the Jared Miner and James McCall families. A tragic incident in the Miner family was the death by suicide of Nathan, brother of Jared. "Jerry" was a boss-spinner and later built a house in the new village. He had a daughter Eva, a son Martin, and other children. James McCall also built a house in East Lafayette, and moved there. He was well educated and as a hobby worked out prob- lems in algebra and geometry. He and his wife had sons John, Thomas, and James, and daughters Alice, who married Henry Girard, and Rose, who married John Dillon. Al Huling, Jr. is one of the present tenants. Also an Allen family.
Farther down the slope of the hill was the Harring- ton Gardiner house (moved from the new mill site), occupied by John Rose, boss-weaver, and his wife
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Kate. She had a son, Clarence Weaver, by a previous marriage. William Bicknell, finisher tender, and his wife, later lived here.
Across the Ten Rod, on the hill, the "Old Castle" housed four of the earlier families. John Ritson, boss- dyer, with his wife and three grandchildren, Annie, Kate, and George Nelson Gardner, occupied the first floor on the east end. Annie married George W. Phillips, Jr., and George Nelson and Kate removed to Providence where they married and continued to re- side. Mr. Ritson later built a house in the new village and removed there. William Potter and wife occupied the upper floor of the east end of the "Castle." They had four children, Americus (known as "Mack"), Orlando (known as "Lan"), Joseph, and Sadie. The family afterward moved to the "Creamery Farm," near Oak Hill. Americus and Orlando later built houses in East Lafayette and returned there to dwell, Joseph went to Providence, and Sadie married Frank Kettell of Exeter. George Ball and wife, with seven children, Lizzie, Olive, Edwin, George, Jesse, Walter, and Bertha, occupied the upper floor at the west end. Lizzie married George Kenyon and removed to Green- wood, Edwin married Lizzie Dawley, Jesse removed to Providence, Olive married John Mitchell, George died young, Walter was a gardener for many years, but never married, and Bertha died unmarried. The Balls removed to a new house in East Lafayette, built by George's father, Caleb, of Exeter. George W. Gardiner, boss-carder, and wife Mary, lived in the west end of the first floor. They had three children, Mary, who was a music teacher and organist at the Lafayette church, Julia, a school teacher, and George
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