USA > Rhode Island > Pictures of Rhode Island in the past, 1642-1833 > Part 11
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also sends great quantities of lime-stone, and some iron. The iron is forged within the state, at the falls of Potosky, round which lies a very rich mine. Cannons and anchors are there fabricated ; of the latter of which a pretty considerable number are exported to the Indies. The value of the exports from Providence was-in 1790, from the month of June, one hundred and thirteen thousand, two hundred and thirty-one dollars. in 1795, one million forty thous- and and five-and, for the first six months of 1796, four hundred and thirteen thousand, nine hundred and twenty-four.
This great increase in the value of the exports is not here, any more than elsewhere, a true criterion of their quantities ; for, although I have not had time to take from the custom-house books an abstract of the differ- ent articles year by year, and to compare their esti- mated values, I know that the tonnage of the port of Providence has increased only in a very small propor- tion ; since it amounted in 1792 to eleven thousand two hundred tons, and does not at present exceed four- teen thousand five hundred. It is true, that, during the last year, the shipping of that port suffered losses to the amount of eleven or twelve hundred tons by shipwreck, captures, &c.
The commerce of Providence is carried on with the East and West Indies, Denmark, the north of Ger- many, and the coasts of Africa. Some of her vessels trade to France ; but the number of these is very small. They usually carry thither tobacco and train-oil : dur- ing the last two years they carried rice, meal, salt beef, raw hides, and shoes for the army-Providence and Newport carry on no trade with England ; whatever British commodities they want, they purchase at New York and Boston.
To the value of the exports from Providence may
DUKE OF LA ROCHEFOUCAULD-LIANCOURT. 147
be added about eight hundred thousand dollars in specie which are annually sent out for the trade with India and China; since that money may truly be called the produce, inasmuch as it is the fruit of the produce, of the state.
The principles on which are grounded the assessment and the levying of taxes in the state of Rhode-Island are essentially the same as they were at the period of the first settlement of the colony. . Those taxes are a capitation, a tax on real and personal property, from which a law of 1795 excepts, as untaxable arti- cles, all furniture (not including plate), implements of agriculture, workmen's tools, and a quarter of the cap- ital employed in trade on sea. The raising of the taxes rests with each town or township, which is responsible to the state-treasurer for the proportion of the taxes assigned to it by the legislature. The ratio is regu- lated by a general valuation made from time to time, The last three valuations took place in 1767, 1778, and 1795. On the first of those occasions the taxable property was valued at seven millions three hundred and seventy-one thousand one hundred and eighty-six dollars ; . . and, in 1795, at fifteen mil- lions five hundred thousand dollars. It appears that this augmentation in the quantum of taxable property is attributable to the increase of the capitals employed in trade, more than to any other cause.
The capitation-tax is settled in the proportion of six- pence for every thousand pounds rated to the state. The towns may nevertheless set aside this tax, provided they contribute their quota toward satisfying the public demand in some other mode. The town of Providence, for instance, levies her proportion of it only on movable and immovable estates.
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The taxes of the state of Rhode-Island, as I have already observed, amount only to six thousand pounds, or twenty-thousand dollars, and are regularly paid. The expence of the civil list is but five thousand dollars. The state owes about ninety-eight thousand dollars, and has, for the discharge of that sum, no other resource than taxation. By the decision of the com- missioners appointed to settle the accounts between the United States and the individual states, Rhode-Island is creditor to the Union to the amount of two hundred and eighty-nine thousand six hundred and eleven dollars.
1801. President Josiah Quincy.
Josiah Quincy (1772-1864), of Boston, was first noted as a leader of the Federalists in Congress. He was urgently opposed to the Embargo and the war with England, and his speech in opposition to the ad- mission of Louisiana into the Union is, according to Hildreth, " the first announcement on the floor of Con- gress of the doctrine of secession." From 1823 to 1828 Mr. Quincy was Mayor of Boston.
In 1829 he was chosen President of Harvard College, and held the position until 1845. He introduced im- portant changes into the curriculum and the adminis- tration of the University. This extract is taken from his " Diary kept on a Journey through South-eastern New England," and is published in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 2d Series, IV. 123-126.
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June 4. The next day we proceeded to Providence, having dined at Wrentham, and stayed an hour at Paw- tucket. In general the road is rough and hilly, and the prospects little various or cultivated. Woodland, pasturage, and meadows chiefly occupy the face of the country. The houses which we passed evidenced neither thrifty nor ingenious proprietors ; except, in- deed, those in Wrentham and its vicinity. The falls at Pawtucket are the objects on this route most worthy the attention of a traveller. They are formed by several ledges of rocks extending in broken lines across the bed of the river. The centre layers, being nearly at right angles with each other, collect the waters from both sides of the stream and dash them down to a point. This, which is called " the Pot," is of immense depth, whence the flood is eternally rising in rage and foam. In the Eighth of a mile the whole descent is about Sixty feet. A bridge, which is erected over the centre ledges, hides much of the grandeur of the scene. This is also diminished by the divertion of the water from the falls, occasioned by numerous canals, cut for the use of manufactories, erected on each side of the river. These consist chiefly of Iron, paper, and cotton works, in the last of which a very complicated and in- genious machinery performs all the requisite labour. We found the proprietor very cautious of admitting strangers to view its operations, nor would he grant us the privilege until he had received satisfactory assurances that we were as ignorant and unconcerned about every thing relating to the cotton manufacture as he could wish. All the processes of turning cotton from its rough into every variety of marketable thread state, such as clean- ing, carding, spinning, winding, etc., are here performed by machinery operating by Water-wheels, assisted only by children from four to Ten years old, and one super- intendent. Above an hundred of the former are em-
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ployed, at the rate of from 12 to 25 cents for a day's labour. Our attendant was very eloquent on the use- fulness of this manufacture, and the employment it supplied for so many poor children. But an eloquence was exerted on the other side of the question more commanding than his, which called us to pity these little creatures, plying in a contracted room, among flyers and coggs, at an age when nature requires for them air, space, and sports. There was a dull dejec- tion in the countenances of all of them. This, united with the deafening roar of the falls and the rattling of the machinery, put us into a disposition easily to satisfy our curiosity.
June 5. A violent storm prevented us from seeing as much of Providence as we intended. Having both of us been in this place before, and finding our lodgings not very commodious, we proceeded, in the rain, about Ten miles, to Warren. The road lies through a well- cultivated country, interspersed with two or three thick woods, through which the traveller passes, and is made pleasant by a variety of fine prospects. Warren is situated upon a river of its name, which joins Provi- dence river about two miles from the village. Every- thing about it bears the marks of industry, frugality, neatness and prosperity, very equally diffused. Ac- cordingly, our Landlord, a very intelligent and com- municative Yankee, assured us that the town had no poor to support, and that no one of its inhabitants was so far above his neighbors as to be called rich. This man, who was both tavern-keeper and carpenter, I found in deep political discussion with Mr. Fessenden, the schoolmaster, and Mr. Phillips, who was at once the principal village trader, its custom-house officer, Postmaster, and printer. Fessenden was not less oracular, nor solemn, in his responses, than his prede- cessor whom Goldsmith celebrates. The hammer and
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the adze were motionless as he displayed before the master and the journeyman, in the workshop, " all he knew". This scene was the more pleasing to me as Fessenden's politics were sound, and as he appeared to be a worthy and well-principled man. He was polite, and offered to accompany me in viewing the Town. It is built upon two or three streets, about half a mile in extent, running parallel with the river, and upon others crossing these at right angles. The houses are of two stories, generally painted, and within appear remarkably clean and commodious. Rows of cherry-trees, planted in front of most of the houses, give the place an un- common air of improvement and taste. The church and the Free-mason's hall are the only public build- ings. The former is handsome, and the latter, having some gilded insignia of the craft at each of its ends, has more decoration than any other in the town. It is of two stories,-the upper destined for the awful secrets of the lodge, the lower for a town school. This was Fessenden's hobby, across which he was astride as soon as we were in sight of the house, and rode most cheerily until we turned our backs upon this deposit of his hopes. "I expect it will accommodate forty youth," said he, " of both sexes. It is to be called an Academy, and is to be under my direction and that of a preceptress, who I intend shall be the most accomplished female that can be procured from Boston". Upon this he gave me an insight into all the depth and extent of his plan of instruction, in all which it was plain the good man had worked up his imagination to view Warren in vision the seat of the muses, and himself as nothing less than high priest of Apollo.
There is sufficient depth of water in Warren river to float vessells of 150 Tons burthen, loaded. A con- siderable carrying trade is also supported, by the in- habitants, in the vessells built on this river.
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June 6. From Warren to Bristol Ferry, a distance of Six miles, there is a constant succession of beautiful landscapes, combining the prospects of Providence and Warren rivers, the Islands they contain, and the coun- try at a distance, all highly cultivated. Bristol, through which we passed, two miles from the ferry, is a flourishing place, and is the shire-town of a county of its name. It is situated on a bay formed by the waters of the Providence river, and includes within its boun- daries Mount Hope, celebrated in the ancient history of our country as the residence of King Philip. Bris- tol carries on a considerable trade, of which that in slaves has not been the least successful, as several very elegant seats were pointed out for which, we were told, the owners were indebted to that traffic.
Bristol ferry is at the confluence of the rivers Taun- ton and Providence, which meet in Narraganset Bay, at the North end of Rhode Island. The ferry is half a mile wide, is well attended, and has good boats. Mount Hope lies towards the North West, and rises gradually, with a beautiful slope, from Taunton river. It is eleven miles from Bristol ferry to Newport, by the Eastern road. This passes nearly through the middle of the Island, and abounds with numberless fine views of it, of Narraganset Bay, on its East and West side, of Providence and Taunton rivers, and Mount Hope Bay. The roads are excellent, and the soil is rich and will- ing. All the wood upon this Island was cut off by the British during the war, so that there is at present none but what is of late growth. Marks of improvement are here rare. From the appearance of the buildings, one cannot refrain from believing, what is said to be the fact, that on this Island, everything has been, to say the least, stationary for thirty years past. New- port, situated at its Southern extremity, is scarcely up- held from decay. Providence, lying at the head of
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navigation, has attracted from it the principal parts of the enterprise and wealth of the state, and has attained a superiority which, in consequence of its insular situ- ation and distance from the country, Newport seems to despair of regaining.
We returned from Newport, by the same road, to Howland's ferry, which we crossed about sunset. This ferry is near the Northerly end of Rhode Island, and separates it from Tiverton. Narraganset Bay is in this place about a third of a mile in breadth. The relics of a fine bridge, twice carried away by the rapid- ity of the current and by worms, give a melancholy effect to the prospect.
1 806. John Melish.
John Melish (1771-1822) was a Scotchman who came to the United States and travelled extensively. He published several works descriptive of the country, its resources and industries, and died in Philadelphia. The quotation given is taken from his Travels in the United States, Great Britain, and Canada, in 1806-'11, pp. 67-71 (London, reprint, 1818).
At 6 o'clock we reached Providence, where we saw a good deal of shipping, and I was surprised to find a vessel there of upwards of 900 tons burden. I was informed that she was in the East India trade, of which there is a considerable share at this port, and that there would be a sale of India goods next day.
The major, who had often travelled this way, con-
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ducted me to a boarding-house, where having engaged lodgings, we went out to take a view of the town, with which he was well acquainted. The ground rises to a considerable elevation above the town, from whence we had a fine view ; and we returned to our lodgings highly pleased with the excursions of this day.
Providence is beautifully situated on the head of Narraganset bay, and is divided into two parts by the Providence river, over which there is a good bridge, with a draw in it, to allow vessels to pass. The west side of the town is low, but the east side rises, by a rapid ascent, to a considerable elevation. The number of inhabitants, in 1800, was 7614, and they are rapidly
increasing .* The public buildings are, a court-house, market-house, a public school-house, a baptist meeting- house, a quaker meeting-house, and three congrega- tional churches. There is an extensive college situated on the hill, and commanding a fine view of the town, bay, shipping and country for many miles round. The building is of brick, with a slated roof, 150 feet long, 46 wide, and four stories high ; and contains lodgings for upwards of 100 students. It has a valuable phil- osophical apparatus, and a library containing upwards of 3000 volumes.
Providence has a pretty extensive shipping trade, and several manufactories are established in the town and neighbourhood, which are said to be in a thriving state.
The state [of Rhode Island] is divided into five coun- ties and thirty townships, and the inhabitants amount to 69,122, including 380 slaves ; being about 45 to the square mile.
The country is well improved, abounding with towns, villages, and farm-houses. The chief towns are Provi- dence and Newport, already mentioned. The others
* By the census of 1810, they are 10,071.
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are, South Kingston, situated on the west side of Nar- raganset Bay, nearly opposite Newport, and contains 3000 inhabitants. Bristol is pleasantly situated on the bay, about half way between Providence and Newport, and contains 1678 inhabitants. It has a little shipping trade. Warren is a flourishing little town, containing about 1600 inhabitants. It is on the west side of the bay, on the Warren River, and carries on a brisk coast- ing and foreign trade. Little Compton, East Greenwich, and Compton, are also growing towns. The state is supplied with good roads and bridges, some of which have been constructed on an ingenious plan, and at great expense. No canals have yet been made, but several are projected.
The farms are generally well cultivated, and produce Indian corn, rye, barley, oats, wheat, (though not enough for home consumption), fruits in great abundance, and culinary vegetables. Butter, cheese, and cyder, are made in great quantities, and of a superior quality.
The manufactures are cotton and linen goods, bar and sheet iron, steel, nails, anchors and other iron work for shipping, sail-cloth, paper, rum, &c. The cotton manufacture is extending, and I was informed that some of those engaged in it were doing well ; but it is yet in its infancy, and, being subject to a competition with the organized manufactures of Britain, it must be attended with a considerable degree of inconvenience, and perhaps some risk.
This state is very favourably situated for commerce, of which it has a large share. The exports are grain, flaxseed, lumber, horses, cattle, beef, pork, fish, poul- try, onions, butter, cheese, spirits, and cotton and linen goods. The value of exports is about 1,000,000 dol- lars annually. The imports are European and India manufactures, West India produce, and logwood.
The inhabitants of the country are generally proprie- tors of the farms they cultivate, and, having no land-
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lord to make their bow to, nor rent to pay, they must be independent. The inhabitants of the towns are mer- chants, manufacturers, mechanics, seamen, and fisher- men. The lands are not entailed, and hence there is no aristocracy ; but independence is easily attained by labour. There is no distinction made on account of religious opinions ; but every man worships God in any way his conscience dictates, without interfering with his civil rights. There are several benevolent and useful societies in the state, among which may be no- ticed one " for the abolition of the slave trade, and for the improvement of the African race." The state of education is said to be considerably behind that of the other New England states, but is improving. The chief seminary is the college at Providence, already men- tioned ; and there is an academy at Newport, under good regulations, besides various seminaries throughout the state.
The state legislature consists of a governor, deputy governor, ten senators, and a representative from each township. They are chosen by the people twice every year, and they hold two sessions annually.
1 807. Edward Augustus Kendall.
Kendall (1776c-1842) was an Englishman interested in colonial enterprises and in colonial trade. He wrote on various subjects, and was identified with the cause of popular education in England. In 1807-'8 he travelled through the northern parts of the United States, and in 1809 published at New York an account of his wanderings in three volumes. The extract
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given here is taken from his Travels through the North- ern Parts of the United States, Vol. II, p. 1 et seq. (New York, 1809).
Most of the streets in Newport and Providence are paved. Those of the latter lie both on the east and west banks of the Wanaspatucket, which, after spread- ing itself into a broad bason behind the village, where it receives the Moshasic, and afterward joins the Patucket, by a narrow channel. Over this channel is a bridge, formerly called Weybossett bridge, on ac- count of a hill of that name, on the east bank, and to the foot of which it reached. The hill is now levelled, and the common name is the Great bridge. Its length is a hundred and sixty feet, and its width twenty-two. There is a very pleasant ride, around the bason of the Wanaspatucket, in which, after leaving a street which runs to the westward, where a large number of new buildings are now erecting, and beyond which is a small-pox hospital, the road leads through woods and meads, ornamented with water, and having the build- ings of the village in the background. That part of the village, which is on the west of the bridge, is called Westminster. On the eastern side of the river are the older and more populous streets, and all the principal public buildings.
In the lower or main street is a large anabaptist church, eighty feet square, with a lofty spire, and a bell cast in the town of Scituate; and near this church is a large and well-built quaker meeting-house. Be- sides these, there are three congregational churches, and one church of the church of England. In the design of one of the congregational churches, built on high ground in the upper street, much attention has been paid to beauty, and the effect produced is very pleasing.
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The west end of the cathedral church of Saint Paul, in the city of London, is the model on which it is formed, and from which as much of the pomp of archi- tecture has been imitated, as the small dimensions of the copy may have justified.
The state-house is a handsome building, seventy feet in length, by forty in breadth. In the chamber of the representatives, as well as that devoted to the courts of justice, is a large gallery, for the accommodation of strangers ; and in the council-room is a picture of Gen- eral Washington, copied, like the others that I have mentioned, by the original painter. These pictures, with their frames, have generally cost the governments, by which they have been purchased, from nine to twelve hundred dollars each. In the same room, is a town and country library, supported by subscription.
Upon ground still higher than that on which is the church whose architecture I have praised, is Brown University, formerly called Rhode Island College, a plain building, of a brown-coloured brick, three hun- dred and fifty feet in front, forty-six in depth on each wing, and sixty-six in the centre. The number of chambers for students is forty-eight, and there are ten large public rooms. At the commencement for the present year, there were twenty-six graduates. The expenses of education are at least as low at this college, as that of Connecticut.
On the same level with the university are several handsome private houses, as there are also in the low grounds, lying between the village and the Patucket.
Over the Patucket, on the road to Rehoboth, a bridge is at present building; meanwhile, the com- munication is by a rope-ferry.
The republic abounds in incorporated banks, and Providence alone has three. Two, in Warren and Bristol have been mentioned, and there are two in
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Newport ; there is also one in a town called Westerly, one in Smithfield, and one in Gloucester.
Patucket, a village four miles to the northeast of Providence, and seated on the river whence it derives its name, is dependent wholly on manufactures. This settlement has grown up on the banks of a cataract, called Patucket Falls, affording situations for very numerous mills. Here, in 1760, according to the traveller, whom I lately cited, there were two or three mills ; but so long ago as 1796, there were three anchor- forges, one tan-mill, one flower-mill, one slitting-mill, three snuff-mills, one oil-mill, one cotton-manufactury, three fulling-mills, two machines for cutting nails, and a clothier's works, in which the shearing was performed by water ; and the number and extent of these estab- lishments are now increased.
1810. Henry A. Howland.
Henry A. Howland (1806-1896) was a prominent business man of Providence, and was one of the first to advocate the cause of temperance, in the '40s. He took considerable interest in city politics, and was a member of many of the educational and business in- stitutions of Providence. The following extract is taken from his "Reminiscences," published in the Nar- ragansett Historical Register, VI. 111.
The vicinity of Weybosset street was the scene of my earliest years. Butler's wharf (now Hay street), was on the west side of it. . . .
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Long Wharf (now Custom street), called so probably because it was the longest when first built, as Butler's and Peck's were much longer now. These wharves all extended to the channel, the river flowing on each side of them and to the north side of Pine street. Access from one wharf to another was by passing up and down from Weybosset street. The wharves on the east side were separated in the same way.
There was then no South Water street extending the whole length of the river, no Dyer street on the West Side, no Pine street open but little below Rich- mond street, Eddy street was only on Eddy's Point where the main business was ship building. The largest ship yard was where the steam cotton mill now stands. All the area between the Steam mill, Rich- mond street and the northerly side of Pine street, was covered by the tide water and to go to Eddy's Point from Weybosset bridge, we had to go up to Richmond street and down that street, or take a boat and sail to the Point. All the ship builders and others were the owners of boats and would skull or row across to Market Square to get supplies, as that was the only market for meats and country produce. Dorrance street was then only from Weybosset street to the river, its only name that we knew was Muddy Dock. In the centre of it the tide flowed and a bridge was over the side-walk with an iron rail on each side under which the surface water ran from the street.
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