USA > Rhode Island > Picturesque Rhode Island : pen and pencil sketches of the scenery and history its cities, towns, and hamlets, and of men who have made them famous > Part 13
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FOSTER is a farming town, situated on the western border of the State, fifteen miles from Providence. Its area is fifty square miles. The surface is rugged and hilly, and much of the land stony, rough, hard to cultivate, and unproductive. Some of the best farming land in the State is, however, to be found within its borders. In 1820, the population was 2,900, - the largest number in the town's history ; by the census of 1880, it was 1,552. Foster was taken from Scituate, and was incorporated as a separate town August 24, 1781. It was named after the Hon. Theodore Foster, then a United States Senator from this State.
The materials for romance are meagre in the life of a community like this. The early settlers had, no doubt, their adventures with the Indians, and the usual number of hair-breadth escapes. As the years passed slowly on, bringing exemption from the attacks of sav- age foes and deliverance from the control of the mother country, the lives of the inhabitants became monotonous and uneventful. In such isolated places the New England speech, embalmed by Lowell in
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the Biglow Papers, flourished with remarkable vigor. A certain shrewdness of character and an unusual physical pluck was devel- oped, which made these farming towns the fountains from which were drawn the energetic business men of the cities.
The first settlement in Foster, according to tradition, was made in the year 1717, by Ezekiel Hopkins, whose descendants are at present numerous in the town. A large tract of land called West Quanaug was early purchased from the Indians by William Vaughan, Zacha- riah Rhodes, and Robert Westcott. A number of the prominent men of Newport were afterward associated with the original purchasers. The time of the settlement of this purchase is not definitely known, but it was no doubt occupied soon after its acquisition. The How- ards, who settled here very early, have always been a prominent family in the town. The Hon. Daniel Howard, lately deceased, was a man of influence in town affairs. He was conversant with its early history, and was for many years town clerk. He was also judge of the Court of Common Pleas.
An episode in the history of the town, though only a personal one, is well worth mention. A short time before the war of the Revolu- tion two young men, Theodore Foster and Solomon Drowne, were students in the Rhode Island College. They were close friends and inseparable companions, having all things in common, and confiding each to the other his inmost thoughts. One of their youthful dreams was that sometime in the future they would withdraw from the haunts of men, to a " lodge in some vast wilderness," where they might have the unrestrained pleasure of each other's society, and might engage in the pursuits of literature, art, and science. For many years they were prevented by circumstances from carrying their project into execution, but never gave up the idea.
Foster engaged in public life. He was town clerk of Providence for twelve years, and United States Senator from 1790 to 1803. Drowne became a physician, served in the Revolutionary War, trav- eled and studied in foreign countries, and was a pioneer in the settle- ment of the West. He was celebrated as a botanist, and for many years taught that science in Brown University. For a quarter of a century the friends had only occasional and hurried meetings. At length, in the year 1800, they were able to take steps to bring about the accomplishment of their long cherished design. Foster was inter- ested in the town which had taken his name, and wished to live within its borders. In connection with Drowne he purchased a farm in an
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elevated and eligible situation. They named the place " Mount Hygeia, after the goddess of health, of the Greek mythology. Here, with their families, they took up their abode, Drowne in 1801, and Foster in 1803, at the close of his senatorial career, surrounded by such comforts as the time and their means afforded. They com- muned together, as in their boyhood they had planned, writing verses full of classical allusions, as was the fashion of the age, and engag- ing in their favorite studies. To spots on their farm and in its neigh- borhood they gave classical names. While enjoying their " learned leisure" they found time to advance the interests of the town. Principally through Foster's means, a bank and a library were estab- lished, and a road from Providence to Hartford was built. The por- tion of the road which passed through Foster's farm was made of great width, and was named by him the " Appian Way."
Within the limits of Foster are the head waters of the north branch of the Pawtuxet River, besides various other small streams. There are many good sites for small factories, but the distance inland, combined with the small available water-power, render them of comparatively little value.
SCITUATE. - The lands granted to Roger Williams and his asso- ciates, when they first settled in Providence, were extensive tracts whose bounds were not accurately defined. As the original settle- ment increased, portions of the outlying territory were occupied as farms by pioneers. In time, these farming districts, because of their remoteness from Providence, were formed into separate towns as their situation and wants required. Scituate was one of the towns so formed. It was incorporated Feb. 20, 1730-31. At that time an act was passed " for erecting and incorporating the outlands of the town of Providence into three towns." The two other towns were Gloces- ter and Smithfield.
Judging from the following verses, by Stephen Hopkins, the first settlers in this region must have been in a sad plight. There is a possibility, however, that reference is made to individuals striving to make a house in the forest to which afterwards they could bring their families. No doubt in all the early settlements were many pioneers who had, in their first essays to conquer the wilderness, undergone hardships equal to those depicted here :
" Nor house, nor hut, nor fruitful field, Nor lowing herd, nor bleating flock,
Or garden that might comfort yield, Nor cheerful, early crowing cock.
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No orchard yielding pleasant fruit, Or laboring ox, or useful plow ; Nor weighing steed, or browsing goat, Or grunting swine, or feedful cow.
No friend to help, no neighbor nigh, Nor healing medicine to relieve ; No mother's hand to close the eye, Alone, forlorn, and most extremely poor."
Emigrants with more means soon followed. In 1710 some arrived from Scituate, Mass., and through their agency when the town was incorporated it was named after their old home.
The first settler is supposed to have been John Mathewson. He built a hut near Moswansicut Pond. The nearest trading town was Boston, to which he made journeys occasionally. Each of these trips occupied a number of days, and the traveler generally stopped at all the houses on the route. The roads were only paths through the woods. On one of these expeditions Mathewson proposed marriage to a Miss Malary, whose acquaintance he had made during some of his preceding journeys. She assented to his proposal, and the pair were married. Soon after his marriage Mr. Mathewson built a house at some distance from his hut, and in this house his children were born. John, one of his sons, was the direct ancestor of the Hon. Elisha Mathewson, at one time United States Senator from this State. Others of that name settled in the neighborhood of the pond.
In 1775 James Aldrich removed from Smithfield to Scituate. After the Revolution he was active in local politics, and represented the town for nineteen consecutive years in the General Assembly. His house was a rendezvous for. prominent men in the town and State. Here, at times, Elisha Mathewson, John Harris, Col. Ephraim Bowers, and others were welcome guests. Gov. Arthur Fenner fre- quently came down from Providence to visit Mr. Aldrich and enjoy the hunting to be had in the neighborhood. " Political, as well as social and hunting propensities doubtless mingled in these expedi- tions, for Mr. James Aldrich and his friend, Elisha Mathewson, were said to control the votes of Scituate, and the people loved to see a governor among them in such a free and easy spirit and costume, and gladly gave him the favor of their votes."
Gideon Harris, who died in 1777, was a noted man in the town. For many years he was town clerk. His disposition was benevolent, and having property and influence, he used both to a good purpose in benefiting his neighbors. Those who were in distress were sure of
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Lake Moswansicut.
his counsel and assistance as soon as they made their necessities known to him.
About the year 1703, Joseph Wilkinson moved from Providence into the north part of Scituate, then known by the Indian name of Chapumishcock. He was a surveyor, and his services were always in great demand. Mr. Beaman, in his Historical Sketch of the town, relates the following anecdote of Mr. Wilkinson's wife : " Her hus- band being absent at work some two miles off, she discovered a bear upon a sweet apple tree, shaking off the fruit that he might devour it on the ground. As it was the only tree of the kind they had, and highly valued, Mrs. Wilkinson not a little regretted the absence of her husband, whose gun, kept loaded for such emergencies, was in its place on the pegs at the side of the wall. The apples continued to fall and rattle on the ground, and there was no other help at hand but the gun, which Martha, in a fit of desperation took into her hands, and going out of the door which stood open, she took aim and fired. Dropping the gun on the ground immediately after the discharge, alarmed and trembling at what she had done, she ran back into the house and shut the door, afraid to look back and see the effect of her shot. When Mr. Wilkinson returned home, he found the bear dead on the ground, so that his faithful and resolute wife had not only
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saved the cherished apples, but had secured some good meat as a supply."
In 1765, or thereabout, William Hopkins, whose wife was a sis- ter of Joseph Wilkinson, settled near him. Two of his sons, Stephen and Esek, acquired national reputations. Esek, the younger of the two, was born in Scituate in the year 1718. In his youth he became a sailor, and very soon rose to the command of a vessel. On the 22d of December, 1775, he was appointed by the Continental Con- gress " commander-in-chief" of the American naval forces. He was thereafter commonly known by the title of commodore, though Washington addressed him as admiral. In February, 1776, with four ships and three sloops, he sailed from the Bahama Islands and cap- tured the forts at New Providence. The ammunition and stores obtained here were of great advantage to the patriot cause. The squadron on the return voyage captured two small British vessels, for which exploit Commodore Hopkins was officially complimented. Two days after, three of the vessels, having engaged the " Glasgow," a vessel of twenty-nine guns, were repulsed, and the British vessel escaped. For this affair the commodore was censured, and was shortly afterwards brought to trial on this and other charges, but was defended by John Adams, and acquitted. Commodore . Hopkins found many difficulties in organizing a navy. Neglecting to obey a citation summoning him to appear at Philadelphia, to answer charges preferred against him, he was dismissed the service Jan. 2, 1777. He was subsequently engaged in private armed vessels, and after the war was for many years a member of the General Assembly. He died Feb. 26, 1802. John Paul Jones, afterwards famous as a naval commander, was one of Commodore Hopkins' first lieutenants during the expedition that resulted in the capture of the forts at New Providence.
Stephen Hopkins became much more celebrated than his brother. He was born on the 7th of March, 1707, O. S. ; of his early educa- tion absolutely nothing is known. At the age of nineteen he mar- ried. He engaged in business as a surveyor, and was noted for the accuracy of his work. When Scituate was incorporated, in 1730, Mr. Hopkins, though only twenty-three years of age, was elected its first · moderator. In 1731 he became town clerk, and the year following was elected to the General Assembly ; of this body he remained a member for some years. From this time forth he was engaged in various public duties as a town officer, judge and surveyor. In 1742
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he removed to Providence, where he continued to reside until his death on the 13th of July, 1785. During the forty-three years of his residence in Providence, Stephen Hopkins held very many public offices. He was often elected to the General Assembly; was chosen speaker of the House a number of times, and was for ten years chief justice of the Superior Court. In 1754 he was one of the commissioners to the Albany Convention, and in 1755 was elected governor of the Colony. "From 1755 to 1768 the great political war known as the Ward and Hopkins controversy raged with violence. Of these thirteen exciting political years, Governor Hopkins held the office of governor nine years." In literary and educational matters, Governor Hopkins was quick to act. His name stands first among the incorporators of Rhode Island College (now Brown University) ; and it also heads the list on the petition for a charter for the Providence Library Company. In 1774 both Ward and Hopkins were elected members of the Continental Congress. Ward died just previous to the Declaration of Independence ; Hop- kins was one of the signers of that famous document.
Governor Hopkins was the author of a famous tract entitled The Rights of the Colonies Examined, which was one of the most impor- tant of the revolutionary writings. During his controversy with Gov- ernor Ward he published in his own defence A True Representation of the proceedings of the convention at Albany in regard to the plan for a union of the colonies. Other literary fragments by him remain, principal among which are the preliminary chapters of a history of the town of Providence, first printed in the Providence Gazelle. In 1767 he assisted the astronomer, West, in his observation of the transit of Venus.
In a recently published historical tract the writer calls Stephen Hopkins " the ablest man of his time within her (Rhode Island) borders." With slight opportunities for early education, he steadily worked his way by the force of his own genius to a position of emi- nence. His knowledge of the needs of the community in which he lived, his interest in science and education, his grasp of the great principles upon which government is based, and his fearless and devoted patriotism at critical times, all render him an object of admiration, a patriot of whom not only Rhode Island, but the whole nation, may be proud.
John Adams says of Stephen Hopkins : "The pleasantest part of my labors for the four years I spent in Congress, from 1774 to 1778,
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was in the naval committee. Mr. Lee and Mr. Gadsden were sensi- ble men, and very cheerful, but Governor Hopkins, of Rhode Island, above seventy years of age, kept us all alive. Upon business, his experience and judgment were very useful. But when the business of the evening was over, he kept us in conversation till ri and some- times 12 o'clock. His custom was to drink nothing all day until 8 in the evening, and then his beverage was Jamaica spirits and water. It gave him wit, humor, anecdotes, science, and learning. He had read Greek, Roman, and British history, and was familiar with Eng- lish poetry, particularly Pope, Thompson, and Milton ; and the flow of his soul made all his reading our own, and seemed to bring up recollections in all of us of all we had ever read. I could neither eat nor drink in those days; the other gentlemen were very temperate. Hopkins never drank to excess, but all he drank was immediately not only converted into wit, sense, knowledge, and good humor, but inspired us with similar qualities."
In the days before the advent of railroads the wayside inns were notable places. The old Angell tavern in Scituate was a well-known hostelry. It was built before the incorporation of the town. In its rooms the town-meetings were held; the weary traveler here found rest and refreshment, and entertainment also, if he chose to take it. Here would the local worthies congregate to discuss the politics of the day, and sometimes the young men and maidens of the town would assemble in the old house for a dance. General Washington was at one time a guest, and Lafayette, on his march through the town during the war of the Revolution, lodged in the tavern.
The people of Scituate are mostly engaged in farming. Through the southern part of the town flow two small streams, which on unit- ing form the north branch of the Pawtuxet River. The water- power, though small, is well used. There are in the town ten or twelve cotton-mills, besides various other establishments. Hope Village, the terminus of the Pawtuxet Valley Railroad, is in the south- eastern part of Scituate, on the Pawtuxet River. In the early days there was a furnace located here, at which the ore obtained from the Cranston " ore-bed" was worked.
The local history of the town of JOHNSTON, because of its prox- imity, is so interwoven with that of Providence, that it is difficult to separate the one from the other. Until shortly before the Revolu- tion it was a part of Providence. The inhabitants of this western
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part found it inconvenient to attend the town-meetings, and a move- ment to erect a separate town was made.
The petition for a division represented that within the limits of Providence there were " upwards of four hundred freemen, part of
A View on the Woonasquatucket.
whom live ten miles from the place where the town-meetings are usually holden and the prudential affairs of said town are transacted ; and that, when met, they are very much crowded, to the great hin- drance of business, which being inconvenient, they pray to be set off, made and created into a distinct township." The new town was incor- porated March 6, 1759, and named in honor of the Hon. Augustus Johnston, then the attorney-general of the Colony. The population in 1880 was 5,765. Agriculture is the principal occupation of the inhabitants, the nearness of the city affording a good market for all kinds of garden produce and vegetables. Some manufactures are carried on along the banks of the Woonasquatucket River, which divides the town from Providence. These are mainly cotton and woolen mills in Olneyville, Merino, and Simmonsville.
In the deed conveying the original grant of land from the Indian
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chieftains, Canonicus and Miantonomi, to Roger Williams, one of the bounds of the grant is " the great hill of Neutaconkanut." This hill is also mentioned in a subsequent deed executed by Roger Williams to the other purchasers. There is no doubt that the hill mentioned is the one known at present in the town of Johnston by the same name. From its summit a fine view may be obtained of the city of Providence, and of the valley of the Woonasqautucket River.
In the colonial days lotteries were allowed by the Legislature for the purpose of raising money for nearly all objects. The General Assembly in the year 1761 passed the following grant : " Whereas, several of the inhabitants of the town of Johnston preferred a petition and represented unto this Assembly that there is no meeting-house in said town ; that Daniel Manton will give an acre of land near Ben- jamin Belknap, whereon to set a meeting-house; that the circum- stances of said town are low, and, therefore, pray that a lottery might be granted to them to raise money sufficient to build a meeting-house for public worship, free to the Baptist Society of the Ancient Order, in the said place, of the dimensions of forty feet long and thirty feet wide." This lottery was granted, and from it was realized almost money enough to build the church. The remainder was obtained by a second lottery.
Both before and after the Revolution it was customary through- out New England for towns having no work-houses to let out their paupers to the lowest bidders. A town being obliged to support the poor wished to do it as cheaply as possible, and the person who would support a pauper for the smallest sum paid out of the town treasury, would have that opportunity. The paupers were sold at public auction, and the treatment they received under this arrange- ment depended entirely upon the character of their purchaser. In some instances individuals were treated with great harshness. There was, perhaps, some excuse for this practice ; but gradually public sen- timent caused it to be discontinued. (In several of the Southern States the same practice prevails to-day.) This incident is found in the records of the town of Johnston : A resolution was passed Oct. 8, 1791, that the poor supported by the town should be sold at public vendue for a period of six months, except all those whom the over- seer of the poor had agreed to support for one year. Under this res- olution Jabez Westcott was sold to Josiah King at the rate of four shillings per week, and Nathan Pearce at eight shillings.
About five miles from Providence, in the town of Johnston, is a
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A View on the Pawtuxet.
romantic spot on the Pocasset Brook which is worth a visit. The · brook flows into a deep ravine, the banks of which are thirty or forty feet in height, at the upper end falling over a series of cascades. When the water is abundant, or during a freshet, the effect is pictur- esque, - much more so than that of many spots tourists go hundreds of miles to visit. The bottom and sides of the ravine below the falls are well wooded with tall, straight trees, whose tops rise as high as those of their brethren of the surrounding forest.
CRANSTON. - Very early in the history of the colony, attempts were made to have this territory set off from Providence, but for a time without success. The principal reasons for these repeated failures were the disagreements in regard to a name for the proposed town. Among those suggested were Mashapaug, Pawtuxet, Meshanticut, Lynn, and Pocasset. Finally the town was incorporated June 14, 1754, and named in honor of Samuel Cranston, the governor of the Colony from 1698 to 1727. Portions of the town were reunited to Providence June 10, 1868, and March 28, 1873. Its population in 1880 was 5,941.
Iron ore was early found here, and in 1767 a company was formed to mine the ore at a place known as the " ore-bed." This business · was successfully carried on for a number of years. Large quantities
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of ore were sent to supply the numerous furnaces in various parts of the country. Much was sent to the Hope Furnace, in Scituate. From the metal there extracted, cannon were cast which were used in the Revolutionary War. At present the mine is filled with water. Coal was at one time mined on the slope of the Sockanosset Hill in Cranston. The deserted mine and the buildings at its mouth yet remain, and are situated between the Sockanosset Reservoir and the pumping-station of the Providence Water Works. Various attempts have been made to bring the coal obtained there into common use, and about ten years ago efforts were made to interest capital in the enterprise, but without success. The coal would burn, but required great watchfulness ; there is no doubt, however, that for some pur- poses it has superior qualities.
In the Cranston records of the pre-Revolutionary times an action is mentioned which is much to the credit of the place. By some means the town became possessed of a negro slave, named Jack, on the 22d of August, 1767. Having ascertained that the slave was industrious and likely to earn his own living, the town gave him his liberty five days thereafter.
During the years immediately following the Revolution various attempts were made to establish manufactures. Before 1812 there were four establishments for the manufacture of cotton yarn. In the succeeding years, down to the present time, many similar enterprises have been started. It is a singular fact, however, that with one important exception all these undertakings have failed. At present the only manufacturing concern of any extent within the limits of the town is the print-works of the A. & W. Sprague Manufacturing Company.
At Arlington are quarries where work was commenced in 1820, and is still carried on. In 1859 a brewery was built at Spectacle Pond, and " lager beer " is now made there.
The first beginning from which has grown the immense business of the Spragues, was made by William Sprague, who built a mill at Cranston Village in 1807 for the spinning of cotton yarn. This mill ® was burned in 1815, but was immediately rebuilt and enlarged. In the meantime Sprague had hired the Union Mills in Olneyville. In 1825 he began to print cloth, at first from blocks. In 1827 he intro- duced one printing machine. This William Sprague died in 1836. He was the father of Amasa and William Sprague, the original mem- bers of the firm of A. & W. Sprague. The two sons continued the business after their father's death.
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