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 19
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There is no place, however small, without its local celebrity, famous either for good or for evil, for wisdom or for folly. Such a one in East Greenwich was Jemima Wilkinson, and her claim to fame was her almost incredible folly. She was not a native of the town, having been born in Cumberland, in the year 1751, but she included East Greenwich in her periodical visitations, and had here a meeting- house which was called by the irreverent " the Jemima Meeting- house." From a gay, worldly girl, fond of dress, society and amuse- ment, in the year 1774 she suddenly became a religionist, gave up all society, and studied the Bible continually. After about two years of retirement, she pretended to be ill, remaining in bed and exciting much sympathy and solicitude. She recounted to her nurses and watchers marvelous stories of celestial visitors and visions. At length she went into a trance which lasted several days, from which she suddenly awoke, asked for her clothes, rose and dressed, and went about in perfect health. She announced that although it was the body of Jemima, the soul had gone to heaven, and she blasphemously
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asserted that the spirit of Jesus Christ now dwelt in her body. She declared that she should live and reign a thousand years on earth, and then be translated, and that her name was the " Universal Friend." Notwithstanding the arrogance and absurdity of her claims, she collected about her some very devoted adherents, not only among the ignorant, but also among the intelligent, who are not supposed to be so susceptible to imposition as the former. This can be partly explained by the fact that she possessed great personal beauty, both of face and form, was graceful, and apparently believed supremely in herself.
Her object seems to have been to found a new religion, of which she should be the head. Disaffected members of various societies became her disciples, and three or four meeting-houses were built for her in different parts of the State. The form of worship which she imposed upon her followers was modeled after that of the Friends, but she continually varied it by enforcing capricious and tyrannical rules from which she allowed no appeal. Her moral character was by no means above reproach, several scandals having been coupled with her name. At one time she was convicted of having stolen $2,000 from the general treasurer of Rhode Island, either directly or through the instrumentality of one of her satellites who was enter- tained at his house during one of her visits. Immediately after this, in the spring of 1779, she removed with her adherents to Ontario County, New York, and founded a settlement which she called " New Jerusalem." Here she administered affairs with shrewdness and skill, and died in 1819, at the age of sixty-eight, some nine hundred and odd years before she intended to.
She pretended to work miracles, which, however, invariably proved failures, "owing to want of faith on the part of the specta- tors." One of these attempts at miracles was openly turned into ridi- cule by the wit of a military officer who was present. A favorite " apostle " had been ill, and his death was announced. Jemima gave public notice that after he had slept four days, she would restore him to life. An immense throng of people, believers and sceptics, assem- bled to witness the act. Jemima discoursed briefly on death and the resurrection, and then declared that then and there she would con- vince them of her heavenly mission by raising the " apostle " from the dead. At this crisis, the officer stepped forward with drawn sword and remarked that he would just run his sword through the body, to make sure that the man was dead. Whereupon the top of the coffin
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was violently thrown back, and the ghostly tenant incontinently fled, to the dismay of the faithful and the amusement of the unbelieving. It is a little remarkable that this fanaticism of Jemima Wilkinson is the only one that has ever had birth within the limits of Rhode Island, a colony whose foundation-stone is religious toleration.
A Street View in East Greenwich.
The Society of Friends has always been identified with East Greenwich. Driven from the Massachusetts colonies, they found rest and security within the borders of Rhode Island. The first house of worship in the town was built by them. The society organization consists of a Yearly Meeting, made up of several quarterly meetings, which in their turn are made up of sundry monthly meetings, and these are composed of preparative meetings. The Yearly Meetings, of which there are several in the country, are organizations entirely independent of each other, and of equal importance and authority. The New England Yearly Meeting comprises the quarterly meetings of Rhode Island, New Bedford, Falmouth, Dover, and some others, and is held on alternate years in Newport and Portland. Until within three years, it was held in Newport every year. Great efforts have been made to effect its permanent removal to Portland, but they have been unsuccessful, the tenure of some of the property of the meeting being dependent upon its being held in Newport. The East Greenwich meeting is a quarterly one, comprising its own monthly meetings, and those of South Kingstown, Providence, and Swansea. East Greenwich monthly meeting includes the preparative meetings of itself and Coventry, which are held on alternate First-days in the two towns. This meeting was organized June 12, 1699, at the
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house of John Briggs, Kingstown, and was first called the Narragan- sett Monthly Meeting. First-day meetings were held in Kingstown, near Wickford, in Joseph Hull's house, and afterwards in that of William Gardiner. Three monthly meetings were held in the house of John Briggs, after which they were held in that of Jabez Greene, of Warwick. Before the close of the year it was resolved to build a meeting-house. This was erected about half a mile southwest of the village, near Payne's grist-mill. It was not finished until 1703, although it was used for First-day meetings for some time before that. In the third month of that year Peter Greene, Jabez Greene, and Thomas Greenall were appointed a committee to finish it. The records of the next month contain the following minute : " Upon further consideration of ye finishing our meeting house, it is seen con- venient by this meeting yt those three Friends may omit ye finishing at ye present, yt they may propagate ye building a small addition to ye meeting house as they may see convenient." The addition could have hardly been extensive enough to warrant much delay, as the bill presented therefor amounted to only £1, IOS. 3d. The meeting- house in which the society now worships was built in 1804.
Many able ministers of the society have lived within the limits of the East Greenwich meeting. Among them, in the early part of the · eighteenth century, was James Scrivens, or Scribbens, as he was com- monly called. His preaching was wonderful, but he himself had so little common sense that he could not earn his own living. He gen- erally attended the Yearly Meeting at Newport. Returning thence, at one time, he boasted that he had preached, and preached well. "No, James," said a Friend who had been present, and who thought it his duty to rebuke such spiritual pride, " thou art greatly mis- taken ; thou hast not preached to-day, it was thy gift that preached."
East Greenwich is the site of a classical school of a high order of excellence. At its incorporation, in 1802, it was known as Kent Academy. It was opened to pupils in 1804, under Mr. Abner Alden, a very successful instructor. In the year 1841 the establishment was sold to the Providence Methodist Episcopal Conference, and is now known as the Greenwich Academy.
WEST GREENWICH. - The town of West Greenwich was origi- nally a part of the " Vacant Land Tract." In the year 1709 East Greenwich found it expedient to enlarge her borders, and accordingly purchased a tract of land adjoining her western boundary containing
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some thirty-five thousand acres. Its owners, thirteen in number, " made Saile " of this tract to the governor and company of " her Majestie's" Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in consideration of the sum of one thousand one hundred pounds of current money of New England "well and truly paid" to them. This tract became part of the town of East Greenwich, and remained so until 1740, when a petition was laid before the General Assembly to set off the western part into a separate township. There seems to have been no reluctance upon the part of the inhabitants of the eastern part of the town to agree to this petition, and they laid no restraint upon the departure of their western neighbors from their control. Indeed, the care which they took to record that they gave their con- sent " by a great majority," would seem to indicate a rather unflat- tering willingness to be rid of them.
In 1740, therefore, West Greenwich commenced existence as an independent township. It is an inland town, mathematically regular in outline, being a rectangle three times as long as wide, it greatest length being from east to west. Its surface is somewhat hilly. The most considerable eminence is Hopkins Hill, from whose summit a fine view of the surrounding country, with its forests and streams, its hamlets and out-lying farms can be obtained. The town is an agricultural one, although in many places the soil is light and thin, and in others the advantages which a more favorable condition of the soil would naturally give, are in a great measure neutralized by want of proper cultivation.
A large part of the town is still forest, white pine, oak, chestnut and birch growing in great quantities. These forests are a source of considerable revenue to their owners, and there are not less than twelve saw and shingle mills for their conversion into lumber. There are several ponds within the limits of the town, the principal of which are Teppecansett and Bailey's ponds on the Connecticut line, Wickaboxet Pond, a little east of these, and Mishnock and Carr's ponds in the eastern section of the town. The streams in this section flow north into the Pawtuxet River, while those of the west- ern half of the town flow south and find their way into the ocean through the Pawcatuck. In the northwestern part of the town, there is a mass of gray granite call Rattlesnake Ledge. It was formerly the fastness of great numbers of those deadly reptiles. They were so numerous years ago, that the inhabitants of the vicinity used to make a practice every year of assembling on a fixed day and
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going out to wage a war of extermination against them. In this way they succeeded in greatly reducing their numbers, but they have not been altogether destroyed, a few lurking around the ledge to this day.
When, at the Restoration of the Stuarts to the throne of Eng- land, the regicide judges found it necessary for the safety of their lives to flee from their native land, they came to America, and Theophilus Whalley found his way into the Rhode Island Colony. After a short stay in North Kingstown, he removed to West Green- wich, where he lived to a very old age in exile. His remains were buried on his farm near Hopkins Hill. This custom of having a private burying-ground, on the family estate is one very commonly followed in the town. There is but one public cemetery, and that is connected with the West Greenwich Centre Baptist Church.
There are several villages within the township, all of which are small. Nooseneck Valley is the largest of these. It is almost at the centre of the town, and lies in the valley of the Big River, a branch of the Pawtuxet, which at this point in its course has a very rapid fall. It derives its name, " Nooseneck," from the fact that numbers of deer were formerly entrapped here in a running noose. The mill privilege formed by the rapid fall of the river is quite valuable, and has been improved at various times by different mill-owners. A fatality, which extended to other mills in the town, seems to have attended those built upon this privilege. One built by David Hopkins for the manufacture of yarn was three times destroyed by fire, and another one on the opposite bank, the property of Jonathan Hopkins, twice suffered the same disaster. A short distance above the site of these two mills, one was erected in 1812 by the West Greenwich Man- ufacturing Company for the purpose of spinning yarn. They became involved in a lawsuit arising out of the question of the title deeds, and the property was sold according to a decision of the United States Circuit Court. Passing through several hands, it finally came into the possession of its present owner, Mr. R. K. Edwards, who having enlarged and improved the mill, manufactures yarn and carpet- warps. This is the most extensive business of the town and employs twenty hands. There is one other yarn-factory about a quarter of a mile above this one, owned by the firm of Hopkins & Edwards. Two establishments for distilling pyroligneous acid are in operation, which together produce about a thousand and fifty gallons a day. Various other industrial enterprises have been attempted in different
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parts of the town, but have not proved successful. The mills already mentioned, together with four grist-mills, constitute the principal claims which the town can bring to be considered as interested in manufactures.
Episcopal Church, East Greenwich.
West Greenwich Centre, which one would naturally expect to find in the middle of the town, is a village in the northwestern cor- ner, and is probably so called in accordance with the principle enun- ciated by that amiable, witty, and altogether admirable young man, the younger Mr. Weller, when he explained that certain persons were called laundresses, "because they has such a mortal aversion to washing anything."
EXETER .- That part of the State comprised within the limits of the town of Exeter has been called the " Alps of Rhode Island." This name applies more properly to the western portions of the town. Numerous small streams, tributaries of the Pawtuxet and Pawcatuck rivers, have their sources among these hills. Because of its remoteness and physical features, this region remained for a longer period than neighboring sections of the country a haunt of the red men. Previous to King Philip's War no settlements had been made in it, and not until the power of the Indians was effectually broken were its hill-sides and valleys occupied by.white settlers. It formed a part of the
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" Pettaquamscot Purchase," which was bought from the Indians in 1657, and for many years portions of it were included in the cele- brated " vacant lands." Exeter continued an integral part of North Kingstown until March 8, 1742-43, at which date it was incorporated, and was named after Exeter, in England.
Queen's River flows through the eastern part of the town, and Wood River through the western portion. The source of one of the branches of the last-named river is Deep Pond. An unsuccessful attempt was made by the fish commissioners in 1872 to stock this pond with black bass. Beach Pond, on the border between Exeter and Connecticut, witnessed in by-gone days many exciting scenes. On its shores on the last Saturday in June, the people from all the surrounding country were accustomed to congregate and engage in various athletic sports. The favorite horses of the neighborhood were pitted against each other in trials of speed. In foot-races and trials of strength the young men found enjoyment and afforded amusement to the spectators. In many other sports and pastimes was the day passed, the people finding thereby " relaxation from the busy toil of the farm and the drudgery of the household." This prac- tice has now been discontinued.
Five hundred acres of land within the present limits of Exeter had been given, about the year 1696, by " Samuel Sewell, of Boston, one of the original purchasers of Pettaquamscot," to support a school for the children of the inhabitants. Previous to the incorporation of Exeter this gift had not been used. In 1766 the General Assembly, in response to a petition to that effect, conferred power to render the gift available according to the original design, and " the town of Exeter had leave to build a school-house near the east end of the town, on the public highway, which was laid out ten rods wide."
The celebrated James Lillibridge is said to have been born in Exeter, about the year 1765. He was the natural child of a Miss Mowrey, and was known by the name of his reputed father, James Lillibridge. In the records of Exeter there is no mention of his birth or of the residence of his mother in the town. " He lived on the Long Wharf in Newport, with his mother and sisters, in the house now known as 'the Bohanna House.' It is said that his mother and sisters were disreputable persons, and that in consequence of a family quarrel he left home and went to sea. Lillibridge changed his sur- name to that of Murray, and was afterwards known as James Murray. He was bound as an apprentice to some mechanical trade before he
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became a sailor. After following the sea for a time he arrived at Tranquebar, on the coast of Coromandel, about 1790, and some time in that year, having heard that certain Frenchmen who had entered the service of the Indian princes had risen rapidly in rank and fortune, he determined to take service under some one of the Mahratta chiefs. He reached the province and entered the service of Holkar, one of the most formidable of these leaders. Instead of
Beach Pond, Exeter,
uniting against the common enemy, these petty sovereigns for a half century had been engaged in an intestine warfare. In the hazardous enterprises of these inglorious wars, Murray ' became conspicuous for his invincible courage and undaunted presence of mind, as well as for his personal prowess.' He remained in the Mahratta service for fif- teen years, during which he was actively engaged in every species of peril and hardship known to that terrible warfare, from Cape Cor- morin to the borders of Persia."
He was brought to the notice of the British government in India, by having saved the lives of a number of British officers whom he had captured, but who had been condemned to death by Holkar. At the risk of his own life Murray prevented their execution, but by this act he lost the confidence of Holkar, and, disgusted with the ser- vice of his barbarous master, he revolted and contrived to get pos- session of a considerable tract of country, which he governed as an independent ruler. On the breaking out of the war between the British government and Scindia, Murray surrendered his sovereignty and proclaimed the supremacy of the British government in his principality. At the head of 7,000 native cavalry he entered the
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British service and rendered valuable aid throughout the war. He retained his independent command, and was treated with much deference and respect by the British generals. "At the siege of Bhurtpore, where the British army lost nearly ten thousand men in four successive attempts to storm the place, Murray was in continual action, and earned the title of being ' the best partisan officer in India.'" At the conclusion of the war Murray was retired on half-pay, and as he had acquired a large fortune, he determined to visit his native country. A further reason that caused him to determine upon this course was that, while during the war he had been treated by the Brit- ish officers with great consideration, on the restoration of peace they manifested indifference toward him.
"A few days before the time fixed for his embarkation he gave a splendid entertainment to his acquaintances in Calcutta. After dinner, when elated with wine, he undertook the entertainment of his guests by riding his Arabian charger, which had carried him in the war, over the dining-table. The horses foot became entangled in the carpet and threw his rider. Murray received internal injuries, which induced mortification, and he died in a few days. He was said to have been the best horseman in India, and unrivaled in the use of the broad-sword. He is described as having been, in ordinary life, a mild and amiable man, but when aroused in anger he became ferocious and ungovernable. He was of middling height, pleasing expression of countenance, and had great bodily strength and agility. He is said to have been attacked upon one occasion by seven Mah- ratta horsemen, of whom he killed three and then effected his escape from the other four. Many were his wild and romantic adventures and hair-breadth escapes, but their history is but imperfectly known, for he was modest, and not given to boasting of his own exploits. Though he had been from his home since his boyhood, he retained a wonderful attachment for his native country, and he sometimes loaned considerable sums of money to persons upon no other assur- ance than that they were Americans. After his death a portion of his fortune, some $20,000, it is said, was transmitted to his mother and sisters at Newport, upon the receipt of which they changed their residence and became candidates for respectability, but they afterwards returned to Newport.
"The history of India for twenty years is the record of his achieve- ments and of his wonderful daring. He not only fought Scindia, but the forces of the nabobs of Arcot, of Oudre and Surat, and under
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the direction of Major-General Arthur Wellesley, afterwards Duke of Wellington, and Lord Lake, he took Indore and Malwa, and with equal valor he fought on the plains, in the mountain passes, and among the jungles of Hindostan, either under the cross of St. George or in defence of the claims of some savage master."
The town of HOPKINTON comprises an oblong section of country in the southern part of the State, bounded on the north by Exeter, on the east by Richmond, on the south by Westerly, and on the west by Connecticut. In the northern part the country is rather hilly, and there are numerous ponds. The land is rough and stony, and was originally covered with a strong growth of trees. Farming is the principal occupation of the inhabitants. Wood River is the boundary between Richmond and Hopkinton, and on its banks and those of its tributaries within the town are many grist and saw mills and other small manufacturing establishments. The most considera- ble village in Hopkinton on this river is Hope Valley, where there are a number of cotton and woolen factories. Here also are located the works of Nichols & Langworthy, machinists and iron founders, and builders of engines, boilers, and printing presses. The Wood River branch of the New York, Providence and Boston Railroad, which connects with the main line at Wood River Junction in the town of Richmond, terminates at Hope Valley. This railroad was opened in the year 1874. Through the southern part of the town, near the Connecticut border, flows the Ashaway River, a tributary of the Pawcatuck. On this stream are several manufacturing villages, the principal one of which is Ashaway, where the woolen manufac- ture is the leading industry. Hopkinton originally formed part of Westerly, but on March 19, 1757, it was incorporated as a separate town.
The first settlement in Hopkinton is supposed to have been made in 1704, by Daniel Lewis. He was a fuller by trade, and carried on his business near the present village of Laureldale, at which place he built a dam across the Ashaway River. Many of his descendants still reside in the town. One of them, Christopher C. Lewis, was town clerk from 1817 to 1858, when he resigned. During that entire period he was present and officiated at every town-meeting except one, at which his son, Dea. Nathan K. Lewis, took his place. On his retirement from office the town passed a vote thanking him " for the able and impartial manner in which he had discharged the duties of said office for the term of forty-one years."
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Hopkinton City is the name given to a small village in the central part of the town, a short distance from the Connecticut border. When it was first laid out great were the expectations of its future importance. In the days of stage-coaches, as the New London and Providence turnpike passed through it, some business was brought to the place. and here was located one of the " wayside inns." But the new methods of traveling by railroad left it stranded high and dry, out of reach and sight of the current of modern commercial inter- course. Among the other small villages in the town are Laureldale, Locustville, Bethel, Woodville, Rockville, and Centreville.
Many of the people of Hopkinton, like their neighbors of West- erly, are Sabbatarians, and there are in the town four churches of the Seventh-day Baptist denomination. There are, besides, a Metho- dist Episcopal church, a Second Advent, and two First-day Baptist churches, and two Friends' meeting-houses. In 1828 public schools were first established, and from that time until the present, good pro- gress has been made in the erection of suitable school buildings, and in general educational growth. A printing office was established Nov. 1, 1866, in the village of Hope Valley, by Mr. L. W. A. Cole, and. in 1876 the same gentleman started a newspaper under the name of the Wood River Advertiser.
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