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 21

Author: Munro, Wilfred Harold, 1849-1934; Grieve, Robert, 1855-1924. 4n; Luther, Ellen R. 4n
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid, Publishers
Number of Pages: 322

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 21

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

There are several machine-shops, where excellent work is done. Among these are the establishments of Cottrell & Babcock, iron- founders and manufacturers of printing-presses ; T. V. & V. C. Stillman, makers of wood-working machinery ; and N. A. Woodward & Co., transacting a general machine business.

During the last decade, Watch Hill, the extreme southwestern point of Rhode Island, has become a noted summer resort. It is about five miles from the town of Westerly, from which place it is easily reached by steamer or carriage. A number of well-appointed and elegant hotels are here located. The largest is the Larkin House, D. F. Larkin & Co., proprietors, with accommodations for 260 guests. Watch Hill House, with ample room for many guests, is the oldest hotel. Besides these are the Atlantic House, the Plympton House, the Ocean House, the Narragansett House, and the Bay View House.

267

CHARLESTOWN AND RICIIMOND.

The present town of CHARLESTOWN, which until the year 1738 was a part of Westerly, comprises the extreme eastern portion of the territory which was formerly the home of the ancient and powerful tribe of the Niantics. Here, upon Fort Neck, was Ninigret's Fort, the historic resting-place of Capt. John Mason and his little band of white men, when on their long and dreary march into the Pequot country, they halted for one night. Sitting around their council fires with the Niantic braves, he persuaded Ninigret to send a band of his warriors with him against their ancient enemy. Not far from the site of this old fort stands the mansion now owned by Mr. James N. Kenyon. It was built by that one of the Ninigrets known as "King Tom." Under the influence of the Gospel, he became civilized and christianized, and, wishing to live like other civilized men, had this house built for his use. The plan of it was brought from England.

Coronation Rock, in the vicinity, was the scene of the coronation of his sister Esther, who succeeded him. This event having taken place since the white man settled here, the account of it has been transmitted to us. The tribes of which she was the head, although fast fading away, still held to the customs of their ancestors, and the cor- onation was attended with as much pomp and circumstance as their enfeebled condition was able to compass. Esther, escorted by about twenty Indian soldiers carrying guns, marched to Coronation Rock, where the council of her braves waited to receive her. Surrounded by them and by all her subjects, who had assembled to witness the pageant, she stood upon the rock, in the sight of the multitude, and those nearest to the royal blood placed upon her head the crown. It was made of cloth, covered with blue and white peage. (" Peage was the coin used among the Indians, in the manufacture of which the Narragansetts excelled. It was more commonly called " wam- pumpeage," or simply " wampum," and was strung upon cord and reckoned by the fathom. The word " peage," seems to be precisely the Latin " peage" or " pedage," from "pes," a foot. This latter was a toll exacted from foot passengers for their safe conduct. The resemblance of the two words is suggestive of that often-recurring question of the common origin of the human race.") As the crown rested upon Esther's head, the Indians fired a salute and cheered. They then escorted her to her home with great dignity and ceremony, and upon leaving her, again saluted her with the firing of guns. Her son George, who succeeded her, was the last sovereign who reigned over the Niantics, or Narragansetts, as they have been called ever

268

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

since they placed themselves under the protection of the latter after the invasion of their country by the Pequots. The feeble remnant of the two tribes whose united sway extended over the whole west- ern part of Rhode Island, now occupy a small reservation in the centre of Charlestown. They are in a certain way under the juris- diction of the State, although they have a government of their own. The following extract from a report which appeared in the Provi- dence Journal of Oct. 17, 1866, gives a clear idea of their condition, powers and privileges :

"In 1707 the colonial authorities procured from the chief sachem of the Narragansetts, a title deed of all the lands belonging to the tribe within the colonial jurisdiction, excepting and reserving a tract situate in what is now the town of Charlestown, and by that deed the Indians were prohibited from making any further grants of their lands without the consent of the General Assembly. The Indians contend that the provisions of this grant constituted a treaty between the colony and the tribe, and that by the terms to be implied from the treaty, the colony bound itself, and consequently the State is now bound to preserve to them their tribal jurisdiction, and the right to improve and occupy their lands. Whatever may be the true con- struction of this grant, we cannot believe that it will be seriously con- tended that the colony bound itself, or that there is any just pre- tence for saying that the State is bound, to preserve to the tribe a jurisdiction foreign to and independent of the State; or that it is bound to extend to the members of the tribe any peculiar or special privileges not enjoyed by all the inhabitants of the State.

" The tribe elect their own officers, and are governed by their own laws, which embrace their customs and usages as they are gathered from tradition. Their council is of annual election, and, subject to an undefined supervising power resting with the General Assembly, is the arbiter of all their affairs. About two thousand acres of their tribal lands are held by individual members of the tribe as their sep- arate estate. Their titles were derived originally from the tribe, and rest upon tradition. The council grant the titles. Their mode of grant is interesting. The council go with the grantee upon the lot proposed to be granted. After the lot is marked out and bounded, the council cut a rod and place it upon the bare head of the grantee, and then, while he is upon the land and under the rod, they admin- ister to him a solemn oath of allegiance to the tribal authority. This mode of investiture of title bears considerable analogy to the old

269

CHARLESTOWN AND RICHMOND.

common-law livery of siezen, and if this Indian custom antedates the landing of the Pilgrims, it might be suggested that there is, a possi- bility that there was a community of origin in the two modes of grant. The individual lands of the tribe cannot be alienated without the consent of the General Assembly ; they descend to the heir upon the decease of the holder, subject, however, to the right of occupancy in the next of kin who remains with the tribe, the possession, however, to be restored to the heir when he returns to the tribal jurisdiction ; but should the owner die in debt to the tribe, the council let or im- prove the lands, or sell the wood from them to pay the debts due to the tribe, and when these are paid, Christ Church, Westerly. they surrender the lands to the heir or the holder entitled to possess them. The tribe maintain their poor, and support public worship ; and the State supports their school. The tribe numbers fifty-eight males and seventy-five females ; in all, 133. They own in all about 3,000 acres of land in the centre of the town of Charlestown."

The " public worship " referred to in the above report, dates from 1750. The Great Revival numbered among its converts several Indians. At first they worshiped with the Presbyterians, but becoming dissatisfied with the ceremonials of that body, withdrew, and under the leadership of Samuel Niles, an " Indian exhorter," formed a new society. The faith which these simple red men exhib- ited is beautifully illustrated by an incident related upon good author- ity by the Rev. F. Denison :

" In a time of severe drought, when their gardens and fields were withering and dying, the devout who had faith in prayer, made an appointment and met in their meeting-house to pray for rain. With one heart they united in their humble, earnest, trusting petitions. No sooner had they commenced praying than a little cloud, the size of an apron, was seen in the southwest, that steadily drew near and

270

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

increased in volume, till it came over the settlement and poured down its water on the thirsty earth. Said one of the praying Indians, ' We had a glorious shower, and went home dripping and praising God.'"

The house which the society occupied from the middle of the last century was replaced in 1860 by the stone one of the present time. The church began its career as a New-Light Baptist, but it has been shaken by many winds of doctrine. It has been described as being at present " a Free-Will Baptist Church in a weak condi- tion, agitated by Advent doctrines, and conspicuous chiefly for its annual mass-meetings in August, after an old Indian custom."

Of Indian burying-grounds several exist within the original limits of the town of Westerly. Many of them are small and obscure, and only to be traced by relics occasionally turned up by the plow. The royal burying-ground, known to be the most ancient, is situated in Charlestown, about a mile north of Cross' Mills. Undoubtedly the imagination which could picture the dead warrior as roaming over the happy hunting-grounds with his dog and his gun, would also suggest that his body would rest more peacefully in a pleasant spot than on a barren and stony hill-side, far from all pleasant sights and sounds. Whether it was their materialistic ideas of death and the hereafter or not which influenced them in the selection of this ground, they chose a picturesque place for their purpose. On a plateau ele- vated some fifteen feet above the surrounding high lands, with a pretty sheet of water at the south, and overlooking the sea, lie the remains of the kings, queens, and other members of the royal family of the Narragansetts. Their resting-places are marked by mounds, which are identified only by tradition.

In the year 1859 a party visited this ancient cemetery and opened a grave, which proved to be that of a sachem. The body had been enclosed in a coffin made of two logs, split, and kept in shape by heavy bands of iron. At one end was a brass kettle and at the other an iron one. Various smaller relics were found and exhibited as curiosities. Some of the tribe, indignant at this act of vandalism, arraigned the guilty persons, but upon trial before an enlightened court of their peers, they were honorably acquitted. Encouraged by this judgment, others committed like acts, and many relics were obtained in a manner, which, if practiced upon our own dead, would fill every one with horror at its profanity.

The burial-place of the Ninigrets is at Fort Neck, and is of more recent date than this of the Narragansetts.

27I

CHARLESTOWN AND RICHMOND.

Of Indian relics which one may legitimately see, one remains upon the land owned by Mr. Oliver D. Clarke. It is a sta- tionary mortar, of which several are to be found in the adjoining town of Richmond. This is the largest in the vicinity, and is hollowed out of a boulder weighing about two tons, on the margin of Charlestown Pond. It measures three feet in diameter and is fifteen inches deep. As its name signifies, it was used by the aborigines for crush- ing corn and seeds.

Seventh-Day Baptist Church, Westerly.

In the early days of this settlement planters held great estates. "The great estate of the Champlins" consisted of 2,000 acres. Of Joseph Stanton it is recorded that he " owned a lordship in Charles- town." He was descended from Thomas Stanton, the Indian inter- preter, who, a generation earlier, had a trading house upon the Pawcatuck, where he received furs from the Indians. A Narragan- sett princess had been captured by the Manisses in one of their inter-tribal wars, and carried off to their home on the island which then bore their name, but which is now known as Block Island. The number of fathoms of wampum which they demanded for her ransom was so great that her people could not obtain it among themselves. They therefore applied to Mr. Stanton, who had become rich by his trade in furs, and who had great quantities of it. Mr. Stanton gave his assistance promptly, and the princess was restored to her people. In gratitude to Mr. Stanton for his aid at this crisis, the Indian authorities gave him this tract of land. His third son, Joseph, settled upon it. From him descended the Rhode Island branch of the Stanton family. He was one of the first United States Senators under the Constitution, and sat in the upper house of Congress from 1790 to 1793. He afterwards represented the town in the national assembly from 1801 until 1807.

272

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

The Rev. Dr. McSparran, whose name is very familiar to read- ers of the early church history of Rhode Island, was sent as a mis- sionary into the Narragansett country by the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel, in the year 1721. The centre of his extensive parish was at South Kingstown. In his volume, America Dis- sected, which he wrote just before his second visit to England, he. says, " By my excursions and out labors, a church is built twenty- five miles to the westward of me, but not now under my care." This was the first Episcopal Church in Charlestown, and stood upon ground given by George Ninigret, " Chief Sachem and Prince" of the Indians of that region, " for the benefit of the Church of England in Charlestown and Westerly." The deed conveys a tract of land forty acres in extent, in consideration of the sum of five shillings. The existence of this church was of short duration.

Until the year 1747, Charlestown extended as far north as the southern boundary of Exeter. In that year all that part of the for mer town which lay north of the Pawcatuck River was erected into a new township and received the name of RICHMOND. The tradition of a terrible Indian battle which took place at the dividing line of these two towns has been handed down with the greatest care, but it possesses all the vagueness which must accompany such a mode of transmission. Neither the date nor anything like full particulars of the event are known. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the affair really happened. The exact spot is still pointed out where the san- guinary contest took place, near Shannock Ford, now Shannock Mills. Nothing except the fact of a fight is certainly known, although it is reasonable to adopt the commonly received supposition that it grew out of a dispute concerning the right to fish at that point. Even at the present day, the plow occasionally brings to light the bones and warlike implements of the slaughtered hosts.

Shannock " is an Indian name, and means 'squirrel.'" It is applied not only to the ford and falls, but also to the hills in the southeastern part of the town, in whose primitive forests large numbers of squirrels made their home. During the "hard winter" of 1740-41, a great many of these little creatures were found dead, having perished from cold.

Charlestown is not to be regarded as a manufacturing town ; many of its citizens, however, and much of its capital are interested in cotton and woolen mills in Richmond, which contains several man- ufacturing villages. Of these, Carolina Mills, named in honor of

JISVENY

MAP OF

Cranstor Printw

Sitter

Knights VE

ASpring

CAJar Grovd

Fixersido

nair

KorffoodSta.

bek

Jarridelen PO

Drowns ille

Buflock

Spring Green

Pontin

Hills Grow

REN

Warwick Pond

Conimici

HiSta

Greenwood

Rumslick t

Long MeadowHo

Apponnagut

A nivelde

Brash

Rocky Point

FALL RIVER

Sparroy L

SouklEnd.

2 Buttonwoodbeach

Dkach

Warwick

a York

Q HARMIEĆ

BBLSTOL

Neck

PATIRICE

Common Eonce Pt,

/ Stoufordy

Hogt ReistorFurr's

DIACON

Tivertory P. O.

Davis

POridgeps

Goulil

Despais

ortsnionlyP.,

lapel.

CART OF PORTSMOUTH

pove

nickford Jonc.

Tiverton" 1 Carntr

Wiekford

COLUY

Halfway Rock

vvill

CONANICHT

JASouth

PARK

Portsmouth. P.O.

WIND HNEL

AQUID NECK OR

HILL

RHODE ISTAND

MIDDLE

Bock

Litle Compton

aylar'E

Common

Soundedstop !.

CDI

Jamestuwh P.O.'

gonplinge'

NEWPORT

Balinet Th

Ochro Pt.

- Treffente

RESTLE MILE

Sheep Et.

WATren'sPt.

Cormor ant Rock

Bouton

Seacanunt Pr.y

Kock

while Rock

hjRock

A phor Fler Natragannett

MONT SHIP

Pier

Eidifu Bock

TLANTIC

Scalo of Miles.

Drawn by John C Thompson

W. R. SIOH, ANDTO-ENGRAVING 2087DAL

HOPE

eck

JNTINTOR

i Joflowoni

PROV & STONINGT

PRUDENCE ISLAND

ORT

PASSAGE

CONANIOUT

ISLAND

Bishop's

KINGSTO

Fox I.

Allentown PO

JEmiffou.

Coasto

phdAway Rock

PaDotfom

Sichuost Pr

KINGS

F.wishalls Jordgo

PROVIDENCE

LOLNE TVIV

Fialdyllen'

NARRAGANSETT BAY

LAND ADJACENT TERRITORY. Showing the Points of Interest for Excursionists. Tourists &c.

RREN GTON

Wyatt Stan

BAY

Bucky Plants

GREENWICH BALI

QuonsetTt.

NESTA

272

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

The Rev. Dr. McSparran, whose name is very familiar to read- ers of the early church history of Rhode Island, was sent as a mis- sionary into the Narragansett country by the Society for the Propaga- tion of the Gospel, in the year 1721. The centre of his extensive parish was at South Kingstown. In his volume, America Dis- sected, which he wrote just before his second visit to England, he. says, " By my excursions and out labors, a church is built twenty- five miles to the westward of me, but not now under my care." This was the first Episcopal Church in Charlestown, and stood upon ground given by George Ninigret, " Chief Sachem and Prince " of the Indians of that region, " for the benefit of the Church of England in Charlestown and Westerly." The deed conveys a tract of land forty acres in extent, in consideration of the sum of five shillings. The existence of this church was of short duration.

Shannock "is an Indian name, and means 'squirrel.'" It is applied not only to the ford and falls, but also to the hills in the southeastern part of the town, in whose primitive forests large numbers of squirrels made their home. During the "hard winter" of 1740-41, a great many of these little creatures were found dead, having perished from cold.

274

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

war bears date of June 4, 1776, more than a year after the first blood was shed at Lexington, and just one month before the adoption of the Declaration of Independence.

At the close of the Revolution, when the present Constitution of the United States was submitted to the colonies for approval or rejec- tion, Rhode Island was the last one to give in her adherence to it. In the town of Richmond, the discussion over its adoption resulted in a vote of sixty-eight to one against it. The brave man who dared to make a stand against such an overwhelming majority was Jonathan Maxson. It is a satisfaction to know that he lived to see the decision reversed, and Rhode Island take her place "last" - it would be pleasant to feel that the rest of the quotation was equally applicable, but every one knows that it is also the least - among the sisterhood of States.

An Indian Burial-Ground, Charlestown.

AL And al Dat

CHAPTER XI.

NORTH AND SOUTHI KINGSTOWN - RICHARD SMITH -TIIE GREAT SWAMP FIGHT - LARGE ESTATES - ANCIENT NARRAGANSETT - SLAVE ELEC- TIONS- NARRAGANSETT PACERS -DR. McSPARRAN -THE " UN- FORTUNATE HANNAII ROBINSON"- GILBERT CHIARLES STUART. JAMESTOWN. BLOCK ISLAND - T11E LEGEND OF THE "PALA- TINE."

AHIGGONSIK, 24 JULY, 1679 (ut vulgo.)

I. "I, Roger Willjams of Providence in ye Nahig- gonsik bay in N. Engl. being (by God's mersie) ye first beginner of ye mother Towne of Providence and of ye Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- tions being now neere to Foure Score years of age. Yet (by God's mersie) of sound understanding and memorie ; doe humbly and faithfully declare yt Mr. Richard Smith Sen., who for his conscience to God left faire Possessions in Gloster Shire and adventured with his Relations and Estate to N. Engl. and was a most acceptable Inhabitant and prime leading man in Taunton in Plymouth Colony. For his conscience sake (many differences aris- ing) he left Taunton and came to ye Nahiggonsik Country where by God's mersie and ye fave of ye Nahiggonsik Sachems he broke ye Ice (at his great Charge and Hazards) and put up in ye thickest of ye Barbarians ye first English House amongst them.

II. "I humbly testifie yt about forty years (from this date) he kept Possession Comming and going himselfe children and servants and he had quiet Possession of his Howsing, Lands and medow, and there in his own house with much serenity of soule and comfort he yielded up his spirit to God ye Father of Spirits in Peace."

Thus the great founder of Rhode Island " as leaving this country

276 .

PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.

and this world," gave his testimony in favor of Richard Smith's title to his lands in the Narragansett Country. Never a claim to land in New England was involved in greater uncertainty than this. The light for its possession lasted long after Roger Williams had been placed in his grave. All the surrounding colonies became gradually involved in it, and for a while the country was erected into an inde- pendent jurisdiction under the name of King's Province, until judg- ment could be had from the Royal Court of Great Britain. The decree which finally confirmed it to Rhode Island, has by some wri- ters been supposed to have saved that little colony from being entirely absorbed by Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The Indians, as well as the white men, realized that the land was well worth fighting for. Many were the traditions of long-continued wars and bloody conflicts his Indian neighbors had to tell, wlien Richard Smith settled at Wickford in the year of our Lord 1639. A few of these traditions have been handed down even to our own times. Some of them have been narrated in the pages of this book, but by far the greater portion perished with those whose ancestors had par- ticipated in the encounters they related. Of the last great combat in the Narragansett Country, a well-authenticated account has been pre- served. It was fought, not between two tribes of savages, but be- tween the savages on the one side and the English on the other ; and yet the atrocity which crowned the success of the victorious party is much more horrible than any that was commemorated in the vague traditions of the heathen aborigines.

On the nineteenth day of December, 1675, six months after Philip's War had begun its course of devastation, a large body of Nar- ragansett Indians were resting in fancied security within the walls of their great stronghold. The fortress was situated on some rising ground in the centre of a dense swamp in what is now the town of South Kingstown. The position would have been deemed an unusu- ally strong one, even by those deeply skilled in the art of civilized warfare. To the Indians, accustomed only to the hastily-contrived refuges of colonial days, it seemed impregnable. An impenetrable hedge surrounded it; it was fortified by palisade and breast-work constructed with unusual art, and its one narrow entrance was entirely commanded by the loop-holes of a neighboring block-house. Five hundred wigwams there were within its walls. Into them almost all the grain and the other provisions the tribe had laid up for the winter had been carried. Thus the ordinarily thin walls had been made

277

NORTH AND SOUTH KINGSTOWN.

The Court House at Kingston.

thick enough not only to furnish a perfect protection from the piercing winter winds, but to be bullet-proof as well. Not alone was the fort thronged with warriors. The wigwams were filled with old men, with women and with children, who had flocked into the place as to the one stronghold their white enemies could not pos- sibly capture.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

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 21

Author: Munro, Wilfred Harold, 1849-1934; Grieve, Robert, 1855-1924. 4n; Luther, Ellen R. 4n Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid, Publishers Number of Pages: 322

Author: Munro, Wilfred Harold, 1849-1934; Grieve, Robert, 1855-1924. 4n; Luther, Ellen R. 4n
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence : J.A. & R.A. Reid, Publishers
Number of Pages: 322