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 6
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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23
"Awashonks demanded of him the reason why he had not (agreeable to his promise when she saw him last) been down at Sogkonate before now? Saying, that probably if he had come then, according to his promise, they had never joined with Philip against the English. He told her that he was prevented by the war's breaking out so suddenly ; and yet he was afterwards coming down, and came as far as Punkateese, where a great many Indians set upon him, and fought him a whole afternoon, though he did not come prepared to fight, and had but nineteen men with him, whose chief design was to gain an opportunity to discourse some Sogkonate Indians. Upon this there at once arose a mighty murmur, confused noise, and talk among the fierce-looking creatures, and all rising up in a hubbub. And a great surly-looking fellow took up his tomhog, or wooden cut- lass, to kill Mr. Church, but some others prevented him. The inter- preter asked Mr. Church if he understood what it was that the great fellow they had hold of said? He answered him 'No.' 'Why,' said the interpreter, 'he says you killed his brother at Punkateese, and therefore he thirsts for your blood.' Mr. Church bid the interpreter tell him that his brother began first; that if he had kept at Sog- konate, according to his desire and order, he should not have hurt him. Then the chief captain commanded silence; and told them they should talk no more about old things, etc., and quelled the tu- mult so that they sat down again, and began upon a discourse of making peace with the English."
The arguments of Captain Church were successful. At last "the chief captain rose up, and expressed the great value and respect he had for Mr. Church ; and bowing to him, said, 'Sir, if you will
.
.
71
LITTLE COMPTON.
please to accept of me and my men, and will head us, we will fight for you, and will help you to Philip's head before the Indian corn be ripe.' And when he had ended, they all expressed their consent to what he had said, and told Mr. Church they loved him, and were willing to go with him and fight for him as long as the English had one enemy left in the coun- try." The defection of Awa- shonks and her tribe sealed the doom of Philip. The broken-hearted sachem was never known to smile after the news was received. He felt that his days were numbered, and that henceforth he must live like a wild beast, hunted from one hiding-place to another by Indians and En- glishmen alike.
Not until many years after the war had ceased did Captain Cold Spring Monument, Mount Hope. Church go back to dwell at Seaconnet. When the town of Bristol was founded he became one of its most prominent citizens, and continued to live for several years upon the land that had once belonged to his dead foe. From Bristol he removed to Fall River, and at last went back to end his days at Little Compton. Returning one day from a visit of con- dolence which he had paid his only sister, his horse stumbled, and the old hero was thrown with great force upon the frozen ground. He had become exceedingly corpulent, and the fall ruptured a blood- vessel. From the effects of this accident he died Jan. 17, 1718.
Little Compton probably took its name from the Little Compton of Oxfordshire, England. It was incorporated as a town in 1682. Its Indian inhabitants continued for many years to reside within its borders in perfect harmony with their white neighbors. In 1790 there were 1,542 white inhabitants and twenty-three slaves in the town. Its population, according to the census of 1880, is 1,201. It was one of the five towns transferred from Massachusetts to the colony of Rhode Island in January, 1746-7. Once a popular sum- mer resort, it still attracts many visitors, by reason of the unequaled advantages for fishing which it affords. A stone in the village
72
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
cemetery marks the resting-place of Elizabeth Alden, said to have been the first white woman born in New England. She became the wife of William Pabodie, and died May 31, 1717, in the ninety- fourth year of her age.
TIVERTON was another of the five towns. Its Indian name was Pocasset. Punkateest it was also called sometimes ; but this name properly belonged to its southern portion only. It was purchased from the Indians by the Plymouth colonists in 1680, and was by them sold to Edward Gray and seven other Englishmen, for £1, 100 (about $3,666). The fact has already been noted that Portsmouth was originally called Pocasset. It was probably the greater prom- inence of the mainland Pocasset that compelled the islanders to ' change the name of their town. Not until 1694 was the town of Tiverton incorporated. The powerful Indian tribe to whom the territory had once belonged had then almost entirely disappeared. The Indian designation was therefore dropped, and an English name was taken in its stead. One point in connection with the early history of the town is specially worthy of notice. It had no settled minister, and maintained no regular religious services, until almost half a century had elapsed from the year in which it was founded. On this account presentments against the town were frequently made to the General Court of Massachusetts, but without any apparent effect upon the actions of its people. In striking contrast with the other towns of Massachusetts, it continued during this long period of time almost entirely to neglect its religious and educational duties. Not until August 20, 1746-five months before it became a part of Rhode Island - was the First Congregational Church organized by the people in the south part of the town.
Like its neighbor, Seaconnet, Pocasset was governed by a "squaw sachem " when King Philip's War broke out. Weetamoe was the queen of the Pocasset tribe. When the conflict began, the part she might take in it seemed somewhat doubtful. Captain Church, pass- ing through her dominions on his way from Seaconnet to Plymouth, thought she might be induced to take the side of the English. Events soon proved him to have mistaken both her temper and her designs. She espoused the side of her kinsman, and upon the broad hunting-grounds of her tribe many a deadly combat was fought. The writers of that period agree that "the ‘squaw sachem' of Pocasset was next unto Philip in respect to the mis-
73
TIVERTON.
chief that hath been done, and the blood that hath been shed in the war."
" A severe and proud dame was she," wrote an Englishwoman who was once her captive, " bestowing every day in dressing herself near as much time as any of the gentry of the land. She had a Kearsey coat, covered with girdles of wampum from the
YMBINYRE
"The Northmen's Rock," Mount Hope Bay. -
loins upward. Her arms, from her elbows to her hands, were cov- ered with bracelets ; there were handfuls of necklaces about her neck, and several sorts of jewels in her ears. She had fine red stockings and white shoes, her hair powdered, and her face painted red."
Many of her tribe, discouraged by the apparent hopelessness of their cause, in time sought the alliance of the English. (It was a Pocasset Indian from whom at last Philip received his death-wound.) Weetamoe wavered never. Faithfully she clung to the fortunes of the great chieftain, and a fate more tragic even than his, fell to her unhappy lot. From 300 fighting men, her tribe was at last reduced to twenty-six warriors. In August, 1676, the colonists learned from a deserter that the princess, with her few remaining adherents, had taken refuge at Mettapoiset (now Gardiner's Neck, in Swansey). Twenty men at once volunteered to hunt down the defenceless woman. With the Indian traitor for a guide, they had no difficulty in surprising the Pocassets in their hiding-place, and capturing all but two or three of their number. Weetamoe was one of the few who escaped. The wretched princess seems to have preferred any form of death to capture. In the tumult which followed the on- slaught of the attacking party, she hastily gathered for a raft a few broken pieces of timber that had been cast by the waves upon the shore, and boldly pushed out upon the dark waters, No one after-
IO
.74
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
wards saw her alive. In a few days the naked body of an Indian woman was thrown upon the beach by the in-coming tide. The white settlers seized upon it without knowing whose it was, and with the brutality that was the prevailing characteristic of the age. decapitated it. Then, carrying the head to Taunton, they set it up upon a pole. Some Indian prisoners beholding it, broke forth at once in cries of heart-rending grief. To use the words of the Rev. Increase Mather, " they made a most horrid and diabolical lamenta- tion, crying out that it was their Queen's head." The ill-starred Weetamoe, though dead, is not yet forgotten. On the banks of that river, over whose waters the cry of the despairing princess once rang upon the startled air, a great cotton-factory bears her name. The whirl of its thousand spindles, and the throb of its mighty engines, daily sound her requiem.
Into the dismal recesses of a great cedar swamp in the Pocasset Country, King Philip once fled when hard pressed. This swamp was seven miles long. Amid its trembling bogs the Wampanoag king calmly awaited the assault of the white soldiers. With great bravery the colonists charged the Indian stronghold, and were re- pulsed with the loss of sixteen men. Then they resolved to close the avenues leading to it and starve the Indians to surrender. Philip was well pleased with the plan ; he was plentifully supplied with provisions, and was able to sustain a very protracted siege. For thirteen days he remained in his retreat. Then, having constructed canoes enough to carry all his party, he took advantage of an unusually dark night, fled from the swamp unperceived, and passed to the Nipmuck Country.
When the British held Rhode Island, during the Revolutionary War, upon Tiverton Heights was pitched one of the most important camps of the American army. It served as the great rallying-place for the patriot forces in the State. From it most of the attacking parties that so annoyed the British went forth. From Tiverton, as has lately been related, Barton set out on the " bold push " which resulted in the capture of Prescott. It will be remembered that Bar- ton wisely ordered his men to abstain entirely from intoxicating liquors. After the object of the expedition had been accomplished and the boats were leaping joyfully homeward, the prohibition was removed. As a consequence, the courage of the crews rose to such a pitch, that it was seriously (?) debated, as they rowed past Bristol Ferry, whether it was not their duty at once to turn back to capture the whole British fleet.
75
TIVERTON.
With the waters of Tiverton a brilliant naval exploit is also con- nected. In the Seaconnet Passage an English man-of-war had been stationed to prevent the escape of the privateers that swarmed like wasps along the path of British commerce. It was the " Pigot" galley, a vessel of 200 tons burden. The "Pigot" carried eight twelve- pounders, was defended by strong boarding-nettings, and had a crew of forty-five men. Major Silas Talbot, of Providence, resolved to effect her capture. For this purpose he procured a small sloop called the " Hawk," placed on board two three-pounders and a crew of sixty men under Lieutenant Baker, and proceeded down the river. Anchoring his little craft in Mount Hope Bay, he started alone for Little Compton, that he might ascertain the exact position of the English vessel. He found the " Pigot" armed at all points, and much more thoroughly defended than he had believed was possible. He therefore secured fifteen more men from Popham's regiment, under the command of Lieut. William Helme. The next night (Oct. 28, 1778, ) was favorable for his purpose. With a gentle wind the " Hawk " sailed slowly down toward the British fort at Fogland Ferry. There the sail was lowered, and the little sloop drifted unperceived past the dreaded batteries. The night was so dark that Major Talbot found it necessary to send out a boat, with muffled oars, to find the galley. This having been done, he crowded all sail and bore down upon her. The British cap- tain was taken entirely unawares. Before he could bring his guns to bear upon his unseen foe, the jib-boom of the "Hawk" tore through the nettings of the " Pigot " and caught in its fore-shrouds. Immediately a line of boarders, with Lieutenant Helme at their head, ran along the bowsprit of the sloop and leaped upon the deck of the enemy. The combat that followed was short but decisive. The crew of the galley were quickly driven below, her commander alone disdaining to leave the deck, and fighting bravely after his men had deserted him. The English vessel was taken without the loss of a man on either side. The " Hawk " and her prize immediately set sail, and both reached Stonington in safety. The " Pigot" was not long after purchased by the American government, and stationed permanently in the bay. For this gallant exploit Talbot was made a lieutenant-colonel. During the war he distinguished himself by many like deeds of daring, seeming equally at home, whether on land or water. The Rhode Island Assembly voted swords both to him and Lieutenant Helme.
The interests of Tiverton to-day are mainly agricultural. Some
76
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
attention is also paid to " the fisheries." The old hotel at Stone Bridge -the Stone Bridge Ilouse -has been in the past, and still is, a noted summer resort. The town has not, of late years, shown any marked increase in the number of its inhabitants. In 1862 a change in the boundary line between Rhode Island and Massachu- setts transferred a large portion of its territory to the jurisdiction of Fall River. It is quite possible that in the course of time it will de- velop into a manufacturing community. Already the mills of Fall River are crowding upon it. It may be that the next generation will see tall chimneys rising from its valleys, and its breezy hill-sides covered with a monotonous array of factory tenement-houses.
Residence of A. O. Bourn, Esq., Bristol.
.
·
CHAPTER IV.
BRISTOL -THE VOYAGES OF THE NORTHMEN -PHILIP OF POKANOKET -THE PRIVATEER "YANKEE" - THE SLAVE-TRADE - COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY AND DECAY. WARREN-MASSASOIET, THE FRIEND OF THE WHITE MAN- SOME FAMOUS SHIPS. BARRINGTON - THE THREE RANKS OF INHABITANTS-CAPT. THOMAS WILLETT.
HE history of Bristol is unusually varied and interesting. .................. It goes back to the earliest ages of historic America, and claims for its own a share in the Icelandic sagas of six hundred years ago. A large number of anti- quarian scholars, in Europe as well as in America, have united in pronouncing its Mount Hope to be the Hop of the old Norse voyagers. That the Northmen were familiar with these shores, and even dwelt for many years upon them, no unprejudiced man can doubt. The established antiquity of the sagas, the fact that at the time they were written there could have been no possible motive for manufacturing such a mass of circumstantial evidence, makes it impossible for any one to deny that they are substantially true. It is only because the advocates of the claims of the Northmen have attempted to prove too much, that they have thus far failed to win a more favorable verdict at the bar of public opinion. It must be granted that it is impossible for us to determine with absolute cer- tainty the exact spot where the Vikings dwelt during their sojourn upon the coasts of America. The formidable array of details pre- sented in the ancient parchments makes the conjecture that the booths of Leif Ericson were erected upon the shores of Mount Hope Bay seem a very reasonable one. .
78
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
Up the Seaconnet River, in the year of our Lord 1000, the pio- neer vessel of Leif is supposed to have come. Near the foot of Mount Hope itself, it is believed that his dwellings were erected. Hle found the waters of the bay crowded with many varieties of fish ; through the forests that lined its shores wild animals of many kinds roamed unmolested. The winter that fol- lowed his coming happened to be one of the unusually mild ones which somc- times visit us to as- tound our bitter New England climate. Not much snow fell that year, and the grass hardly seemed The Oldest House in Bristol. to wither. Subse- quent voyagers had a very different experience. One of Lief's party was a German. Tyrker was his name. One day he strayed away from the explor- ing party Leif had sent out from the camp, and when he returned he hardly seemed to recognize his companions. His eyes rolled strangely about. He appeared to have forgotten the Norse language, and in German vaguely answered those who accosted him. After a while he came to his senses and his mysterious behavior was ex- plained. He had found some vines with grapes yet remaining upon them, and the sight of the almost-forgotten fruit had awakened such a host of recollections that his mind was for a brief time thrown off' its balance. The Vikings deemed his discovery so important that they gave to the country the name of Vinland, the land of vines. They also cured a quantity of grapes, and carried them with them in their ship when they went back to Iceland.
Of the voyagers who came after Leif, Thorfinn Karlsefni was the most prominent. He came with three ships and 151 men. Gudrid, his wife, and six other women sailed in the expedition. Thorfinn's object was to found a colony. He carried with him many kinds of live stock. His first winter is supposed, from his description of the country, to have been passed upon the shores of Buzzards Bay. There, in the year 1007, his wife Gudrid bore him a son, the first child
79
BRISTOL.
of European blood born upon the soil of this continent. In the fol- lowing spring Thorfinn sailed up to the place the Northmen called Hóp. The dwellings Leif had built were not large enough to accom- modate his men; additional booths were therefore erected not far away. The colonists, although well pleased with the quality of the lands, were yet deterred from making a permanent settlement by rea- son of the hostility of the natives. The expedition returned to Green- land in IO10.
Accounts of other voyages are also preserved, but the expedi- tions to Vinland soon became so frequent that they were no longer deemed worthy of record. From the annals of Iceland it would appear that in 1I2I a permanent colony had been established in the country Leif had discovered. Two hundred years later, the arrival of a Greenland ship, bound to Markland (a country also discovered by Leif, supposed to be Nova Scotia), is recorded. The Greenland col- ony disappeared from history in 1406, the year when its last bishop was appointed. Its 280 villages were never afterwards heard of. Extensive ruins along the shores mark the places where they once stood.
Upon the western shore of Mount Hope Bay, between Mount Hope and the Narrows, lies a mass of graywackc, about ten feet long and six feet wide, which is commonly known as "The Northmen's Rock." At high tide its broad, flat surface affords a secure landing- place for those who approach it from the water : at low tide it pre- sents an inviting seat to every one who chances to wander along the beach. (Upon page 73 a representation of it may be found.) It was often noticed by the early settlers of the town, and several refer- ences to it attest the curiosity its strange inscription aroused in their minds. For many years it was lost sight of, and has only recently been rediscovered. This is not remarkable ; for the inscription covers but a small part of its surface, and is by no means prominent. The record graven upon it cannot be an Indian one, for the Indians had no written language. Popular conjecture has always associated it with the visits of the Northmen. It is supposed that one of their number, who had been left in charge of a boat while his comrades were exploring the country round about, seated himself upon it, just as would one of us to-day, and amused himself by tracing his name and the figure of his boat upon it.
More prominent than any other in the long list of the famous names that appear in connection with the history of Bristol, is that of
80
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
Residence of William T. C. Wardwell, Esq.
the Indian warrior and statesman, Philip of Pokanoket. Massasoiet, the father of King Philip (Massasoit the name is usually spelled), was, throughout his long life, one of the most faithful friends of the Plymouth colonists. He had hastened to conclude a treaty with them as soon as he had learned of their arrival. Until his death he observed all its provisions with unequaled good faith, fidelity, and honesty. The English repaid the many favors received at his hands by killing his son and successor before the turf was green upon the grave of the aged sachem. Before the unfortunate Alexander had given any decided indications of what his policy was to be, the Eng- lish, assuming that it would be hostile, summoned him to Ply- mouth to answer a false accusation of treachery that had been brought against him. The haughty chieftain could not endure the indignity. The brutal treatment received at the hands of his unfeel- ing persecutors so wrought upon his sensitive spirit, that he sickened and died before the first year of his reign was concluded.
With the fate of his brother before his eyes, Philip was careful
SI
BRISTOL.
to furnish his white neighbors no possible grounds for doubting his fidelity towards them. He showed no sign whatever of the rage that burned within him. In the earlier years of his reign he gave the English every reason to suppose that he would follow the peaceful pol- icy his father had al- ways pursued. He was only biding his time. He saw that his people must inevitably disappear be- fore them unless the ad- vance of the white men was checked, and his clear brain was ever de- vising measures by which to ward off the impend- ing calamity. Very dif- ferently the page of New England history would run to-day, if his re- sources had been at all commensurate with his wonderful genius.
Philip's plan was to unite all the tribes of New England in a con- spiracy against the Eng- lish. From the Penob- scot to the Hudson, his red-skinned warriors were to descend upon the settlements of the whites, and sweep the
A View of Bristol from the Harbor.
ĮĮ
82
PICTURESQUE RHODE ISLAND.
English back again into the sea. His consummate abil- ity very nearly brought about the accomplishment of his design. But for an accident, which forced him to begin the war sooner than he had intended, he would, without doubt, have been successful. The col- onists here and there heard vague rumors of impending danger, but hardly deemed them worthy of serious con- sideration. Thirty-eight St. Michael's Church. years of peace had made them strangely careless. When the report of the first hostile gun was heard, it seemed to many like a thunderbolt shot from a cloudless sky.
On Sunday, June 20, 1675, the war was begun. Its harrowing details need not here be given. "Driven from his paternal domains at Mount Hope, Philip threw himself into the depths of those vast and trackless forests that skirted the settlements, and were almost impervious to anything but a wild beast or an Indian. Here he gathered together his forces, like the storm accumulating its stores of mischief in the bosom of the thunder-cloud, and would suddenly emerge at a time and place least expected, carrying havoc and dis- may into the villages. In this way Philip became a theme of universal apprehension. The mystery in which he was enveloped exagger- ated his real terrors. He was an evil that walked in darkness, whose coming none could foresee, and against which none knew when to be on the alert. Philip seemed al- most possessed of ubiquity.
In whatever part of the widely ex- tended frontier an eruption from the forest took place, Philip was said to be its leader."
Chapel of St. Michael's Church.
83
BRISTOL.
High Street, from Church to State,
For more than a year the bloody combat was prolonged. The colonists mourned the loss of more than six hundred men, the flower and strength of the country. Thirteen towns were entirely destroyed ; many others were greatly damaged. Six hundred buildings, mostly dwelling-houses, were consumed by fire. The loss of the Indians was still more terrible. One by one, the followers of Philip deserted him ; day by day, his dominions became more and more contracted as the deadly coil of colonial troops was slowly tightened around him. The capture of his wife and only son seemed almost to crush the very life out of the unfortunate monarch. From the woes that were heaped so heavily upon him, no refuge seemed to be left but death. He came back to the green fields and waving forests he had known from earliest childhood, and waited for his end to come. From the rifle of a renegade Indian sped the fatal bullet, and in the " miery swamp," near the foot of Mount Hope, the chieftain fell. Disap- pointed in the vengeance they had planned to execute upon him when living, his relentless foes proceeded to wreak their fury upon Philip's dead body. To the Indian who had shot him was given the scarred hand by which his corpse had been identified. His head was also severed from his body. The headless trunk was quartered and hung up to rot above the ground. The fate the savage chief had brought upon so many Englishmen, his Christian captors visited upon him.
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.