USA > Rhode Island > Rhode Island tercentenary, 1636-1936. A report by the Rhode Island Tercentenary commission of the celebration of the three-hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations > Part 12
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Site of private school in 18th century
Hicks House built 1780
First Town Hall and Whipping Post in 17th century
Hedly House invaded by Hessians in 1776
Friends Meeting House Built 1700
Silk Mill Built in 1780
Isaac Hathaway House Built 1755
First Methodist Meeting House Built in 1700
Preserved Shearman Meeting House spoken of as the Olde House in 1782
Gardner T. Sherman House built in 1774, occupied by Revolutionary Soldiers
Olde Sisson House built 1656
MARKERS TO BE PLACED
Site of first Methodist Meetings held in Portsmouth in 1638
Site of Battle of Rhode Island, August 29, 1778
Site of first house of entertainment built by William Baulston
Comon Fence Point named for Town Common Land
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
LITTLE COMPTON MARKERS
Site of the first town house and church used by the first settlers of Little Compton. Built 1693.
This building, the first Methodist Church in Little Compton, built 1825. Removed here from the top of Meeting House Lane.
Friends Meeting House, built about A. D. 1700. Remodelled 1815.
Home of Capt. Edward Richmond, a first settler, 1674. Col. William Richmond, S.A.R. Block House 1776. Treaty Rock, scene of the compact between Col. Benjamin Church and Queen Awashonks, 1675.
This place purchased by William Pabodie 1685-1691, a first settler. Later home of the Hon. Isaac Wilbour, 1819. Governor of Rhode Island.
Home of Joseph and Mary (Tucker) Church, 1674, first settlers. Capt. Ebenezer Church and Joseph Church, S.A.R. 1776. Home of ten generations of descendants.
This place purchased by William and Eliz- abeth (Alden) Pabodie, 1681-1688, first set- tlers. Col. Pardon Gray 1762. S.A.R. 1776.
Home of Col. Benjamin Church 1675. First Commander of the colonial wars of New England. Won King Philip's war.
Home of Samuel and Mary (Potter) Will- bor, first settlers 1691. Eight generations of descendants have owned this place.
Block House. Home of William and Sarah (Hayward) Dye. First settlers 1684. John Gray 1813 Soldier of the Revolution 1776.
This store built by Ebenezer P. Church 1820. Great great uncle of President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Philip Manchester 1859.
First Post Office of Little Compton, built 1788 by Samuel Church, First Postmaster 1804. Philip J. Gray 1879.
Revolutionary block house and home of Capt. Benjamin Coe, an officer of the Revolu- tion 1776.
Site of a Revolutionary block house and home of Capt. Thomas Church, an officer of the Revolution. Later home of Major William Taggart, an officer under General Sullivan 1776.
This place owned by Hon. Constant South- worth 1674. Treasurer of the Plymouth Col- ony. Home of Capt. William and Rebecca (Pabodie) Southworth, first settlers and of five generations of their descendants. Major William Southworth 1776.
Home of Capt. Aaron Wilbor and his five sons, all soldiers of the Revolution 1776.
Simon Rouse, a first settler 1674. John and Elizabeth (Horswell) Hunt 1722. William Hunt S.A.R. 1776.
Nathaniel Warren 1685. Thomas Bailey Jr. 1741. It was here that Rev. Ray Palmer wrote the hymn, "My faith looks up to Thee."
This house the birth place of John Sim- mons, founder of Simmons College.
Across the street was born John Simmons, founder of Simmons College. Founded 1899.
Home of Lieut. Thomas and Mary (Wood) Bailey. Isaac Bailey, officer of the Revolution 1776. Seaconnet house 1838-1863.
Home of Rev. Mase Shepard 1794. Pastor of the Congregational church 34 years. 1787- 1821. Deacon Isaac Bailey Richmond 1828.
Sylvanus Brown 1774.
Last site of the Peaked top school. 1725- 1839. Moved about for the accommodation of the pupils.
Burial place of the Sogkonate tribe before 1600, and probable last resting place of their Queen Awashonks.
Home of John Irish 1674, a first settler. Block house 1776.
Home of John and Eunice (Shaw) Wood 1767. Joseph and Abigail (Wood) Wilbor 1796. Gov. Isaac Wilbour S.A.R. 1803.
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A Report of the Tercentenary Commission
TIVERTON MARKERS
Howland's Ferry 1756 Edwin Hambly, Blacksmith, 1830 (Same marker)
John Gray House, One of First Taverns, about 1700. Homestead of seven Church brothers.
John Howland House Before 1759
Joseph Anthony's Ferry, 1692
Thomas Osborn Homestead, 1766-1833
Fort Barton Center of Activity during Revolution, 1776-1783
Home of Judge Joseph Osborn, 1803-1883
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Abraham Brown House Built 1756, Host to Lafayette in 1778
Edward Bennet, 1822 James Otis Hambly, 1867
Capt. Robert Gray, 1755-1803 Discoverer Columbia River 1792 First American to carry the flag around the world.
Wanton Upper Farm Susannah Anthony Barker, 1740 Joseph Anthony Barker, 1768 Benjamin Barker, 1840 (Same Marker)
John Almy House, Built 1797 Whipping Post, 1718-1812 (Same marker)
Isaac Barker House French Hospital 1775 Sin and Flesh River
Site of Col. Pardon Gray House 1737-1805, Commissary of Revolution.
David Durfee House Built 1768
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Friend's Burial Ground, About 1747 First Meeting House on Adjoining Lot, about 1700
Otis Almy House 1770-1837
Nathaniel Briggs, Built 1760
Horace Almy House 1809-1874
Caleb Cory built 1775 John Cooke, 1793 George W. Gray, 1881 (Same Marker)
Joseph Hicks House Built 1768
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
WESTERLY MARKERS
In this Gavitt House were held Town Meetings of Colonial days and in front stood the town whipping post.
Home of Doctor Joshua Babcock, 1707- 1783. First physician in town. Chief Justice of Rhode Island. Site of first Post Office in Westerly.
Mastuxet. On this cove landed John and Mary Babcock, first white settlers in Westerly.
Entrance to the shipyard of 1834-1874. From here sailed whalers and merchantmen hewn from native timber commanded by native sons.
Oliver Hazard Perry lived on this place when a boy in 1808. From here he later super- vised the building of vessels of war. He won the Battle of Lake Erie in 1814.
SHANNOCK HILL
Here the Narragansetts won a fierce battle against the Pequots for control of the fishing falls. A wooden marker was placed by Rhode Island Historical Society June 1897 on the 250th Anniversary of Death of Canonicus.
CROSS' MILLS
South of this spot is located Fort Ninigret marked by the State of Rhode Island as a memorial of the Narragansett and Niantic Indians, "The Unwavering Friends and Allies of our Fathers."
COOKY HILL
(Map to locate numbers as mentioned below).
The birthplace and center of many town activities.
1. Red Schoolhouse, 1792-1835, moved and now 11 Union Street. First school and also first Sunday School, 1820.
2. Union Academy, 1816-1842.
3. Pawcatuck Academy, 1837-1870.
4. Union Meeting House, 1822-1872.
5. Episcopal Church, 1835-1872 (burned), Episcopal Church, 1872-1891.
6. Fire Engine House, 1869.
7. Town Hall (old), 1874-1913.
8. First Fire Engine House, 1869.
On this spot stood the home of Rowse Bab- cock, where in 1798 was organized Washing- ton Lodge, No. 2, F. & A. M., one of the earliest Masonic Lodges in Rhode Island. It was qualified to meet anywhere in Washington County and in 1825 was established in Wick- ford as Washington Lodge, No. 5.
(Masonic emblem here)
Erected by Franklin Lodge No. 20, F. & A. M.
Here for more than a century was the Reli- gious, Business and Civic Center of Westerly. Nearby in private homes the people met in town meetings. Here crossed paths from what is now Hopkinton, Richmond, and Westerly. Here was a ford across the river and here were the first mill dam and grist mill.
On the hill to the northeast stood the first Meeting House in southern Rhode Island built by Seventh Day Baptists in 1680.
The members of this Church suffered im- prisonment in defense of the colony's domain, met the onslaughts of hostile natives, were foremost among those who established and developed the colony on the principles of free- dom, furnished a governor, Samuel Ward, who was a leader in the struggle for independence, and joined in founding of Brown University.
In the river pool nearby more than 3000 were baptized.
The first road was laid out in 1702. It led to the South Kingstown town line and to the town landing at Pawcatuck Rock.
In 1736 the people petitioned the General Assembly to divide the town, complaining that "some of us are obliged to go 10 miles to a town meeting and great and difficult rivers to go over."
Charlestown was set off from Westerly in 1738, Richmond from Charlestown in 1747 and Hopkinton from Westerly in 1757.
Erected by the Seventh Day Baptist Churches of Hopkinton and Westerly.
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SCITUATE MARKER
On Danielson Pike about three miles west from North Scituate Village.
One-fifth mile Northward is the site of the BIRTHPLACE OF ESEK HOPKINS First Commander-in-Chief of the American Navy and the Early Home of Stephen Hopkins Signer of the Declaration of Independence
Marker placed by Moswansicut Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution
EAST PROVIDENCE MARKER
At the Roger Williams Spring, Phillipsdale, site of the first settlement by Roger Williams in the Wampanoag country claimed by Plymouth Colony.
At the top, a medallion representing Williams landing at the spring
This Spring is the site of the first settlement by Roger Williams in the State of Rhode Island. Banished by the Bay Colony from Massachusetts on account of his religious beliefs, he fled into the wilderness and found refuge with Massasoit who gave him a grant of land upon which he built his home near this spring. Warned that he was still within the limits of the Colony, he removed across the river and founded a settlement which is now Providence.
The marker was placed and dedicated November 8, 1936, by the East Providence Tercentenary Committee. The land was bought by the Rhode Island and Providence Plantations Tercentenary Committee, Inc., the East Providence Committee expending a like sum in beautifying the site, which through three centuries had remained as Roger Williams found it. The spring has flowed without interruption for this entire period.
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
WICKFORD MARKERS
During 1935 and 1936 the following houses in Wickford were marked with wooden markers under direction of the Main Street Association of Wickford after check-up of records:
House
Builder
Date
Shippee House
Stephen Cooper 1728
Old Yellow
George Thomas
1735
Clarke Potter's
Matthew Cooper
1750
Fowler House (Bay St.)
George Fowler, Jr.
17$5
Baptist Church House
Thomas Cooper
1757
Geo. T. Hammond House
Nicholas Hart
17 62
Samuel Bissell
1768
Narragansett Bank House
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Benjamin Fowler 1805
Wightman House
Benjamin Fowler
17 69
Gladding House
Daniel Fones
1770
Congdon House
David Potter and Timothy Dean 1773
Theodore Northup House
Samuel Thomas 1783
Bullock House
Benjamin Reynolds 1785
Gideon Freeborn House.
Aaron Peck 1785
Miss Gardner's
Immanuel Case 1786
Baker House
Thomas Cole 1786
Chadsey House (Fowler St.)
John Cozzens 1788
Mary Lewis House
Thomas Withers 1791
Ladd House
Daniel E. Updike 1794
Dawson House
Samuel Thomas 1795
Robert Reynolds House.
William Reynolds 1795
Bryson House
Nicholas Spink 1796
James Reynolds House
Samuel Carr 1797
New Rectory
John Smith
1798
Pardon Hammond House
William Hammond 1798
Pelser House
Samuel Thomas 1802
Mrs. Hanson's
Jesse Brown 1802
Lucy Reynolds House
Alfred Updike
1800
Clauson House
Cyrus Northup
1803
Peckham House
William Holloway 1803
Burke House
Benjamin Reynolds
1804
Chadsey House (Champlin St.)
James Mackenzie
1804
Shaw House
William G. Shaw 1803
Lewis House
Robert H. Niles 1805
Old Town House.
Town of North Kingstown 1807
Noyes House
Charles Short 1807
Burge House
William Holloway 1809
Dr. Manning's
William Brown 1822
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JAMESTOWN MARKERS
At corner of Narragansett Avenue and North Main Road Artillery Lot & Burial Ground Used during Colonial & Revolutionary Wars D. A. R. Wood marker
North Main Road, Hull Swamp Edward Carr House West End Built 1686 Recruiting Station Queen Anne War 1702 D. A. R.
Wood marker
North Main Road
Windmill 1787 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Narragansett Avenue Johnathan Greene House Standing before 1815 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Narragansett Avenue Waity Palmer House Bought of Johnathan Greene. March 1815 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Shoreby Hill
Greene Farmhouse Standing Before Revolution D. A. R.
Wood marker
Knowles Court
Ellery Ferry House 1797 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Knowles Court
Boatman's Cottage About 1830 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Swinburne Street
First Episcopal Church 1833 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Bay View Drive and East Main Road Bay Voyage Built 1860 Moved across Narragansett Bay from Brown's Lane, Middletown 1889 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Narragansett Avenue First General Store Kept by Isaac Carr 1803-1885 D. A. R.
Wood marker
East Main Road-In Cemetery on Gov. Wanton Farm
Burial Place of Gov. Caleb Carr 1616-1695 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Wood marker
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North Main Road
Mill House 1787 D. A. R.
Wood marker
North Main Road, Weeden Lane Friends Meeting House 1787 Placed by D. A. R.
Wood marker
North Main Road, near Carr Lane Original First Baptist Church 1841 D. A. R.
Wood marker
North Main Road, Hull Swamp First White Child, John Hull Born on this Farm, 1654 D. A. R.
The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
East Main Road
Farm of Deputy Joseph Wanton Gov. 1769-1775 D. A. R. Wood marker
Carr Lane
Carr Homestead About 1721 Placed by D. A. R.
Wood marker
East Main Road and Eldred Avenue To Site of John Eldred's One Gun Battery 1775 D. A. R.
West End of Eldred Avenue Hazard Farm Thomas Hazard bought Land 1799 House Standing 1787 Remains in Family D. A. R.
Wood marker
Placed by H. Tefft, D. A. R. Member
Conanicut Park
At Beaver Tail Light
First Beavertail Light House 1749 D. A. R.
Wood marker
Conanicut Park
1680 Capt. John Paine House D. A. R. Wood marker
North Main Road
Battery House About 1750 D. A. R.
Wood marker
NORTH PROVIDENCE MARKERS
To be placed in the spring of 1937 upon the birthplace of Col. Israel Angell of the Rhode Island Line in the War for Independence.
Birth Place of Col. Israel Angell 1740 1832
Placed by Capt. Stephen Olney Chapter D. A. R.
(Marker of bronze-63/8 by 10 inches)
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Large Wood marker Road
Underwood Farmhouse Standing 1717 D. A. R.
Wood marker
A Report of the Tercentenary Commission
Closing Exercises of the TERCENTENARY CELEBRATION
by the SCHOOL CHILDREN OF RHODE ISLAND STATE HOUSE GROUNDS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 1936, AT 2 P. M.
PROGRAM
1. Star Spangled Banner. Entire Assemblage
PROVIDENCE CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL BAND Walter H. Butterfield, Leader Director of Music, Providence Public Schools
2. The Human Flag .East Providence School Children
3. Introductory Remarks. Dr. James F. Rockett Director of Education
4. Address Very Rev. Lorenzo C. McCarthy, O. P.
Chairman R. I. Tercentenary Commission
5. Address
........ Theodore Francis Green Governor of Rhode Island
6. Freedom
SCENES FROM THE HISTORY OF THREE CENTURIES IN RHODE ISLAND
Written by Prof. Adelaide Patterson Rhode Island College of Education Presented by Students of the R. I. College of Education .Entire Assemblage
7. America
These exercises are planned to impress upon the teachers and the school children of Rhode Island the importance of the great part they have daily played in the Tercentenary celebration in their own classrooms and school buildings during the past year, and to afford them the opportunity to receive personally and officially the thanks, appreciation, and gratitude of the Governor of this State, the chairman of the Tercentenary Commission, and the State Director of Education.
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SCHOOL CHILDREN OF THE STATE AT CLOSING EXERCISES, OCTOBER 16TH
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
THE CLOSING EVENT OF THE TERCENTENARY
THE FIRST FREE PUBLIC SCHOOL IN AMERICA WAS OPENED IN RHODE ISLAND AT NEWPORT, AUGUST 20, 1640.
PERFECT October day ... warm sunshine, blue sky flecked with light clouds, a soft wind at irregular inter- vals. The upper marble terraces at the front of the State House covered with chairs in which are seated city and town Superintendents of Schools, teachers representing every public school, State officials and other representative citizens. The broad brick walks and the green lawn in front of the terraces covered with standing masses of school children representing every public school in the State and many of the Catholic Schools in the Diocese of Providence.
A great assembly, gathered on October 16 for the official closing of the Tercentenary at an event planned in honor of the Rhode Island school system which during the year in all of its schools has made a special study of Rhode Island history, supple- mented in many cases by historical pageants in which Rhode Island events have been reproduced and by reproductions in the manual training departments, of early homes and other features of the life of the first Rhode Island settlers.
A gathering for the purpose of hearing the Governor, the State Director of Education, the chairman of the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission pay tribute to this united effort of the schools and their pupils to develop a new knowledge of Rhode Island's past, a new understanding of their glorious heritage as Rhode Islanders.
The official closing of the Rhode Island Tercentenary.
In this setting, against the background of the beautiful State House decorated with bunting and an enormous American flag and with the voices of the participants amplified by loud speakers, the program was opened at two o'clock with the "Star Spangled Banner" by the entire assemblage, accompanied by the Providence Central High School Band, led by Walter H. Butterfield, Director of Music, Providence Public Schools.
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A Report of the Tercentenary Commission
Dr. James F. Rockett, Director of Education, greeted the assembly.
"Your Excellency Governor Green, Very Rev. Father McCarthy, Chairman of the Rhode Island Tercentenary Com- mission, distinguished guests, teachers, boys and girls of Rhode Island:
"As State Director of Education I welcome you all to these, the closing exercises of Rhode Island's Tercentenary celebration.
"These exercises were chiefly planned to impress upon the teachers and school children of this State the great part they daily played in celebrating three hundred years of Rhode Island's progress.
"I know of no other group that did so much and did it so constantly and so consistently. The greatest thing that was evolved from this year's continuous performance has been the implanting in the hearts and minds and souls of the school children of this State the ideals and the spirit of Roger Williams and his followers. My greatest prayer and greatest hope is that you, the school children of Rhode Island, will treasure and preserve this spirit and these ideals and pass them on for the good of future generations.
"As Director of Education may I take this opportunity to express to you, the teachers and students of all our schools, my warm personal and official thanks, gratitude and appreciation for all you have done."
This introduction was followed by an address by Very Rev. Lorenzo C. McCarthy, O. P., until recently President of Provi- dence College, the chairman of the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission:
"As chairman of the Rhode Island Tercentenary Commission I wish to congratulate all those who have contributed to make this, the official closing exercise of the Tercentenary celebration such a populous and colorful event. Only those who have engaged in educational endeavors can fully understand the painstaking efforts that were required to formulate and to execute the features of this program. At least a few of the members of the Commission have had such experience and they join with me in expressing to the teachers and educational administrators throughout the State, their sincere appreciation and their profound gratitude for what has been accomplished.
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
"From the very beginning of the Tercentenary celebration the Commission has stressed its educational value; and for that reason it has been particularly anxious that the lessons contained in Rhode Island history be impressed on the minds and hearts of the youth of the State.
"Rhode Island has splendid traditions. From the moment of its founding to the present day, its history is for the most part the history of a people who desired to establish and to preserve human liberties, of a people who regarded human and divine values as of superior importance in the lives of individuals and of communities, of a people who have striven to incorporate into their political, social and economic institutions principles which recognized the dignity of man and the validity of his spiritual aspirations.
"Generation after generation of its citizens have labored to realize the vision of its founder, Roger Williams, and in their efforts they have displayed the same qualities of courage, patience, persistency and self-sacrifice which he himself displayed.
"Rhode Island has consistently welcomed into its midst men and women of foreign birth and of foreign ancestry who as indi- viduals and as groups quickly captured the spirit of its institutions and have done their part in perpetuating its traditions. They have by their very lives proved that foreigners are not aliens; and that one's claims to Rhode Islandism, just as one's claims to Americanism, are to be gauged by one's attitude of mind rather than by the composition of one's blood stream or the locality of one's birthplace. The mere fact that one lives in Rhode Island or exercises the suff- rage in Rhode Island, does not make him a true Rhode Islander. To be such, he must be sympathetic with the ideals for which Rhode Island stands.
"These ideals are religious freedom, social solidarity, political equality, economic justice and rugged individualism, conditioned, however, by the exigencies of the general welfare. Those who in their inner thoughts or spoken words reflect the spirit of religious bigotry, racial prejudice or class hatred, are in very truth aliens to the genius of the institutions of Rhode Island and of America. The record of their thoughts and of their actions constitute the dark pages in our otherwise brilliant and inspirational history.
"Education has been defined as the science of ideals and the science which concerns itself with proper attitudes of mind and
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of heart either toward the three great realities: Humanity and God, or what amounts to the same; toward the three great aspects of being: Truth, Beauty and Goodness. Knowledge of the three, love of the beautiful and performance of the good are as it were, the framework of the structure into which all education must fit.
"Rhode Island educators at all times endeavor to erect that framework. But during the past year they have signalled out the notable personages and events in our State history that were cal- culated to fit into that framework and to present the ideals of Rhode Island democracy as consonant with and illustrative of the basic educational ideals.
"They have taught their pupils that Rhode Islandism is the expression of lofty ideals and noble purposes; that it is a philosophy of government and of life which has proven its value over a period of three hundred years and that it is a heritage which it is our privilege to enjoy and a duty to preserve.
"And however much or however little has been accomplished in other respects, if you, the pupils of our public and parochial schools, the future controllers of the destiny of this State, the spes patriae, the hope of this country, shall have learned to know and to love Rhode Islandism, the Tercentenary celebration will have accomplished its principal purpose."
The closing address by this trio of distinguished speakers, was made by Governor Theodore Francis Green, on "Roger Williams": "Girls and Boys of our Rhode Island Schools:
"Have you ever waded through deep, unbroken snow? It may be that once-in-awhile some of you have decided to be minor explorers through the unbroken fields of winter. If some of you ever have, you do not need to be told that the process of breaking a way through ice and drifts is one of the most laborious ways of walking known to man! You have to lift your feet high. You have to push ahead with all your leg force. Altogether, a brief walk of this sort seems to equal a hard and steep climb that gives you no let-up.
"Well, that was the kind of walking that Roger Williams did when he came down, an exile to Rhode Island from the Bay Col- ony. We all know the history-book fact that Williams was too liberal for the tastes of the Massachusetts bigwigs, and that he
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The Rhode Island Tercentenary 1636-1936
was driven out to find a home for himself and a few friends else- where. But do we stop to think what it was like? Over hills and through fields deep with winter he had to make his lonely and difficult way. Much of his route led through unbroken, dense forest-land. Through cold and storm, Williams waded his way to freedom.
"There was practically nothing to help him. He always got on well with Indians, and there were some of them who gave him temporary shelter. But Williams himself, much as he honored the red man, had to allow that their wigwams were "filthy smoke holes," and we may guess that his plodding in the open air was more agreeable than his resting in the Indian huts.
"I say there was practically nothing to help Roger Williams. In a larger sense there was a great deal to help him. He had, first, remarkable strength of character. He had, second, no less remark- able strength of body. Those are his qualities that I should like to impress upon you this afternoon. Too often we all have the vaguest kind of ideas about the great men of the past. Roger Williams, for example, is a name often referred to in public addresses; often referred to in your classrooms. He is a statue in Roger Williams Park.
"Let us think of him, for a few moments, as a flesh-and-blood man who breathed this same air, who saw these same hills and who walked some of the streets we walk. He was a real human being and not a kind of remote legend. It is his thought that sur- vives and that is most important. But let us remember that he had muscles as well, and that it was a very human person who thought those thoughts.
"Williams was not simply an inspired leader who spoke and stood by while men did his bidding. He was the most co-operative of men, and when there was work to do he was there to do his share of it. He was a learned man. He wrote books and pamphlets. He preached sermons. But he did other things too. His hand was used to the pen and the paper, and it was scarcely less used to the hoe and the ax.
"When Williams and his few friends began their settlement here there was stone to be broken and hauled, there were trees to be felled and cut, beams to be made and houses to be built. There were crops to be sown, tended and harvested. All the community
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had a share in these things, and Williams performed at least his share. Not only was he respected as a man of work, capable as other men, he even became noted for at least one extraordinary feat. That was his row-boat trip to Newport and back to Providence. By himself, on an important errand not to be delayed, Williams rowed down the Bay, accomplished his business and rowed imme- diately back. I wager that if we could all set out this afternoon, each of us rowing his own boat, to do just that same thing, we would arrive back in Providence-if we did arrive back-with an even more profound respect for Roger Williams than we have ever had.
"But behind a man with that kind of physical strength there must be a man of character, if he is to be worth more than passing attention. Brawn all by itself is a very uninteresting quality, and we know that a good part of Williams' so-called strength came from the driving power of his mind and his emotions.
There was one quality of outstanding importance about Roger Williams. It was illustrated in his development of the colony here. When he acquired his own settlement, he did not repeat the errors of other exiles. He really accomplished the setting-up of a liberal, tolerant community. Here people could come and live as their consciences dictated, and not as a governmental or religious body dictated. So they did come: Dissenters, Quakers, Jews and others. They found differences of opinion here; they brought differences of opinion with them. But the one thing they never found here was punishment for differences of opinion.
Williams was one of the topflight great men in the early history of America. The Colony he founded was not just another settle- ment. Problems of Church and State, interests of business and com- merce inspired all the other American Colonies; but Rhode Island was a Utopian establishment, founded for no other reason than the purpose of forming a goodly community where people of all sorts might together flourish and prosper. The principles stated in Williams' creed embraced freedom in civil and religious thought, equal rights in government, the democratic power of the people both to conduct their own affairs and to change their existant state if they so chose. Those are the fundamental principles of our American democracy. They have never been more fully stated by any other man. They have never been so fully lived in fact by any other political leader.
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Girls and Boys of Rhode Island! I know that throughout this Tercentenary celebration you, with your teachers' help, have been working hard to recall to mind the ideals and ideas of Roger Williams. As Governor of the State I want to thank you heartily for all you have done. I know that as future citizens you will seek to keep these ideals and ideas alive.
On our upward climb of social progress do not look back at Roger Williams! Look forward not backward! Look upward not downward! There he is still ahead of us and above us, ready to lead us on.
A pageant, "Freedom: Scenes From the History of Three Cen- turies in Rhode Island", was then given by students of the Rhode Island College of Education. Written by Prof. Adelaide Patterson of the Rhode Island College of Education, it was presented by a group in costume, most effectively, a picturesque exposition of Rhode Island principles.
The Tercentenary ended with the singing of "America" by the entire assemblage, accompanied by the brilliantly uniformed and well trained school band.
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TINDER House Resolution 507, adopted at the special
May Session, 1935: "To plan, prepare, supervise and carry out a suitable ... observance of the three hundredth anniversary of the founding and settlement of this State by Roger Williams," the Commission had an appropriation of $30,000.
Under House Resolution 847, adopted at the January Session, 1936, approved May 1, 1936 " .. . for the purpose of assisting in ... entertainment ... of Governors of States and Federal and State officials who will visit Rhode Island during the Tercentenary celebration," the Com- mission had an appropriation of $10,000, disbursed on approval "by the majority of said Commission and by His Excellency, the Governor."
At the close of its service, which through late under- takings and delayed deliveries due to industrial unrest did not end until late in April, 1937, the Commission returned to the State Treasury a very substantial proportion of each appropriation.
STATE O
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