USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Narragansett > South county studies of some eighteenth century persons, places & conditions in that portion of Rhode Island called Narragansett > Part 12
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
My Neighbour, Esq Case, who is as Gay as ever, presents to your favour his most sincere congratula- tions, and wishes God bless you, and that you may live forever.
Last night and to-day we had a violent Snow Storm.
[ 164 ]
The Helmes of South Kingstown
I have a Bank before my window that measures [ word torn out ] Feet deep, and is increasing.
I salute you with the greatest esteem and am Your most obliged and obedient servant,
JAMES HELME.
The following extract will show the manner in which Judge Helme's character was regarded by his contem- poraries. It is from a letter (dated 1767) to a Boston friend, written by "George Rome, Esquire, a gentle- man of estate from Old England," as Parson Fayer- weather affectionately describes him, and who passed his winters in Newport, and his summers at "Bache- lor's Hall," Narragansett. The letter, containing many charges against the Colonial governments, caused so much indignation that he was, in 1775, confined in the common gaol of South Kingstown. After his re- lease, still apprehending danger, he fled on board of the Rose, British man-of-war, then lying in Narragan- sett Bay. All his estates were immediately confiscated. Thus it will appear that he could never have been in- clined to partiality towards any Colonist:
"The iniquitous courses of their courts of justice in this colony deter men of wisdom and virtue from serv- ing the public; or, if they do so, their wisdom and vir- tue, unless patronized at home, are turned against them with such malignity that it is more safe to be infamous than renowned. The principal exception I have met with here is James Helme, Esquire, who was chosen Chief Justice by the General Assembly at its last ses- sion. He accepted his appointment, distinguishes him- self by capacity and application, and seems to be neither
[ 165 ]
South County Studies
ashamed to administer impartial justice to all, even to the native and residing creditors of the mother coun- try. I have known him to grant them temporary relief by writs of error, when he and they were overruled by the partiality of the court, and in vain-though with great candour and force-plead with the rest of the bench, that for the honour of the colony and their own reputation they ought never to pay less regard to the decrees of his majesty in council because the property was determined in Great Britain than to their own. I have also heard him, with resolution and firmness, when he discovered the court to be immediately partial, order his name to be enrolled as dissenting from the verdict. For such honesty and candour I am persuaded he will be deposed at next election, unless they should be still in hopes of making a convert of him.
"I wish it was in my power to prevent every Amer- ican from suffering for the cause of integrity and their mother country; he, in a special manner, should not only be protected and supported, but appear among the first promotions. Is there no gentleman of public spirit at home that would be pleased to be an instrument of elevating a man of his principles and propriety? or is it become fashionable for vice to be countenanced with impunity, and every trace of virtue passed over un- noticed? God forbid !"
It may be possible for us, at this distance of time, to forgive Judge Helme's political error, especially in view of the fact that at least two of his seven sons became good patriots. But his daughter would always say that, while admiring the character of General Washing- ton, and hoping that her children might realize all that
166 7
The Helmes of South Kingstown
they expected from the new government, the old still claimed her affections, and she could never forget the principles of loyalty so often inculcated by her honored father.
Judge Helme's domestic character will be best illus- trated by some notes from his correspondence.
His sister-in-law, Mrs. Samuel Seabury, writes from Hempstead, Long Island, under date of July 15, 1764, announcing the death of her husband:
As to my own deplorable state, my dear husband left me and his family the 19th of June, [last year] to go to England, from whence he returned the 7th of June, a sick, and, I may say, a dying man, for he lived one painful week, and then resigned his soul in the arms of his dear Saviour.
Dear sir, I am both a widow and a stranger. My husband did not lay up treasures on earth, though, I have reason to think, he did in Heaven, where no rust doth corrupt, and my whole trust is in Him who hath said He is the Father of the fatherless, and the widow's God.
Sir, as there is in your hands a legacy left me by my mother, I should be glad to hear of you what I am to expect from it, for I shall be in want of it by next May.
Commending you and your children to God Al- mighty, and begging your prayers for me and mine, I am, sir,
Your affectionate sister and humble servant,
ELIZABETH SEABURY.
To Mr. JAMES HELME.
[ 167 ]
South County Studies
The answer conveys to Mrs. Seabury the sad intel- ligence of the death of her sister, Mrs. Helme, "the dearest of women, the tenderest of mothers, and the sincerest Christian." Judge Helme continues :
After taking a final and affectionate farewell of the whole family, in full assurance of a blessed immor- tality, she breathed her pious soul into the arms of her Redeemer.
Her last admonition, "Live so that I may meet you in Heaven," still sounds in my ears.
Oh, my dear sister, to return your own words, "y "your own heart will better suggest to you what I feel than any words I can make use of." Imagine to yourself the best, the dearest, the tenderest wife torn from the bleeding side of the man who loved her above all earthly good. Imagine to yourself a man destitute and forlorn, to whom the whole world is a blank and a wilderness; imagine the concern of a parent for eight motherless children, the youngest of whom is but two and a half years old, and then tell me, my dear sister, if my case is not truly wretched.
Your legacy, like all other estates in this Colony that lay in money, is greatly depreciated in value. However, I shall do you all the justice in my power, by mak- ing good the deficiency, and, although I have not made an exact calculation, believe it will amount to about £1,550, which, at £7 per dollar, the now legal and cur- rent price, may be in value about two hundred and twenty dollars, which I shall endeavor to have in readi- ness by the time you mention, or when (or before) I hope to see you here, and if I can collect any consid-
[ 168 ]
The Helmes of South Kingstown
erable sum to the value of one hundred dollars, more or less, before that time, should be glad if you would give proper orders to whom I may pay it.
May the God of all grace protect, comfort, and sup- port you and yours, is the sincere prayer of, my dear Sister,
Your affectionate brother,
And humble servant,
JAMES HELME.
To Mrs. ELIZABETH SEABURY.
Mrs. Seabury writes in reply to this letter :
Hempstead, Nov. 26th, 1764.
MY DEAR BROTHER :
I received yours of the 23d of July, charged with the affecting account of the death of my dear and only sister; in regard to which, and my own troubles, I beg to say with Job, "The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
I have been much hurried with business, having, with the assistance of some gentlemen of this parish, raised a dwelling-house and got it under cover, but do not purpose doing any more to it this winter, as I see no prospect of being obliged to quit the parsonage.
That God Almighty may assist, comfort and direct you in all your difficulties, is the earnest prayer of your affectionate sister and humble servant,
ELIZABETH SEABURY.
To JAMES HELME, Esq.
The date of the next letter is lost.
[ 169 ]
South County Studies
MY DEAR SISTER :
Agreeable to your desire, I send you, by my nephew, Nathaniel Seabury, £500, old tenor in gold and sil- ver, as the value for your legacy. I have made good the depreciation of the money, and allowed interest to you for the whole time; though I have been obliged to receive it at the depreciated value, and often had a great part of the money lying by me, for months to- gether, for want of a proper person to let it to; at other times have been at the trouble and expense of lawsuits, and in such cases with us, we are always obliged to levy six months after judgment, for the money, with- out a farthing of interest being allowed; and I cannot help thinking that, upon the whole, I have not received so much value for the legacy. I hope, in this affair, I have approved myself to your acceptance; if not, let me know, and if any mistake has been made it shall be rectified; although, I believe there is none.
Your near relation to that person who was the com- fort of my life and the joy of my heart, and that sisterly kindness with which you have treated me, will always make you and yours very near and dear to me. My children all make their most profound compliments of duty to their dear aunt, and love to their cousins.
With my sincere love to all my dear nephews and nieces, I am, my dear sister, your affectionate brother, JAMES HELME. Mrs. ELIZABETH SEABURY.
The strict integrity, and something more - the nobil- ity of character to which this correspondence testifies, needs no word of comment, especially to the people of
[ 170 ]
The Helmes of South Kingstown
Narragansett, where "honest as a Helme" might well become a proverb.
The biography of Rowse J. Helme, second son of Judge Helme, being included in Mr. Updike's "His- tory of the Rhode Island Bar," it need only be said here that he obtained his classical education from a private tutor; was instructed in the principles of law by the learned and accomplished Matthew Robinson, Esq., of Kingston ; commenced the practice of his pro- fession in that village, engaged in politics, was a mem- ber of the State Council of War during the Revolution, and also of the General Assembly, for many years. "His opinion concerning the paper money laws, in the case of 'Trevett vs. Weeden,' did him great credit. He was an able debater, a man of ready wit, a sound law- yer and a skilful draftsman ; fond of society and of con- vivial habits. He died 1789, and is interred with his ancestors at Tower Hill."
Another son was, in early life, a school-master, and his ferule of solid "walnut-tree" wood, bearing date 1760, was long preserved in the family. Subsequently, when a dealer in flour, he was wronged in some busi- ness transaction (probably relating to army supplies) by the infamous Arnold, who is well known to have been no less treacherous in private than in public life. They met again some years later, after Helme had en- tered the Continental army. He was one of the ill-fated garrison of Fort Griswold, near Groton, Connecticut, which was captured by a detachment of soldiers under the command of Arnold, when he was threatening New London, and as one of the few survivors of the attack on the fort, was brought into camp, and passed before
[ 171 ]
South County Studies
the triumphant General, as he sat on horseback at the head of his troops. Arnold (so runs the family tradition) suddenly and tauntingly called out, "Young man, I have seen you before. Your name is Helme." The in- sulting tone, the memory of past injuries, the sense of defeat, all roused the indignation of the late weary and spiritless soldier, but he conquered himself, and, with seeming calmness, replied to the traitor: "Sir, you are quite right. My name is Helme, and I hope never to disgrace it !"
Two of Judge Helme's sons, James, the eldest, and Samuel, lived at Kingston. The former built and re- sided in the large, rambling structure since occupied by several families. His unaffected amiability of char- acter gained insensibly upon the esteem and confidence of all who knew him. Although one of the few Kings- ton men who persevered in their political opposition to the late Elisha R. Potter, yet when Mr. Helme died, at an advanced age, Mr. Potter, that man of iron mould, as all his friends have agreed to call him, was observed to show a natural and honorable emotion at the funeral of his old neighbor and contemporary.
Mr. Helme's son, Bernon, was for several years the respected Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Provi- dence. His brother Nathaniel, who was intended for the law, died young. His daughter, Mary, died about thirty years ago. Her cousin, Powell, son of Samuel Helme, of Kingston, died there in 1859, leaving a wife and four children. The present James Helme, of Woonsocket, is a great-grandson of Judge James Helme, of Tower Hill.
Ester, the only daughter of the latter, a lady of ex- cellent sense, cultivated mind, and amiable disposition,
[ 172 ]
The Helmes of South Kingstown
married in 1768, Francis Carpenter, son of Joseph Car- penter, of Long Island, and nephew and heir to Francis Willett, Esq., of Boston Neck. Their eldest daughter, Ester, died unmarried. Their eldest son, Willett Car- penter, was born at the Helme Place, Tower Hill, in 1772. One of the earliest recollections of his boyhood was of climbing through a trap-door to the roof of the house, in order to witness the final departure of the hated British fleet from American waters. The hill was crowded with people, all looking seaward, and all silent with breathless emotion. In 1801, he married Elizabeth, only daughter of Joseph Case, of North Kingstown, and sister to Dr. Benjamin Waite Case, of Newport. He died at the age of eighty-two,-"the very last of the old Narragansetts," as the late Wilkins Updike fittingly described him. His children were five sons, one of whom was the Reverend James Helme Carpenter, of Wakefield, Rhode Island.
Among the most interesting of the family relics may be enumerated a small edition of the Psalms, in the version of Marot, so often sung by the Huguenots. It was used by Gabriel Bernon during his imprison- ment at Rochelle. A gold rattle, carefully preserved by his children in affectionate memory of their early home, has been transmitted from one eldest daughter (of the name of Ester) to another, for more than two hundred years. Some paintings, and several pieces of very elabo- rate embroidery, are the work of Ester (Powell) Helme, wife of Judge Helme; the needle still attached to an unfinished design, as she left it in the long-past days of her girlhood. There are also silver cans, porringers, drinking-cups, and, perhaps, most curious of all, the
[ 173 ]
South County Studies
apostle-spoons, formerly presented by the "gossips " at a christening.
What do we most desire to know concerning our ancestors, when we have summoned them, for a brief space, from the shadowy past? Shall we ask if they were masters of broad lands and spacious houses ? How little do we care to learn this, except as it makes their remote personality more real to us. Shall we inquire if they were lovers of literature, or shared in the specula- tive thought of their day ? Even such questions as these are silenced by the dread presence of death. But when, rising to the highest aspiration of our natures, now be- come the highest fulfilment of theirs, we seek to know if they were of pure and honorable life, kind and gentle in thought, word, and deed, we approach their own de- gree of spiritual intuition, and our communion with the sleeping yet breathing memories of the past has not been in vain, since it has taught us the relative values of the temporal and the eternal. The true life, then, is that of the virtues and the affections. How often we had heard it, how little we had understood, even while thinking that we believed it? Now many appar- ently trivial things are eloquent with a new and deeper meaning. A few words in fading ink on yellow and crumbling paper, as we read them, a husband's ten- derness, a wife's devotion, the blended love and duty of their children, live again for us, and the sacred star of home shines brightly through all the mists of time.
[ 174 LS
THE OLD FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE IN NARRAGANSETT
"The Quaker of the olden time! - How calm and firm and true, Unspotted by its wrong and crime He walked the dark earth through!"
Whittier
I
T T HE ancient highway of South Kingstown, ori- ginally an Indian trail, and known to the first set- tlers as the "Pequot Path," was long familiar, in later days, to all passengers by stage-coach who travelled between Philadelphia and Boston. A mile to the east- ward of the present village of Wakefield, it traverses the bleak summit of a lonely, wind-swept hill. Here, on the left, the arid ground is faintly ridged with neg- lected graves that are marked by slanting and crum- bling stones, or are deep-sunken beneath those broad prostrate slabs of massive weight and rough-hewn sur- face, that form the saddest, most eloquent memorials of the bitter sorrows and struggles of our earlier time, and which may still be found in some of the historic burial-places of New England,
"Where the sad Pilgrim watched to scare the wolf away."
This deserted spot was once the site of the first Friends' Meeting House in Kingstown (not then divided into North and South), and probably in the whole Narra- gansett country. Dating from the closing years of the seventeenth century, it was constantly occupied by the Society, for First Day and business meetings, until its
[ 175 ]
South County Studies
removal in 1860, when a more central situation was chosen for the erection of a new building. It had been a gloomy, storm-beaten structure, eloquent with a cer- tain rugged impressiveness of aspect, partly derived, it might be, from the stubborn strength of its founda- tions, and the giant endurance of its solid, firm-set tim- bers, but rather due to the solemn force of the mani- fold associations rightfully belonging to its length of days in the land. Who that regarded its gray and ven- erable form, mounted like an ancient sentinel on the brow of the hill, could forget the long years through which it had been hallowed by the true consecration of a silent and spiritual worship? Who did not, at that view, summon from the past the shadowy procession of those faithful followers of the Divine Humility who had so often gathered here, seeking, in single-hearted earnestness, to be taught of that inner light which they counted the one supreme possession of every human soul ?
Would we survey the rude house of worship and its simple assemblage with the eyes of contemporaries, we must inquire of the observant Madam Knight, a heroine who made the tour of Narragansett in 1704, on horseback and alone, resting at such inns as the country then afforded. Half a century later, Mr. Post- master Franklin-who is on his way to Boston, hav- ing come this morning from Matoonuc Tavern with the intention of staying over night at Tower Hill, with some family of the resident gentry-may have looked out from the heavily laden coach as it slowly climbed the hill, and scanned with keen, attentive eyes the com- posed faces of the Friends, just coming from Fourth
[ 176 ]
The Old Friends' Meeting House
Day meeting. A shrewd, thrifty people, the Quakers; Mr. Franklin thinks well of them; believes their influ- ence will promote colonial intelligence and prosperity here in Rhode Island, as long since in Pennsylvania. Or may we even hope that the dim atmosphere of tra- dition will brighten into some vivid, if transient, gleam of reality, revealing to us the genuine form and pres- ence of another traveller, whom the troubled chances of Revolutionary days have called from his quiet coun- try home to the foremost post of danger and respon- sibility? We see the narrow road crowded with the mounted figures of a military party; and one, the leader among them, presses forward, up the winding ascent of the hill. Although the stranger cannot have num- bered many years, the resistless power of his com- manding mien, the enkindled majesty of his look, in- spire a universal reverence that is almost awe. It is but a hasty and preoccupied glance that he throws upon the landscape, as he gains the summit and meets the fresh ocean breeze. His thoughts are burdened with the anxious destinies of an imperilled nation; his eyes are watchfully seeking the white sails of the friendly fleet of Rochambeau, riding secure at anchor where late the British naval force kept an armed and hostile vigilance over the capital of the insurgent col- ony-the historic town of Newport. When, in the clos- ing hours of the day, the stranger enters its ancient streets, he will be met by the eager acclamation of its people, who recognize in him their trusted Com- mander-in-Chief, their beloved Washington!
The interior of the building which we have seen to be so familiar an object for many years to the trav-
[ 177 ]
South County Studies
ellers by the old post-road was planned in strict con- formity with that rigid plainness of design so strongly enjoined by "Friends' rules." No dim religious light was that which the noontide sun poured through the wide, shadeless windows; and the only incense per- vading the atmosphere was the pleasant aromatic odor diffused from the goodly logs of pine and hemlock redly glowing in the vast fireplaces. A broad gallery of pon- derous construction extended across the south end of the room, which was also supplied with the usual slid- ing partition, contrived for the purpose of effecting a temporary division of the monthly business gatherings, in which the men and women of the Society held sep- arate conferences, and forwarded distinct reports to the New England Yearly Meeting at Newport. The "high seats," for the preachers and elders, and the narrow entry, with its two doors leading to the inner apart- ment, completed the chief arrangements. How often have a meek Quaker maiden and her betrothed paused by those dreaded portals, which they must nevertheless presently enter, and, in the set phrase of their people, "lay their intentions" before each silent, expectant assembly. The solemnity of betrothals and marriage- vows among the Friends, the inviolate sacredness of their family ties, the dove-like purity and plainness of the dress adopted by their women, the grave simpli- city of comfort enjoyed by their households, - these afford no remote suggestion of the poetry of the ideal German home; and indeed it is evident that our poets and novelists find no more simple, sweet, and idyllic ele- ment of American life and character than such as may be evolved from the Quaker records and traditions.
[ 178 ]
The Old Friends' Meeting House
Obscure and secluded as this quiet spot may be, it is not without its inspiring memories and associations; it has been visited by some of the mightiest of the sect. Here, according to tradition, George Fox has often ad- dressed large congregations of his followers - doubt- less at a period but little later than that during which Roger Williams was holding weekly exhortations to the Indians who assembled at Richard Smith's Block- house-the first civilized habitation erected in the Nar- ragansett wilderness. "Grand old Roger Williams," says Mr. Curtis, who describes with admiration the brave solitary voyage of the aged man down the See- konk, thence to the Bay, thence to his destination at Newport, where he ably fulfilled his appointment to meet the great advocate of Quaker doctrines, for a close and searching discussion of the various points of difference between them. Well may we imagine the adherents of Fox, in Narragansett and elsewhere, as eagerly awaiting the result of an interview so char- acteristic of the seventeenth century keenness for con- troversial debate, but now held chiefly memorable as the historic encounter of two minds distinguished by intense original power of speculative thought. Roger Williams, - George Fox, - James MacSparran,- these were the spiritual fathers of ancient Narragan- sett. Without the mention of the third and compara- tively unknown name, we should not have indicated all the principal influences formative of theological opin- ion at that period; the Congregational faith, so potent in other regions of New England, being naturally the last to gain ascendancy in Rhode Island. Widely diverse in many points of character as were these three religious
[ 179 ]
South County Studies
teachers of our earliest time, opposite as might be the various articles of belief formally accepted by each, they were yet unconsciously one in their aims and labors, one in whole-hearted energy of effort to awaken the higher natures of the people among whom they engaged in their sincere and self-forgetful ministrations. It was their office to summon the care-worn fathers of a State to thoughtful consideration of nobler and more spiritual interests than such as were involved in the stern anxi- eties, the toilsome, unceasing struggle, by which the wild, ungenial territory was to be subdued and made a goodly inheritance. Then it was that America was taught of the true apostles, of devoted men, of pro- phetic souls, who were as voices crying in her wilder- ness, calling her people from their engrossing pursuit of the transitory interests of time, and leading them to final rest and hope in the unwavering contemplation of the bright vision of eternity. Were not those days of her adversity more blessed than these of her careless prosperity ?
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.