USA > Rhode Island > Providence County > Providence > State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations at the end of the century : a history, Volume 2 > Part 47
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 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
485
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
These figures demonstrate that the East India and foreign trade of Providence endured from 1790 to 1830, and that this port was the leader and paid by far the larger part of the duties on goods imported by Rhode Island ports. During the War of 1812 there was a serious decline in commerce, but a quick and substantial revival followed, and about 1820 the foreign trade reached its maximum. From 1820 to 1830 it continued at about the same volume and then began to decline until, in the middle years of the century, the imports did not amount to as much in value as the duties paid in many of the years from 1800 to 1831. This change, however, did not imply a decadence on the part of the Rhode Island communities, but was only the evidence of a change in the direction of the energy of the people.
The following list copied from the Rhode Island American of Nov. 17, 1829, shows the tonnage of the port of Providence in 1829 in square-rigged vessels, registered and enrolled at the Custom House, exclusive of schooners, sloops and river craft :
SHIPS.
Asia
351 tons
Hazard
232 tons
Ann and Hope
558
.€
Lion
297
..
Atlas
261
Mary Almy
288
Envoy
391
New Jersey
514
Eliza and Abby
240
Providence
346
Edward
274
Panther.
409
6.
Franklin
396
66
Washington
343
Gen. Hamilton
396
William Baker
224
George
289
BARQUE.
Cyrus Butler
360 tons.
BRIGS.
Antelope
182 tons
Laurel
167 tons
Ann Celia.
153
Mary Ann 145
Abeona
227
Mary
168
66
Agenoria
165
Mount Hope
93
Brilliant
224
Miles Standish
132
Blackstone
258
Marcia
204
Charles Joseph
314
Mordecai 142
161
66
Charles and Ellen
182
New York
110
Clyde
187
Nereus
225
Decatur
117
66
Only Son
178
Eagle
240
6.
Prometheus
140
Enterprise
166
Fame
168
Remp
113
George
148
Rising States
198
George Washington
95
Rising States
134
Havre
297
Robert Cochran
193
Horizon
250
66
Sarah Lee 235
Helen
120
66
Shibboleth
219
Harriet
285
Savannah
122
Independence
199
‹‹
Sampson
158
Leopard
207
Union
219
Cobbossee Contee
156
New England
President Manning
138
486
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
RECAPITULATION.
17 Ships 5,807 tons
1 Barque 360
44 Brigs 7,928
62 Vessels
14,095 tons
"There are also belonging to this port 29 schooners and 30 sloops, making in the whole 122 vessels."
The cotton manufacture, introduced by Samuel Slater at Paw- tucket in 1790-1, under the enlightened patronage of Moses Brown and aided by his capital, had by 1830 so increased in amount and im- portance as to absorb the energy of the community. The Providence merchants had gradually transferred their capital from ships into mills, the most notable example being that of the great house of Brown & Ives, which acquired interests in cotton mills early in the nineteenth century and in 1827 established the first mill at Lonsdale in the Black- stone Valley, from which has developed a great manufacturing busi- ness. This house sold its last vessel, the Hanover, in 1838. All the mercantile families followed suit, the Allens, the Arnolds, the Night- ingales, the Lippitts, the De Wolfs of Bristol and others, either engag- ing directly in manufacturing or using their capital, acquired as mer- chants, in the operations of the new men that manufacturing had brought forward, and as a result the community between 1810 and 1840 gradually changed from a mercantile to a manufacturing basis. This change was not a retrogression, but an advance, as it brought in- creased wealth, enlarged opportunities for the mass of the people, and made possible the successful evolution of the various towns and cities in the State.
After 1840 foreign commerce practically ceased to come to Rhode Island ports. Direct trade with the East and West Indies and with Europe had died out almost entirely. After 1835, when the railroad to Boston was opened, and more especially after 1837, when trains be- gan running on the railroad to Stonington, making quick connection thereby with New York by the Sound steamers from that place, a very small amount of foreign goods entered Providence, and it ceased to be in any important way a port of direct entry. Since 1870, under the act of Congress passed July 14 of that year, foreign goods arriving by steamers in New York and Boston have been forwarded by rail or steamer to this port and entered at the local custom house. This fact accounts for the large increase of duties since 1870.
The direct foreign importations into Providence now are chiefly
487
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
lumber and shingles from the British provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. This is a coastwise trade, in no essential-except that the vessels have to enter the custom house-different from the similar trade to the Maine, Florida, Carolina and Virginia ports. Occasionally a vessel arrives from Europe with some special cargo, such as salt or sulphur from Italy, or liquorice from Russia, but these are so infrequent that they are noticed at length in the newspapers when they occur. The only survivals of the old trade to the West In- dies are the importations of salt from Turk's Island or logwood from Jamaica and Hayti, cargoes of which arrive occasionally. The ship- ping that enters Rhode Island ports at the beginning of the twentieth century is consequently almost wholly engaged in the coastwise trade and it nearly all comes to Providence. The cargoes brought in are chiefly raw materials, including lumber, lime, mortar, plaster, cement, bricks, grain, corn and coal. Bricks are brought in from New Jersey, Long Island and Taunton, Mass .; lime, cement and blue stone come from Rondout on the Hudson, from New Jersey and from Rockland, Me .; plaster and mortar from New York; lumber from Maine, Flor- ida, the Carolinas, Virginia and the British Provinces, and oil from New York and Philadelphia.
Both in amount and value, coal is the most important commodity brought into Providence. The city is the center of one of the most active and extensive manufacturing districts in the United States, es- pecially in textiles, machinery and jewelry, and is also so situated geo- graphically as to be an effective distributing point for coal to supply communities and factories in a wide radius of country. Under these conditions an immense trade in coal has grown up and from a million and a half to two million tons are now received annually. A large proportion is shipped by rail from the Wilkes-Barre pier, the Harbor Junction pier and the coal pockets of the local companies, to the inland cities of New England. The principal features of the harbor frontage of Providence at the present day are the great coal pockets with their improved appliances for unloading vessels. During the year 1896 the total receipts of coal at Providence were 1,237,778 tons, of which 802,- 494 tons were bituminous and 435,284 anthracite. The bituminous was brought in 285 schooners and 244 barges, while the anthracite came in 8 schooners and 485 barges. The reason that most of the bitu- minous was brought in schooners and the anthracite in barges was that the former came mainly from Newport News and Philadelphia, while the latter was brought from the Amboys and other New Jersey ports. In 1897 the receipts of coal were 1,386,488 tons, of which 908,361 were
488
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
bituminous and 478,127 anthracite. The bituminous was received in 243 schooners, 340 barges, 2 stcamers and one brig, and the anthracite in 46 schooners and 523 barges. A noticeable feature of the evolution of the coal trade has been the increase in the size of the vessels and the substitution of barges for schooners. A "string of barges", usually two or three, is towed from the coal ports by a powerful tug, in this way in one trip bringing from 3,000 to 6,000 tons or more. The economy of this method is evident when compared with the previous way of shipping in schooners which carried a few hundred tons. Large schooners are now in use for the long deep water voyages, which carry from two to three thousand tons. One of the pioneers of this type of schooner is the Governor Ames, a five master, which for some years has brought coal from Newport News to Providence. Her ca- pacity is about 2,700 tons. Still larger schooners, of six and seven masts, are in contemplation to be used in this trade.
The number of vessels arriving in the port of Providence in 1897 was 1,630, of which 619 were schooners, 977 barges, two barkentines, one bark, 25 steamers and six brigs. This number did not include any of the arrivals of the large steamers of the regular lines which brought in large quantities of goods from New York, Philadelphia, Norfolk and Baltimore. Coal was the commodity of which the largest amount was received; lumber was next in value and amount; while building material, including brick, lime, cement, plaster, was next in impor- tance. A large amount of cotton is received in Providence, but it comes either by rail or by steamer from Norfolk, Va.
The great bulk of the foreign importations entered at the Provi- dence custom house comes by steamers into New York or Boston and is sent on to Providence in bond. From Bremen and Hamburg are received precious stones, metal and glassware, crockery and hosiery : from Genoa, embroideries; from Havre, wine, laces, precious stones, glassware ; from Liverpool, London and Glasgow, tea, coffee, liquors, wines, beer and manufactured articles; from Southampton, laces and millinery ; from Copenhagen and Christiania, machinery; from Ha- vana, cigars ; from Amsterdam, liquors.
The following merchandise was imported directly into Providence in vessels during the year 1897 :
Salt 1,456,543 bushels
Scantlings
252,262 feet
Shingles .19,976,000
Laths
17,883,000
Boards
2,323,065 feet
A PORTION OF THE MAIN HARBOR FRONT OF PROVIDENCE, BETWEEN INDIA AND FOX POINTS.
1
490
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
Planks
28,649 feet
Logwood
1,496,936 pounds
Piling
222 pieces
Potatoes
2,850 bushels
Shad
200 pounds
Emery stone
120 tons
Fustic
89,600 pounds
Licorice root
2,556,638 pounds
REWAREHOUSED GOODS.
Rum
323 gallons
Bay Rum
23 gallons
Gins
572 gallons
Grease
6,600 pounds
Brandy
474 gallons
The total number of vessels arriving in Providence from foreign countries in 1897 was seventy-seven, of which eighteen were Ameri- can ; number of vessels hailing from the port, 142; steam, 49; sailing, 93; steam tonnage, 19,312 tons ; sailing tonnage, 11,159 tons.1
According to a report by J. T. P. Bucklin, harbor master of Provi- dence, 3,528 vessels, including steamers, entered the port in 1899. These brought : Coal, 2,038,489 tons ; cement, lime, sand, etc., 65,863 tons ; bricks, 4,130,536; oil, 13,363,606 gallons; lumber, 24,964,582 feet; laths and shingles, 19,208,254 ; merchandise by steamers, 615,000 tons ; total tonnage, 2,823,308.
A comparison of these figures with those for 1819, when the direct foreign commerce of Providence reached its maximum, shows that at the present time the foreign commerce, both direct and in bond, is actually as great as in those years, but its character is entirely differ- ent. Then most of the ships were American bottoms and came in from long voyages and the importations were direct; now the arrivals are mostly coastwise, there are few from deep sea voyages and they are mostly foreign bottoms, while the great bulk of the importations are in bond from other ports. The tonnage owned in the port is about twice the amount of that owned in 1820, but the shipping used in the business of the port, steam and sail, is enormously greater. To sum up the situation : While the direct foreign trade of Providence car- ried on in the deep sea vessels of American registry has wholly dis- appeared, the shipping of the port is many times greater than ever be- fore and is constantly increasing with the growth of the city. It is now nearly all coastwise in character, engaged in the trade in coal,
1Providence Journal of Commerce, February, 1897, and February, 1898.
491
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
lumber and building material, brought in by barges and sailing craft, and manufactured goods and general merchandise carried in steamers to and from New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Norfolk.
In this connection the following comment is worthy of quotation : "Of late years a great deal has been said of the decay and falling off of Providence commerce, meaning thereby its maritime interests; but the fact is that the maritime commerce of to-day (1886) is greater than it ever was before, and that it has never for any long period declined during the past century. There has been simply a change of direc- tion and methods. Instead of a few scores of thousand tons of freight from foreign shores annually landed at our wharves, there are now millions of tons from points on the coast of the United States. This consists largely of merchandise of which our ancestors scarcely knew the use : as an illustration, anthracite coal, of which seventy years ago scarcely one ton was brought here, while in 1885 820,510 tons were delivered by vessels at this port; or cotton, of which in 1815 less than 10,000 bales were received, while in 1885 245,605 bales were re- ceived".1
Pawtucket, although it had some shipping in colonial times, prob- ably never had any foreign commerce. At the time of the Revolution Sylvester Bowers built ships on the east side of the river, and during the latter part of the eighteenth century and the early years of the nineteenth George Robinson and Thomas Arnold built vessels on the west side a short distance below the falls. Nathan Daggett is said to have had a wharf at the landing on the Rehoboth side of the river some time preceding 1800, and to have carried on a commercial business there, but his headquarters were at Seekonk Cove, the mouth of the Ten Mile River. He had a packet which made regular trips to New- port, and other vessels belonging to him were engaged in the West India trade.
The first utilization of the Pawtucket River in a modern way was in 1827, when Joseph Smith and Clark Sayles began the business of bringing coal and lumber up the river and distributing these staples to manufacturers and others in Pawtucket and the adjacent territory. After 1840, when the modern diversification of industry at Paw- tucket may be said to have begun, the navigation on the river rapidly increased. Joseph Smith, in 1838, had six small vessels discharge coal at his wharf, the largest one of which had a cargo of 175 tons, while the smallest one had only 50 tons. In 1867 there arrived 29 vessels, the smallest with 105 tons of coal and the largest with 317 tons. The 1Providence Plantations, p. 87.
MOTTA!'S
THE HARBOR OF THE CITY OF PAWTUCKET.
THE BUILDINGS ON THE RIGHT HAVE BEEN DESTROYED BY FIRE AND NEW STRUCTURES ERECTED SINCE THIS PHOTOGRAPH WAS TAKEN.
493
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
development of the shipping of Pawtucket was retarded by the nar- rowness of the draws in the Washington and Central bridges at the mouth of the river, but after a lawsuit between Pawtucket and Provi- dence in 1867 these were widened. Since that date the channel has also been greatly improved. Pawtucket now has a large coastwise commerce of the same nature as that of Providence, and the com- modities brought in are chiefly coal, lumber, bricks, lime and cement. There are no railroad connections to Pawtucket's wharves, so conse- quently most of the material received is for the supply of local de- mands.
Other minor ports on Narragansett Bay which have had some ship-
UPPER COVE, WICKFORD, NORTH KINGSTOWN.
ping are East Greenwich, Apponaug, Wickford, Westerly, Tiverton, Narragansett Pier, Saunderstown and Block Island. Apponaug, at the head of Cowesett Bay on the west side of Narragansett Bay, was the port of the Colony of Warwick, and had some commerce with the Dutch as early as 1652, in which year John Warner had a dispute which resulted in a lawsuit with his brother-in-law, a Dutch trader who had brought in some goods in a small vessel. East Greenwich, also on Narragansett Bay, at one time had considerable shipping. Jacob Greene & Co., of Warwick, just previous to the Revolution, were the chief merchants in this neighborhood, and their vessels probably
494
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
sailed from both Apponaug and East Greenwich. Lieut. Dudding- ston, the commander of the Gaspee, seized a sloop belonging to this shipping firm, which was on its way from East Greenwich to Newport with a cargo of rum and sugar, and sent it to Boston for condemnation. An action was brought in the Common Pleas Court in Kent County by Greene & Co. against Duddingston, and a verdict was given the plaintiff for £295 damages and costs. That East Greenwich was of some importance as a port after the Revolution is made evident from the fact that it was one of the places for whom an intendant of trade was appointed by the General Assembly in 1784.1 East Greenwich and Apponaug are both included in the Providence customs district. They have always had a small amount of shipping, but the former was and is the most important. Small vessels can go up to the wharves at East Greenwich, and the cargoes brought there are coal, lumber and building materials.
Wickford, on the west side of Narragansett Bay, has a good harbor, and in colonial times had some commerce. The planters of the Narra- gansett country raised a celebrated breed of horses, known as "Narra- gansett Pacers", which in the early part of the eighteenth century were exported in large numbers to the West Indies." This trade con- tinued until the Revolution. Wickford was made a port of entry in 1808, within the Newport customs district, and under the control of William Ellery, the collector at that time. At present it receives a small amount of coal, lumber and other raw material, brought in by small schooners, and a steamer runs between the place and Newport, in connection with a branch railroad, forming the Newport and Wick- ford Railroad and Steamboat line.
Narragansett Pier, on the Atlantic coast, at the entrance of the Western Passage into Narragansett Bay, is about fifteen miles from Wickford and is now a leading summer resort with many hotels and palatial cottages. Lying exposed to the ocean from the east, no harbor is possible, but the place gets its name from the fact that at various times during the past hundred years stone piers have been built to form artificial harbors, in order to make a port for the Narragansett Country, as Southern Rhode Island is sometimes called. These have all been beaten down by the waves, but at the present there are two piers and a small dock, which makes a miniature harbor for coal and lumber vessels. . A wharf 1,100 feet long, built of long wooden piles
1 Arnold's History of R. I., vol. 2, pp. 311, 314, 508.
2Picturesque Rhode Island, p. 282.
495
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
and extending into water of the depth of sixteen feet at low tide, was built here on the beach in 1898, and has survived the storms and ac- tion of the sea since that time. It was erected by the Providence, Fall River and Newport Steamboat Company, and is used as a landing for excursion steamers.
South Ferry, now known as Saunderstown, on Narragansett Bay, between Wickford and Narragansett Pier, has a wharf, and schooners occasionally come in here with supplies. Fifty years ago several sail- ing packets plied from here with produce to other places on the bay and along the coast. More recently quite a fleet of coasting schooners made the place their home port, and some shipbuilding was also carried on. A steam ferry runs from here to Conanicut Island and connects there by a stage with the ferry to Newport.
Block Island has no natural harbor. Soon after its settlement its inhabitants, recognizing the utility of a harbor, in 1665 petitioned the General Assembly of the Colony to appoint a committee to see if an artificial harbor could not be made, for the purpose of encouraging the fisheries. John Clarke was appointed to visit the island to see what could be done. In 1670 a committee was appointed by the Assembly to receive contributions to pay for the construction of such a harbor. Nothing, however, was done until in 1876, when the United States government began, on the east side of the island, where there was a crescent-shaped indentation in the coast, the construction of a break- water, which now extends 1,900 feet into the sea, and forms a fairly good artificial harbor, much resorted to by fishing boats and pleasure craft along the coast. On the west side of the island, about midway of its length, is Great Salt Pond, a body of deep water a mile by a mile and a half in area, which, many years ago, was connected with the sea, but by the action of storms the passageway was closed, leaving a narrow strip of beach between the pond and the ocean. The islanders desired the reopening of this beach, and accordingly the State of Rhode Island and the town of New Shoreham expended about $115,000 in opening the passage and building jetties, making the pond available as a harbor of refuge for light-draft vessels. The United States gov- ernment took up the work in 1896 and constructed the jetties, accord- ing to the original plan. The south or west jetty when completed will be 1,197 feet long, while the north jetty will be 500 feet, and the channel between will be twenty-five feet deep for a width of 150 feet. This harbor is of great importance to the coastwise trade, as many vessels here find refuge during storms.
Westerly is an important village at the southwest extremity of the
VIEW OF THE HARBOR OF WESTERLY.
497
THE SEA TRADE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT.
State of Rhode Island, which had some commerce in colonial times. At present the place has considerable manufacturing of textiles, thread, and printing presses, and a number of extensive granite quarries are located in its limits. In connection with these industries some ship- ping comes up to its wharves. The place is at the head of navigation on the Pawcatuck River, and has a good harbor. The channel from Little Narragansett Bay to the wharves at Westerly, a distance of about seven miles, has been deepened by the United States govern- ment since 1871 to a depth of eight feet, and a width of one hundred feet, at a cost of $100,000; and according to the most recent plans the channel is to be made ten feet deep. Westerly is in the Stonington customs district.
Tiverton is five miles south of Fall River, at the upper end of the Seaconnet River, and opposite the northern extremity of the island of Rhode Island. Two causeways, with bridges in the center, one for the highway and the other for the railroad, here connect the mainland with the island. The railroad bridge has been recently widened, in the interest of navigation, under instructions from the United States government, to 100 feet, and the channel deepened to 25 feet. The bridges are about a mile apart, and the space between forms a harbor, on the shores of which are a few wharves and coal pockets, to which a small amount of shipping comes in. Directly across from Tiverton is the fish-oil factory of the American Fisheries Co. The steamers of the Seaconnet Steamboat Co., running between Providence and Seaconnet Point, stop at the wharf at Tiverton between the bridges, and also at Humphrey and Church's wharf, several miles to the south on the Seaconnet River. The Seaconnet River is the eastern arm of Narragansett Bay. It is about twelve miles long by about two in average width, the mainland being in the towns of Tiverton and Little Compton, and the island in those of Portsmouth and Middle- town on Rhode Island. The landings at which these steamers call are the only shipping points on this river.
The cities of Fall River and Taunton are on Narragansett Bay, and they have considerable commerce, an account of which, however, does not come within the scope of a consideration of the commerce of Rhode Island.
An enterprise that was essentially commercial in its nature, although it was an attempt to develop internal trade, was the building of the Blackstone Canal from Providence to Worcester. A charter had been obtained from the General Assembly in 1796, authorizing the construc-
32
498
STATE OF RHODE ISLAND AND PROVIDENCE PLANTATIONS.
tion of a canal from tide water at Providence to the north line of the State, but the Massachusetts Legislature refused to grant authority for the portion of the canal within the limits of that State, and the project consequently fell through at that time. John Brown was the leading spirit in this movement, and was prepared to subscribe $40,000 to the stock of the enterprise. The project was revived in 1823, when char- ters were granted by both Rhode Island and Massachusetts, and the companies formed under these charters were by their terms united in interest. Not until two years later, however, were active steps taken to organize a company. April 27, 1825, subscriptions to the stock, which had been placed at $400,000 from Providence and $100,000 from Worcester, were received, and in three hours $1,130,000 was offered, being considerable more than twice the capital asked for. The com- pany was organized in May, with Edward Carrington, Stephen H. Smith and Moses B. Ives as commissioners empowered to build the canal.
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.