USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. I > Part 6
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General Greene was able to make his home his headquarters for about two weeks after this battle, but he was always busy with the affairs of the army, and rode con- stantly between his home and Providence on its business.
The next winter was that of 1778-9 and our Army was camped near the Hudson River.
"Living was easier in the camp than it had been at Valley Forge, for there were farmhouses where the officers were quar- tered and some of the rooms were large enough for dancing. Many a pleasant eve- ning the soldiers and ladies passed. Greene found that dancing, of which he was always so fond, made oases in the desert of his troubles in the quartermaster's department. He could still 'dance strong.'
"Washington said to Catherine one eve- ning, 'Will you do me the honor?' And without sitting down once the couple danced for over three hours. 'A pretty little frisk' General Greene described it in a letter to a friend.
"After Benedict Arnold's treason in the fall of 1780, General Nathanael Greene was put in command at West Point and he sent for his wife, Catherine, to join him there. Now she must travel in the carriage that bore the arms of a former owner, a Tory, and he warned her to be sure and have the coach painted over before she made the journey.
"One thing and another delayed her on her way. There were no telegraphs, no telephones, in those days. She failed to arrive and her husband worried. Was it the roads, was she taken prisoner, or ill, or what had happened?
"Just then General Washington ordered Greene to go south and take command of our troops there. He asked for a brief de- lay, Washington was unable to grant it. So General Greene wrote a most affec- tionate farewell to Catherine, went to his duty in the south, and husband and wife did not see each other again for two years."
We all know that Greene's career in the South was a glorious one.
It was out of gratitude for his services in that section of the country that the States of Georgia and South Carolina rewarded him a magnificent way, but of this, later.
Catherine went to camp for the last time in the spring of 1781, and she remained there until the British marched out of Charlestown about fifteen months after the battle of Yorktown.
Now that the War was over, the Greenes could, at last, go home. Mrs. Greene was not strong enough to stand the long journey by coach, so she returned by water, while the General rode the thousand miles amidst the acclaims of nearly every hamlet, town and city that he passed through. On the 15th of August, 1783, he left the South where he had paused to examine his gifts from grateful Georgia and South Carolina, and arrived in Rhode Island the last of No- vember.
In Coventry he no longer had any busi- ness interests. He had disposed of them to his brothers who had lost heavily during the War, and he decided to take his family to Newport, leasing a house opposite the "Old Stone Mill." Here they were very happy. After years of danger and partings and heavy cares, Greene was free at last to enjoy his home and family. He wished only to be with them. He did not want any further office or outside duty. He hoped to be happy with his wife and children in Newport, and with them on his South Caro- lina estate in the winters. But these plans were not to be fully carried out, for during the war, when his heart bled over the hard- ships of his soldiers, he had personally guaranteed payment for food and clothes for his army. On his bond his men had been fed and clothed; but now the merchant, Banks, who had furnished these supplies had died and his creditors pressed Greene for payment.
General Greene had, of course, expected Congress to stand back of his expenditure, but there were delays, and so the Greenes gave up their South Carolina estate to help pay the Banks' debt. Even so, the amount did not fully cover the indebtedness.
In the autumn of 1785, however, he and his family went to Georgia to live on the beautiful estate confiscated from the former Lieutenant-Governor of that State, John Graham, a Tory. This estate was on the Savannah River, about fourteen miles -
above the city of that name.
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"THE OLD STONE BANK"
General Greene wrote that the prospect was delightful, the house magnificent; that they had coach-house and stables, a large out-kitchen, a poultry house and a pigeon- house that would hold 1000 pigeons. Here he expected to live and enjoy life.
He said: "Catherine, we are still young, many happy years before us!"
But on June 19th, 1786, he died from a sunstroke, and his wife was left with five young children.
Nathanael Greene, honored in death as he was in life, lies under a monument in Savannah. Lafayette laid the cornerstone of it in 1823.
They had been married about twelve years, and eight of these he had spent either in camp or in the field for his country. It was of him that Sparks said: "He may justly be regarded as the most extraordi- nary man in the Army of the Revolution." The historian says that these words were carefully chosen, for although "Washing- ton, by common consent, had no rival" all things considered, Greene was the most extraordinary man of that period.
Catherine Greene now found herself a widow at about thirty-two years of age, and possessing the Mulberry Grove estate. The balance of that terrible "Banks' bill" was still unpaid. It had occasioned them both years of anxiety. The lawyers tried to persuade the widow to repudiate any further responsibility for it, but she said, "Get out of paying? Why I consider those debts of honor, and I'd starve sooner than they should not be paid." They pleaded with her to consider the thousands of pounds yet due, and that she had five children to care for, and only the Mulberry Grove estate to her name. But Catherine appealed to Congress, and in 1792 the country paid the balance of this bill, about one hundred thousand dollars. A great burden was lifted from her shoulders and she considered that her husband had been vindicated.
Now, Catherine took her children North for a visit to her old home. On the way back she made the acquaintance of a young man who had become a great friend of her children's. He mended their toys and amused them on the long journey. He was planning to tutor the children of a gentleman in Savannah, but when he met his prospective employer, it was evident
that the latter had no idea of paying him a living wage. He was greatly disappointed. He had no friends in the South and was without resources, so in great discourage- ment he resolved to return North. Mrs. Greene invited him to visit her and the chil- dren at their home in Mulberry Grove.
The name of this young man was Eli Whitney, and while he was in the Greene home he invented the cotton-gin. This was a wonderful invention meant to separate cotton from its seeds by means of machin- ery, whereas the work had formerly all been done by hand. When Whitney believed he had a practical working machine he called Mrs. Greene to come and see it. Full of in- terest she watched the machine begin to pull the cotton from the seeds beautifully. Al- most overjoyed they watched the working of this first cotton-gin, and then disappoint- ment clouded their bright sky. The fibres massed against the wires until the teeth of the machine were clogged. Young Whitney was almost sick with dismay, but Catherine ran quickly to the fire-place, snatched up a hearth-brush and brushed the wires clear of the clogging fibres.
"What you need is a brush," she said. And so Whitney made another cylinder with a brush attachment, and this prac- tically perfected his machine.
General Lafayette had besought Mrs. Greene to let him have young George Washington Greene in his own home, where he could oversee his education and bring him up as his own son. Washington made a request of the same nature, but Lafayette had spoken first, so the lad went to France. He remained with the family of Lafayette until the troubles of the French Revolution worried Catherine so much that she sent for him to return home. Shortly after he arrived there, he was drowned in an acci- dent in the Savannah River, and it is said that his mother never fully recovered from the shock of his death.
And now, at last, we come to Mr. Phineas Miller, the "overseer," or manager, of the Mulberry Grove Plantation. Just why Catherine left this home and removed to Cumberland Island we do not know, but move she did and was evidently married there to Mr. Miller. They lived there at a place called "Dungeness."
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Did Catherine Greene lose social pres- tige when she married Mr. Phineas Miller? Mrs. Cate, of Brunswick, Georgia, writes that she believes not. She says, to quote from her letter, "Contrary to the opinion of many people to-day an overseer was not an ordinary man, and the fact that Miller was in charge of the Greene estate does not nec- essarily mean that he was not a gentleman in every sense of the word. Often the type of man who could manage a large indus- trial plant in our present day world would be the sort of man who would manage an estate in the days of slavery."
Mrs. Cate also believes that there were no children by this second marriage; Catherine's children, therefore, were all Greenes.
That Phineas Miller was loved and re- spected by the Greene family there would seem to be no doubt. Martha Washington Greene, the eldest daughter, who married a Mr. John Nightengale, named her son for him. His name, therefore, was Phineas Miller Nightengale. This same Brunswick correspondent says that the Nightengales of her section are to this day what the colored people call "Quality," and that there have been sons of that family bearing the name of Phineas Miller Nightengale, one genera- tion after another.
An old letter dated November 23, 1785, speaks of Phineas Miller thus: "A young gentleman from Connecticut of amiable qualities, and a mathematical genius equal to any one in the United States. Educated at Yale College, recommended by Dr. Stiles, President of Yale College, and em- ployed by General Greene as a tutor for his children."
Shakespere says: "Be thou as chaste as ice, as pure as snow, thou shalt not escape calumny."
This was true even of Catherine Little- field Greene, but this same old letter of 1785, written by Isaac Briggs, a Georgian of some note in his day, speaks of this, and
also writes that when he was in New Eng- land he was told that General Greene was seeking a divorce from his wife because she had been unfaithful to him. When Mr. Briggs visited Newport he made inquiries there, and found that this evil report was "all a lie."
It was also claimed that she was not a fond or painstaking mother. Mr. Briggs classed this also as pure envy and scandal. He had visited in her home and thought very highly of her maternal affection, care and judgment shown in her relations with her beloved children. Mr. Briggs wrote: "A lady who is superior to the little foibles of her sex, who disdains affectation, who thinks and acts as she pleases within the limits of virtue and good sense, without consulting the world about it, is generally an object of envy and detraction. She has an infinite fund of vivacity, the world calls it levity. She possesses an unbounded benevolence which but very few possess. The world calls it imprudence. In short, she is honest and unaffected enough that she is a woman-as for the report that she is destitute of maternal affection, paid no attention to the education of her children, I cannot for my life see what foundation there is for it. I am perfectly convinced that she has a great source of maternal affection, and I never met with a woman in my life, who had an idea or who had fol- lowed a system of education so much to my mind as Lady Greene."
Catherine Greene Miller was buried on Cumberland Island, Georgia, and her grave- stone bears the following inscription :
"In memory of Catherine Miller, (Widow of the late Major-general Greene, Commander-in-chief of the American Revolutionary Army, in the Southern Department in 1783) who died September 2nd, 1814, aged 59 years. She possessed great tal- ents and exalted virtues."
"THE OLD STONE BANK"
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STATE of'
DENCI
RHODE ISLAND
d PROVIDENCE
TATIONS
STEPHEN HOPKINS
D URING the 18th century Rhode Island went through a remarkable change. In 1700 it had little more than the rudi- ments of a colony. Communication, within its boundaries and with the neighbors, was poor and infrequent, and the settlements were united only by name. Each com- munity was self-sufficent, and only Newport and Providence showed the beginnings of commerce and industry. Newport far out- shone its rival, at the head of the bay.
At the end of the century, in 1799, Rhode Island had a well-administered local gov- ernment, with its towns all definitely united. It held a position equal to that of other commonwealths, which were all under a central federal authority. Its population had increased seven-fold. It was acquiring wealth rapidly, and its foreign and domestic commerce was growing and flourishing. Its system for public education, which did not exist at the beginning of the century, had become an active asset. Moreover, Rhode Island could boast of a college. Because of the common cause which the Revolution provided, the spirit of the colonists was now consciously and distinctly national.
The man who had more to do with this rapid growth and change than any other individual was Stephen Hopkins. Stephen was the brother of Esek Hopkins, the first Admiral of the American Navy. He is not so well known as his illustrious brother be- cause he lived during a period of compara- tive peace, and no fame is quite so great as that accompanying military or naval glory. A search into his individual record reveals, however, that he was one of the most illus- trious citizens that Providence, or Rhode Island, has ever produced.
He was born in 1707 in South Providence, near Broad, Sackett, and Hamilton Streets. His parents, William Hopkins and Ruth Wilkinson Hopkins, were both from Quaker stock. In Stephen's early years, the family moved to Chopmiscook, now Chopmist, near the northwest corner of Scituate. This region was a mere frontier settlement. Bri- dle paths afforded the only access, and there was no country store, no postal route, no church, and no school. But Stephen's mother was an exceptional woman, who was well educated, and spared no pains to instruct her children properly. Both Stephen's grandfathers were intelligent, enterprising, and public-spirited men. They gave him practical instruction in math- ematics and surveying which was later to aid him immeasurably. Also, through asso- ciation with these older men, he became acquainted with many prominent and influ- ential citizen of the State.
By the time he was twenty-one, he was well prepared for the public life which was to follow, and three years later he was elected to his first office, that of Mediator of the town of Scituate. At the next town meeting he was elected Town Clerk, and held this office for ten years, meanwhile taking on other duties. From 1735 until 1742, when it became necessary for him to remove to Providence, he was President of the Town Council. In 1736 he was elected one of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas, and Justice of the Peace. In 1732 he was one of the two Representatives to the Rhode Island General Assembly from the town of Scituate, and was re-elected every year but one until 1738. In 1737 he was engaged to revise the streets and project
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a map of Scituate and Providence, and this accomplishment won for him, in 1740, the appointment of Surveyor of the Proprie- tors' Lands and Clerk of the Proprietors. In 1741 he was again Representative from Scituate, and was chosen Speaker of the General Assembly and Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas. The two years preceding this, he had been first on the list of Justices of the Court of Common Pleas for Provi- dence County.
In 1742 he found it necessary and profit- able to move to Providence with his family, and promptly took an active part in the city's affairs. It is written of him that "he taught Providence her capabilities, and cal- culated, rather than prophesied, her future growth and prosperity." At the time of his removal to Providence, the city had a popu- lation of 4,000. It had no custom house, no town house, no school houses or college, no library or public market house, no state house, no bank or insurance office, no print- ing press or newspaper, and no paved streets-only four churches, one mill, and three taverns.
The account of him goes on to say: "Hav- ing forecast in his own mind the commercial future which Providence had before it and accurately divided the channels through which it was to come, Stephen proceeded to do all in his power to bring in the new order of things." He found helpful co- operators in the four Brown brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, John, and Moses. These men accomplished much. New wharves and storehouses were built, and new streets, and new bridges, a system of insurance policies was established; together with a school house commission, a library, a college, and a newspaper. Stephen was the prime ex- ponent of all these projects, and the favor in which he stood is attested by his record of public offices held after his removal to Providence. Two years after his arrival he was re-elected Speaker of the General As- sembly, and appointed Deputy from Provi- dence. Between 1746 and 1752, he was re- elected to the General Assembly six times. He was also largely responsible for Rhode Island's present boundaries, as he was a member of the commission which attended a hearing on the boundary question. The result of this hearing was that five towns
between Massachusetts and Rhode Island were annexed to this State.
In 1751 he became Chief Justice of the Superior Court, from which office he stepped into that of Governor in May, 1755. In 1754 he represented Rhode Island at the Albany Congress, and was the only delegate who fully supported Benjamin Franklin's plan for "union and confederation."
During the Seven Years' War, Governor Hopkins organized three additional Rhode Island companies making such excellent preparations that he was congratulated by General Winslow, Commander of the Massa- chusetts forces, and was also re-elected Gov- ernor. His total time of service as Governor was a little over ten years, between 1755 and 1768.
From 1763 on, when the legislation of the English Parliament assumed oppressive proportions, he played an important part in shaping public opinion towards resisting this oppression and approving the idea of separation and independence. One of his most powerful instruments for this purpose was the Providence Gazette and Country Journal, a weekly which he had helped to found. One of his articles, "Rights of Col- onies Examined," was so throughly con- vincing that it was reprinted in almost every colony in America.
When the Declaration of Independence was drawn up, Hopkins was one of the signers. After several years of ill health which did not entirely confine him, he died in 1785, universally mourned as a genial comrade, and respected as a student, mer- chant, leader of public sentiment, writer, historian, orator, legislator, jurist, execu- tive officer, patriot, and statesman.
In the shadow of the imposing new Provi- dence County Courthouse, a few steps from Market Square, has come to rest for future generations to see the little wooden dwelling house that was once the home of Stephen Hopkins, illustrious Rhode Island citizen who played so important a part in the early history of the State. This permanent memorial was turned over to the Society of Colonial Dames in Rhode Island in the year 1929, and its doors were opened so that the public could view the interior of a typical dwelling of Revolutionary days, and picture in imagination the quaint scenes
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"THE OLD STONE BANK"
that took place within its walls. Originally this house stood on South Main Street. In 1804 it was moved half way up the hill, and now is located permanently on the west side of Benefit Street, at the corner of Hopkins Street.
Let us look into the pages of history for one or two sidelights on the character of this man who occupies one of the prom- inent niches in the Rhode Island hall of fame.
John Adams, who was associated with him in Congress, speaks of him thus: "The pleasantest part of my labors in the four years I spent in Congress, from 1774 to 1778, was in the Committee on Naval Affairs. Mr. Lee and Mr. Gadsen, two mem- bers of the committee, were sensible men and very cheerful, but Governor Hopkins of Rhode Island, above seventy years of age, kept us all alive. Upon business, his ex- perience and judgment were very useful. but when the business of the evening was over, he kept us in conversation till eleven and sometimes twelve o'clock. His custom was to drink nothing until eight in the eve- ning, when his beverage was Jamaica spirits and water. It gave him wit, humor, anec- dotes, science, and learning. He had read Greek, Roman, and British history, and was familiar with English poetry, particu- larly Pope, Thompson, and Milton, and the flow of his soul made all of his reading our own, and seemed to bring in recollection in all of us all we had ever read . . . . Hop- kins never drank to excess, but all he drank was immediately converted into wit, sense, knowledge and good humor, and inspired us all with similar qualities."
Here is a letter Hopkins wrote in Phila- delphia to his son's wife, on June 21, 1775:
"Beloved Ruth. . .. I wrote you on the 25th of May and gave you an account of our journey hither. Since then I have had an ill turn and two or three fits of fever and ague, but am now well. Your mother has not been well for several days, and is now quite poorly. I hope she will soon be better. George I expected to have seen here, but believe he has gone to South Carolina. Col. Washington will set out from here in a day or two for New England to take command of the Continental Army of which he is ap- pointed Commander-in-Chief. He will be accompanied by General Lee, who also has
a command in the army which is taken in- to the pay of all America. I can give no guess yet when we shall leave this place- certainly not very soon, unless we adjourn to the Northland, which is talked of, but not agreed to yet.
Give my best to all parts of the family, and respects to all who may ask after me. Should be glad to hear from you, and re- main your Affectionate Father, Stephen Hopkins."
In March, 1781, it became necessary for Washington to visit the Island of Rhode Island to make arrangements with the newly arrived French allies, for the con- duct of the approaching campaign. On his way he stopped for a few days at Provi- dence.
It was doubtless on this occasion that Washington paid the visit to Stephen Hop- kins of which Moses Brown has left so in- teresting a record: "I was sitting with him," says Moses Brown, "when General Washington alone, called to see him. I sat some time viewing their simple, friendly and pleasant manner these two great men met and conversed with each other on various subjects." Moses Brown adds that he had occasionally seen Washington before and after this occasion, and had been im- pressed because his simple, easy manner resembled that of Governor Hopkins.
In 1774 Stephen Hopkins, although in feeble health, was a delegate from Rhode Island to the first Continental Congress. Of the fifty-five delegates present, he was the only one who had been a member of the Albany Congress in 1754. (Franklin, who also had been at the Albany Congress, was not a member of the Continental Congress until 1775.) Hopkins, more than anyone else at that gathering, seemed to appreciate the gravity of the situation, and to realize that war was inevitable. He expressed this conviction in the following memorable and courageous words :
"Powder and ball will decide this ques- tion. The gun and bayonet alone will finish the contest in which we are engaged, and any of you who cannot bring your minds to this mode of adjusting the ques- tion, had better retire in time."
Some historians have gone so far as to acclaim Stephen Hopkins as the most dis-
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tinguished citizen to whom the city of Providence has given birth. Roger Williams first saw the light of day on the other side of the Atlantic; and Nathanael Greene, whose name is held in deepest honor throughout the State, was born in Warwick, and was never a resident of Providence. The great names of Berkley and Channing have inseparable associations with Newport, though none with Providence. Stephen Hopkins, however, was born on Providence soil, was thoroughly satisfied with her in- terests, and was one of her most assiduous public servants. She is most deeply in- debted to his exertions.
One who knew him well, and had care- fully studied the influence of his person- ality, said of him long after his death :
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