USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. II > Part 8
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just as often, the passengers would pretend they were hurrying for a doctor in order to get quicker service. The ferryman's "House of Entertaynement" was a great conven- ience, however, since many of the ferries were sailboats and favorable winds were necessary for their operation.
Ferrymen were exempt from military duty but frequently complaints were lodged against them for being absent from their posts on private business. Also, they were often prone to let their wharves and equip- ment fall into disrepair. Many of the operatives were none too skillful in the man- agement of their boats and frequently "pas- sengers, masters, and servants were com- pelled to work to disengage the ferry, jump- ing into the water to dislodge it from a sand bank."
Ferries in Rhode Island were located at the ends of highways where good landings were available and where the distance in water travel was the shortest. As a matter of fact, the post roads were followers of the ferries in development and, in 1715, Newport contracted for its first paved street between the ferry and the Colony House. Towns were often named for the ferries and, for one hundred years, Howland's Ferry, established in 1640 and the first in Rhode Island, gave its name to the present town of Tiverton.
Ferry owners with other business interests hired substitute operatives to run the ferries for which they held a franchise. And some- times, the younger members of the family did the work. Andrew Edwards, who ran the Red Bridge Ferry in 1695, was only fourteen years old, and William Daggert, running the same ferry in 1770, was the same age. Captain Eaton sailed the large South Ferry when he was but fifteen years of age.
The post road was, at one time, made to cross as many ferries as possible (a money- making scheme, to be sure), highly neces- sary to the success of the ferries. Yet the roads were often in terrible condition. Gates hung across many of those which led to the ferries as late as 1739.
By 1743, wheeled vehicles had become so common as to make regular schedules of rates a necessity. Bristol Ferry, in the fol- lowing hundred years, got most of this sort of traffic and a Ferry Act of 1844 mentions
rates for a "coach, barouche, wagon, four- wheel carriage, chaise or sulky, carryall or pleasure carriage, wagon hung on springs, or ox wagon or cart."
The first ferries were rowboats or canoes. Those at James Street, Providence, were round bottomed with a seat around the sides capable of holding a dozen passengers. The ferryman used crossed oars and stood up in the middle of the boat as he rowed. In 1830, Bristol Ferry had two rowboats, two sailboats, and one horse-powered ferry. Most ferries usually kept several small skiffs on hand for use in transporting one or two passengers at odd times.
Open sail boats of jib and mainsail type were quite extensively used. They were usually between thirty and forty feet long and were suitable for conveying small vehi- cles and cattle as well as passengers. These sail boats were sluggish, not easily man- aged, and extremely difficult to handle in strong winds. Passengers, advised by ferry- men not to cross when the water was too rough, often thought the latter were afraid but such was seldom the case.
Scows hauled across by the aid of a rope, a method much used in other sections of the country at this period, were not of much value for use in Rhode Island waters where the crossings were more often rough than otherwise. However, a few of this type were utilized to replace bridges which were tem- porarily closed.
Horse ferries were of two kinds, those which were fitted with a treadmill operating the paddlewheels directly and those in which the horse or ox trod a circular plat- form which transmitted power to the paddles by cogs. One of the later type was used for a while at Jamestown. These types, however, were not satisfactory, because no progress could be made with them in rough weather.
The first steam ferry was operated by the Boston and Providence Railroad for trans- porting passengers from its terminal at India Point to the Stonington railroad sta- tion at Pawtuxet Cove. By 1873, Jamestown had a steam ferry of the New York type but Bristol did not have steam power until 1905 (due to the effect of the Fall River steam boats upon the ferry traffic).
Before the coming of steam ferries, the ferry landings had been generally built of
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stone, but now slips of piles sunk in the bot- tom in the shape of a horseshoe were found more practical.
In olden days the bay was often frozen over solid in the winter and at those times ferries were, of course, useless. Sometimes, as in the winters of 1739, 1740 and 1780, it was possible to drive across from Nar- ragansett to Portsmouth, or from Bristol to Portsmouth and Prudence Island.
In Revolutionary days the ferries were in- valuable for the transportation of troops and supplies. It was as important that they be kept running as for the English channel to be kept open. Only during the occupa- tion of Newport by the British were there extended interruptions in the service. How-
land's Ferry at that time was guarded by a fort and barracks.
Many of the old ferries are now gone and those remaining are fast disappearing. As Mount Hope Bridge has eliminated the Bris- tol Ferry so other bridges yet to be built, particularly between Jamestown and New- port, will doubtless replace the famous old ferries now in use at the mouth of the bay.
This brief sketch is necessarily incom- plete. As much again might be written about each ferry that ever operated in Rhode Island waters. But, perhaps, enough has been said to arouse an interest in one of the most important means of transporta- tion in the early development of the State and country.
THE "DR. JOHNSON" OF NARRAGANSETT
W HEN Goodwin, the editor of "The Mac- Sparran Diary," in an excellent pref- ace called the distinguished divine of the Narragansett Church a "kind of Dr. John- son in clerical garb," he made an apt char- acterization of the Reverend James Mac- Sparran that will doubtless be associated with his name in history always. In the prime of his years, portly of stature, his head covered by a huge wig, this worthy Episcopal churchman with his righteous air of authority and dignity closely resem- bled Boswell's idol. He typified the finest sort of cultured parish priest, presiding over his somewhat unruly aristocratic flock with ability, firmness, and true religious zeal. Nor did his normal parochial boundaries limit the extent of his ministrations and ac- tivities, for he not only aided other parishes and clergymen throughout Rhode Island and Connecticut and sat as an advisor in the ecclesiastical councils of Newport and Bos- ton, but even carried on a constant corre- spondence with the foremost churchmen of New York and the highest dignitaries of the Church of England.
There is no positive evidence that James MacSparran was born in Dungiven, County
of Derry, Ireland, yet the date of his birth, September 10, 1693, is often associated with that town. It is more probable that he was born in Scotland, as his distinct Scot- tish lineage suggests, and that he was after- wards brought to Ireland by a favorite uncle. At least he lived in Ireland long enough to acquire the warm heart and the fiery temper so characteristic of the sons of Erin, and also became enough of an Irish- man to give way occasionally to those de- lightfully incongruous slips of the tongue known as Irish bulls. Later in his life, when he sent the diplomas of his Mas- ter's and Doctor's degrees to be recorded in the parish register of Dungiven, he voiced a desire to have his name "preserved in his native country," a request that would seem to give credence to the more popular theory of his birth.
The name of the MacSparran family, a branch of the MacDonalds of the Isles, sup- posedly originated from a habit of the founder of the family of wearing a sack-like apron, called a "sporran," in which he car- ried money to pay his retainers. Because of this eccentricity, the name MacSparran- Son of the Purse-not only became his clan name but afterwards the surname of his descendants. The MacDonalds resided in
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the Mull of Kintyre, part of Scotland near- est to Ireland, and Kintore, a recorded Scot- tish home of the MacSparrans, has proba- bly been misspelled.
The young James MacSparran, whether Irish or Scotch, attended the University of Glasgow, from which, in 1709, he received the degree of Master of Arts. He continued by studying for the Presbyterian ministry and, within a few years, obtained his cre- dentials as a licentiate of the Scotch Presby- tery. Just why he decided to come to America is unknown, but, in 1718, he land- ed in Boston at a time when Cotton Mather was the town's religious dictator. The two clashed for some reason, and the young MacSparran left Boston to visit a relative in Bristol.
Inasmuch as the Congregational pulpit was vacant when he arrived in the Rhode Island seaport, he was asked to occupy it on the first Sunday. His physical appearance, brilliant rhetoric, and youthful ardor so im- pressed the parishioners that they invited him to remain as the regular pastor at a stipend of £100 per annum. Soon, how- ever, a fierce controversy, probably started through jealousy, made him a temporary victim of slander. Although he was par- tially exonerated in town meeting, his cre- dentials were still questioned, and in 1719 he left for Ireland to obtain their confir- mation. His pastorate expected his return the following June, but when, in 1721, he did come back it was not to Bristol and it was as a presbyter of the Church of Eng- land and a missionary of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. His only allusion to this change of status appeared in "America Dissected," written in the later years of his life, when he says: "I have great reason to thank God, that I was afflicted and abused by a false charge in my youth, as that opened me a way into the Christian priesthood inthe most excellent of all churches." This statement and his long blameless career at Saint Paul's, in Narra- gansett, eliminates the suspicions originated at Bristol. While in England, in 1720, he had been ordained to the diaconate in the Church of England by the Bishop of Lon- don and to the priesthood by the Archbish- op of Canterbury, receiving a license from the former to assume his ministerial office in the Province of New England.
He came to Narragansett, but was also commissioned to "officiate, as opportunity shall offer, at Bristol, Freetown, Swansey, and Little Compton, where there are many people, members of the Church of England, destitute of a minister." The parish of Saint Paul in Narragansett, organized fifteen years before his arrival, was practically dissolved, and at his first communion he ad- ministered to but seven followers. Yet by 1727 he had built up a congregation of over three hundred members. Like Dean Berke- ley, who later came often to Narragansett as a guest pastor, he was especially zealous in his ministrations to the Indians and ne- groes of the vicinity and instructed them regularly each Sunday before his service.
His marriage, in 1722, to Hannah Gardi- ner, his baptism of Col. Daniel Updike, At- torney-General of the Colony, and the ad- hesion to the church of Judge Francis Wil- let were three events which marked the steady rise of his church in social status. Hannah Gardiner, only seventeen at the time of her marriage, was a beautiful and gifted member of a powerful family, allied by marriage to the even more influential Robinson and Hazard families, and the young preacher found himself welcomed and adopted into the highest social circles of the Colony. His young wife possessed exceptional qualities of mind and heart which especially fitted her to be his intimate companion and, in 1755, after her tragic death in London, he writes of her as "the most pious of women, the best of wives in the world."
Early in his ministry, Dr. MacSparran procured land on the east side of what was later known as MacSparran Hill in South Kingston and built the mansion known as Glebe House. It was a spacious, gambrel- roofed structure with a long family room wherein the Sunday services were often held during the stormy days of winter. In the south wing of the house was the doctor's study and his beloved library.
This home was a veritable shrine of hos- pitality. Guests were always welcome, even when, as it occasionally happened, as many as nine arrived unexpectedly at din- ner time. In the "Great Room" Dean Berke- ley was often entertained and John Smibert, the artist, fresh from a sojourn in Italy, who brought the sunshine and culture of
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that Latin country to the MacSparran home in his fascinating discourses on art and poe- try. It was he, too, who later painted por- traits of both the Doctor and his charming wife. These two, Berkeley and Smibert, were among the outstanding visitors to this hos- pitable home, yet many from the parish and social circles of Narragansett always found a welcome at its door.
Doctor MacSparran was a man of diver- sified temperament, but his virtues were predominant. He despised lay-reading and the preachers who had not been born in Ire- land or England, and was rather narrow and bigoted in his belief in the exalted station of his church and his religion. How- ever, his diary reveals him as a very human person, warm-hearted, sincere in his zeal, and faithful both to earthly ties and the greater bond with God. He highly deserved the praise which the University of Oxford gave him in the form of an honorary doc- tor's degree in 1736.
His labors were not entirely confined to religion, for he acquired quite a reputation as a doctor in the medical sense of the term. He worked (when there was need) in the fields along with some of his servants and parishioners and was not above aiding in many kinds of menial labor, although his aristocratic tendencies did not make such occasions too frequent. In 1751 he preached the sermon before the court on Tower Hill,
vigorously indicting the murderer, Thomas Carter.
England, which he had left behind, was always in his mind the promised land to which he hoped to return, and, in 1754, he made a second trip to the British Isles, tak- ing his wife with him and hoping to make some provision for remaining there the rest of his life or for becoming a bishop in America. The journey was totally disast- rous in all respects. There, in London, in 1755, his beloved wife succumbed to small- pox and was buried in the little Broadway Chapel burying ground near Victoria Street in Westminster. He could not gain a place in England and the dignitaries of the church were not yet ready to ordain a bishop in America.
Sad, broken in spirit, and with only the shadow of his former vigor, he returned to his Narragansett parish, dying there about two years later. And, after the manner of his diary, some kindly hand wrote on the Narragansett Parish Register: "On ye 5th day of December A. D. 1757 ye Rev. Doctor James MacSparran died at his house in South Kingston, who was minister of St. Paul's Church in ye Narragansett for ye space of Thirty Seven years, and was de- cently interred under ye Communion Table in said Church, on ye sixth day of said month, Much Lamented by his Parishioners and all whom he had Acquaintance with."
A GENTLEMAN OF NEWPORT
T NO HAVE been a signer of the Declaration of Independence is not in itself a dis- tinction which should entitle a man to fame. That the men who did sign this stirring dec- laration were distinguished is another mat- ter. William Ellery, Jr., himself, in speak- ing of the case of another correspondent, who had publicly vindicated his slighted claim of being among the signers, said, "My name is there and, I believe, in every list that has been printed. If it had not been inserted in any of them, I question whether I should have taken the same pains to estab- lish the fact as he has done. I should have left it to others, I believe, to prove it."
This evidence of reticence is exceedingly commendable to this sturdy Rhode Islander and should have the effect of making us anxious to know more about him.
The first of the Ellerys settled in Bristol, Rhode Island, near the close of the 17th century. Here William Ellery, Senior, was born in 1701. After graduating from Har- vard College in 1722, he took up his resi- dence in Newport, becoming one of its lead- ing merchants and a close friend of such men as Abraham Redwood, Peleg Brown, Nathaniel Kay, Henry Collins, Thomas Hazard, and Abraham Whipple. That he was a man well-liked in the prosperous and popular seaport was evident, for he was
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chosen to fill such offices as Judge, Assis- tant Governor, and Deputy-Governor. His love of civil and religious liberty was the key-note to his whole character.
William, his second son, was born in Newport, December 22, 1727, and lived in that town until 1743, the year in which he, too, entered Harvard College. While little enough is known of his college career, it was there that he acquired his first love for the classics, Greek, Latin, and French, and there he laid the foundation for that tem- pered philosophy of life that was to be his mark of distinction. Due to the social prominence of his own family in Newport, he was well-received in the social circles of Cambridge. In the four years of study he grew to love both his Alma Mater and the charming society which had adopted him, and Cambridge became his "second" home throughout the rest of his life. After having returned to Newport and established him- self as a merchant there, he went back to Cambridge in 1750 to marry Ann Reming- ton, a daughter of one of the justices of the Massachusetts Superior Court. His family life was always very beautiful, for he was a devoted husband and father.
However, this first wife died in 1764, and three years later William Ellery, Jr., mar- ried again. He engaged in many pursuits in the town of Newport, being at one time Naval Officer of the Colony, but it was not until 1770 that he began to practice law.
William Ellery had no outstanding qual- ities other than those which ever mark the true gentleman. He was sincere, sound of sense, and thorough in his love of freedom. Although "freedom" was the general de- mand of all the colonists at that time, his love of liberty was not built upon the shift- ing sands of public sentiment but upon the firm resolutions deduced from his own re- flections and experiences. For that reason he placed his own obligations to uphold liberty as high as those which bound him to his wife and children. He was no dream- er, but believed that rights went hand in hand with duties. Although he joined in the agitation against the Stamp Act, knew the leaders of the movement toward independ- ence, and served on important committees to procure the repeal of oppressive English revenue acts, his active political life did not rightly begin until 1776.
In that year he went to Congress as a del- egate from Newport, Rhode Island. On the 14th of May, he, along with Stephen Hopkins of Providence, Rhode Island, be- came one of that distinguished group of gentlemen who set their signatures after the Declaration of Independence. He real- ized to the full the responsibility involved in such an act but was cheerfully prepared to face it. While the others came up to affix their signatures, he stood by the side of Secretary Charles Thomas, watching the expressions on their faces, and felt that those sturdy Americans, his compatriots, were equal to the crisis.
From 1771 to 1786 with the exception of the years 1780 and 1782, he remained in Congress. At that time a delegate to Con- gress did not have any more dignity or power than that which he already held in his own right. Perhaps, because his po- litical career was not in any way extraordi- nary, not much is known about this period of his life. He served on many com- mittees, the most important being the Ma- rine Committee and the Board of Admiralty of the Navy Department, a board made up of three commissioners and two delegates from Congress, whose duty was to super- vise the naval and marine affairs of the young United States.
But a complete knowledge of the political career of William Ellery, Jr., is not neces- sary to an appreciation of the man himself. He lived a full life outside of politics in which his character was perhaps more truly revealed.
During the years he passed in Congress he kept a minute diary of his journeys (made on horseback) to and from Wash- ington, noting everything of importance about the inns, roads, fees, and all that happened on the way.
In 1776, after having reached an inn which he and his companions thought might be attacked by the English, he writes: ". .. In the first place, we fortified our stomachs with beef steaks and some strong drink and then went to work to fortify ourselves against an attack. .... W. E. was so solaced with the beef, etc., that every trace of fear was utterly erased from his imagination, and he slept soundly."
Again, in speaking of the condition of one of these wayside taverns, he notes in his
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journal: "The room admitted cold air at 1000 chinks, and our narrow bed had on it only one rug and one sheet. We went to bed almost completely dressed, but even that would not do . . . Our fellow lodgers suf- fered as much as we did; and, if they had read Tristram Shandy's chapter of curses and had remembered it, would have cursed our landlady through his whole category of curses."
But to proceed with a characterization of the man. In person, he was a man of mod- erate height with a large forehead, well- formed head, and features. His counten- ance was thoughtful and attentive; his speech quiet and impressive, and his step measured and slow. His dress was very plain yet becoming, being neither in the extreme mode nor yet old-fashioned for the times. His manners were cordial and deli- cate without the stupidity of excessive formality.
Besides being a trusted man, intelligible in word and deed, prudent, straight-forward, practical, independent, and consistent, he was also witty, extremely good-humored, an easy conversationalist and a clever satirist. When Congress needed some good wit to ridicule its arrogance or to suppress its use- less argument, William Ellery, Jr., was most emphatically required, and more than one bored delegate from another State was not slow to say so. He was not a born speaker and at first was the victim of his own diffidence. However, after repeated ef- forts to improve himself, he became a good debater if not an orator. Writing, in 1815, of this period of his life, he says: "You have discovered a large bundle of letters, written by me to your father (from Con- gress). Have mercy upon them! I was a Whig then. Now I am called a Tory. They must be shown to no one. I am afraid they are full of fire. I am glad to find that, hav- ing passed through many fiery trials, I am now happy in my tranquil apartment with but little of the inflammability which my Whiggism excited, but still a staunch friend to political liberty and that liberty with which the Gospel has made us free." He was, in fact, a Whig during the Revolution and a Federalist thereafter.
In 1786 he left Congress and political
life. During the war his home had been burned and his family driven back to the mainland. He returned to a Newport whose trade, wealth, and renown had been shat- tered, and at the age of 60 began business anew, starting out in the closing years of his life to provide for his children. He held the office of Collector of Customs for the Dis- trict of Newport from 1790 until his death.
After retiring from active participation in politics, he spent a great deal of time writing in behalf of public faith and effi- cient government, thereby causing much argument and attention. Yet, he soon relin- quished even that slight interest in politics. He was an astute theologian, yet advocated no fixed creed. While he was a diligent student of the Bible, a supporter of charity and religious freedom, he belonged to no church, but worshipped with the Congrega- tionalists. "I believe," he said, "If party names were entirely disused, there would be more harmony among Christians."
War he abhorred, although in Congress he recommended that General Greene re- ceive appropriate recognition for his gal- lant services in the Revolution and, later on, applauded Perry's victory. Yet he was not a hero worshiper for he believed that "mon- ey raised for celebration for heroes, where towns were merely trying to outdo each other in splendor, might better be given to the families of the dead or disabled." Re- ferring to Napoleon, in 1812, he writes: "How long this dreadful scourge will be suffered to lay waste and destroy, the Lord only knoweth."
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