USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. III > Part 17
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Morning arrived and a neighboring cottager called at the inn to congratulate Ferdinand on the fact that such a dis- tinguished guest had been entertained there the night before. Of course, the inn-keeper insisted that no prominent guest had been lodged in his establish- ment and he pretended to be sur- prised at the statements made by this cottager. The neighbor protested that there must be some mistake since an officer had called at his home just about dusk, inquired for the residence of the Celestros, and mentioned that he had intelligence of an agreeable nature to communicate concerning the long-absent Henrico. With a ghastly countenance
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Ferdinand emphatically denied having entertained any officer, and then the cottager repeated his assertions and added "that guest was your son Henrico." The neighbor continued, "Henrico said to me, that from his long absence he fancied you would not know him, and before he unveiled himself he would try you, that when discovered, your joy might be the greater."
The remorse-stricken parent uttered a groan, fell upon the floor and expired. Jacques immediately fled the country and avoided detection while the lonely, hapless Amanda remained at the inn somewhere near Mount Hope in Bristol, to weep over the grave of her fallen brother, and to lament the depravity of Jacques, and the too confiding and deluded spirit of her guilty father.
THE FIRST HORSES
M ANY persons are curious about certain phases of early Colonial life con- cerning which comparatively little is known, or ever will be known. Many of their questions are of a genealogical nature requiring painstaking expert re- search, and these are generally difficult to answer unless such family records are in published form with all steps in certain name evolution brought up to date, or nearly so. Another type of historical question commonly received pertains to odd facts of early times and, sooner or later, constant search, and, quite often, accidental discovery, reveals the answer so anxiously sought by one or more individuals. One question as yet not clearly answered by the author, and one that has prompted writing to the His- torian by several people is: "Did the Indians who lived in the vicinity of the first Rhode Island settlement have domes- ticated cats?" Another question which has been received often is: "Were horses here in New England before the coming of the first settlers - were they native to this continent or were they imported after the year 1620?" The answer to the house-cat question will be furnished in due time, but the latter, pertaining to horses in Colonial times, especially the first horses of Rhode Island, will be the subject of this chapter. Much of the information comes from a pamphlet published in 1922 by Cornell University and prepared by Dean Phillips of that institution - and this pamphlet came to the notice of the author through the kind interest of Mr. Benjamin Ladd Cook, noted horseman of Rhode Island.
New England is filled with furniture and household utensils claimed to have been brought across the ocean in the tiny and overcrowded "Mayflower," and ap- parently there are still in existence enough of these rare and valued specimens to have crammed the historic craft to over- flowing several times, allowing no room for the passengers. Therefore, it is com- forting, and, at the same time, less dis- illusioning, to find that the Pilgrims brought neither horses nor cattle with them to the new land, and it was not until four years later that the first head of cattle were shipped to New England. Unfortunately, Bradford's immortal nar- rative, and all other contemporary writ- ings, contained the term cattle used in a general sense in reference to any sort of livestock, including horses, therefore it is impossible to determine exactly how many of the latter animals were in Plymouth at the time. However, in 1629, a large number of settlers came over to join with the Massachusetts Bay Colony and they brought with them a considerable number of horses and cattle, one hundred and fifteen head in all, among which were thirteen horses. In the following year, the ships that brought over Governor Winthrop and the second group of colo- nists had on board two hundred and forty cows and about sixty horses. Some of these animals died during the ocean passage so it is doubtful how many finally reached these shores alive, but records dis- close that among the horses that survived there were both mares and stallions.
Native grasses in New England made good hay, and this fact made it possible
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to keep livestock with little difficulty in spite of the rigors of the winters in this part of the country. Cattle and horses were of service to the colonists in many ways. The neat cattle, or cattle of the bovine character, furnished the people with food, hides for leather, and oxen for draft purposes. Horses served to some extent for draft, but for ploughing and other heavy plantation work they were found less serviceable than oxen. Their important use was to furnish means of rapid transportation from place to place. In the earliest days of the settle- ments, most of the travel was on foot or in canoes and small boats, but by 1652, early writings show that there were "wild and uncouth woods filled with frequented ways and rivers overlaid with bridges passable for both horse and foot." This indicates in a general way the transition that soon took place, so that horses became of steadily increasing importance as the settlement of the country pro- ceeded and the towns became more numerous and widely separated.
Horses were found valuable during the days when the colonists were having difficulties with the Indians since these beasts enabled the settlers to bring aid quickly to one another when attacked and thus saved many a settlement from extinction. It is interesting to note that in Plymouth, Massachusetts Bay and in Connecticut, laws were passed to pre- vent the selling of horses to the natives, and even as late as 1665 it was only after considerable debate that the Plymouth court allowed one such sale to be made to a friendly Indian for purposes of hus- bandry. It is apparent that our ancestors fully realized the advantage the Indian would have had if he could have possessed horses.
From the very earliest period of New England history it was customary to allow both horses and cattle to run at large on the public commons. At times and in some places a herdsman was employed to care for the combined herds of a town, but as these herds increased in size and the settlements became more scattered the animals began to roam more or less at will about the settled areas and often strayed away for consid-
erable distances into the forest or were lost completely. Strays of this sort were numerous and this often led to many difficulties of ownership, which in time compelled definite legislative provisions to be made.
Where horse raising developed, as it did later, on the islands of Long Island Sound, and on the water-guarded points and necks of Rhode Island, this free range was not a serious problem. But where the horses and cattle were running loose around the towns in a semi-wild state and in ever-increasing numbers, many difficulties were bound to arise. Probably the chief trouble came from the damage done to gardens and crops by the foot-loose animals. Complaints for damages of this sort appear continually in the court records of all the colonies, and it was apparently a cause of endless litigation, which persisted until a late date. Furthermore, this open range custom resulted in the deterioration of the New England breed. Whatever may have been the origin of the local horses it is clear that the promiscuous breeding of the semi-wild animals on the public commons could not be conducive to the perpetuation of their best charac- teristics, although it may have brought about a certain hardiness by the weeding out of those beasts unable to stand the rigors of this wild life.
At an early date, some horses were exported from New England to the other colonies, but such shipments never came to be of any great importance. The main demand that resulted in the exportation of New England horses came from the sugar plantations in the West Indies, where both horses and cattle were needed for draft purposes, to haul cane from the fields, to transport sugar and supplies, and to turn the heavy cylinders in the cane-crushing mills. Saddle horses were in demand for the personal use of the sugar planters and they were willing to pay high prices for superior animals of this type. Some horses were apparently being shipped from Newport as early as 1656, but it is doubtful if these were raised on the shores of Narragansett Bay. In 1677, Captain John Hull proposed to build a stone wall across Point Judith
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Neck "so that no mongrel breed might come among them," and to raise a breed of "large and fair horses and mares" for shipment to the West Indies. By 1680 horses were being shipped from Rhode Island in sufficient quantities to be mentioned by Governor Sanford in his reply to the inquiries sent out by the Lords of Trade and Plantations in which he states that "the principal matters which are exported among us is horses and provisions."
In the next twenty years horses were being sent to Jamaica, Barbados, Nevis, Antigua, St. Christopher, Montserrat and Surinam. In 1731, Governor Jenks placed them first in importance among the exports of the Colony, and stated at the time that there were ten or twelve vessels engaged in the West Indies trade. Ten years later the number of vessels had grown to one hundred and twenty. Other authorities of the past can be quoted, including the famous Reverend James MacSparran, in whose writings we find the statement "fine horses which are exported to all parts of English America." Newport and Providence were the main ports of embarkation, but many animals were shipped on small vessels directly from the farms in the Narragansett country, the greatest center of livestock production. In 1745, Moses Brown, one of the more prominent of the Providence merchants, sent out many vessels "some to Surinam with horses" while the correspondence of one Newport firm indicates that during the years from 1731 to 1773, this firm was ship- ping horses as a regular part of its cargoes to all the British islands and elsewhere.
Of all the New England areas that specialized in the breeding of fine horse flesh, by far the most extensive and important was to be found in the Narra- gansett district of Rhode Island - a re- gion so famed in the annals of the time, for its great flocks of sheep, its dairies and cattle, and above all its fine horses, as to have been noted by most of the contemporary writers of the period.
Descriptions and observations pertain- ing to the life and times of the Narra- gansett planters have filled many a
volume and they will probably fill many more, but this brief account must be limited to the subject of horses. As it happened, the most noted product of the Narragansett region - at least toward the middle of the eighteenth century - was a breed of saddle horses which the planters of this section of Rhode Island developed. These were the Narragansett pacers, referred to in the first American edition of the Edinburgh Encyclopedia written in 1830 as "the finest saddle horses in the world; they neither fatigue themselves nor their rider."
There have been many stories told of the origin of these small, sorrel pacers with their easy gait and great endurance. One is that the progenitor of the breed was imported from Andalusia in Spain by Deputy Governor Robinson whose estate was inherited by the illustrious Narragansett Hazards, early and impor- tant breeders of the animals. Another story is that they resulted solely from careful selection and breeding of the common New England stock. At any rate, they soon became world famous and the demand for them laid the founda- tions of the fortunes of many a Rhode Island family.
The pacing gait of the Narragansetts was one of their most important charac- teristics; - it is said that the pure-bloods could not trot at all. In plain, everyday language, the gait itself is described as being peculiar in that the backbone of the horse moved through the air in a straight line, thus differing from the pacer of the present day, or for that matter, from most horses ridden by most people. The common experience seems to be, generally, that the backbone has a decided up and down motion. But, we find in the records that the Narragansett pacers were ridden without fatigue by both sexes, and also that they were unusually speedy. The same Rev. Mac- Sparran previously referred to, said that he had seen these horses pace a mile "in a little more than two minutes and a good deal less than three," and added that "he has often ridden them fifty, nay sixty miles in a day even here in New England where roads are rough, stony and uneven."
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With the famous pacers and other kinds of livestock in demand for export to the West Indies it is clear that the Narragansett district had a very impor- tant source of revenue and one which probably contributed in no small measure to its prosperity. They found an outlet through the various ports on Narragansett Bay, or were driven to New London or Stonington over the old Pequot trail,
the post road between Boston and New York. Apparently many animals were shipped directly from the region; Robert Hazard, for example, is said to have raised about two hundred horses annually and to have loaded two vessels a year with them and other produce of his farm. These vessels sailed from the old South Ferry directly to the Indies, where the animals were in great demand.
THE WINTER OF 1740
THIS account has to do with the most common topic of conversation - the weather. In the course of a day, what we humans have in the way of sunshine, humidity, temperature, hail- stones, breezes, fog, or thunder, in other words, the weather, is the world's most popular and reliable reason for saying something. In no conceivable situation would the weather fail to provide a common ground for two or more persons to engage in conversation ; it always has been so, and the future holds no promise of a waning interest in what the good Lord decides to give us from his well- stocked warehouse of meteorological phenomena. We all talk about the weather, but we do nothing about it, as a famous humorist once observed. What a way out it is for embarrassing meetings with those whom we would prefer to avoid; what grand old leaning posts "it's a nice day," "it looks like rain," or, "did you get caught in the storm," provide for a few words spoken over the fence, across the hedge, in the elevator, to the postman, to the chamber- maid, to the minister, to the buyer, to the seller, to the boss, to the janitor, to a king, if you happened to meet one, to anyone, great or small, wise or foolish, proud or humble, agreeable or disagree- able.
Some of our earliest regularly printed publications were Almanacs, their pages devoted chiefly to weather prognostica- tions and astronomical calculations. The daily forecasts printed in the newspapers and broadcast by radio retain their
interests and fascination for young and old; the fortunes of farmers, fishermen and shop keepers are dependent upon the elements. The destinies of soldiers, sailors, and aviators are determined by atmospheric changes. The weather is a grand subject for observation and writing, and, if it were pursued to a difficult length, one would find that climatic conditions, and that biological and ethnological influences upon people, have done more than other forces to shape the course of human destinies throughout the history of the world.
But, here we are concerned with Rhode Island history, and for the moment, with some phase of weather history per- taining to Rhode Island. Let us turn back the pages of local history to late in 1740, when it became extremely cold in Rhode Island, and a low temperature continued with considerable snow until the first week in December. Then the weather was fine and warm for three or four days. Soon after, however, the excessive cold returned, freezing over Narragansett Bay so solidly that people could pass and repass from Providence to Newport on the ice, and from Newport to Bristol, according to an old account. Occasionally the ferry then running from Newport across the Bay was able to break through the ice and make a landing. Snow storms fell one upon another until the covering was about knee-deep, and this snow remained until the middle of January when a sudden thaw laid the earth bare in spots for a few days. This was again succeeded by violent cold
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weather, and in a very few days by more snow storms. For three days at the very end of January, a great driving blizzard lashed Rhode Island adding about three more feet of snow upon what already lay upon the ground. The snow having drifted, the tops of stone walls and fences were completely covered, and the crust was so hard in some places that cattle frequently walked right over them. During this late January storm, there was a great loss of cattle and sheep; some were caught and smothered in the drifts, and many sheep were driven away by the wind and frozen to death.
The weather continued extremely cold until February 23, which was a warm day, and thawed the snow a little, but then came another severe storm with more bitter cold weather, and there was no relief until March 10 when it became somewhat milder, and the snow began to thaw moderately. By the end of the month it remained very cold for that season and the last of the ice went out of the Bay as late as April 1. Some of the snow continued to lay in drifts behind barns and back of fences until April 15. Spring was slow in coming, and during the greater part of the generally pleasant and mild time of the year, the weather was cold and severe gales blew from the west and northwest. One old account reveals that during the Winter of 1740-41 in Rhode Island there were more than thirty snow storms not counting the small flurries hardly worth mentioning; and that the Spring was so backward in the first week of May the woods at a distance appeared to be dead. The first peach trees were in bloom on the 27th of May; apple trees on the 13th.
But the remarkable feature of that unbelievably rigorous Winter was the freezing of the Bay to a greater extent than was ever known before, or has been since. Apparently, at one time, the ice extended out to sea from the Rhode Island shoreline a considerable distance, and one account has it that a man drove a horse and sleigh from a point near New York all the way to Cape Cod. Near Fall River the ice measured between 25 and 30 inches thick and it must have been equal to that at the head of the Bay
nearer to Providence. On February 25, 1741 a wedding guest made the trip all the way across the Bay from some point on the South County shore to Common Fence Point and there were numerous other incidents of journey routes that were never taken before except by boat of some kind.
What about the 25,000 people who then comprised the total population of Rhode Island and Providence Planta- tions? They must have suffered greatly in spite of the fact that safe and short ice lanes brought certain points closer in respect to travel. When icy blasts blew cold enough and long enough to freeze the dancing waters of Narragansett from Providence to Newport, and to sheet over the sea from the shoreline as far as the eye could see, perhaps to Block Island, then those who huddled around fireplaces in the simply constructed homes of 1740, certainly must have been subjected to privations and afflictions impossible to conceive in these days of insulated homes, automatic heaters, mo- torized snow plows and air-conditioned cow barns. Then, deep snow drifts and zero weather meant neglected cattle, shortage of home provisions, sickness, extreme discomfort, and isolation.
One rare and impressive reference to the frightfully severe winter of 1740-41 can be found in the sermon preached on March 15, 1741 by the Rev. James MacSparran in ancient St. Paul's Church, Narragansett. With the splendid elo- quence which, together with many other attributes brought fame to the learned Doctor of old Narragansett, James Mac- Sparran depicted to his flock the state of the times. He observed in the course of his discourse that he and his people had been warned by the uncommon inclemencies of a cold and long winter. He told them on that day that "the elements have been armed with such piercing cold and suffocating snows, as if God intended the air He gave us, to live and breathe in, should become the instrument to execute His vengeance on us, for our ingratitude to His goodness and our transgression of His law."
Thereafter drawing his lesson from the observation that God has visited a
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terrible Winter upon the people for their shortcomings, Dr. MacSparran reminded the still shivering communicants of the loss to them of their valuable herds, and of their own suffering and want. He painted word pictures of "The snow that looks so white, innocent, and light, as if it would bear down and oppress nothing, yet we see it hides and covers the earth from the warmth and light of the sun, and thus does also the ice turn rivers into rocks, and the fluid element, which yielded to the smallest force, become so hard and rigid, that it resists the impression of the traveller's foot, and the weight of beasts and burthens with a firmness superior to the driest land."
Dr. MacSparran then went on to quote Scripture and to substantiate his con- viction that a recent smallpox epidemic, the threatening War with Spain, and especially the punishing Winter of 1740-41 were all instruments of the Divine Being, aimed at him and his people, warning all to "fly to God with an early and earnest importunity, since none but He can remove what we feel,
or avert what we fear." Right or wrong in his interpretation of Scriptural teach- ings in the light of material experiences, Dr. MacSparran has left us the unques- tioned evidence that the Winter of 1740-41 was a record period for deep snows, bitter cold and thick ice in Rhode Island.
In line with this discussion of the weather and the elements, it may be interesting to many to learn that, in the very early days of Rhode Island the pioneer Providence settlement had an an earthquake. Writing to Governor Winthrop of Plymouth Roger Williams described the quake of June 1, 1638, stating - "for myself I perceived nought but a kind of thunder and a gentle moving and it was no more than this to many." But then he went on to say that the younger Indians, at the time, knew noth- ing about earthquakes, whereas, the older Indians reported that the quake of 1638 was the fifth in about eighty years. One record has it that in Exeter, Rhode Island, somewhat greater earthquake violence was noticed than that experienced by Roger Williams.
CROWN POINT
Nº TORTHWEST PASSAGE" is the story of the old French and Indian War featuring the remarkable exploits of Major Rogers, with his adventurous, picturesque Rang- ers fighting in the prolonged struggle to settle conflicting claims of France and England to territory in America. The author, Kenneth Roberts, is unquestion- ably the outstanding contemporary writer of American historical novels - he is accurate, humorous and a master of romantic tale-telling. In the early chap- ters of "Northwest Passage" there are many references to Crown Point, and, since this name appears often on the pages of local history, it will be interest- ing to learn of Rhode Island's connection with Crown Point, and of its part in the last of the inter-Colonial struggles.
The so-called King George's War, between England and France, was waged
in America from 1744 to 1748, the chief incident of which was the capture of Louisburg on the Island of Cape Breton by a combined force of English and Colonial troops. The colonists did most of the fighting and the English soldiers took the glory and the booty. When peace was declared, in 1748, England gave Louisburg back to the French, but the boundaries between the French and English colonies were not mutually agreed upon - that left the germ of another war. By the year 1754, about twenty years before the Revolutionary War, the Eng- lish occupied a narrow strip of American soil along the coast, about one thousand miles in length, including Rhode Island.
The land at that time occupied by the English Colonies was like a string to the great bow of French territory which reached around from Quebec to New
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Orleans. Both nations claimed the region west of the Alleghany Mountains, along the Ohio River. Active French encroach- ments upon the disputed area and con- tinued disputes over boundary lines provoked trouble - soon America was ablaze again with the flames of strife.
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