USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. IV > Part 26
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Years before when Dickens had visited America, it was observed that "one was struck by his (Dicken's) profuse brown hair, which as yet undiminished by the drafts of young (and other) ladies for their lockets - swept in a swab with a cork- screwed sort of roll down the side of his not very high forehead. He was dressed in green, or brown, frock-coat, with a waist-coat of startling red, with a watch- guard to match. Twenty-six years later, in Providence, on February 20, 1868, Charles Dickens stepped to his specially constructed lectern, designed by himself, for easy reading, and stood before a capacity audience. One of those present later recalled noting "his thin wisps of grey hair prudently gathered over the places where there is none. The habit of excess in chains and jewels and linen, and a general overplus in dress has not altogether gone with youth."
After the welcoming applause, Dickens prefaced his lecture with a singular an- nouncement. It appeared that his advance agent had demanded of the Providence Dickens' enthusiasts that seats for the lectures were available only in blocks of six. Of this he had not approved, or known about before his arrival here, and he offered humble apologies to all who
OLD HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING, CORNER OF BENEFIT AND WATERMAN STREETS, OPENED MARCH 20, 1843.
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had been taken in by the shrewd scheme. To the great delight of all, he read the "Christmas Carol" and the "Trial," at the first appearance, continuing the fol- lowing evening with "Dr. Marigold " and "Bob Sawyer's Party." Box office re- ceipts were more than handsome, for both the lecturer and the secretary had believed
Providence an isolated sort of place. When one recalls that Mr. Tutt's "Stovepipe" hat brought $42,000 in War Bonds, net profits of $2,140 for the two Dickens lectures appear rather meagre, but, times have changed with money, if not with people, especially people who read books.
THE ELLSWORTH PHALANX
D AY after day, and night after night, as we in Rhode Island watched speeding motor-buses roll down to Newport car- rying sleepy-eyed and a little bewildered boys to the place where American sailors were indoctrinated, quickly and effi- ciently, many were prompted to observe "How young they look " or "they're just kids"-and after the transformation, which took but a few weeks, and the buses rolled back to Providence transporting clear-eyed, determined sailors of the American Navy, these same young pa- triots looked no older, no more mature - we were again prompted to observe "How young they look," or "they're just kids." If, during World War II you had occasion to watch the long lines of youths in the Union Station waiting to depart for duties somewhere with the nation's armed forces, or if you had an opportunity to look over the group that gathered daily at 40 Foun- tain Street in Providence to make hopeful tries for appointments as Aviation Cadets, you too must have been impressed with the extreme youth of those on their way to fight, and perhaps die, for this country.
It was a little more than four score years ago when the Evening Press, a Providence publication, carried the fol- lowing item of interest: High School Pa- triotism - a splendid national flag, pur- chased by the subscription of over one hundred High School boys, was displayed from the High School building. The formal exercises were of a most interesting character. At eleven o'clock, in the pres- ence of teachers, scholars, citizens and soldiers, who were about leaving for the war, the boys raised the flag, followed by the singing of the "Star-Spangled Ban-
ner." The young ladies of the school carried small national flags. Mayor Knight delivered a brief opening address and introduced Professor Chace of Brown University, who responded with scholarly and patriotic sentiments. Bishop Clark related an anecdote of his great grand- father, who, after the Battle of Bunker Hill, was obliged to sleep in a baker's oven, and added (typical school platform oratory), "I am glad that he did not get baked, else I should not have been here today to address you. . . ." Ex-Mayor Rodman, in his pleasant manner, referred to a conversation between General Na- thanael Greene and his mother, during the Revolution, in which she cautioned him "not to get shot in the back." Dr. Cald- well made an impressive closing address, then "America" was heartily sung, fol- lowed by cheers for "the Union," "the young ladies of the High School," "Gov- ernor Sprague," "the First Regiment," and for "the Marines." "Fifteen cheers and a Narragansett" were given by the boys for a dispatch read by Bishop Clark, that Virginia had decided not to secede. But they found out later that they had wasted ammunition on the "Old Do- minion."
That was the news account of what took place in the old High School Building opened in 1843 and still standing at the northeast corner of Waterman and Benefit Streets in April, 1861, a few days after Fort Sumter had been fired upon; shortly after President Lincoln had called for 72,000 men, when all Rhode Island was aroused to fever pitch; when the First Rhode Island Regiment, composed of ten companies of infantry and a battery of
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DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST DETACHMENT OF THE FIRST RHODE ISLAND REGIMENT FROM EXCHANGE PLACE, APRIL 20, 1861.
artillery under command of Colonel Am- brose E. Burnside had already started on its way to Washington, when this country was at war, and youth, as always, lost no time in getting ready. And the High School boys of Providence lost no time in getting ready.
A meeting was held in the school hall; an energetic committee was appointed, and within a few weeks, the fifteen, sixteen and seventeen year olds, and many younger students, fell into line under the name of the "Ellsworth Phalanx," named in honor of the youthful and gallant commander of the New York Zouaves who lost his life at Alexandria, Virginia, on May 24, 1861, while engaged in lower- ing an enemy flag.
The girls of the High School presented the Phalanx with a standard of colors, and Daniel W. Lyman was chosen captain. The company numbered from seventy to eighty boys, and by an arrangement with the United Train of Artillery, the latter's armory, then nearby on Canal Street, became the headquarters of the unit.
Colonel Westcott Handy, a veteran of the Old Guard Continentals was appointed drill master and the transformation began, the transformation of the shuffling, the round-shouldered, the dull and alert, the nimble, the awkward, the aggressive and the timid, the lazy and the energetic, into straight ranks of erect young Americans, their movements coordinated, their re- sponses to orders instantaneous. Of course it would be exaggeration to say that those enthusiastic young members of the High School cadets of '61, ever at- tained any degree of perfection compa- rable to West Point close order drill, but, the sturdy little company did well. At least one critic who might have been slightly indulgent had this to say of Colo- nel Handy's boys that, "in point of march- ing, with all the legs going together twist- ing itself up and untwisting, breaking into single file (for Indian fighting) forming platoons and wheeling with faultless line around the corner of North Main Street and Market Square; getting out of the way of a wagon or omnibus, and circling
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the High Street liberty pole and town pump; with ranks well dressed and eyes 'right and left,' particularly in going by the High School, it was the equal of any military organization I ever saw."
Colonel Handy was a strict military disciplinarian ; it was serious business with him; so it was with the youthful cadets who drilled hour after hour, under his direction. But, there were bright spots, let-down occasions, all the more enjoyable in any effort that calls for strict attention to duty, and the brightest of these spots were long and pleasantly recalled in the reminiscing days that came many years after. Evidently Colonel Handy was in the soft drink business, for, after a tire- some drill period in the armory or after an exhausting street parade, the Colonel would often march the cadets to his popu- lar establishment somewhere near, or on Market Square, and there treat them to large cool glasses of his celebrated thirst- quencher, "compounded strictly from medicinal roots and herbs." Soft drinks and other refreshments may have high- lighted the let down moments for youthful machine-gunners, bombardiers, and gun- ners' mates in our time, but it was "Handy's Root Beer" for the Ellsworth Phalanx of Providence High School back in '61.
These youngsters anxious to perfect themselves as soldiers, eager to do their part, worked hard at drilling and march- ing, and they practised diligently at tar- get shooting. What type or make of guns they had for the manual of arms or for marksmanship instruction, is not men- tioned in the records, but, they did have "target-shoots," and they did receive bright cockades of red, white and blue ribbons to display on bayonets on parade for proficiency in firing at the two hun- dred yard range. And the members of the Ellsworth Phalanx did have enjoyable social gatherings, and they did make Providence proud of their military effi- ciency, and of their mastery of the spec- tacular acrobatics included in the old Zouave maneuvers.
But, the time for such more serious soldiering was at hand for the pint-sized, ruddy-cheeked, happy-go-lucky High School kids who belonged to the Phalanx. May of 1862 came, and with it fresh news
of disaster to the Union cause. Stonewall Jackson with 20,000 men had sent Banks' little army whirling down the Shenandoah Valley, to the Potomac, and, at midnight on the 25th, a dispatch came to Providence announcing the disaster with an urgent appeal for troops for the protection of the capital. Just an hour later, the governor issued an order to organize immediately two new regiments, the Ninth and Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, and the Tenth Light Battery for three months' service. The response was prompt, as always, and from the ranks of the Ellsworth Phalanx stepped forth many young patriots ready to do what they were told to do. At the head of Company B, Tenth Rhode Island Volunteers, recruited principally from the ranks of the High School and the cadet companies at Brown University, marched Captain Elisha Dyer, then past fifty, a former Governor of the State and a born military leader.
Books were promptly put aside; slates, maps and pencils dropped for the dura- tion. The ranks of the Ellsworth Phalanx suddenly dwindled. And, soon the time came for the going away, for the farewells, with flags waving, the bands playing, and with other demonstrations of emotion and patriotism. To man the defences of Wash- ington, scores of strongholds ranged around the threatened capital, journeyed the Rhode Island volunteers, the old, the young and the very young. And, there most of them remained on duty until the three months' term of enlistment had ex- pired. But, few returned, for most of the High School boys, after completing their first term, prompty re-enlisted, and many as commissioned officers served through the war. Two hundred and twenty-five of the students of the High School served in the Army and Navy during the Rebellion - seventeen died in service. On the roll of honor are these names, just boys who were in High School when the Ellsworth Phalanx took up the serious business of soldiering : J. Nelson Bogman and Peter
Hunt of the Class of '61; William F. At- wood, Benjamin E. Kelly and Charles M. Lathan of the Class of '62; and Frederick Metcalf of the Class of '64. Atwood was seventeen when he marched away with Company B, never to return, and Metcalf
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Spat
STORE
FIXTURES
REPAROS RATES
HOME OF JOHN EDDY AT 67 WASHINGTON STREET (NOW 265 WASHINGTON STREET) WHERE ABRAHAM LINCOLN SPENT THE NIGHT AFTER DELIVERING SPEECH AT OLD RAILROAD HALL, FEBRUARY 28, 1860.
who likewise did not come back was only fifteen.
The Providence High School Boys proved to be good soldiers, brave soldiers, and they were good Americans too, and for proof of their loyalty and devotion we need look no farther than the words of an essay written by a corporal of the Ells- worth Phalanx, a member of the Class of '62. Expressing the spirit of his class- mates he wrote in part: "Our country faces a great crisis .. . of course we expect our army to be victorious .. . our confi- dence of victory lies not alone, or prin- cipally, in our physical strength, but in the moral strength of our cause. . .. We are fighting for freedom and humanity everywhere. ... Yet we must not be too sanguine of success. Although we know that the right must eventually triumph, yet our country may be called upon to
pass through sterner trials . . . if we fail in this struggle for liberty and union, it will carry despair to the hearts of the oppressed and enslaved, and sound the death knell of free institutions every- where."
The foregoing, written long ago by a young Providence High School Boy, sounds strangely pertinent to the facts and conditions of more recent years, since this is the way he closed his masterful little appeal to his classmates. "What- ever sacrifice we may be called upon to make, let us stand ready to meet it. We are not too young to possess the spirit of true patriotism. . . . Let us stand ready, therefore, so that if the safety of the coun- try should demand it, we may rally with full "Phalanx" in her defense, and give our aid, little though it may be, to the good cause."
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PROSPECT TERRACE
B ACK in the days when the East Side hill was given over mostly to cow pastures and to fields where myriad bar- berry and huckleberry bushes grew in wild confusion and long before the few streets there were graded or curbed, friends of a certain well-known merchant on "Cheapside," North Main Street, used to shake their heads when he persisted in trudging up the steep slope day after day just to obtain a good view of the city. To begin with he was not in the best of health, and their protests were made out of an honest regard for his well being. No doubt in the back of their minds they considered him a mite odd. The practical mind is always confused in understanding some- thing that does not show a tangible return upon effort. Nevertheless, this man con- tinued his practice daily, later pursuing a vision with such determination that it slowly took on practical form and became his lasting boon to the city; and, withal, he grew stronger the while and lived to the respectable age of eighty-three. This man was Isaac Hale, and his vision was the creation of Prospect Terrace as a per- manent public park from which future generations of Providence residents might look out with increasing pride upon the splendid view of their city, spread in wide panorama below.
Mr. Hale was not a Rhode Islander by birth but was born in Newbury, Massa- chusetts, coming to Providence in 1831 and carrying on business at North Main Street for a period of forty years. When he first began his habit of climbing the hill behind him, Prospect and Congdon Streets were just in the making. The area be- tween Prospect and Weeden Streets, in- cluding the site of the present terrace, was then something of a dumping ground. It was covered with scraggly brush, giving it a half-shaven appearance, while through it, as a short cut, a winding path led to Benefit and North Main Streets. The land itself was disreputable but the view was magnificent, and he built himself a house at what is now 115 Congdon Street that he might enjoy it constantly.
The actual idea of a terrace and park came to him about 1863, and he set imme- diately to bring it about. As a first step he tried to interest city officials and the public in general but found them diffident. Completely undaunted he took the whole project upon his own shoulders and began to canvass for private subscriptions in order to raise a sum sufficient to purchase the site for the terrace. Over a period of three years he succeeded in gathering to- gether the sum of $6500 from various public-spirited citizens. Among those who recognized the value of his plan were many prominent in public life, like Am- brose Burnside (the great Civil War gen- eral), William Sprague (Rhode Island's war governor), John Carter Brown, Jabez Gorham, Robert H. Ives, and Crawford Allen. The owners of the lot, Samuel H. Elliot and his son Albert T. Elliot, highly approved of Isaac Hale's intentions to the extent of offering to sell their property at $2000 less than its quoted value of $8000. With the $500 left over from the reduced purchase price various quit claims were settled satisfactorily.
It must have been with a certain meas- ure of undiluted pride that Isaac Hale found the coveted bit of property within his grasp and set about the business of making a gift of it to the city. He com- municated with Mayor Doyle who, in February, 1867, made the following ad- dress to his council :
Gentlemen of the City Council:
Sixty-six (66) persons interested in the growth and prosperity of our city have contributed the sum of eight thousand dollars for the purchase of a lot of land on Congdon Street, to be presented to the city. The lot com- mands one of the finest views of this city that can be obtained, and it has long been the wish of many citizens that it should always be kept open to the public.
The donors request that you will accept the property and set it apart as a public square and that within a
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EXCHANGE PLACE IN 1880.
reasonable time you shall cause a heavy bank wall to be built upon the south and west sides and a substantial fence erected around the square.
The accompanying papers with the letter from Mr. Isaac Hale, to whose efforts we are indebted for this gen- erous gift, will fully explain the wishes of the parties interested in the purchase.
I doubt not that you will accept the land upon the terms proposed, and thus secure to the city a spot that must increase in attractiveness with each succeeding year.
There was no question about the accept- ance of the gift. Influenced no doubt, by the long list of impressive names in the role of the donors, the City Council ac- cepted it gladly and agreed to build a wall and keep the lot open perpetually as a public park. Mr. Hale had suggested that the wall, when started, be built very thick in order to hold the weight of the lot and thus prevent future disaster. His advice
was not taken, however, and a thin retain- ing wall was erected. Not long afterward, due to its flimsy structure and its great height, it collapsed, luckily without injury to anyone. Only then did the city powers heed Mr. Hale's suggestion and build a new wall that was the last word in solidity and strength.
The lot when finished included the origi- nal dumping ground and an adjacent strip of land extending westerly from Congdon Street. A derelict elm that had marked one corner of the dump was removed but another magnificent specimen at the north- east corner was carefully preserved and throws its shade over that portion of the terrace today. This tree is undoubtedly two hundred years old at least and has been under the careful supervision of expert tree surgeons for some time, a pre- caution that will probably insure its life for many years to come.
The little park was laid out with con- crete walks and a semi-circular driveway for carriages. About three sides was erected a heavy iron fence. Iron lamp-
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posts were located in the corners to throw a sufficiently revealing light upon the younger couples occupying the score of hardwood benches. The land between the walks was seeded down and it did not take long for the new little park to present a very attractive appearance. Soon after it had been opened to the public a short and anonymous letter appeared in the Provi- dence Journal carrying the suggestion that the new park be dubbed "Prospect Ter- race." Whether this had anything to do with the final decision in regard to a name we cannot say, but it probably did for that was the title conferred upon the spot.
One of the first improvements made within the terrace was the construction of a small fountain in the center. This was the gift of one George R. Philips and con- sisted of a bronze frog sitting on a rock in the center of a shallow pool with two water spaniels, also of bronze, gazing intently at him. This fountain gave way to another of a different type before many years, the second existing up to within a few years of the present. Back in 1869, a lofty flag staff was set up at the terrace and remained there until 1907, crippled from time to time by lightning but always repaired.
The flag that it flew could be seen from almost every part of the city, while for many years, daily just before sundown, the signal for lighting the street lamps of the city was hung from its tip. The de- molition of this flag pole in 1907 brought. forth protests in the daily press, but noth- ing was done further and the staff was not replaced.
Few are the residents of Providence who have not at some time or other visited Prospect Terrace. All have marvelled at the magnificent view which is even more lovely in late evening than during the day. In summertime the terrace is used to ca- pacity, every inch of space on the benches being occupied, while dozens of people gaze off from the edge of the wall or stroll about enjoying the breezes which never fail. Isaac Hale knew what he was dream- ing about and talking about. But if he had not had in addition the determination to triumph over the public inertia that first greeted his plans, we should never have been the proud possessors of the little park which is his unmarked monument - Prospect Terrace, now the site of the im- pressive and appropriately located Roger Williams Memorial.
STREETS AND SQUARES
T" THE present-day custom of designating certain street intersections by names that will perpetuate the memories of war heroes, and the renaming of such land- marks commonly called "squares," be- cause of obvious changes in the physical appearance of a fast-growing community, bring to mind the names of some public squares that are important geographical points in the layout of Providence. Many of these square names are as familiar to us as the names Broad, Westminster, Weybosset, Benefit, etc. and we refer to them just as often, but few know how many of the streets and most of the squares received their names.
The so-called squares in Providence are little more than open triangles where streets cross each other or come to a terminal and they resemble very little the
grand squares or plazas in such cities as Washington, Philadelphia or Paris, but here we say unofficially that a square is a square, regardless of area, if it is an open place at the intersection of several streets. So with the help of material that appeared in the local press some years ago, let us take an imaginary hop-skip-and-a- jump around the city, alighting here and there, for a brief observation as to the origin of the names by which some of the familiar public squares are commonly referred to at the present time. We will not go into the matter of deciding whether these squares are parks since the city engineer rules upon such matters, although it is confusing in some instances where some so-called parks are small enough to be squares, and some squares are large enough to be considered as parks. For
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HOYLE HOTEL. ERECTED 11'I
THE HOYLE HOTEL (TAVERN), ERECTED IN EARLY EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. THIS FAMOUS HOSTELRY CATERED TO THE PUBLIC FOR MANY YEARS AND STOOD AT THE JUNCTION OF WESTMINSTER AND CRANSTON STREETS.
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example, Exchange Place is large enough to be a park, but is a square, and the little open place where stands the Roger Williams landing place monument, on Gano between Power and Williams Streets is about the size of a square, and it is called a park. Let us consider the histori- cal significance of any of these landmarks, and let City Hall determine officially, and the general public popularly, whether they are parks or public squares.
Of important historical association is Hopkins Square, a triangle between Branch Avenue, Charles and Hawkins Streets, a plat taken by the city of Provi- dence by vote of the City Council in 1891. Naturally, it is named for the eminent Admiral Esek Hopkins, first commander- in-chief of the American Navy, who lived not far away on Admiral Street, in the charming colonial homestead standing today. Hopkins Square comprises about 50,000 square feet of land and was re- ceived from the town of North Providence in 1847. A statue of the distinguished Rhode Island naval figure is there today erected through the generosity of Harriet N. H. Coggeshall, great-granddaughter of Esek Hopkins.
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