USA > Rhode Island > The "Old Stone Bank" history of Rhode Island, Vol. IV > Part 6
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32
Both Williams and Eliot had the same idea, that of converting the red men to Christianity, and both were successful to a degree. Thus, to the works of these scholars must one go for authority in ex- plaining the meaning, or significance, of many words which have become as com- mon in New England as many of strictly English origin. But, first, what is known of the original edition of the famous "Key"? During the thirteen years of his sojourn in America, Williams had spent a great amount of his time among the various neighbor tribes. Before he came to Providence, his pilgrimages into the wilderness had taken him to Wampanoag territory around Plymouth, and long before his hurried departure from Salem, visits among friends in the forest were frequent and often prolonged. Later, when he spent the early months of the year 1636 with his friend Massasoit, at Sowams, now Warren, Rhode Island, he found many opportunities as trader, peace-maker, treaty-negotiator, and preacher, to travel far among the scat- tered villages and camping places, often eating with the tribesmen, sleeping in their wigwams and rough shelters, joining the circle around the fires, observing their emotions in times of good fortune, as well as in times of trouble.
Being a man of uncommon intellect, a scholar in every sense, Williams was quick
to observe that these people had no diffi- culty in getting along with each other, although few white men had any idea of what the Indians were saying when they addressed each other with guttural expres- sions and croak-like sounds. Obviously, it was the same in reverse. "I love you," con- veyed nothing to a comely Narragansett princess; "Cowammaunsh," was no more than a strange sound to a handsome young white hunter, although both expressions had identical meanings. Evidently, Wil- liams made a practice of recording native conversations, for the spellings which have been handed down for more than three centuries are Williams' own phonetic in- terpretations of utterances as he heard them. By degrees he was able to simplify and correct the words listed and, finally, determine upon reasonably accurate tran- scriptions and translations.
On the voyage to England, he had his notes and records along, and it is believed that the long hours at sea were devoted chiefly to study of the material collected and to preparation of the manuscript. Williams may have completed much of the editing before reaching England, since his material was promptly turned over to a London printer, Gregory Dexter, who produced the first edition within a short time. Dexter came to America with Wil- liams, in 1644, and became one of the leading citizens of Providence. The second edition of the "Key" was pub- lished by the Massachusetts Historical Society late in the eighteenth century, and the third edition appeared in Provi- dence, in 1827, as Volume 1 of the Rhode Island Historical Society Collections. The fourth came out, in 1866, as Volume 1 of the Narragansett Club Publications. The fifth edition was made possible through the generosity of Miss Caroline Hazard and was issued during the 1936 Tercen- tenary observance.
Many of the familiar place names, such as Weybosset, Quonochontaug, Quins- nicket, Aquidneck, Annaquatucket, Anna- womscutt, Popasquash, Mashapaug, Kickamuit, Matunuck, Misquamicut, Touisset etc., are not to be found in the "Key," which leads one to believe that many of these had no exact meaning, and were nothing more than simple geograph-
.
40
PROVIDENCE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS
ical designations arbitrarily applied to certain places from generation to genera- tion. There were exceptions, naturally, such as Pawtucket, Pawtuxet, and Paw- catuck which appear to be variations of the same word. Since each of these three forms applies to a river having falls of water at a particular point, it is quite possible that when an Indian used one or another of these he was re- ferring to a waterfall. On the other hand three different interpreters may have arrived at nearly identical impressions of what the Indians said, and meant, in this case.
There have been many changes in the spelling of commonly used Indian names for rivers, hills, lakes, ponds, knolls and other topographical features. The local tribal designation, Narragansett, has passed a long series of variations in spell- ing since the original Providence deed was signed. On the document the name was spelled Nanheggansuck, but among many thereafter it was always Nahiganset. At the time of this writing the co-sachems who sold the land to Williams and his associates are commonly referred to as Canonicus and Miantonomo, but the deed of purchase had them as Caunanicusse and Meiantunnomu. Curious as it may appear at this date, one of the first spell- ings of Connecticut was Quinitikticutt.
When one sets out to determine an exact English translation of an Indian place name, it should be kept in mind that practically all such designations were originally nothing more than what Wil- liams, Eliot or some other early student of the language thought they heard spoken, and thus they were recorded in combina-
tions of English vowels and consonants. Also, it must be remembered that a great many of these words have passed through a long series of changes in spelling, so, if the natives did have some system of put- ting sounds together to create a word or phrase having a distinct meaning, three centuries of simplification, or word stream- lining, has pretty well obliterated the system.
In brief, it is safe to conclude that most Indian names which continue to be com- monly used for geographical points and other places can have no definite English translations. They may have had at the time of the white man's arrival, and long before, but, as yet, no method has been discovered whereby one might be reason- ably accurate in his deductions. However, Roger Williams has left us accurate trans- lations of words and phrases which the natives used in carrying on simple con- versation in their households, on the hunt, in speaking of their sleep and lodgings, of their person and parts of the body, of the heavenly lights, of the wind's and other elements, of the earth and the fruits thereof, of beasts, clothing, religion, trad- ing, sickness, war, and of death and burial. And, too, he has left us an explanation of their system of counting, Nquit, Neèsse, Nìsh, Yòh, Napànna, Qutta, Énada, Shwósuck, Pashkúgit, Piùck, were num- bers one to ten in Indian as nearly as he could determine.
The Roger Williams "Key" was prop- erly titled, for, at least, the volume opens the door to that concerning which many continue to be curious, or, as the author observed: "a little Key may open a box, where lies a bunch of Keys."
EARLY TAXATION
T THE fiscal history of what is now Rhode Island began in the three colonial towns, Providence, Portsmouth and New- port; Warwick, also one of the four orig- inal towns did not organize itself under a local government until 1647, so, for the origin of matters fiscal in these parts, we must look at the records of the original
settlement at the head of Narragansett Bay, and at the records of the two com- munities on the great island down the Bay.
It requires neither facts nor the process of deduction to reconstruct life under simple civil government immediately after the Portsmouth settlers moved in, divided
"THE OLD STONE BANK"
41
Courtesy, John Hutchins Cady
THE TOWNE HOUSE, SOUTHWEST CORNER OF BENEFIT AND COLLEGE STREETS; BUILT ORIGINALLY IN 1723 AS CONGREGATIONAL MEETING HOUSE; SOLD BY SOCIETY TO TOWN OF PROVIDENCE IN 1795; DEMOLISHED IN 1873 AT TIME OF ERECTION OF FIRST PROVIDENCE COUNTY COURT HOUSE.
up the land and erected crude dwellings. The leaders of the group that went down the Bay to establish a colony were men who had previously owned property, and some of them were well-trained in law. At the outset, individual effort was en- couraged by the clear recognition of the right of private property in land, although privately-owned land could not be sold to a non-resident without the town's ap- proval. The system or structure of gov- ernment in early Portsmouth, Rhode Island, consisted of a legislative depart- ment - the town meeting, or assembly; an administrative department - the judge and elders, elected to serve for one year or until successors were appointed, and vested with ordinance-making powers (rules and regulations) subject to the town meeting; and, finally a judicial de- partment with original cognizance of all kinds of cases. Not long after the settle- ment of the two separate towns, Ports- mouth and Newport, a miniature state, or colony, was formed, of which these two
towns were component parts. To each local organization was reserved full and complete authority in all strictly local matters, while the central government with its governor, deputy-governor and assistants and general assembly, was vested with authority over the general matters of the towns. Here then was a thorough-going system of governmental organization in what has become the American way, in which individual rights and privileges on the one side were bal- anced by individual obligations and duties on the other. The individual yielded obedience and was protected by the su- preme state. For that protection and for other benefits to the individual sharer in corporate life, membership fees, dues, or taxes had to be paid, and not much time elapsed after the establishment of Ports- mouth and Newport before the tax col- lector was on the job.
The first proposed levy upon the people was in the form of a land tax. A general fence, a common fence five rails high was
42
PROVIDENCE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS
to be erected "at the head of the spring" in Portsmouth, and the charge was to be borne proportionately to every man's allotment, but that fence was not built, and the tax was not assessed. But, taxes were soon levied and collected, with assess- ments based upon the ability of those taxed. In Newport, the first compact of Government included the clause "we do engage ourselves to bear equal charges answerable to our strengths and estates in common." As to the use of public funds in those days, we find that roads were built, wolf catchers were provided, and the town watch was maintained at the public charge.
The same as today, the public treasury was occasionally fattened by fines imposed upon individuals for the breaches of the law, and, in addition, the sale of common land, or town property, brought receipts that went into the hands of the Town Treasurer. These sources of income, sup- plemented by levies of assessments or taxes, made it possible for Portsmouth and Newport to carry on the business of government for the common good and balance the books.
In early Providence, in the beginning, things were different. Both the soil and people were poor, in sharp contrast to conditions in the island towns that came into being after the establishment of the Williams settlement. Someone has ob- served that many of the adventurers who soon began, after 1636, to seek association with Roger Williams were prone to inter- pret the absence of religious powers in the voluntary compact of government as an absence of moral obligations also. The original purchasers, or Plantation pro- prietors, attempted · to retain exclusive ownership of all the common lands, and quarrels over land questions caused no end of bitter contention. Added to this, Samuel Gorton, who later founded War- wick, appeared on the scene claiming that the Providence government was invalid without the sanction of English author- ities, and Gorton's views were supported by many in the town.
All this free play of self-interest and the disconcerting challenge to local authority in government led to excessive individ- ualism, to a system of voluntary govern- ment so unstable that its decrees could
only be enforced by the individual consent of each and all, and to a general lack of the sense of corporate life. One can well imagine what problems Williams and his associates faced in managing the financial affairs of early Providence.
The income of the town was derived from fines, the collection of which was practically impossible; from sales of land, the payments for which were, in some cases, delayed for years; and perhaps from taxation, though the earliest record of a tax in Providence is dated 1650, when an assessment was made on live-stock only. Later on, when government was reorgan- ized among the four original towns of Rhode Island, under an English charter, Providence, as well as the other three towns, had greater success in collecting funds from individuals. But, it was a long time, until within a few years previous to 1710, before taxes were assessed at regular or stated intervals or periods. Up to then taxes as such were in the nature of an extraordinary source of income - a sort of back-log, only to be used in case of necessity. In actual practice, taxes were resorted to only as the current expenses of the colony or town exceeded the current income, and some supplementary income became necessary to pay accrued debts, or they were levied for some special pur- pose too costly to be paid for in any other way. If a town wanted a new jail, a pow- der house, stronger stocks, a toller, or an extra constable, every one virtually chipped in to pay the costs. It was like buying a new carpet for a church, or establishing a flower fund among lodge members. For three quarters of a century after the settling of colonies on the shores of Narragansett Bay, there were a very few instances of an assessment of so large a sum as to leave any surplus in the treas- ury which the government might subse- quently expend for several purposes. Money was not raised in anticipation of public needs, and, during most of the period the length of time given for the collection and assessment of taxes and the semi-annual election of the deputies en- abled one session of the legislature to repeal a tax assessment law passed by its predecessor before the law could be enforced.
.
43
"THE OLD STONE BANK"
It was certainly a case of pay-as-you-go in the first century of Rhode Island his- tory, and it is still a good idea, as long as wars and other unavoidable burdens upon corporate bodies of humans run up public debts which must be paid. For at least two decades after the beginning of Rhode Island, taxes caused no hardships, for in 1654, Roger Williams wrote to a friend in England, describing the blessings of free government. In part he wrote: “Sir, we have not known what an excise means, we have almost forgotten what tythes are; yea, or taxes either to church or common- weale," and from all accounts Mr. Williams was not far from the literal truth.
When did taxation in Rhode Island cease to be something in the nature of free-will giving, and become compulsory
in character? A good guess would be, when we first began to have such things as politicians. No doubt the entrance of professional politicians did help put an end to taxation of a voluntary character, but the present theory of requiring every- one to pay so much, at a certain time, or else, as we say, can be dated to the time of the so-called Queen Anne's War, when the local colonists were required to stand back of large expenditures for military defense. That was in the first decade of the eighteenth century. With the coming of war came taxes and since that time, taxes, from which no one has been exempt, in one form or another, have been ever present. Unless some better means of carrying on the business of government can be found, taxes are here to stay.
THE PUBLIC HEALTH
S NICKNESS and death always follow closely in the footsteps of the pioneer, and, without any question, someone among the little group of pioneers who first settled Providence was looked upon as the au- thority in the important matter of health. Roger Williams, who seemed to have been well-informed about many things, may have been the earliest Rhode Island "Doctor" who prescribed simple decoc- tions, ointments and oils for ailing mem- bers of his flock, or, one of his associates may have been the one who first collected a store of medicinal roots and herbs, owned a sharp instrument for the ancient practice of blood-letting, applied the poultices and did the wound-washing and the bandaging when accidents happened in these parts more than three centuries ago.
At any rate, the business of creating order and establishing civilization in a wilderness was, in the main, conducive to good health, and the simple and efficacious remedies kept in most pioneer households were promptly and boldly administered. These, with careful and common-sense nursing, were sufficient in many cases to ward off or cure disease. Whatever trials and tribulations were endured by the very
first settlers in Providence Plantations will never be known, but it need not neces- sarily be assumed that they were much greater than would be suffered by an equal number of our present-day fellow citizens, dwelling in some distant, lonely wilder- ness, where physicians are not within immediate call.
In the early records of the four original towns of the colony, Providence, Ports- mouth, Newport and Warwick, there is passing reference to Dr. John Clarke who settled in Portsmouth, in 1638, and who went to Newport the following year; to John Green, surgeon, contemporary of Roger Williams, who removed to War- wick in 1640; and to Robert Jeffries who was given governmental authority, in 1641, to exercise the functions of surgery. The first instance of an attempt to regu- late the practice of medicine appears to be dated by the following abstract from the proceedings of the General Assembly in 1664: " Whereas the Courte have taken notice of the great blessing of God on the good endevers of Captayne John Cranston of Newport, both in phissicke and chirur- gery, to the great comfort of such as have occation to improve his skill and practise, etc. The Courte doe therefore unani-
44
PROVIDENCE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS
mously enacte and declare that the said Captain John Cranston is lycensed and commissioned to administer phissicke and practice chirurgery throughout this whole colony and is by this Court styled and recorded Doctor of Physsicke and Chirur- gery by the authority of this the General Assembly of this Collony." Doctor and Captain John was apparently the first Rhode Island accredited physician to hold a license to practice the profession, al- though he was not the first medical prac- titioner in the colony. Drs. Clarke, Green, Jeffries, heretofore mentioned, and, no doubt, several others who had the train- ing, or just the natural knack of doctor- ing, mixed up many a dose, and performed many a heroic operation, during the twenty-eight years that elapsed from the founding of Providence in 1636 until the granting of the first license to Cranston on March 1, 1664. Incidentally, Captain John Cranston was born in Scotland, in 1625 or 1626, and died in Newport, in 1680. He was a drummer in 1644; at one period was attorney-general of Rhode Island, deputy governor and governor at the time of his death.
Thus far no definite record of any regu- larly practising physician in Providence prior to 1700 has been uncovered. Roger Williams wrote to his friend, Winthrop, in 1648, thanking him for advice and med- icine, indicating that the residents in the northern section of the colony were de- pendent upon outsiders for medicinal sup- plies. Of course, it must be remembered that Providence lagged far behind New- port in population growth during the early years. At the time Williams acknowl- edged receipt of advice and medicine from his friend in Plymouth, only about one hundred persons were capable of bearing arms in Providence, so that the number of cases of sickness at any one time could not have been large for quite a few years. Then too, rapidly expanding Newport, not far away down the Bay, had two or three practitioners of medicine and sur- gery, and these may have occasionally journeyed to Providence by water to at- tend the suffering in cases of emergency.
It was fortunate that Newport did de- velop its facilities for caring for public health earlier than other communities in
the colony because the old seaport was visited by a violent epidemic of small-pox, in 1690. Very likely the pestilence was brought to Newport from some foreign country by a sailor, and the scourge spread rapidly, sparing no class of society. Through the Winter of 1690-1691, public affairs were neglected; the General Assem- bly, then sitting in Newport, did little busi- ness, and private trade operations were sadly neglected. In 1712, the first efforts were made to combat the disease by legis- lation, a quarantine act being then passed; it was, however, not very effective, for, in 1716, small-pox again made its appearance in several parts of the colony. Newport held a special election resulting in the granting of an appropriation to build a hospital on Coasters Harbor Island. Bristol then largely escaped the epidemic, but in 1732, the town authorities believed it essential to public health to have a house set apart for small-pox patients. Providence had its first small-pox hos- pital, in 1751, when the General Assembly made an appropriation for its establish- ment. Inoculation was introduced into the colony, in 1772, and an attempt to legalize the practice by legislative act was defeated, although intelligent physicians continued to inject the serum into the veins of those who had' courage to submit to the then radical, but effective, precau- tion. Later, the General Assembly did vote to establish hospitals in each county where persons were admitted for inoculation. Vaccination came later, and was intro- duced into this country by Dr. Benjamin Waterhouse, a Newport physician, and vaccination received as much opposition as did the earlier practice of inoculation.
Following is an interesting fact concern- ing the long-drawn-out struggle against the spread of the small-pox scourge in Rhode Island. Providence, in 1810, em- ployed Sylvanus Fansher to vaccinate the public, the town paying the expense; he vaccinated 4,305 persons and rendered a bill of $233.25, or about five cents for each operation.
Newport may have suffered greatly from the ravages of the dread small-pox, but Providence had its own public health problem when, in 1717, yellow fever fell upon the residents in the congested areas
=
PROVIDENCE NSTITUTION FOR 1929
SAVINGS .
FOR
THE EMPIRE-ABORN BRANCH OF THE PROVIDENCE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS, EMPIRE AND ABORN STREETS, BETWEEN WESTMINSTER AND WASHINGTON STREETS. ERECTED IN 1929.
45
46
PROVIDENCE INSTITUTION FOR SAVINGS
of the town, striking down the poor and lowly in the humble hovels, and the wealthy in the princely colonial mansions on the East Side. Up to that time Provi- dence had grown and expanded with little or no thought to sanitation. The gradual filling in of waterfront areas had blocked natural drainage into the head of the Bay, leaving large sections of the town covered with water which lay stagnant in the sun. With the raising of grades here and there, receptacles or puddles were created and these were generally filled with rain-water, household and shop refuse, all of which soon became foul. Covered sewers were unknown, and as the business section of the town on the East Side pressed the shore-line out from the Town Street, the area of stench-breeding territory was ex- panded. Streets were disease-ridden rivers of slimy mud and waste matter, and no precautions were taken to protect the well-water supplies in the congested areas from these frightful conditions of surface pollution. Besides, the distillation of rum was then the principal manufacturing enterprise in Providence. As an econom- ical means of disposing of the refuse grains, large droves of hogs were kept, generally in the cellars of the still-houses, with a yard at the back and fronting on the water, where the pigs wallowed and rooted in the slime. This practice created an insufferable nuisance. And, too, slaughter houses abounded in the town, and there's no need of reviewing the prac- tices of that industry in describing sanitary conditions that grew worse and worse. Tanning and the manufacture of sper- maceti candles also went on in the down- town area, and, the next time one has
cause to complain of the disagreeable odors rising from the Providence River in the Market Square area, think of what Providence must have been, late in the eighteenth century. The result was in- evitable. Disease, probably yellow fever, broke out in 1791, causing many deaths in the thickly-settled portion of the town. Courageous, far-seeing doctors urged ' sanitary improvements, contending that yellow fever was not contagious, while others disputed the theory.
The disease appeared in Providence with renewed virulence, in 1797, the first fatality being Robert Fuller, who died on August 18th. Between that date and October 9th, Providence residents died at the rate of one a day, while hundreds more were broken in health by the spread- ing scourge. Finally, the people were awakened to the gravity of the situation and the most active and stringent meas- ures were taken by the authorities to prevent further inroads of the epidemic. Public health became the chief issue of the times, authorities, doctors and the public launched a relentless attack against unsanitary conditions. Festering spots were cleaned out; pollution eliminated as rapidly as possible; cures and treatments improved; better drainage planned; cer- tain nuisance manufactories restricted from congested areas. It was just the beginning of a long struggle, a century and a half long struggle that has brought us to the present time, now fully awakened to the wisdom of fighting disease at its source, of guarding the public health at any cost, thereby making this city, this state, this land, a better and safer place in which to live.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.