USA > Rhode Island > Kent County > Warwick > The history of Warwick, Rhode Island, from its settlement in 1642 to the present time; including accounts of the early settlement and development of its several villages; sketches of the origin and progress of the different churches of the town, &c., &c > Part 22
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Assembly appointed a committee to examine and report upon the matter. This committee reported, recommend- ing some changes in the course that had been previously suggested, whereupon the Assembly appointed Stephen Hopkins, John Rhodes and Wm. Rice, a committee to lay out the road according to the foregoing report. This last committee reported in March, 1742, presenting a plat of the road, when it was voted "that said plat and report thereon made, be accepted, and that said highway continue as therein laid out forever."
Without stopping to specify many of the various changes that had taken place in the ownership of the lands now included within the limits of the village and vicinity, let us hasten on to the opening of the present century, when Jonathan Ellis, son of Benjamin, Wm. Anthony Holden, son of Wm. Holden, and Philip Arnold were among the principal owners of the terri- tory. Benjamin Ellis lived on the hill on the old road leading to Lippitt village. His son Jonathan and seve- ral sisters inherited their father's estate. Jonathan lived on the hill, sometimes called " Green Hill," in the house occupied now by Mrs. Sheldon, and died at an advanced age, July 7, 1842. William Holden, previous to the year 1771, owned a grist mill on the south side of the river, just above the present iron bridge. The old trench way may still be seen when the pond is drawn down. In 1771, the General Assembly granted him a lottery " to raise about £50, to enable him to repair and secure a dam across the Pawtuxet river, which had been carried away by a flood the previous winter." Wm. Anthony Holden, son of the former, lived in the house, which is still standing, situated on the east side of the turnpike, near by Indigo brook. The brook was so called from the circumstance that Harvey Arnold had upon it a small building, and made use of the slight water power to grind indigo for coloring purposes. Wm. Anthony Holden died April 24, 1854. Previous to the year 1800, there appears to have been no bridge across the river at this place, though one was soon after erected,
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HISTORY OF WARWICK.
and in 1823, a new one, called from its shape the " rainbow bridge," was built upon the same site. The earliest bridge across the river in this vicinity was the one at the lower part of the village in connection with the ancient highway already alluded to.
The first decade of the present century, including the two or three years that followed it, was a noted period in the history of this town. It was the period of be- ginnings in the cotton manufacturing interests. The mill at Centreville had been built, and was in successful operation previously ; but during the first dozen years of the present century, the manufacture of cotton yarn by machinery driven by water power, commenced in Phenix, Lippitt, and this village. In 1807, four me- chanics had estimated the value of the water power at Natick, and became so convinced of the feasibility of its use in the manufacture of cotton to their advantage, that they at once concluded to venture in the specu- lation. They were without the necessary capital upon which to commence operations, but by judicious man- agement, succeeded in enlisting others in their enterprise. Their names were Perez Peck, Peter Cushman, John White and Joseph Hines. Peter Cushman was sent as a messenger to Providence, in search of some adven- turous merchant who had money at command, and induce him to engage with them in the proposed enter- prise. On his way to Providence the messenger met Capt. William Potter, and stated his errand. Of the persuasive powers of Peter Cushman we have only this evidence, that he succeeded on the spot in convincing the Captain of the feasibility of his plan, who bade him return and inform his associates that he would assist them. A company was very soon formed, composed of the following persons : Adams & Lothrop, Capt. Wm. Potter and Charles Potter, of Providence, Christopher and Wm. Rhodes, of Pawtuxet, Jonathan Ellis, of Natick, and the four mechanics already mentioned. Capt. Potter, in 1795, was one of the owners of the Centreville mill. The venerable Perez Peck, of Coventry,
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still vigorous in his old age, and as straight as an Indian arrow, is the only one of the number now living, and is able to relate with evident accuracy the various impor- tant events connected with this early period of his active business life.
The capital of the company amounted to $32,000, divided into thirty-two shares; of which Wm. Potter held eight shares; Adams & Lothrop, eight shares ; Christopher and Wm. Rhodes, each four shares ; Chas. Potter and Jonathan Ellis, each two shares ; and Perez Peck, Joseph Hines, John White and Peter Cushman, each one share. The first work of the company was to secure possession of the necessary real estate, including the water privilege. Jonathan Ellis sold to them in the summer of 1807, a tract of five acres on the north side of the stream for $178, and George Baker, another tract of thirteen acres for $535 80}. " Both of these lots were portions of a farm owned several years previous by a family of Potters." Wm. Anthony Holden, who owned the bluff on the east side of the river, it is said, generously gave the portion needed by the company to secure the water power, and Philip Arnold made the company a present of a "lot near the bridge, as an en- couragement and assistance." Philip Arnold's land was lower down the river, by the ancient bridge, already al- luded to.'
The first mill was built in the autumn of 1807, and was about 80 feet long, and became known as the Natick Red Mill from its color. It stood between the present No. 1 and the trench way. In 1836 this mill was removed to the northward on the flat, and converted into tenements. It is now known as the " factory house." The four mechanics and partners alluded to, were put, through the influence of Capt. Potter, into the machine shop at Centreville, where they made ma- chinery enough to start the Natick Mill; then they removed their tools to the latter establishment, and finished the other machines. The Red Mill was started with two throstle machines of eighty-four spindles each,
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and two mules of 200 spindles each. Jonathan Ellis was the first agent. "The company not merely spun yarn and warp, but erecting a dye house, they began to dye the same before sending it to market."
" The machinery in the Natlck cotton mill was pro- pelled by a tub wheel, (so called at that day,) somewhat similar to the iron wheels of the present time. The one used here was ten feet in diameter and eighteen inches in depth, with floats of corresponding depth, with a curb above it of greater depth, through which the water was conveyed by a trunk into the wheel. It was made wholly of wood. This wheel, while it required a larger amount of water than the bucket wheel to do the same work, yet it possessed the advantage of acquiring the desired speed with a less amount of gearing.'
Various changes took place previous to the year 1815. Two of the original stockholders, Perez Peck and Peter Cushman, had sold out their stock as early as the summer of 1808. In July, 1815, the old organization was super- ceded by three companies, one of which was known as the Rhodes Natick Company ; another the Natick Turnpike Factory Company, and the third as Ellis, Lothrop &
* For an interesting article by Perez Peck, of Coventry, (of which the « bove is an extract, ) relating to the early manufacturing interests of Natick and other places, see Annual Report of the "Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry" for the year 1865
In the report of the above mentioned society for the year 1864, a list of the cotton mills in this State, and in parts of the adjoining States of Massachusetts and Connecticut, with the number of spindles of each, in November. 1815, was given. The list was presented by Samuel Greene. The following is the list for Warwick:
Warwick Manufacturing Company, 2,700 spindles.
Warwick Spinning Mill, 780
Providence Manufacturing Company. .3,200
Rh des, Harris & Smith
1,500
Riceville Manufacturing Company.
300
Utter Manufacturing Company ..... 3.50
Manchester Manufacturing Company. ..
.1,600
66
Lippitt Manufacturing Company .... 2,500
Roger Williams Manufacturing Company 1,500
Tiffany Manufacturing Company. 400
780
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Co. In 1821, William Sprague, of Cranston, father of the "Old Governor," purchased one mill with forty-two looms and 1692 spindles, and another furnished with carding and spinning machinery. Both these mil's were painted red ; the latter stood near the present grist mill, and was removed about the year 1830, to its present position on the turnpike, and converted into tenements. It is the first house on the east side of the turnpike, next to the bridge. It has undergone various changes since, and lost all outward resemblance of its original form. The Messrs. Rhodes retained one mill, which stood about where the south end of the present number one (New Brick,) now stands, and was about 80 feet by 30 feet, with thirty looms and other necessary machinery for making cotton cloth ; also a grist mill and several tenement houses. George A. Rhodes, a son of Gen. Christopher, was agent until his death, when his father took charge until the company sold out to the Spragues. " The Messrs. Rhodes continued to own about halt the village for about forty-five years, building in the mean- time, in 1826, a stone mill 100x44 feet. On Dec. 17, 1852, they sold out to the Spragues for $55,000."
Christopher Rhodes was the third son of Robert Rhodes, (born April 5, 1743,) and Phebe Smith, (born Feb. 14, 1744.) He was born at Pawtuxet, (Warwick,) Aug. 16, 1776. For about five or six years previous to his coming of age, he followed the coasting business, and afterwards commenced business with his father at Paw- tuxet. His store was the old homestead, adjoining the house where he lived most of his life, and where he died. He subsequently, in connection with his brother William, engaged in manufacturing, about a mile from Pawtuxet, at a place known as Bellefonte Mill, and succeeded so well that the brothers extended their business to Natick. At a late period the Messrs. Rhodes became the owners of manufacturing establishments in Wickford and Albion villages. In May, 1809, Mr. Rhodes was elected Briga- dier General of the fourth brigade of Rhode Island militia. From May, 1828, to October, 1831, he repre-
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HISTORY OF WARWICK.
sented the town of Warwick in the General Assembly. " He interested himself, at an early period, in the substi- tution of penitentiary punishments in place of the whip- ping post and pillory." In October, 1835, he was ap- pointed by the General Assembly one of the building committee for the erection of the State Prison, and on its completion was appointed one of its inspectors, which office he held until May, 1847. Zachary Rhodes, the earliest ancestor of the family in this country, is men- tioned in a letter of Roger Williams to the General Court of Magistrates and Deputies of Massachusetts Bay, dated 15th ninth month, 1655, in which he says: "There are but two families which are so obstructive and destructive to an equal proceeding of civil order amongst us ; for one of these four families, Stephen Arnold desires to be uniform with us; a second, Zachary Rhodes, being in the way of dipping, is (potentially) banished by you. The others, William Arnold and William Carpenter plead that all the obstacle is their offending of your- selves."
Zachary Rhodes, as appears by his will, dated April 28, 1662, left a wife (Jane) and seven children, víz: Zachariah, Malachi, John and Peleg ; and three daugh- ters, Elizabeth, Marcy and Rebecca. Malachi had a son Malachi, whose son James, born in 1710, was the father of Robert, the father of Gen. Christopher Rhodes. Gen. Rhodes married Betsey Allen, of South Kingstown. Their children were George A., Christopher S., who married Olive B., a daughter of Joshua Mauran ; Eliza A., who married Hon. John R. Bartlett, for many years Secretary of State, and Sarah A., who married Hon. Henry B. Anthony, one of the Senators from this State in Congress. Gen. Rhodes died in Pawtuxet, May 24, 1861, and was buried in the old family burial ground at Pawtuxet, where the first Zachary Rhodes and his wife were buried. The graves of the latter are marked by " square piles of flat stones," without inscriptions. Gen. Rhodes outlived all his children, his son Christopher S. having died January 17, 1861, about four months pre- vious to his father.
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The following is a concise statement respecting the mills of this village, as they now stand: No. 1, of brick, the north end as far as the tower, 166x48 feet, built in 1835; south end built in 1859, 153x52 feet, comprising the L and tower. It stands on the site of the old Rhodes' mill, and contains 21,244 spindles and 471 looms. No. 2, of stone, built in 1826, 120x44, with an addition on the north end, built in 1858, of 40 feet, making the present size 160x44. It contains 7,174 spindles, and 132 looms. No. 3, built of stone, by Wm. Sprague, in 1822, with an addition in 1835, making it 136x36 feet. It contains 6,784 spindles and 216 looms. No. 4, built of brick in 1829-30, with additions in 1856, making it 190x44. It contains 9,280 spindles and 213 looms. Total of the four mills, 44,604 spindles and 1,032 looms. Number of employés, 321 males and 395 females-total 716. During the year ending June 1st, 1875, these mills made 10,544, 920 yards of cloth, which were sent to the Cranston Print Works.
The agents and superintendents of the Spragues in this village have been as follows: Wm. Sprague was in charge for several years, and was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Emanuel Rice ; Henry Dyer, superin- tendent from 1849 to 1860; Edwin Potter, 1860 to 1862; John Allen, Jan. 1, 1862, to the following May ; Wm. M. Spink was appointed to that position May 23, 1864, and has continued until the present time. Mr. Albert G. Smith commenced working for the Spragues in 1835, making the wood work of the machinery, and continued in this capacity and that of draughtsman until 1859, and at intervals to the present time-facts that bear testimony to his skill and faithfulness.
Though the mill property in this village might be con- sidered as somewhat extensive, it is but a fraction of the extensive works carried on and owned wholly or in part by the Messrs. Amasa & William Sprague, and others who are associated with them. The following statement made by a Providence correspondent of a New York paper, Nov. 7, 1873, and which is supposed to be in the
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main correct, shows the immense business which they have carried on :
" The firm of A. & W. Sprague Mf'g Co. run near 280,000 spindles, and 28 printing machines in mills and print works, and employ over 10,000 operatives. Their great print works at Cranston employ about 1,200 persons, and can turn out 40,000 pieces a week. At Natick. they run 42,000 spindles and have about 800 hands. At Arctic, they run 29,000 spindles and employ 500 hands. At Quidnick, they have 32,000 spindles and 500 hands; at Baltic, Conn , 83,000 spindles and 1,000 hands; at Central Falls, R. I., 32,000 spindles and near 600 hands; at Augusta, Me., 34,000 spindles and 700 hands. These cotton mills supply their print works with most of the print cloths used by them, making about 35,000 pieces a week when running on full time. All were running on half time in the early part of Nov. 1873. At present all are running on full time.
Besides their mills and print works, they run other great enterprises, both within and without the state of Rhode Island. In Maine ,they have vast timber mills, saw mills, and like property, in which are employed great numbers of men during the lumbering season. In South Carolina, at Columbia, they own valuable water power and have a great stock forward. They also own much land in Kansas and in Texas. In this city (Providence) and Cranston, their real estate improved and unimproved, is great in extent and value. They control in this city (Providence) the Union Railroad, owning most of the street railways, and 100 cars, and employing 300 men and 500 horses. The capital stock is $600,000, and valuation of prop- erty about $800,000. Wm. Sprague is President of the Provi- dence and New York Steamship Co., which has eight steamers, employs 500 hands, and owns property valued at $1,000,000. This company it is claimed will not be embarrassed by the Spragues; because, although they are the largest stockholders, they own a minority of the stock. A. & W. Sprague control in Providence, the Perkins Sheet Iron Co .; the R. I. Horse Shoe Co., having 300 hands when full; Sprague Mowing Machine Co .; Comstock Stove Foundry, and the American Horse Nail Co. Their mill property at a low valua- tion, is estimated at $4,200,000, and their print works at $1,000,000. Their pay-roll at times has approached $25,000 a day. Besides all this property, A. & W. Sprague as partners of the firm of Hoyt, Spragues & Co., own the stock of the Atlantic Delaine Co., whose mills in Olneyville, R. I., employ over 2,000 hands. On this property (said Delaine Co.,) there is an indebtedness of near $4,000,000.
Owing to the financial embarrassments which culmi-
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nated in the latter part of 1873, the Spragues executed a "Deed of Trust " to Zachariah Chaffee, in which mention is made that the Spragues are indebted to the amount of about $14,000,000. Their property at a fair valuation is estimated to be considerably in excess of this amount, and it is hoped and expected that they will eventually emerge from the heavy financial cloud that at present overshadows them.
William Sprague, father of the first Governor Wm. Sprague, started a small mill in Cranston in 1811, and also ran a saw mill. He was the first of the family in- terested in the Natick mills. He died suddenly in the year 1836, leaving three sons and two daughters. The sons were Amasa, William, who is sometimes called the "Old Governor," to distinguish him from another of the same name, and Benoni, who still survives and resides in Cranston. One of the daughters, Almira, married Emanuel Rice, the other married a Mathewson. The two sons, Amasa and William, after the death of their father, continued the manufacturing interests in which their father had been eminently successful. "Amasa possessed much shrewdness, adapting himself easily to the prejudices of others, displaying great occasional energy, blended with a good-natured indolence, and in business or politics always gave signs of athletic common sense. William's resources were more varied and lofty. His mingled boldness and prudence, his practical tact and speculative skill, his constant attention to details, and his foresight of the most distant results ; his rapid penetration into the weak points of men, and his firm reliance upon his own impulses ; all these qualities con- stituted William Sprague a chieftain in the marts of business, certainly with no superior, and with scarcely a rival." Gov. Sprague was a politician as well as a manu- facturer, and in the course of his life filled several important political offices. He was Governor of this State from 1838 to 1840, and United States Senator from 1842 to 1844, when he resigned to attend to his manufacturing interests. He died in 1856, leaving a
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HISTORY OF WARWICK.
son Byron, and a daughter Susan, who married the late Edwin Hoyt, of New York city.
Amasa, brother of the Governor, was murdered in 1843. His children are, the present Colonel Amasa Sprague, of Cranston, Ex Governor William Sprague, Almira, who married Hon. Thomas A. Doyle, mayor of Providence, and Mrs. Latham.
On the death of the Senior Governor Sprague, the business fell into the hands of his son Byron, and his two nephews Amasa and William. The former retired from the business in 1862, several years previous to his death. In 1860, William Sprague, then about thirty years of age, was elected Governor of the State, and was re-elected the following year. He rendered con- spicuous service during the war, and in 1863, was elected to the United States Senate, in which position he remained until the present year.
The Natick of to-day, very favorably compares with that of fifty years ago, in many respects. The increase in population, the number and appearances of the build- ings, both the mills and the dwelling houses, the streets, etc., all indicate the prosperity that has attended it. The meeting house was built in 1838, by Governor Sprague, and was used for awhile by the several de- nominations of worshippers living in the village, in rota- tion. Here Elder Warner, an old Baptist preacher, was wont to hold forth, one sabbath in the month; Elder James Phillips, a Freewill Baptist, whose meeting-house was situated several miles distant, near the "High House," and which was subsequently removed to Pontiac, and recently removed by another church back to the Plains, near to where it originally stood, occupied one sab- bath a month; the Methodists and the Baptists also had their turns, until it finally fell into the hands of the Bap- tists, who have continued its sole occupants for many years. The house was dedicated one Thanksgiving day. For a while the latter denomination paid $50 a year for its use, which was generally expended by the Spragues in keeping it in repair. Previous to the building of the
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NATICK.
meeting-house, religious services were held in the old school-house, the building just west of the present school- house now occupied by Mr. Sheldon H. Tillinghast, and at various other places. Mrs. Sally Warner, or " aunt Sally," as she was familiarly called, is supposed to have started the first sabbath school that was held in the vil- lage, in what was known as Cod-fish Hall, over the store of the Messrs. Rhodes. Mrs. Warner subsequently re- moved her school to the school-house. She was a woman of many excellent traits of character, full of vivacity, of masculine courage, which was sometimes severely tested by those who had but little sympathy for her in the good work in which she was engaged. With a mind stored with religious anecdotes, she awakened the interest of her pupils in the Bible and doubtless kept many little feet from wandering into the pathways of sin and folly.
The first building erected for school purposes in the vil- lage, was probably the one now standing south of the present school-house. It was enlarged to about double its original proportions, by Wm. Sprague, in 1838, and was used until the building now used was erected in 1850. The cost of the present school-house was $2,355 independent of the lot, which, was given by Mr. Sprague. Among the earlier teachers were Wm. B. Spencer, in 1830-1, Rev. Arthur A. Ross, Rev. J. Brayton, Alanson Holly, E. M. Tappan, E. M. Hopkins, M. J. Knight, M. W. Grow, and others. The present principal of the school, Mr. J. Q. Adams, who has kindly furnished a portion of the items connected with the present account of this village, has held his position with much credit since 1867.
Among the early physicians that located in this village were Dr. Greene, afterwards of East Greenwich, Dr. Andros, who was settled here many years and until his death, and Dr. Asa Fuller, who purchased the estate and lived in the house now owned and occupied by Mrs. John D. Spink.
Previous to the year 1840, the population of the vil-
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lage was almost exclusively American. The only Irish- man living here at that date was Patrick Dunn, who married an American woman, and finally removed to East Greenwich, where he died. On the passage of the railroad through here, the foreign element rapidly in- creased, and at present forms a large proportion of the population. A Roman Catholic church was built in 1871-2 for the benefit of the Irish catholics, and about a year ago, a chapel was erected of the same order for the French people, but which has never been consecrated, and will doubtless be used for other purposes, inasmuch as the two nationalities have concluded to unite in wor- ship at the other church.
To the north of the village, about a mile distant, on land formerly owned by the Baker family, but now in possession of the Spragues, is a stream of water, that forms, at certain seasons of the year, one of the finest cascades in New England. The stream is a branch of the Moshanticut, one of the feeders of the Pawtuxet, and in the summer time a person may easily step across it. But in the spring time, when the heavy rains and melted snow swell its volume, and there is no call for its diversion to irrigate the lands that lie to the southward, as is the case during the summer months, the waters re- joice in their liberty and devote themselves to a grand exhibition of watery gymnastics. The fall in the course of quarter of a mile, is probably not less than a hundred feet perpendicular height, for the most part over a pre- cipitous, scraggy ledge of rocks, a portion of the distance being at au angle of some sixty degrees. The stream after crossing the highway, moves quietly along for some distance, until it comes near the precipice, then gradually increases in speed, now turning at right angles at some impassible barrier, or over-leaping it, until it takes its principal leap and tumbles down the precipice, churned to a foam and casting its spray on every side. Then with a variety of ceremonious bows to the right and to the left, with pigmy waterfalls here and there in its course, it arrives at the valley below, and quietly
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