USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Westerly > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 23
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Charlestown > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 23
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Hopkinton > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 23
USA > Rhode Island > Washington County > Richmond > Westerly (Rhode Island) and its witnesses : for two hundred and fifty years, 1626-1876 : including Charlestown, Hopkinton, and Richmond until their separate organization, with the principal points of their subsequent history > Part 23
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" At a towne meeting held at Fevershame, (Westerly, ) the 24th of March, 1686 -N. S. 1677) -
"VOATED: That whereas sundry fish of considderable value have been formerly cast up within the confines of this towne, and have been monopo- lized by perticuler persons bellonging to other jurisdicttions, whereby his Majesty and subjects have been wronged of their just Rights and privilidges ; And to protect the like for the future, The Towne doe order, That if any Whale, Dnbertus, or other great fish of considerable value shall be cast up within the limmits of this Towne, the person or persons that shall first find it shall forthwith make the Authorities and Inhabitants acquainted with the same, that his Majesties Right may be secured, and the remainder to be equally divided among the inhabitants; and the person or persons so doeing shall be duly Recompensed for their paines.
"And if any person or persons shall presume to break up any such fish or fishes, before publycation thereof, According to this order, he or they, or either of them, shall pay thirty pounds sterling as a fine to the towne, and returne the fish that they have taken."
In former times great profit was derived from the river fishing, particularly in the spring season. Shad and alewives were abundant. As the Pawcatuck is the dividing line between the two States, and no definite legislation had been agreed upon between the two States in reference to rights concerning fishing, there were frequent com- plaints and indeed serious collisions between the fishermen in this town and those in Stonington. Matters assumed a threatening
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aspect. Indeed, prosecutions and legal commissions were at different times instituted.
In 1785, joint legislation between Connecticut and Rhode Island was entered into and acts were passed, according to the suggestions of joint committees from the two States, that met in September of the same year, at " the house of Mr. Joseph Noyes, near Pawcatuck Bridge, in Stonington."
Among other things, it was enacted -
" That no person or persons be permitted to set or draw any seine or seines on said Pawcatuck river from the 20th of March to the first day of June, excepting upon Tuesdays and Wednesdays in each week."
" That in setting and drawing any seine as aforesaid, no greater space of time shall be employed therein than one hour for a single draught."
" That yearly and every year, from the twentieth day of March to the first day of June, there be a passage opened in the mill dam below Pawca- tuck bridge, from the bed or bottom of the river, fifteen feet in length, be- ginning at the middle of the river and extending the whole of said length easterly ; that similar passages be opened, in manner as aforesaid, in all the other dams in the said river, ten feet in length from the middle of said river."
"That no person or persons shall operate with any saw mill or mills, or shall saw any boards, plank or other timber, at any time between the said twentieth day of March and the first day of June annually."
"That whoever shall be convicted of offending against this act, shall, in default of paying the penalty or fine sentenced against him, be whipped not exceeding ten stripes."
In the same year the General Assembly granted " a lottery for raising the sum of four thousand dollars for the purpose of clearing the shoals and bars in Pawcatuck river." " Messrs. Rowse Babcock, Walter White, Thomas Noyes, and Oliver Davis were appointed directors of the said lottery:"
"In 1794 it was proposed in the General Assembly to divert the Pawea- tuck river into the sea, by opening a channel from Champlin's bridge in a southeast direction to Cocumpany bridge in a southeast direction to Cocum- pany pond, two and a half miles, and through this to Fort Neck by Meadow brook, and there at Fort Neck enter Pauwauganset pond at the northeast corner of Champlin's farm, near the highway."
The freemen of Westerly in town-meeting strenuously opposed this measure, as, by diverting the river from its ancient bed, it would be ruinous to her fisheries and her mills.
It appears from what survives of an old ballad, that at one time Mr. Thomas Brand, who was the miller at Stillmanville, and of course had good pork, and Mr. Shepard Wheeler, who belonged to a family famed for raising beans, had by some means secured too much of a monopoly in the fisheries at the dams. The dissatisfaction of the people with this combination and attempted speculation was expressed by the unfledged poet : -
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FISHERIES.
"Shepard Wheeler and Thomas Brand By some, 't is said, walk hand in hand; They having no pork, and being out of beans, Have boiled their alewires to season their greens."
Most of the fish found in the waters of this region, particularly in the tide-waters and the sea, are migratory, making only annual visits. Some kinds have visited the shores for a number of years, and then disappeared for a long period. A few new or rare species have revealed themselves during the last century. At present it is something of an event to see a whale of any species near the shores ; eager whalemen, with harpoons and bomb lances, have nearly driven these chiefs of the deep from the North Atlantic waters. Even por- poises and sharks have become shy of the bays and shores. The hal- ibut have been thinned, and driven towards the ocean shoals. Cod and haddock are still caught in large numbers, though mostly with the hook ; these prefer deep waters, and are best secured in the vicin- ity of Block Island. Their quality on this coast is always excellent, and the fishermen have a good reputation in the cure of their hauls.
The famous fisheries on the northeastern coast of the continent, from the Bay of Fundy to Labrador, at different times have engaged the skill and capital of the bold seamen of Westerly. The business from small beginnings, near a hundred years since, gradually increasing, reached its height near 1825, after which it soon subsided. Fares were made not only for the home market, but for many for- eign ports. French, Spanish, and West India goods were returned for the ventures. The best voyages were to "Green Island and Europe." Among the captains who sailed to the Grand Banks we may mention, Paul Pendleton, Libbeus Pendleton, David Pendleton, Christopher Pendleton, Saxton Berry, Robert Brown, Joseph Church, Royal Bliven, Frank Bliven, Reuben Burdick, John Hall, Thomas Dunbar, Clark Lamphear, James B. Thompson.
Some sold their fares on the Banks to keels bound to Europe.
The Bank fishing was succeeded by a great interest in sealing and whaling in distant seas. Among the able seal-men in the southern hemisphere were, Capt. Thomas Dunbar, Capt. John Hall, Capt. Ly- man Hall.
Among the skilled and successful whalemen in the distant oceans, north and south, may be reckoned the following captains : Palmer Hall, Jared S. Crandall, Hezekiah Dickens, Henry Dickens, Oliver Babcock, Albert D. Barber, George W. Bliven, Samuel B. Gavit, Gilbert Pendleton, Ellery Nash, James Nash, Nathan Wilcox.
The waters in and around Westerly at present furnish cod, had- dock, tautog, bass of two kinds, porgies in immeasurable quantities, menhaden, blue-fish, mackerel, chequot, shad, alewives, smelts, perch, salt and fresh, pickerel, trout, eels, lobsters, oysters, clams, and qua-
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. haugs. The salmon which once abounded in the Pawcatuck have long since disappeared.
Not a few persons on the bays, ponds, and coast follow fishing as their only avocation. Many of these organize in companies, owning boats, seines, store-houses, and teams. Porgies, bass, and some other kinds of fish are caught in prodigious pounds, and shipped as car- goes to distant markets. For a few years past the annual receipts from the fisheries of Westerly probably exceed $30,000. At present they are less prosperous than formerly, their income hardly exceeding $12,000.
Among the leading fishermen of the town we may name, Nathan Nash, Emery Babcock, Ezra Babcock, Daniel Larkin, Albert Cran- dall, Prentice Lanpher, Frank Lanpher, Halsey W. Burdick, John Harvey, Stanton Pendleton, James B. Thompson.
A few years since Mr. Emery Babcock erected on Sandy Point a small establishment, consisting of steam and press works, for extract- ing oil from menhaden. Owing to the protests of the people of Stonington borough, the enterprise was shortly abandoned.
About the same time a sort of try-works for obtaining the same kind of oil, were erected near Noyes's Neck, but not being sufficient to compete with larger and more improved establishments, were finally abandoned.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
MARINE LOSSES.
SUCH is the geography of Westerly, having a coast, partly sand and partly rock, lying open to the Atlantic Ocean, and having a promontory with its outlying rocky reefs, that the town has had a large list of marine disasters. As, however, no record of these losses was kept, and no company of life-savers and wreckers was organized till near the middle of the present century, we can make mention of but an imperfect roll of the shipwrecks and losses. With this roll, since the town has always had numbers of its worthy citizens engaged in maritime affairs, we shall couple some mention of the town's losses in vessels and seamen on different parts of the high seas. Our account will naturally contain some mention of the heavy storms that have desolated the coast.
An early annalist, Doctor Holmes, gives the following account of the fearful storm of 1635 :-
" An extremely violent storm of wind and rain from the southeast, on the 15th of August, did great injury in New England. Immense numbers of forest trees were destroyed. Many houses were unroofed ; many blown down ; and the Indian corn was beaten to the earth. The tide rose twenty feet perpendicularly. At Narragansett, the natives were obliged to climb trees for safety ; yet, the tide of flood returning before the usual time, many of them were drowned."
Of the earliest shipwrecks no memoirs have been preserved ; only the dimmest traditions have come down to us. The sad story of the ship " Palatine" was told in another chapter.
Col. Joseph Pendleton, who served his country faithfully and effectively during the Revolution, on the close of the struggle engaged somewhat in commerce. He built a brig, prior to the Revolution, on the west bank of the river, just below the bridge, which was launched and floated down the river with much difficulty. This vessel was loaded and put under the command of his son, Capt. Joseph Pendleton, and sent to the West Indies. She reached her destination, and duly loaded and started for the home voyage. Her departure for home was the last ever heard of vessel or crew.
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Mr. William Clark, grandfather of Weeden Clarke, Esq., shortly after 1770, attempted to reach Block Island during an unfavorable state of weather. Two men accompanied him in the boat. The winds and waves were an overmatch for the frail keel. The boat was never heard from. The widow of Mr. Clark long cherished the dear hope of her husband's return, thinking it possible that the boat had been driven to sea, and might have been picked up by some passing vessel. While in this state of anxious expectation, she piously perpetuated her hope by naming one of her grandchildren Wait Clark.
During the war of the Revolution, two English ships of the line, on their way westward, were overtaken by a northeast gale, and, running in towards the land, came to anchor near Watch Hill, and there hoped to outride the storm. They were the " Cayenne " and " Colodon." The "Cayenne," the smaller of the two, by cutting away her masts, held her ground. The " Colodon " rode so heavily that she burned and broke her hawser, and then drove before the gale, blinded by the snow, and struck on Shagwang Reef, and was dashed on the east point of Fort Pond Bay, Long Island. That. point is now known as Colodon Point. The huge anchor of this man-of-war was secured by Mr. Hezekiah Wilcox and his sons.
In March, 1788, the brig " Fanny," of Norwich, Conn., Capt. Asa Waterman, homeward bound from Port-au-Prince, was wrecked on Narragansett Beach in a fog. Crew and part of cargo saved.
A Captain Stillman, in a schooner loaded with merchandise, be- longing up the Connecticut River, near 1808, was driven ashore east of Watch Hill, and the vessel was a total loss; but a small portion of the cargo was saved.
Near 1810, Capt. Lyman Hall, 1st, lost his smack, the "Ranger," on Bull Island, S. C. The loss was a severe one to the captain, as insurances then were rare.
The oldest of the people now living tell of the sufferings incident to the day and night of Jan. 17, 1810, styled the "Cold Friday." On the evening of this day, Capt. James Champlin, his mate, Heze- kiah Dickens, Russel Brand, and Lewis Thompson, in the schooner "Lucy," belonging to Resolved Carr, were driven to sea from the Vineyard Sound, and never heard from afterwards.
Facts are also related of the "Great Christmas Gale and Snow- storm," Dec. 25, 1811, that, following very mild weather, swept over the land and ocean with fearful power. Capt. Amos Dickens, his brother, Sylvester Dickens, Reuben Thompson, and Thomas Gard- ner, in a schooner, coming home from Virginia, were overtaken by it, and whelmed in the surging deep. Others from Westerly were great sufferers.
The notable. "September Gale," that wrought such destruction on the coast from New Haven to Cape Cod, occurred Sept. 23, 1815. An account of it will be found in another chapter.
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MARINE LOSSES.
During the last war with England, the United States cutter " Re- venge," commanded by Com. Oliver H. Perry, bound from Newport to New London, to attend a great ball, in the night, struck on the reef at Watch Hill, by the Spindle, and was a total loss. A few years since, divers searched the remains of the wreck, and found a little specie.
Shortly before this, Captain Cutler, of Stonington, ran down the Spindle and lost his vessel.
Capt. Joseph Barber, in a schooner, was lost at sea. No report of him ever reached home.
In a gale (near 1820 ?), Capt. Russell Stillman, in his centre- board schooner " Phebe Ann," perished in the ocean.
Capt. Nathan Lanphear, in the schooner "Little Cherub," sailed from New York in the latter part of November, 1826, bound to Edenton, N. C., and thence to the Island of St. Thomas. He was lost on the voyage between Edenton and St. Thomas. The vessel was last seen passing Ocracoke Bar. All on board were lost with the vessel.
The schooner "Spartan," about one hundred tons, built at the landing (Bungtown) in 1827, owned by Rowse Babcock and Oliver Wells, on her passage from Charleston, S. C., to New York, laden with rice and cotton, and commanded by Robert Brown, was smit- ten by a hurricane, Feb. 22, 1828, about eight hundred miles south- east from Block Island, and utterly disabled. The officers and crew were rescued. The wreck was afterwards found upon the ocean, and the deck-load of cotton, with a part of the tackle, was saved.
Near 1830, in the winter, a schooner, laden with corn, having her rigging so frozen as to render her unmanageable, was driven ashore on Quonocontaug Beach. Of those on board, only one man, the aged cook, was able to swim. He succeeded in reaching the shore with a line, by means of which his shipmates passed from the wreck to the shore. It was night, and no dwelling was near. All started in search of a house, the light from which was discovered. The aged cook was exhausted. His comrades tried to carry him, but he asked them to leave him, and seek the house, and then return. On their return they found him dead. They finally reached the farm- house of Mr. Oliver Davis.
Near 1832-3, there was built, in the town of Westerly, a few rods north of the tan-vard, a fine ship of about three hundred and fifty tons, called the " Thomas Williams," owned largely in Westerly, and fitted expressly for the whaling business. Ou her second voyage, in 1837-8, which was a very prosperous one, she was commanded by Capt. Palmer Hall, and cruised in the South Pacific Ocean. On her third voyage, under Captain Manwaring, she was burned at the Azores, having been fired by the Portuguese.
Capt. Charles Barber and John Dodge, in the schooner "Caro-
ยท
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WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
line," from Stonington, bound to Virginia, near 1838, were lost at sea.
Near 1842, a schooner, loaded with hides, iron, and vitriol, went ashore on Napatree Point; the cargo was saved, but the vessel perished.
Near the same year, a schooner, loaded with corn and flour, was wrecked to the west of the light-house ; cargo saved in a damaged state, but the vessel was a total loss.
The schooner " Hard Times," bound from Long Island to Bristol, with sea-weed, near 18-, struck the reef and drove ashore near the light-house ; vessel and cargo wholly lost.
The sloop "Caspian," Capt. Ethan Pendleton, bound to New York, in November, 1846, was lost on the shore of Gardner's Island.
The sloop "Catharine Hale," Capt. Dudley Brand, was capsized at sea, and driven ashore on Long Island, Sept. 25, 1847. Captain Brand escaped on a spar. His wife, and Miss - Burdick, and the cook, - Stanton, perished.
A topsail schooner from the eastward, loaded with ship plank for Mr. Silas Greenman, ran ashore on Watch Hill Point, and was a total loss.
Near 1847, a smack struck within 100 feet of the light-house on the west side of the Point, and immediately went to pieces.
The schooner " Porto Rico," Captain Smalley, from the vicinity of Cape Cod, in 1850, went ashore, and was a total loss, on the beach near Thomas Brightman's.
In 1850, a brig and a schooner, bound eastward, in a calm morn- ing, were swept by the tide upon the reef west of the light, and were lost.
Near 1855, the schooner " Bulrush," loaded with copper ore, struck the Spindle reef, and was a total loss.
Here also perished a schooner, bound for Fall River, loaded with pig iron.
Westerly has often bowed in deep sorrow over the loss of her sons at sea. A few years since, her tears were elicited afresh in respect to the fate of Capt. Peleg Saunders, and his mate, Erastus Bliven. Captain Saunders, born Oct. 16, 1820, after spending fif- teen years at sea, in different positions and commands, sailed, in 1856, as master of the ship " Mary and Jane," from New York to Dundee, in Scotland. On his return voyage, loaded with Newcastle coal, he was disabled, and obliged to put back to Cork for repairs. Sailing again in November, 1856, he was never more heard from. It is believed that the severe gale that shortly after swept over the North Atlantic, caused the foundering of the ship. The age of Cap- tain Saunders was thirty-six; that of Mr. Bliven, twenty-six. As Captain Saunders was an exemplary Christian man, kind and faithful
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in every office in life, and rose to his position by his ability, assidu- ity, and integrity, he was greatly mourned. He left a widow and three daughters.
Near 18-, a brig, loaded with peanuts and resin, went ashore on Charlestown Beach, near Governor's Island. Total loss of hull ; portion of cargo saved ; one man perished.
On Charlestown Beach, near Fresh Pond Rocks, about 1857, was wrecked a schooner loaded with resin, etc. Part of the lading saved ; the hull a total loss.
In 1859, a brig, loaded with lumber, . from Bangor to New York, struck the Spindle Rocks, and then drove ashore as a total loss. A little of her cargo was saved.
The brig " Watson," of Sedgwick, Me., 146 tons, Captain Sher- man, bound from Philadelphia to Boston, with a cargo of coal, sprang a leak off Fire Island, April 1, at noon, and in attempting to reach Stonington, the weather being very boisterous, the brig became unmanageable and was driven on the rocks off Watch Hill, about 3 o'clock on the morning of April 2, 1860.
Schooner " Gulnare," of Cambridge, 109 tons, Captain Thurber, bound from Calais, Me., to Mott Haven, N. Y., with a cargo of lum- ber, in beating up Sound, when off Watch Hill, Friday morning, Nov. 23, 1860, outside the Buoy, struck a rock, and misstayed and run on the reef, and the gale increasing, drove her over the reef, and she became a total wreck.
The schooner " S. F. Solliday," of Philadelphia, 250 tons, Captain Seaman, sailed from Philadelphia, May 8, 1861, bound to Provi- dence, with a cargo of coal ; came in by Montauk the 13th, at 8 P. M. ; the weather being thick and boisterous, was unable to see the Light ; the storm increasing to a gale, was driven on Quonocontaug Beach about 12 o'clock at night, and became a total wreck.
In 1861, the schooner " Cape May," in ballast, struck the reef, stove, and was run ashore a perfect loss.
Near 1862, an English brig, loaded with alcohol, ran upon the Point, and was stripped to be abandoned, but was afterwards saved.
In 1862, the schooner "Eben Sawyer," loaded with sperm oil, valued at $73,000, struck the reef, and soon went to pieces. A small portion of her lading only was saved.
British brig " Elba," of Windsor, N. S., 156 English, or 229 Ameri- can tonnage, Captain Beckwith, sailed from New York on the 16th of January, 1862, bound to Leghorn, Italy, with a cargo of alcohol ; " ran down to Hart Island the 16th, and came to anchor, and owing to adverse winds, was unable to proceed until the morning of the 26th, when the vessel proved to be top-heavy, and judged it prudent to sail for Newport, R. I., to ballast, but owing to mistak- ing lights, ran on Watch Hill Reef at 9 o'clock, r. M., and remained until 3 o'clock, A. M., of the 27th, when made sale and struck a rock
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and unshipped the rudder and remained on the rock." Subse- quently the vessel was saved, and proceeded on her voyage.
The schooner "Eben Sawyer," 12730 tons, Captain Win- chester, sailed from New Bedford, Jan. 13, 1863, bound to New York, with an assorted cargo; on account of severe blowing weather, was driven on Watch Hill Reef at 2 o'clock on the morn- ing of the 14th.
The schooner " Stranger," 27 tons, Captain Oakes, sailed from New York, May 29, 1863, with an assorted cargo, bound to Fire Island Inlet, but on account of dense fog and high winds, was obliged to keep down the coast ; on the 30th, at about S o'clock, P. M., came to anchor near Montauk Point ; about three hours after, parted chains, and drifted across the Sound, and struck on the beach about four miles east of Watch Hill Light-house, and bilged shortly afterwards.
British schooner "Laura Clinch," 9983 tons, Captain Kyle, sailed from Saint Andrews, N. B., Nov. 24, 1864, with a cargo of lumber, bound to New York. During a thick snow-storm on the morning of Dec. 10, was driven on the rocks on the east side of Watch Hill Point, and became a total wreck.
The schooner " Laura Church," Capt. Robert Ross, with a cargo of lumber, late in the autumn of 1864, struck on the rocks east of Watch Hill, and went to pieces. A portion of the cargo saved.
Brig " Adelnia," 114 tons, Captain Heath, sailed from Calais, Me., April 7, 1865, bound to New York, with a cargo of lumber. On account of thick haze over the land, and a strong current setting up Sound, was driven on Catomb Reef (two miles from Watch Hill), about 2 o'clock, A. M., April 18.
British schooner " Albert," 60 tons English register, Captain Cogswell, sailed from New York, July 18, 1865, bound to Saint Andrews, N. B .; came to anchor on the afternoon of the 19th, to the westward of Watch Hill Light, for the purpose of taking on board the sails and rigging of the wrecked schooner " Laura Clinch." A gale sprung up in the night, which caused the vessel to drag her anchors, and she was driven on to Watch Hill Beach, July 20.
Schooner "Lizzie," 863 tons, Captain Glover, sailed from Rock- land, Me., Aug. 13, 1865, bound to Norwich, Conn., with a cargo of lime. At 12 A. M., on the morning of the 18th, while sailing the usual 'course by compass, the vessel struck the rocks off Quonocon- taug Neck, and soon after took fire, and was destroyed.
British schooner " Minnehaha," 51 tons, Captain Rogers, sailed from St. John, N. B., Nov. 11, 1865, for Providence, with a cargo of lumber. "Being unable to get into Newport during the easterly gale of Tuesday, and the vessel making water, and deck-load having started, was compelled to run for Long Island Sound, and at 43. P. M. anchored a short distance to the westward of Watch Hill Light.
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About 1 A. M. on the morning of the 22d, the wind suddenly shifted to the westward, blowing heavy, when the vessel was driven ashore on Watch Hill Beach, the sea breaking completely over her. Crew saved." Vessel and cargo insured in Providence.
During a snow-storm, Nov. 12, 1867, the schooner "Gilman D. King," 136 tons, Captain Ashford, bound from Calais, Me., to New York, with a cargo of lumber, misstayed while beating through Watch Hill Race, struck on Race Rock, and capsized. The crew were rescued and landed at Watch Hill; the wreck drove westward and was towed into Stonington, and the lumber in the hold was saved.
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