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 5
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 5
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 5
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 5
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WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
tage of the phraseology of the charters of Rhode Island and Con- necticut, which named Narragansett River as the boundary between the two colonies, pushed the claim of jurisdiction to Narragansett Bay. It was afterwards decided that by Narragansett River was meant Pawcatuck Riyer. In 1649 Thomas Stanton had a trading- house on the Pawcatuck, and a monopoly of the trade at the mouth of the river, for a season granted by the Connecticut authorities. The Pequot claim extended to Weecapaug, about four miles east of the river. Massachusetts resigned her claim to Connecticut in 1658. In 1662 Harmon Garret, alias Wequascouke, governor of the rem- nant of the Pequots, stated that he and his people " had broken up above a hundred lots, and lived quietly and comfortably, east of Pawcatuck River," but had been "driven from their planting ground, - fourscore Indian men, beside women and children, just at planting time." They were expelled in part by Rhode Island men, since this colony claimed possession to the Pawcatuck, and the land had been purchased of the Indians.
The earliest efforts of Rhode Island men to purchase lands of the Indians in Misquamicut, if we except John Babcock, and perhaps one or two others, seem to have been made near 1658. Nothing, however, of importance was accomplished. The settlers of this col- ony did not believe in occupying Indian lands by right of conquest ; in all cases they purchased their titles of the aborigines. In 1660 a private company was organized in Newport for the purchase and settlement of Misquamicut. In the same year another company of sixteen persons purchased Block Island of the natives, the Manisses Indians.
We have seen that a few of the first settlers in Misquamicut were of Massachusetts origin and education. They joined the settlers of Nameaug, now New London, in maintaining public worship under the ministry of Rev. Richard Blinman. By bridle paths through the unsubdued wilderness, fording the streams and rivers, the scat- tered settlers traveled to join their friends in public devotions, meet- ing alternately at New London and Pawcatuck. In the summer, however, they met midway between these places, on the western border of the town of Stonington, upon the lands of Col. George Denison, under the shade of a giant pine tree, where now stands the old Denison mansion, full two hundred years old, and containing some of the wood of the sacred Bethel tree. These Pedobaptists were a kind of Presbyterians, who at last became Congregationalists. In reference to their early meetings, we may quote the following record of the Connecticut Assembly in 1656 : " It is ordered by this court, that while the ministry is maintained at Paweatuck, the charge thereof, and the ministry at Pequett, New London, shall be borne as the major part of the inhabitants shall agree and order." Rev. Wil- liam Thompson "ministered to the Pequots at Mystic and Pawca-
.
45
THE FIRST WHITES.
tuck," from 1657 to 1663, aided pecuniarily by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in New England. The Pawcatuck fam- ilies of Massachusetts origin finally attended upon the ministry of Rev. James Noyes, the first settled minister in Stonington. Yet meetings were occasionally held in Westerly, in the private houses of the settlers. The first Congregational church in Stonington was not. organized till June, 1674.
Would that we could look back and see the first white families: that came by boats along the coast, or by Indian trails through the deep forests, and made the first clearings in the dense wilderness. To look into their log houses, sometimes half beneath the earth and half above, thatched often with slabs and bark, rarely furnished with windows, having furniture manufactured with ax, saw, and auger, to follow them in their labor of subduing the wild, would induce us to thankfully cherish their names and their deeds. What strangers we are to their toils and perils and sacrifices. Alas! that even the graves of these pioneers have been suffered to be neglected and many of them wholly forgotten. Nor did any among them aspire to the office of an annalist. Could some record, even a rude journal kept among them, be now found, how eagerly and thankfully would it be perused.
It should not be forgotten that the early constituency of Rhode Island was peculiar. The leading opinions of Roger Williams, John Clarke, and their associates, giving form and spirit to the colony, were distasteful and offensive to the established inhabitants of the adjacent colonies. Hence many that were deemed errorists, schismatics, and misguided enthusiasts, naturally preferred the It jurisdiction of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. required a disregard of public opinion, or a moral courage that rose superior to such an influence, to qualify a man to choose the colony as his home. Hence the colony was destined, from its very begin- ning, to wear a peculiar character and to work out a peculiar destiny. And not until many years after the Great Awakening, and after the close of the Revolution, did Massachusetts and Connecticut look upon Rhode Island with any kindliness of spirit. The new princi- ples had to commend themselves by their fruits. The colony, once stigmatized as " a collucies," proved itself to be the home of peace, propriety, and thrift. So successful have been the despised princi- ples of Williams, that to-day they are the constitutional principles and the boast of the States that once regarded them with scorn and hatred. A field free to inquiry, and expression open to sectarianism and the largest religious liberty, has been more productive of the happiest results, - has yielded a richer revenue for mankind than the older, larger provinces that sought to establish uniformity, and coerce men into the paths of devotion. Free souls are most sus- ceptible of virtue, and are ever the best promoters and guardians
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WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
of human progress. Celestial truth receives no aid from govern- mental force.
In reading the annals of any people and any period, it is indis- pensable to a just judgment upon the character of those of whom we read, that we transport ourselves, in both thought and feeling, as far as possible, back to the period mentioned, and surround ourselves with the then existing life and light, and breathe the atmosphere of thought and interest and custom that characterized the time and the people. We must not judge one century by the light of another. We must not pronounce upon one nation the moral judgment pre- vailing in another. Every generation should be judged by the de- gree of light and the character of the forces that belong to it. Thus we should judge as we would be judged.
CHAPTER VI.
.
PURCHASE OF MISQUAMICUT.
IT will be proper to here give some account of the purchase of the original township, and the measures adopted in the first settle- ment.
PETITION TO ASSEMBLY.
" To the Honorable Gentlemen of the Court of Commissioners assembled to- gether in his Majesty's name, for the colony of Providence Plantations at Portsmouth, the 27th of August, 1661:
" Please ye honored gentlemen: There being an opportunity or present- ment of a certain piece or tract of land, lately discovered or mnade known, which tract of land lyeth in a situation in the furdest or remotest corner of this colony's jurisdiction, called by the name of Ascomicutt: which tract of land is fairly promised to a certain number of Adventurers upon the design of purchasing it; which adventurers are members of this colony, and well wishers thereto, who desire to do nothing that shall prove prejudicial to the interest and honor of the colony's privileges or advancement; but are now confronted by adversaries, which, by a species of intrusion, are seeking to make inroads upon our privileges of colonies' jurisdiction; these premises considered, your petitioners are bold, under correction, to pray, in case we can make the adversary, which is both to the colony and us, to retreat, which we question not in point of right and title from the natives: there- fore, we being willing to proceed in all points of loyalty that may suit with the advance and honor of the colony, we humbly crave your favorable ap- probation, countenance, and assistance to us in the settling of a plantation or township in or upon the above said tract of land, called by the name of Ascomicutt; which number of persons may probably extend to 30, 40, or 50, or thereabouts; which thence are to inhabit; thereof many are persons con- strained to make inquisition and seek out land for a comfortable livelihood. So, honored gentlemen, if it be your pleasure to grant your petitioners' re- quest, as we are, so we subscribe and remain, your humble petitioners and servants, to our power, for ourselves, and in the behalf of the rest of our company.
his
WILLIAM VAHAN. 1 mark.
JOHN COGGESHALL. JOHN CRANDALL. HUGH MOSHER. JAMES BARKER.
CALEB CARR. his
JAMES ROGERS.
I. R.
mark.
JOSEPH TORRY.
JOHN CRANSTON."
--------
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WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
In this petition are discovered the foreshadowing of litigations relative to the boundaries. The purchase rested on the following deed : -
A COPY OF THE PURCHASE OF SOSOA, THE TRUE OWNER OF MISQUAMICUT.
." This deed or writing, bearing date this present twenty-ninth day of June, one thousand six hundred and sixty, witnesseth, that I, Sosoa, an Indian captain of Narragansett, being the true and lawful owner of a tract of land called Misquamicut, for-a valuable consideration in hand paid to my content, having bargained and sold unto William Vaughan, Robert Stanton, John Fairfield, Hugh Mosher, James Longbottom, all of Newport, in Rhode Island, and others their associates, which said tract of laud being bounded as followeth: Easterly by a place called Weecapaug or Passpatanage, join- ing to Niantic land; on the south by the main sea; on the west by Paw- catuck River, and so up the chief river or stream northerly and northeasterly to a place called Queqnatuck or Quequachonocke; and from thence on a straight line to the first named bounds called Weecapang or Pachatanage; joining upon the Niantic land, as above said; which said tract of land, so butted and bounded as aforesaid, I, the said Sosoa, do for myself, my heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, surrender up all right, title, claim or interest whatsoever to the said land, &c. &c.
The mark of SOSOA.
Sealed, signed in presence of JEREMY CLARKE. LATHAM CLARKE. HENRY CLARKE.
AWASHIWASH his mark.
The mark Wo of Nucey, Interpreter. GEORGE WEBB. GEORGE GARDINER.
The title was confirmed by CACHAQUANT. SAMMECAT.
PESSICUS.
WAWALOAM (wife of Miantonomi). AWASHOUS. POATOCK.
UNKAGUENT. NE-O-WAM."
The signing of the deed of this town by eleven plumed and painted savages and five pale faces, perhaps in a wigwam or by an Indian council fire, would be no unworthy theme for the canvas. Some child of genius may yet do it honor. In the hope of provok- ing some gifted pen or pencil, a few impromptu lines are added : -
Behold, in view, the ancient forest stands; The summer airs soft in the branches play; An aged oak wide spreads its giant hands Above a group of men in strange array; .
49
PURCHASE OF MISQUAMICUT.
The plumed and painted warrior Sosoa, In peage belt and robe of wolf, appears,
And round him savage captains, scarred in war, With bands of bowmen, strangers all to fears;
They bend in conclave round the council fire; Anon, a swarthy, grave interpreter Invites the pale men to approach his sire, And to his princely pleasure to defer.
The price is paid, the solemn parchment spread Upon an Indian drum, - a bear's tough skin,
On hoop of oak, adorned with panther's head, - When, hands upreared in vows, the rites begin.
The sign of Sosoa, of Cachiaquant, Sammecat, Pessicus, Wawaloam,
Awashous, Poatock, of Munkaguent, Awashıwash, Nucum, and of Ne-O-Wam,
Are all affixed, while awful silence reigns; And white men seal the parchment with their plight;
Thus passed were forty leagues of hills and plains From Pagan gloom to opening Christian light.
It appears that some doubt was cast, probably through the influ- ence of Connecticut and Massachusetts men, upon the legality of Sosoa's claim to this tract of land. This called forth the following paper, which has a historical value from the name and signature of the person who gave it.
"A COPY OF WAWALOAM, THE WIFE OF MIANTONOMY, HER AFFIRMATION AND CONFIRMATION OF SOCHO, alias SOSSOA, HIS DEED AND GRANT.
" ASPANAUSUCK or HAKEWAMEPINKE, the 25th June, 1661.
"Know all men by these presents, or whom it may concern, that I, Wawaloam, which was the wife of the deceased Sachem Miautonomy, do thus testify and affirm of my perfect knowledge: I did hear my husband Miantonomy, as also my uncle Canonicus, both of them joyntly dispose, give and pass over a tract of land named Misquamicuk, to a valorous Captain named Socho; this tract of land it is bounded as followeth: on the east cormier by a place called Weecapaug or Pespatang, joyning to the Nayhanti- cut land, by the salt sea, which is about 10 miles from Pawcatuck River, this bound is the southeast corner: and on the south side bounded with the main ocean, from the first bounds westerly to the mouth of Pawcatuck River; and from the mouth of Pawcatuck River bounded by Pawcatuck River, which is the west bounds of this tract of land, and so up the chief river or stream of Pawcatuck River, northerly and northeasterly about 15 miles from the mouth of Pawcatuek River, up to a place called Quequatuck: and from this northeast corner bounds it is bounded upon a line southeast to the southeast corner, which is by the main ocean joining to the Nianticut land, as it is above named, Weecapaug, or Passpatanage; this land thus bounded, be it 20,000 acres more or less, I. Wawaloam, do affirm it to be Socho's or his assigns; and further, whereas my uncle Ninegrad sayeth that
50
WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
it is his land. I, Wawaloam, do utterly deny it before all men, for it was con- quered by my husband, Miantonomy, and my uncle Canonicus, long before the English had any wars with the Pequots, therefore I, Wawaloam, do really confirm it, and affirm it to be Socho's land, his heirs, executors, administrators or assigns forever, from all others whatsoever.
Witness my hand. and seal the year and day above written.
The mark of
[ bow and } arrow "} WAWALOAM. [L. s.]
Prior to the purchase, a company had been formed of eighty members, who, on the 21st of March, 1661, drew up and subscribed twelve " Articles of Agreement," which were somewhat enlarged with " Acts and Orders" in July and September following. "The deed and all other writings " were " kept in William Vanghan's house." The land was first held in six shares, by William Vaughan, Rebert Stanton, Hugh Mosher, John Fairfield, James Longbottom, and Shubael Painter. These sold to the other members of the com- pany. The six original shares were valued at seven pounds each. The first occupants under the purchase appear to have entered upon the lands about the 1st of September, 1661. But of those who first meditated settlement in this month, " all failed except Toby Saun- ders, Robert Burdick, and Joseph Clarke, Jun." Others, however, soon joined them.
Immediately upon the removal of the first proprietors to this region, difficulties arose with Connecticut and Massachusetts in re- spect to jurisdiction. The purchasers were sustained by the royal charter given the colony in 1643, and by the deed obtained of Sosoa. But the adjacent colonies, then envious of and hostile to Rhode Island, pleading old claims from Indian conquests, and taking advan- tage of undefined phrases in the charter, aimed to annex this region to their jurisdiction. Massachusetts attempted to enforce her claim. Robert Burdick and Tobias Saunders were forcibly seized and confined in prison at Boston till they should pay a fine of forty pounds, and give security in one hundred pounds for their future good conduct. In 1662, Connecticut, under her new charter, pre- ferred a claim reaching even beyond Misquamicut, as far as Narra- gansett Bay.
" In 1663, a house that had been built on the east side of Pawca- tuck River by residents of Southertown (Stonington), being within the asserted jurisdiction of Rhode Island, was torn down. William Marble, a deputy of the marshal of Suffolk (Mass.), bearing a letter to the Westerly men upon this subject, was arrested, sent to Newport, and confined in prison for eleven months. In 1671, John Crandall and others were carried off by the Connecticut authorities, and imprisoned in Hartford jail."
This complex dispute of jurisdiction led to arrests, imprison- ments, fines, appeals, and the appointment of various commissions
51
PURCHASE OF MISQUAMICUT.
between the colonies, inducing interferences and decisions of the Crown, till, from very weariness, the boundary was definitely settled in 1728. As general accounts of this unpleasant, protracted contro- versy may be found in the histories of Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, and as all the facts would make a volume in them- selves, while they would now be uninteresting and unprofitable, save in revealing the fact that our forefathers were of like prejudices and passions with all mankind, further presentation of the case is purposely omitted.
Among the eighty hands subscribed to the "Articles of Agree- ment" of the company formed for the purchase of this region, but very few appear among the actual settlers. Some doubt- less entered into the plan with purposes of speculation only ; some were deterred from settlement by the remoteness and ruggedness of the region, and yet others by the serious questions that arose in re- spect to rights and titles.
The entire population of the colony of Rhode Island in 1665 was but 3,000.
/
,
CHAPTER VII.
NOTES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
ONLY those who have traveled in a wild, unsubdued country can form any proximate idea of the appearance and condition of this region when it was first entered by the colonists. And only those who have experienced pioneer life are able to conceive the trials and hardships endured by the first settlers. As the region was naturally rough, the soil thin and stony, the forests dense and old, there being no rich, inviting river valley, nor any broad, commodious harbor, and all the country being still encompassed by remnants of savage tribes, while the wilderness was the full haunt of ravenous beasts, its settlement by whites was inevitably slow and difficult.
Providence was founded in 1636; Newport, in 1638; New Lon- don, in 1646; Stonington, in 1649; Westerly, in 1661. But in 1669 the whole region then embraced by Westerly contained only about thirty white families. These, during this year, in May, 1669, by an act of the colony, were incorporated, and the township, from its geographical position, received the name of Westerly. It was the first township organized under the new colonial charter given in 1663, and the fifth organized in the State.
We copy from the town records.
"A List of the Free Inhabetants of the Towne of Westerle, May 18th, 1669:
John Crandall. John Fairfield.
John Sharp.
Edward Larkin. Danniel Cromb. Danniel Stanton.
Stephen Wilcox. Nickolas Cottrell. James Babcock, Sen.
John Lewis. Shubael Painter. Thomas Painter.
James Cross. Tobias Saunders. James Babcock, Jun.
Jonathan Armstrong.
Robert Burdick.
John Babcock.
John Maxson. John Randall.
Job Babcock.
Jeffree Champion, Sen. John Matkoon.
Josiah Clark."
The colony immediately appointed John Crandall and Tobias Saunders "conservators of his Majesty's peace," with power to sum- mon juries and hold courts.
1
·
53
NOTES OF THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY.
To these twenty-four men was committed the guardianship of a territory twenty miles in length and ten in breadth, -mostly a dense forest, traversed only by trails. No sooner were these few scattered settlers incorporated in the wilderness than, besides the vexations arising from disputed boundaries, they began to suffer from suspicions, disturbances, and violences from the Indians. The dark, dread storm was gathering, known as King Philip's war. At the breaking out of this wide, sanguinary struggle, such were the treacheries and cruelties of the savages, that nearly all the pioneer settlers were obliged to flee the region and take shelter again in Newport. No deputies from the town appear in the General Assembly for five years.
Samuel Hubbard, of Newport, writing to Edward Stennett, in England, under date of Nov. 29, 1676, says, "In the beginning of these troubles of the wars, Lieut. Joseph Tory, elder of Mr. Clarke's church, having but one daughter, living at Squamicut, Mis- quamicut, and his wife being there, he said unto me, 'Come, let us send a boat to Squamicut ; my all is there and part of yours.' We sent a boat so as his wife, his daughter, and son-in-law, and all their children, and my two daughters, and their children (one had eight, the other three), with an apprentice boy, - all came, and brother John Crandall and his family, with as many others as could possibly come. My son Clarke came afterwards before winter, and my other daughter's husband came in the spring; and they have all been at my house to this day." Such flight of defenceless men, women, and children from a wilderness swarming with enraged, implacable savages, would be an impressive and fruitful theme for the measures of the historical poet.
To the honor of Ninigret be it said, that he refused the solicita- tions of Philip to join in the conspiracy for the extermination of the colonists. He had received a present of a coat from King Charles, which greatly delighted him, and which he proudly wore when persons of rank visited him, and on occasions of state. Other gifts of utensils and ornaments, and the advantages of traffic, linked his attachments to the whites.
As Philip's war so vitally affected this town, we are justified in alluding to some of the prominent events of the conflict. We copy from the pen of Hon. C. H. Denison.
" When the dispersion of the Wampanoags occurred, a few of them natu- rally fled to the nearest tribe of their countrymen, which was the Narragan- setts. Here they found shelter from the vengeance of the whites. But their sympathy was considered criminal by the colonists, and they immedi- ately prepared to punish them.
"The winter fortress of the Narragansetts was situated in the present town of Kingstown, R. I., hardly a stone's-throw from the line of the Ston- ington Railroad, but then the centre of an extensive and impassable swamp, upon some rising ground, containing about four acres of land. It was
54
WESTERLY AND ITS WITNESSES.
securely hid by the tall junipers which, with the cedar and pine, formed the intricacies of the place, and was fortified with great ingenuity and strength. To this place Philip and a few of his warriors had fled, and the colonists decided at once to destroy it. They had seen the effect of the terrible blow struck by Mason upon the Pequots, and were determined to inflict one equally severe upon the haughty Narragansetts. Upon the approach of winter, the tribe had removed to this fortress all their women and children, and had rendered it as impregnable as their knowledge of defensive warfare could possibly make it. They had erected about five hundred wigwams of a superior construction, in which their provisions were stored, and had piled the tubs and baskets of grain around the inside of the walls, making their dwellings still more impervious to the bullets of their enemies. The tubs were made of hollow trees, sawed or cut into suitable lengthis, with a wooden bottom. More than 3,000 persons had taken refuge within these huts.
" The three colonies of Massachusetts, Plymouth, and Connecticut raised a body of 1,500 troops, and in the month of December marched to this strong hiding-place of the Indians. It was nearly a month after their setting out before they arrived within eighteen miles of Philip and Canonchet's fort. The Indians had been aware of their approach, and were prepared to resist them. The army had suffered severely with cold, being without tents, and obliged to encamp in the open air, with no covering but their blankets. It was the nineteenth day of December, 1675, when they left their encamp- ments to attack the fort. One of the Indians, who had been taken prisoner, betrayed the entrance to the whites, without which it is doubtful if they could have found it. The snow was falling fast, and the wintry wind pier- cing. The army arrived at the entrance at about 1 o'clock, afternoon, and, without forethought or preparation, rushed along the causeway, which was commanded at its extremity by a block-house. But they rushed only to death. The passage over the ditch that surrounded the fort was by a single tree, which had been felled, on which all must pass to gain the opposite side. As the poisonous siroceo sweeps its victims, so the soldiers were swept off in a moment by the close, terrible fire of the Indians. But as fast as they fell, others nobly filled their places, until numbers of the soldiers and six English captains had fallen. , They hesitated, but only to prepare for a more fatal or successful leap over the chasm. Besides the high palisades, the Indians were protected by a breastwork of fallen trees, about a rod in thickness, which extended entirely around the fortress, their tops foremost. But a handful of men, under Captain Moseley, had by some means gained an entrance at another point over these trees, or abatis, and were contend- ing hand to hand with their enemy, which, attracting the attention for a moment of those who guarded the block-house, gave time for a number of the English to spring over the log, and enter the fort. The cry then being raised within the walls. 'They run! they run!' brought to their assistance more of their fellow-soldiers, and the slaughter became intense. Men, women, and children were killed without mercy, neither asking nor receiv- ing quarter. The most helpless sought refuge within the wigwams, but the torch was applied, and they found a fiery death. The warriors fought with the energy of despair. Philip and Canonchet were everywhere seen encour- aging their men by their presence and example; but the superior arms and endurance of the English finally gained the victory. Finding their efforts unavailing, the two chiefs, with a feeble remnant of their followers, fled, leaving about 700 of their countrymen dead on the ground. Their funeral pyre was the flame of the burning wigwams. the snow their winding-sheet. The English were now in possession of the place, and General Winslow was
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