Annals of the town of Providence, from its first settlement, to the organization of the city government, in June, 1832.

Front matter

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Preface

The Rhode-Island Historical Society had long been desirous that a History of Providence should be prepared by one of their number, as soon as the requisite materials could be gathered. They were therefore gratified by knowing that the task had been undertaken by one of their earliest associates, upon whose care and fidelity, reliance could be placed.

The Society most cheerfully bear testimony to the industry which Judge Staples has devoted to the work ; and present this volume to the citizens of Rhode-Island, as a faithful record of the characters and deeds of their fathers ; and to the American people, as a valuable addition to that body of local annals upon which the future historians of our country must principally depend for materials for their more elaborate and extended works.

ALBERT G. GREENE, ) ^ ... .

JOHN HOWLAND, V ^^™^^^ «/ ROMEO ELTON, ^fumicaiion.

Providence, June, 1843.

A N N A L 8

OF

THE TOWN OF PROVIDEKCE.

FROM ITS

FIRST SETTLEMENT,

TO THE

ORGANIZATION OF THE CITY GOVERNMENT,

IN JUNE, 1S32.

BY WILLIAM R. STAPLES.

PRFNTEI) r. Y KNOWLES AND VOSE.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1843, by

William R. Staples, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Rhode-Island.

PREFACE.

The only historical publications relating to Rhode-Islaud, which have emanated from Rhode-Island men, are, Simplicity's Defence against Seven-Headed Policy, Callender's Century Sermon, Hopkins' History of Providence, Potter's Early History of Narragansett, Pitman's Centennial Discourse, and Bull's Sketches of the History of the State.

The first of these, is the production of Samuel Gorton, one of the first settlers of Warwick. It was originally published by him in London, in 1646. It has since been re-published, as the second volume of the Collections of the Rhode-Island Historical Society. It contains a narration of some events which transpired in Warwick, during a few of the first years after its settlement.

Callender's Sermon, is a historical discourse which was delivered by John Callender, pastor of the first Baptist church in Newport, in 1738, at the close of the first century of the existence of the English settlements on the island of Rhode-Island. It embraces a brief history of those settlements, together with the events of general interest which had occurred in other parts of the colony. No publication of the kind deserves higher praise for impartiality, candor, and research. An edition of this work was published in 1838, with extensive notes by Professor Elton. Valuable as the original work is, the notes of Mr. Elton have added much of value and interest to it ; but the historical events are not brought down, beyond the time of its delivery.

Hopkins' History of Providence first appeared in the Providence Gazette, in 1762. It has since been re-published in the Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society. The author was Stephen Hopkins, who for several years, sustained the office of Governor of the Colony of Rhode-Island. It contains the history of the Town of Providence, from its settlement down to 1645. It is entitled to confidence, for its general correctness.

IV PREFACE.

Potter's Early History of Narragansett, makes the third volume of the Collections of the Rhode-Island Historical Society. This is a very valuable work, compiled with great care, from authentic sources. It relates, almost exclusively, to that part of the State known as the Narragansett country.

In 1636, Judge Pitman delivered an address to the citizens of Providence, on the completion of the second century since the settlement of the Town. This was immediately printed. It is a fine historical discourse, but it does not pretend to be a History.

Bull's Sketches of the History of the State, were published in the Rhode-Island Republican, at Newport. The author was Henry Bull, now deceased, well known throughout the State at least, as a gentleman of great industry and historical research. — These sketches contain the greater part of the public documents which relate to the State in the infancy of the various settlements within it. The inferences and remarks of Mr. Bull, and his views in relation to his subject, are well worthy of attention.

Historical discourses have more recently, been delivered before several religious societies in the state. These generally relate to the societies before which they were delivered, and are very valuable as containing minute details in their histories. i\mong the most interesting of these, may be named, Ross' Discourse before the first Baptist church in Newport; Hall's, before the first Congregational Society, and Hague's before the first Baptist Society, in Providence.

Most of the States in the Union, and most of the large cities and towns, have produced their local historians. With the exceptions before mentioned, neither the State of Rhode-Island, nor any of the municipal corporations within it, have, as yet, any printed account of their rise and progress, unless the incidental notices which they have received from the historians of other states, may be considered as such. These notices are short and unsatisfactory. The town, state, or nation that borrows a historian from its neighbors, must expect to have its virtues forgotten and its vices magnified.

The ensuing work does not assume to be a History of Providence. The object of the author has been to collect facts for " the future historian, and to classify and arrange them, chrono-

PREFACE. V

logically, with only so many of his own remarks, as were necessary to connect them together and make them understood. In his attempt, he is aware that he has sometimes embodied facts and documents, intimately connected with, and forming a part of, the history of the State. Without doing this, he deemed it impossible, in some instances, to give a fair view of the acts of the Town ; while, in others, the proceedings of the State appeared to be founded upon and to have been the natural effects of, the doings of the Town. Besides this, in early times, the dividing line between the state, or rather the colony, and the town history was, by no means, so distinctly defined as now. For these reasons, he hopes his readers will pardon him, if he has trespassed upon the future historian of the State. Others may suppose that some of the facts collected are quite too minute and trifling. The object of the author being as before expressed, he believed himself less liable to censure for matters inserted, than for matters omitted. His aim throughout, has been, to omit no circumstance which might serve to illustrate the growth of the Town, or the changes which have taken place in the habits, the business, and the pursuits of the inhabitants.

Many of the materials for this work were obtained from the office of the Secretary of State, and from the City Clerk's office. The General Assembly of the State and the City Council, upon the author's application, gave him leave to take their early records and files from the offices where by law they are deposited, and to make extracts and copies from them, at pleasure. The like permission was given him by the Historical Society of the State. He availed himself of this privilege, and the records and files of both State and City have been sedulously examined. The permission given him by the Society, opened to him their historical treasures, included in which, are the results of the antiquarian life of the late Theodore Foster, and many of the collections of the late venerable Moses Brown. While he thus acknowledges his obligations to the State, to the City, and to the Historical Society, he is not unmindful of the kindness of the keepers of those offices, nor of the numerous individuals who have likewise aided him in his labors. The early historians of Plymouth, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New-England, as well as the works relating to Rhode-Island first alluded to, have 1

VI PREFACE.

also been exaiuiucd. The author, aL tirst, resolved to append notes of reference to the authorities upon which he has relied, and to the places in which the originals of the published documents may be found. This course, on second thought, he abandoned, because it seemed calculated to prove the extent of his researches, rather than to aid the reader ; and besides, the nature of the documents copied, will, in most instances, determine the place where the originals are deposited.

No alterations have been made in the documents published, excepting only in their orthography, which has been changed to that in general use at the present time. If such change deprives them of one innate mark of authenticity, it also renders them more easily read and understood. The orthography of Indian names of persons and places has been strictly preserved in the documents published. In the text, the author has used, what he believed to be, the common orthography of such names. It is by no means pleasing to see the same name, in the course of two or three pages, spelt in as many different ways; yet, as such diversity prevailed with our ancestors, who learned the language only by the ear, it has been preserved, with the wish that it may iiid the curious philologist in his researches.

Where any fact is referred to, the date of it is given in new style so far as relates to the year and the month. Bearing in mind, that, according to old style, March was the first month of the year, many supposed errors in the following work will disappear. If absolute exactness is desirable, in the date of any event occurring in or previous to 1752, the reader will add eleven days to the date given.

The author avows a decided preference for facts over words, and for things over names. His labors have been among the first, and his researches have been after them. The materials here published were principally found where a like disregard for terms and language prevails. These circumstances may have induced in him an unwarranted carelessness in style and expression. If, however, he shall succeed in exciting a taste for things of old time, and in arousing attention to the facts which make up the liibtory of Providence, his object will be accomplished.

Chapter XI. — Miscellaneous. Appendix. — Ecclesiastical History, from 1832 to 1842

Newspapers and Periodical Publications commenced since 1832.

List of persons who have been Representatives to the General Assembly, Town Clerks, Town Treasurers, Members of the Town Council, Collectors of the Port, and Fourth of July Orators, in Providence.

ANNALS or PROVIDENCE.

Chapter First. General History

FROM THE FIRST SETTLEMENT, IN 1636, TO THE RECEPTION OF THE FIRST CHARTER TO THE COLONY, IN 1644.

The first permanent European settlement within the present limits of New-England, was made at Plymouth, in the year 1620. The colonists were Enghshmen by birth, and of that denomination of Christians since called Doctrinal Puritans. Their former pastor, the Rev. John Robinson, is styled by Neale, "the father of the Independents." He and his congregation had been compelled, some years before, to remove to Holland, on account of their nonconformity to the rites and ceremonies of the English established church. There, they enjoyed their peculiar reUgious opinions in peace ; but the language and customs of the country continually reminded them, that they were in a land of strangers. This, connected with the reflection, that their descendants would be aliens and, perhaps, enemies to the land of their birth, induced them to seek a permanent refuge from English persecution in some remote part of the English possessions in America. Next to the desire of worshipping God according to the dictates of 2 their own consciences, was the wish to transmit to their descendants the privileges of Enghsh subjects. The spirit of colonization pervaded, rit that time, a large proportion of their fellow subjects, and rendered it easy for them to make arrangements with one of the large companies established by king James for the settlement of America, for permission to settle within the limits assigned them. Such an arrangement they did conclude with the Virginia Company. They also obtained from king James an intimation, that there they should not be molested for their nonconformity. Allured by the hope of enjoying their relioious opinions, under the sanction and protection of their natural prince, they undertook a second pilgrimage, and embarked for the wilderness of America. As it happened, however, their arrangement with the Virginia Company, and their assurance from king James, availed them nothing. They landed far to the Northward of the hmits of the Virginia Company, and within the bounds of the Grand Plymouth patent, on the inhospitable shores of Cape Cod, and in the midst of an inclement winter.

The second permanent settlement was made on the borders of Massachusetts Bay. These colonists also were EnoJish Puritans. Before they embarked from England, they obtained a patent for their lands from the proprietors of the Grand Plymouth patent, and a charter of incorporation from the king.

Neither of these colonies deemed it important to obtain from the Indians a title to the soil, before they commenced their plantations. They rehed, in the first instance, either upon their own actual possession, or on a grant from the king, as sufficient to confer a title to the soil they occupied. They, with all christian governments of their day, assumed the right to determine the religious belief of the individuals who composed the colony, or who should afterward join them. Without stopping to reflect, how they, individually, had suffered in their native country from the exercise of this same power, and how inefficient all attempts to regulate religious faith by legal enactments had always proved upon conscientious men, they followed on, in the beaten track. The religious standards adopted by these colonies essentially differed from each other. That of Plymouth approximated nearest to the Brownists. They disclaimed communion with the church of England, as well as with the church of Rome. The first settlers of Massachusetts were more liberal in their views. They professed not to separate from the church of England, but only from the errors of that church. At their departure from England, they sought the prayers of" mother church."

Both colonies soon had occasion to use the standards they had established. In each, there were some individuals whose creeds exceeded or fell short of legal measure. Toward these the same power was exerted, though in a less rigorous manner, which had driven the colonists across the Atlantic. The assumption of such a power by any government, will soon find, if in fact it does not create, opportunities for its exercise.

On the fifth day of February, 1631, Roger Williams arrived in Boston. He had taken orders in the established church in England, but had subsequently become a noncontormist and a rigid separatist, froni that church. This change in his religious opinions, induced his removal to this country. The Governor and Assistants of the colony on Massachusetts Bay, soon ascertained that his opinions did not conform to their established standard. The church at Salem invited him to become their Teacher, in the place of Mr. Higginson, then lately deceased ; Mr. Skelton being their Pastor. In April, the Court of Assistants wrote to Mr. Endicott, one of the leading men of the Salem Church, that " they marvelled that they would choose" Mr. Williams, " without advising with the Council ; and withal desiring them that they would forbear to proceed, till they had conferred about it." They stated as a reason for this interference with the acknowledged rights of the Salom church, as an independent church, that " Mr. Williams had refused to join with the congregation at Boston, because they would not make a public declaration of their repentance for having communion with the churches of England while they tarried there ; and besides had declared his opinion, that the magistrate might not punish a breach of the Sabbath, nor any other offence that was a breach of the first table." Whether the first allegation was true, or whether accompanied with any explanation or exceptions, or whether it was an inference of the court from other declarations and opinions of Mr.

Williams, cannot be ascertained from any of his writings. The court undoubtedly believed the statement to be correct. The second allegation— by which it was intended, that the civil magistrate, as such, had no right to punish for any violation of duties toward God — was true, in its utmost extent. Mr. Williams has the honor of being the first, in modern times, to protest against the interference of the civil power with the rights of conscience. While he claimed the privilege of forming his own opinions on religious subjects, he claimed also the same right for all others, however they might differ from him. Notwithstanding this difficulty, Mr. Williams was admitted a freeman in May following. He remained in Salem until into summer, when he removed to Plymouth, where he was received as the assistant of Mr. Ralph Smith, the Pastor of the Plymouth church. His connexion with that church continued about two years, when it was dissolved at his own instance. He then returned to Salem. About the time of his return, the ministers of Massachusetts estabhshed regular meetings, once a fortnight, at each others houses, for mutual aid and advice. Mr. Skelton and Mr. Williams opposed these meetings, as tending to endanger the independence of churches, and to introduce into them the Presbyterian form of government. This opposition gave ofience to the ministers. In December of the same year, (1633) the Governor and Assistants had under consideration, a treatise that Mr. Wilhams had sent to them, the design of which was to show that no charter or patent from the king of England, could confer on the colonists, any right to the lands they occupied, as against the Indians. It was not written for pubUcation, but only for the satisfaction of the Governor of Plymouth, and with the design, probably, of inducing the colonists to purchase a title from the Indians. This treatise gave offence to the magistrates of Massachusetts. At the next court, however, Mr. Williams "gave satisfaction of his intention and loyalty," "so it was left and nothing done in it." That he never abandoned these opinions, but always acted consistently with them, after transactions will fully prove.

Mr. Skelton died in August, 1634, and Mr. Wilhams soon after became pastor of the Salem church.

The Governor and Assistants of Massachusetts, at a meeting on the 27th day of November, 1634, directed a summons to be sent to Mr. Williams to appear at the next court " for teaching pubhcly against the King's patent, and our great sin in claiming rightthereby to this country, &c., and for usual terming the churches of England, anti-christian." In April following he was again sent for by the court, for teaching "publicly that a magistrate ought not to tender an oath to an unregenerate man." In July Mr. Williams appeared before the General Court. He was there charged, in addition to what has been already stated, with holding that " a man ought not to pray with unregenerate persons" or " give thanks after the sacrament or after meat." These opinions of Mr. Williams being adjudged by the Court to be " erroneous and very dangerous," both he and the church which had called him to office, were notified "to make satisfaction before the next General Court, or to expect sentence." The inhabitants of Salem preferred a petition to this court " for some land in Marblehead neck which

GENERAL HISTORY.

they did challege as belonging to their town." The court refused to grant tliis petition, " because they had chosen Mr. WiUiams their teacher, while he stood under question of authority." This refusal produced a great excitement in Salem, and the church there, following the example of the other churches in Mr. Williams' case, wrote " to the other churches to admonish the magistrates of this, as a heinous sin, and likewise the deputies." It should be borne in mind that none but members of churches could be magistrates, or even freemen, at this time. It is probable that the other churches, not feeling so deeply as did the Salem church the effect of this refusal, neglected to comply with this request; for on the 16th day of August, Mr. Williams being confined by sickness, wrote to his church, that he would not communicate with the other churches, nor with his own, unless they united with him in refusing communion with the rest. In the following October Mr. Wilhams was convented before the General Court, and charged with the two letters, the one from his church to the other churches, and the other from him to his own church. He justified both of them, and after an ineffectual attempt to convince him of his errors, on the third day of November, the following sentence was passed against him. , "Whereas Mr. Roger WiUiams, one of the elders of the church of Salem, hath broached and divulged divers new and dangerous opinions, against the authority of the magistrates, as also written letters of defamation, both of the magistrates and churches there, and that before any conviction, and yet maintaineth the same without retraction ; it is, therefore, ordered, that the said Mr.

Wilhams shall depart out of this jurisdiction within six weeks now next ensuino-, which if he neglect to perform, it shall be lawful for the Governor and two of the magistrates to send him to some place out of this jurisdiction, not to return any more without license from the court." Subsequently he obtained permission to remain in Salem until Spring, on condition that he would not attempt to draw others to his opinions. On the 1 1th of January, 1636, the Governor and Assistants sent for him "to come presently to Boston to be shipped, &c." they having determined that he had disregarded their injunction "not to go about to draw others to his opinions," and " did use to entertain company in his house, and to preach to them even of such points as he had been censured for ;" and it was agreed to send him into England by a ship then ready to depart. The reason was, because "he had drawn above twenty persons to his opinions, and they were intending to erect a plantation about the Narragansett Bay, from whence the infection would easily spread into these churches." He returned an answer to this summons that " he could not come without hazard to his hfe, &c." Upon this a pinnace was sent to apprehend him and put him on board a ship, then lying at Nantasket, bound for England. When the messengers arrived at Salem, Mr. Williams had been gone three days. It is highly probable he was informed by some friend of the intention of the Governor and Assistants to send for him.

The preceding facts and dates are derived principally from Gov. Winthrop's Journal,

From Salem he went to Seekonk, and procuring a grant of land from Massasoit, at Manton's neck on the Seekonk river, " began to build and plant there." Here he received a letter from Governor Winslow, of Plymouth, stating, that he w^as within the bounds of the Plymouth patent, that they, of Plymouth, "were loath to displease the Bay," and advising him to cross that river, where he would be beyond any English claim. This advice was soon followed, and in the latter part of the Spring, or in the beginning of the Summer of 1636, he landed, for the first time, with intent to commence a settlement, within the limits of Providence. It is impossible to fix the exact date of this event. That it was after planting time, may be inferred from a remark in a letter of his, in which he says his removal occasioned him " the loss of a harvest that year." That it was before the 26th day of July is certain from the fact, that the Governor of Massachusetts, on that day, received a letter from Mr. Williams at Providence, informing him of the murder of one of their inhabitants, (Mr. Oldham,) by the Pequods.

At the first settlement of Plymouth, the Narragansetts were, undoubtedly, the most numerous and powerful of any of the tribes in New England. The pestilence which, a few years before, had almost depopulated some parts of the country, had not affected them. Their principal town was in the southwestern part of the State of Rhode-Island. All the tribes on the western side of Narragansett Bay were their tributaries. Ousamequin or Massasoiet, Sachem of the Wampanoags, on the eastern side of the 3

Bay, acknowledged to Mr. Williams, "that he and his tribe had submitted themselves to the Narragansetts.'- " The Sachems of Shawmut and Neponsit," says Morton's Memorial, " acknowledged a degree of subjection to Massasoiet." At the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, Conanicus and Miantonomi, uncle and nephew, were chief Sachems of the Narragansetts.

The Pequods on the west and the Wampanoags on the east, were the hereditary enemies of the Narraganselts. During the prevalence of the pestilence l>efore alluded to, the Narragansetts secured an ascendency over the latter. The Wampanoags lost their independence and became the unwilling tributaries of the Narragansetts. Massasoiet anxiously sought an opportunity to free himself and tribe from this yoke. These passages in Indian history in a a great measure account for the readiness with which he and his tributaries around Massachusetts Bay submitted themselves to the handful of enfeebled whites settled at Plymouth.

The Pequods were a far more warlike nation than the Naragansetts under Conanicus and Miantonomi. They nearly or quite equalled the Narragansetts in numbers. Their sachem, Sassacus, was a great warrior, and he had infused his own warlike spirit into his subjects. They had extended their conquests every way, and it was with difficulty that the Narragansetts withstood them. Sassacus saw with pleasure the power of the Narragansetts weakened by the defection of the Wampanoags. But, as a wise and politic prince, he saw in that defection, his tlENERAL HISTORY. 19

own ruin, and that of all of the tribes around him. He proposed, therefore, to the Narragansetts, to hmj the hatchet of their private difficulties, and to unite, and drive the white man into the ocean. The Narragansetts had become a.verse to war. They had engaged in agriculture to a considerable extent. They made a great part of the peag which circulated as money among the tribes, and they excelled their neighbors in the manufacture of pottery. Under Tashtassuck, the ancestor of Conanicus and Miantonomi, they had attained their power and extended their conquests, while under the latter sachems, they were making rapid progress in the arts of peace, and approximating a state of semi-civilization. They must have lost their warhke enterprise. Unless it had been so, they would never have so tamely borne the defection of Massasoiet. The handful of arrows tied with the snake skin, the declaration of war, which they sent on that occasion, to the English at Plymouth, would have been followed with a war of extermination against the whites. The difference in numbers would have ensured them the victory. Instead, however, of following up this declaration of war with actual hostilities, they seem to have contented themselves with refusing all intercourse with the strangers. Mr. Wilhams describes them as being exceedingly shy of the whites, and refusing to sell them land. It was in vain that Sassacus pointed to the settlements of the whites which were springing up, as if by magic, around them. In vain he told them, that the stranger had lighted his fires along the whole coast, and upon the bank of every navigable stream — in vain he pointed to the smoke of the Avhite man's cabin, as it rose in every direction around them. He attempted, in vain, to rouse anew the vvarhke spirit of the Narragansetts, and to induce them to make common cause with him against the intruder.

While negotiations of this character were passing between the Narragansett and Pequod sachems^ Mr. Williams approached the wigwams of the Narragansetts. During his residence at Plymouth and Salem, he had become acquainted with their sachems. The character of rehgious teacher, which he bore, ensured him from the savages some tokens of respect. And it may well be believed, that even before this period, he had devoted some portion of his time to their service. He had gained their confidence to such a degree, that when he sought from them a refuge and a shelter, it was not only readily granted, but he was able to frustrate the designs of the Pequods.

Whether Mr. Williams was accompanied by any persons in his flight from Salem is unknown. Mr, Cotton, in his "Reply to Mr. Williams his Exammation, &c." page 8, says that some of Mr. Williams' friends " went to the place appointed by himself, beforehand, to make provision of housing and other necessaries for him against his coming." This may be so, but it seems hardly possible that it should be, as he could not have anticipated the summons from the Governor and Assistants, which caused his flight. Among those who joined him while at Seekonk, were, William Harris, John Smith, (miller,)

Joshua Verin, Thomas Angell, and Francis Wickes. These, with Mr. Wilhams, composed the first settlers of Providence. The number is ascertained from a letter from Joshua Verin to the town, which will be given hereafter, and the names are gathered from the same source, and from a plea made by Mr. Williams before certain commissioners of the King, in 1677. Tradition says that they first landed on " the Slate rock," on the bank of the Seekonk river, near the residence of his Excellency Governor Fenner, and that, as they approached the shore, they were saluted with "What cheer, netop," by an Indian from the hill. That there is some foundation for the tradition appears from the fact, that a tract of land adjoining this rock, has ever since borne the name of " What cheer." Under this name, it was assigned to Mr, Wilhams in the first division of lands among the settlers. It has also been handed down by tradition, that Mr. Williams and his companions, after exchanging salutations with the Indian, pursued their voyage, around Fox Point and up Providence river, to a point a little south of St. John's Church. A fine spring of water there, which has ever since borne the name of Williams' Spring, is supposed to indicate the place of their first settlement.