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 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
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GIFT TO 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS 
 LIBRARY 
 
 from 
 
 THE FRIENDS 
 of THE 
 LIBRARY 
 
i. 
 
 DARIUS GOFF. 
 
HISTORIGAU ADDRESSES 
 / 
 
 AND OTHER EXERCISES 
 
 AT THE 
 
 CELEBEATTON OF THE 
 
 TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTIETH 
 ANNIVERSARY 
 
 OF THE SETTLEMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 REHOBOTH, MASS. 
 Held October 3, 1894. 
 
 Edited by Thomas W. Btckxell, A. M. LL. D, 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 At tlie aiiiuuil meeting of the Kehoboth Aiitiqiuirian Society, held 
 in March, 1894, Esek II. riercc, one of tlie TJoard of Trustees of said 
 Society, moved tliat Eeliohoth shouUT celebrate its 2b0th anniversary 
 during the present year. After some discussion it was voted to rec- 
 ommend a celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of 
 the town and a committee was chosen, consisting of Esek H. Pierce, 
 Xathaniel B. Horton, George X. Goff, William W. Blanding, lieuben 
 Bowen and John C. Marvel, to take such action thereon as might 
 seem most advisable. At a meeting of this Committee held in June, 
 1894, it was voted to call a meeting of the stockholders of the Anti- 
 (juarian Society, to take further action relative to such a celebration. 
 The meeting of the stockholders was held in July when it was voted 
 to hold a Celebration as proposed and Two Hundred dollars were ap- 
 ])ropriated for that i)urpose. A committee was appointed consisting 
 of Esek II. Pierce, Xathaniel B. Horton, Edgar Perry, George N. 
 Goff, AVilliam W. Blanding, Gustavus B. Peck and Elisha Davis to 
 carry out the purposes of the Society in regard to this anniversary. 
 Tlic Committee organized immediately by the choice of Esek II. 
 Pierce as Cliairman and Edgar Perry as Secretary and arranged for 
 tlie celebration to be held on the Third day of October, 1894. 
 
REHOBOTH 
 
 IN BRIEF REVIEW, 
 
 13Y EDGAR PERRY. 
 
 What is now Bristol county originall}^ consisted of four 
 towns — Taunton, settled in 1639, Rehoboth, lG'i4, Dart- 
 mouth, 1652, and Freetown in 1683. The original limits 
 of Taunton included Norton, Easton, Mansfield, Dighton, 
 Berkeley and Raynham : Dartmouth included Westport, 
 Fairhaven, New Bedford and Acushnet ; Freetown includ- 
 ed Fall River ; and Rehoboth included the towns of Attle- 
 boro, Nortli Attleboro, Seekonk and Swansea in Massa- 
 chusetts, and in Rhode Island all the lands east of the 
 Blackstone river and Narragansett Bay, namely, Cumber- 
 land, Pawtucket, East Providence and Barrington. 
 
 The present year marks the 250th anniversary of the 
 settlement of ancient Rehoboth, and the 200tli anniversary 
 of the incorporation of the town of Attleboro. 
 
 During the first 50 years subsequent to their settlement 
 through the more dangerous of the Indian wars, the towns 
 of Rehoboth and the Rehoboth North Purchase, or Attle- 
 boro, had a common history. It was second in interest 
 and importance to that of no town in Massachusetts 
 though their proximity to Narraganset Bay and their con- 
 sequent social and industrial relations with Rhode Island 
 
4 250X11 ANNIVERSARY OF REHOBOTH. 
 
 lias not gained for their achievements the recognition in 
 some part of the state which is accorded their sister towns 
 on the Atlantic. 
 
 Iriterestirig Facts. 
 
 It may not be generally known that William Black- 
 stone, the first settler of Shawmut, or Boston, was also the 
 first settler of Rehoboth ; that Col. Thomas Willett, the 
 first mayor of New York, was a Rehoboth pioneer, and is 
 buried within the ancient limits of that town; that Reho- 
 both was the frontier town of Plymouth colony during 
 King Philip's war, and that the first blood and the final 
 overthrow of the conflict were seen within its boundaries ; 
 that Rev. Samuel Newman, Rehoboth's first pastor, wrote 
 by the light of pine knots in the wilderness, the first com- 
 plete concordance of the Bible, which is still one of the 
 best ; that the first free public school supported by general 
 taxation was created by the foresight of Rehoboth freemen ; 
 that when the two colonies of Plymouth and Massachusetts 
 Bay united, Rehoboth, the largest town in Plymouth, and 
 Boston, the largest town in Massachusetts Bay colony, had 
 a sharp contest to see which should have the honor of being 
 the capital of the new commonwealth, and that Boston won 
 the prize only by a few votes. 
 
 SettleiTient of Rehobotln. 
 
 The first purchase of Rehoboth land was made of 
 Massasoit in 1641, and embraced a tract 10 miles square, 
 comprising the present towns of Rehoboth, Seekonk, Paw- 
 tucket and East Providence. The second purchase was 
 the tract called English Wannamoiset, forming a part of 
 Swansea and Barrington. The third and last purchase was 
 a tract embracing the present towns of Attleboro, North 
 Attleboro and Cumberland, R. I., known as the Rehoboth 
 
IN JJRIEF K1^:VIE\V. 5 
 
 North Purchase. Taken together, the territory had many 
 advantages to recommend it for settlement. It had almost 
 every variety of soil, was fertile and well wooded, and, on 
 the side toward Narragansett bay there were large, tree- 
 less expanses, admirably iitted for tillage or grazing, known 
 then, as now, as Seekonk plains. This rare advantage, 
 with the fine water power furnished by the Blackstone 
 river, and the ample harbor provided by Narragansett bay, 
 certainly gave to the new territory promises of success and 
 prosperity which few towns in Massachusetts could boast. 
 
 The first entry on page 1, volume 1 of the Reboboth 
 records, is dated Oct. 24, 1643. It relates to the doings 
 of the first of the original planters of Rehoboth, and was 
 held in Weymouth. The proprietors voted that they would 
 all occupy their Rehoboth lots with their families next year, 
 namely 1644, and provided, as a spur to the pioneer spirit, 
 that if any failed to do so, they should forfeit their lots. 
 There were a few men who took up farms here and there 
 in ''Seaconk" or Rehoboth in 1641 and 1642, but there 
 seems to have been no organization of the settlers, until 
 1643, no occupation of the new territory with the families, 
 churches and schools until 1644. 
 
 The exodus from Weymouth took place early in 1644, 
 and was led by Rev. Samuel Newman, at the head of his 
 flock. On July 5, the inhabitants met near what is now 
 East Providence village, and signed the following compact: 
 
 "We, whose names are underwriten, being by the prov- 
 idence of God, inhabitants of Seaconk, intending here to 
 settle, do covenant and bind ourselves one to another, to 
 subject ourselves to nine persons * * * * and to 
 assist them according to our ability and estate, and to give 
 timely notice unto them of any such thing as in our con- 
 
6 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 science may prove dangerous to the plantation, and this 
 combination to continue until we shall subject ourselves 
 jointly to some other government." 
 
 The significant thing about this compact is, that the pro- 
 prietors considered themselves entirely independent. Their 
 governing, legislative and judicial powers were vested in 
 the committee of nine persons, and every settler reserved 
 not onl}^ the right, but imposed upon himself the duty of 
 giving this authoritative body such advice as he might deem 
 expedient. It is hard to conceive of a more perfect democ- 
 racy than that. Their autonomy, however, did not last 
 long. Both Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies re- 
 garded the flourishing settlement with covetous eyes, and 
 both, in the secrecy of their official chambers,laid claim to 
 it. In 1645 the commissioners of the united colonies as- 
 signed them to Plymouth court and they were incorporated 
 by the scriptural name of Rehoboth, signifying "room." 
 It was selected by Rev. Mr. Newman, who said : "The 
 Lord hatli made room for us." 
 
 Town Divisions. 
 
 The first division of the town was caused by religious 
 differences, a party of Baptists withdrawing from Parson 
 Newman's church and founding the first Baptist church in 
 • Massachusetts in Swansea. The town of Swansea was in- 
 corporated in 1677, and tlien included within its limits the 
 present towns of Somerset, Barrington and tlic greater part 
 of Warren, R. I. 
 
 The second departure from the parent settlement on 
 Seekonk phain was toward the nortli, and was made in 1666. 
 These pioneers were the settlers of the Rehoboth Nortli Pur- 
 chase and the founders of the town of Attleboro. This 
 
IN lUllEK REVIEW. 7 
 
 northern colony, including then the present towns of 
 Attleboro, Cumberland and North Attleboro, was under 
 the jurisdiction of Kehoboth until Oct. 19, 1(594, when it 
 
 was incorporated as the town of Attleboro. 
 
 The third division, which reduced the town to its 
 present territorial limits, was made in 1812, when tlie then 
 existing town of Kehoboth, which extended westward to 
 the Blackstone river and Narraganset bay, was divided into 
 two nearly equal parts, the western portion taking the In- 
 dian name of Seekonk. 
 
 Seekonk remained a most influential and promising 
 township until the western portion of its land was trans- 
 ferred to the State of Rhode Island by the establishment 
 of the new line between the states. Rehoboth and See- 
 konk people have always felt that this fixing of state 
 boundaries, robbing them as it did of the very portion of 
 their domain which had invited the earliest settlers, was 
 an act justified by no sound policy, private or public, nor 
 by any substantial claim of title, either in history or justice. 
 
 Indian Conflicts. 
 
 King Philip's war, the greatest of Indian conflicts, and 
 one which menaced not merely the liberty but the very ex- 
 istence of the colonists, began and ended within the limits 
 of ancient Rehoboth. All this region was originally in 
 the domain of Massasoit, the fast friend of the English. 
 It was inherited by the son, Wamsutta, and from him 
 passed to his brother Metacomet, or King Philip. The 
 proximity of Rehoboth to King Philip's headquarters at 
 Mt. Hope, and the fact of its being the heritage of his fore- 
 fathers, exposed this frontier settlement to the brunt of 
 savage ferocity and vengeance. In apprehension of dangers 
 
8 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 the colonists were gathered into three garrisons. The first, 
 Woodcock's garrison, was located in North Attleboro on 
 the site of the old Hatch house, and a portion of the build- 
 ing is still standing. The second garrison was at Seekonk 
 Common, and stood where the present ancient house of 
 Phanuel Bishop now is. The third of the three houses 
 was none other than the I'esidence of the famous Baptist 
 divine, John Myles, and this is standing intact to-day near 
 Myles' bridge in Swansea. Its walls are of stone, several 
 feet in thickness, and altogether it is one of the oldest and 
 most unique houses in the state. The brick for the chim- 
 ney was brought from England. King Philip's war began 
 with the attack *at Miles' bridge in Swansea and ended 
 with the capture of Anawan in Rehoboth. 
 
 Educational Progress. 
 
 But the chief glory of the earlier settlers of Rehoboth 
 was not their military prowess nor their material prosperi- 
 ty, but their advanced stand in establishing a free public 
 school. Rehoboth claims the honor of originating the idea 
 of free, universal, compulsor}^ public education, maintained 
 by the taxation of all citizens. Its claim is based on the 
 statement of the Digest of the Statutes of Massachusetts, 
 issued in June, 1892. This work, in referring to the act 
 of the Massachusetts Bay colony, passed in 1647, says : 
 
 "The act of 1647 make the support of public schools 
 compulsory, and education universal and free. As this 
 was the first law of the kind ever passed by any community 
 of persons, or by any state, Massachusetts may claim the 
 honor of having originated the free public school." 
 
 That, according to this compiler, was the record as he 
 found it up to 1647. But he overlooked an ancient docu- 
 ment now in the hands of the town clerk of Rehoboth. 
 
TN nillEF REVIEW. 9 
 
 It is the record of the second meeting of the proprietors 
 of Relioboth, held at Weymouth, Dec. 10, 1(343. At tliis 
 meeting they not only placed a schoolmaster fiftli in tlieir 
 list of proprietors, but decreed that he should ''■•have a 
 certain portion from each settler for his support." This 
 decree was not only made four years earlier than the act 
 of 1647, but it took more emphatic ground; for in that 
 act the teachers were to be paid "either by the parents or 
 masters of such children, or by the inhabitants in general." 
 Clearly, there w^as a chance under these provisions, that 
 the support of the school might be shifted from the "in- 
 habitants in general" to those who already had to support 
 the children. There was no such loophole, however, in 
 the Rehoboth measure ; that read : "every settler," wheth- 
 er he had children to send or not. 
 
 RELIGIOUS HISTORY. 
 
 Tiie history of the early colonies is the history of the 
 churches. The exigencies of religious affairs decided when 
 and wliere the branches of the parent church should lo- 
 cate. The ih'st departure from Pastor Newman's church 
 was a forced one, and the dissenting members united with 
 John Myles in founding the First Baptist Church at 
 Swansea. The second exodus was pacific and in 1710 es- 
 tablished the first parish in Attleboro, building the churcli 
 at Oldtown. The third division came in 1721, and found- 
 ed the present Congregational Church in Rehoboth vil- 
 lage. A fourth Congregational parish was created in 
 1743 by the division of the Attleboro parish, and the 
 building of the "Second Precinct" church at Attleboro 
 Centre. The "Sixth-Principle Baptist" denomination, 
 whose creed is found in the first and second verses in the 
 sixth chapter of Hebrews, founded the Oak Swamp Church, 
 laid the foundation for the Methodist Church at North 
 
10 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Relioboth, aucl is to-day represented in the Hornbine 
 Church in the southeastern part of the town. This church 
 was founded in 1753, and is famous for its great "Horn- 
 bine clambake" that dines 3000 or more people every Sep- 
 tember. The first church established in the present lim- 
 its of North Attleboro was the present Baptist congrega- 
 tion, and curiously enough, was built in 1769, just 100 
 years after John Woodcock, the first settler of Attleboro, 
 built his famous tavern. In other words, by a curious 
 decree of fate, North Attleboro had a tavern 100 years be- 
 fore it had a church. If it ever deserved its soubriquet 
 of "Brimstone City," possibly this circumstance may help 
 to explain it. 
 
 PATRIOTIC SPIRIT. 
 
 The militar}^ history of Attleboro and Rehoboth is a 
 part of the splendid record which is the glory of every 
 section of Massachusetts. Attleboro men in their As- 
 sonet exj^edition, only missed the honor of opening the 
 revolutionary conflict, the honor that fell to Lexington a 
 few days later, because their military success was so great. 
 Col. Daggett of Attleboro set out on April 9, 1775, for 
 Assonet or Freetown, for the purpose of capturing a lot of 
 British stores and arms and breaking up a band of Royal- 
 ists that had established itself there. 
 
 This was bearing arms against the royal government, 
 and if the colonists' coup had not checked resistance, the 
 first blood of the revolution would have been shed by At- 
 tleboro men and in Bristol count}^ 
 
 Attleboro has the honor, however, of anticipating the 
 spirit, and almost the words of the Declaration of Independ- 
 ence, two months before that instrument was executed. 
 At a meeting held in May, 1776, the town sent this re- 
 
IN BIMEF REVIEW. H 
 
 niaikable message to her representative in Congress : ''If 
 the Continental Congress should tliink it best to declare; 
 for independency of Great Britian, we unanimously desire 
 you for us to engage to defend them with our lives and 
 our fortunes." 
 
 MANUFACTURING ENTERPRISES. 
 
 The water power furnished by the Ten-Mile river, 
 Palmer's river, Seven-mile river and other streams in tlie 
 territory of the two towns, caused many manufacturing 
 enterprises to spring up. In Rehoboth, however, the lack 
 of freight facilities and the competition of firms with 
 larger capital have closed them all, except the wood turn- 
 ing establishment of Charles Perry & Co. at Perryville. 
 The town is, however, remarkable for the large industries 
 that have started within its limits. Samuel Slater's first 
 cotton mill started in 1790, though rightly claimed as one 
 of the glories of Pawtucket, was erected on the east side 
 of the Blackstone, and therefore upon Rehoboth soil. The 
 Union Wadding Company of Pawtucket started at Reho- 
 both village, and the process of making wadding in a con- 
 tinuous sheet was invented there. Dexter Wheeler, pupil 
 of Samuel Slater, and founder of the cotton industries of 
 Fall River, ran his first mill in Rehoboth. One-fourth of 
 the stock of the first mill built in Fall River was owned 
 in Rehoboth. 
 
 ATTLEBORO'S ADVANCE. 
 
 Attleboro's industrial history, unlike Rehoboth, has 
 shown a steady advance. Its largest enterprise, as is well 
 known, is the manufacture of jewelry. It was one of tlie 
 first places in the country for this industry, and its annual 
 output now amounts to 110,000,000. It began in handi- 
 craft in 1780, and has been developed, until tlie most 
 
12 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 complicated macliiiiery is employed in its production. It 
 is a calling where the work is continually changing with 
 the demands of fashion, and requires a high order of intelli- 
 gence and much mechanical skill for its execution. The 
 progress of the business previous to the war was not great, 
 but for the past 25 years, and especially since the early 
 seventies, its extension has been rapid. 
 
 The hrst factory of any note was built by Manning 
 Richards in 1811 at North Attleboro. Other well known 
 firms, in the order of their establishment, are as follows : 
 Draper, Tifft & Co., 1821 ; Ira Richards & Co., 1833 ; 
 Stephen Richardson & Co., 1837 ; B. S. Freeman & Co., 
 1846 ; F. G. Whitney & Co., 1849 ; H. F. Barrows & Co., 
 1853. All these firms were at North Attleboro. Some of 
 the early firms at Attleboro were Bliss & Dean, 185G ; 
 Sturdy Bros. & Co., 1859; C. E. Hayward & Co., W. & 
 S. Blackinton, Watson & Newell, R. F. Simmons & Co., 
 W. H. Wilmarth & Co., and other well known houses. 
 
 Attleboro was early also in the cotton manufacture. 
 In 1801 Ebenezer Tyler began the manufacture of print 
 cloths at Dodgeville, and this industry has developed into 
 the mammoth Dodgeville and Hebron mills of S. & B. 
 Knight. It is a curious fact that the nucleus of nearly 
 every existing village in Attleboro and North Attleboro 
 was a cotton factory, and with one exception they were 
 all started between 1809 and 1813, as follows : The Beaver 
 Dam mill near Whiting's pond, 1809: Fall's factory, 1809; 
 Mechanics' factory, 1811 ; Farmers' factory, 1813 ; City 
 factory at South Attleboro, 1813. The Lauesville mill on 
 Abbott Run was started in 1826 and the Gold Medal Braid 
 Company at Falls Village in 1848. TJie manufacture of 
 silver ware was begun by the Whiting Manufacturing 
 Company in 1866. The first factory in this countrj^ for 
 
IN I'.IJIEF REVIEW. 18 
 
 tlie manufacture of buttons was built at what is known 
 as Robinsonville in 1812. The tannery of W. II. Coupe 
 ifc Co., at South Attleboro, has done a flourishing business 
 since 1860. 
 
 There are few towns more desirable for residence than 
 Attleboro. Its schools, its library, its water supply, fire 
 department, many social organizations and the high stand- 
 ard of morality which the town has sustained, all com- 
 mend it as a town of homes. 
 
 NOTABLE MEN. 
 
 Four notable men were concerned in the settlement 
 of these towns. Kev. Samuel Newman, the leader of the 
 first settlers, was born in Bradford, £ng., in 1600, educa- 
 ted at Oxford, came to this country in 1634, and died in 
 1663. His greatest work was his Concordance of the Bible. 
 Only a few copies are extant, and one of them is carefully 
 treasured in the British Museum. 
 
 Capt. Thomas Willett, successor of Myles Standish as 
 commander of the forces at Plymouth, was largely inter- 
 ested in settling both Swansea and Attleboro, and was the 
 first mayor of New York city. He died at the age of 63, 
 and is buried near Bullock's cove on the shore of Narra- 
 gansett bay. 
 
 William Blackstone, a Non-conformist minister, who 
 was the first settler of Boston, was driven to Rehoboth by 
 the intolerance of his Boston neighbors, and established 
 his "Study Hall," near Lonsdale. He was a very learned 
 man, a recluse and philosopher. 
 
 The fourth of these notables was Rev. John Myles, 
 who was driven out of England because he refused to sub- 
 mit to llie act of conformity, and founded the first Bap- 
 
14 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 list church in Massachusetts at Swansea. His ilock came 
 from Wales, and the old record book of the parish, now in 
 the possession of Elisha Davis of Rehoboth, has its earliest 
 pages written in the Welsh language. 
 
 Among the notable men born in Rehoboth have been 
 Benjamin West, LL. D., mathematician and philospher ; 
 Dr. Nathan Smith, professor of Yale, and founder of Dart- 
 mouth Medical school ; Abraham Blanding, LL. D., emi- 
 nent lawyer of South Carolina: ArunaS. Abell, founder 
 of the Baltimore Sun ; Dr. William Blanding, the natur- 
 alist, founder of the natural history collections in Brown 
 University ; ex-Go v. John W. Davis, of Rhode Island, 
 Cornelius N. Bliss of New York and Chief Justice Mason 
 of the Massachusetts superior court. 
 
 Other notable Attleboro men have been Rev. Jona- 
 than Maxcy, president of Brown University and of Union 
 and Columbia Colleges ; Rev. Naphtali Daggett, president 
 of Yale ; Rev. E. G. Robinson, D. D., late president of 
 Brown University; Hon. David Daggett, chief justice of 
 Connecticut, and United States Senator. 
 
EDGAR PERRY. 
 
Address of Welconne 
 
 BY EIXiAR TERRY, ESQ. 
 
 Tliis is a family reunion. Kehoboth welcomes back 
 to the old homestead to-day her daughter cities and towns. 
 We are all ready for company. The parlor blinds are 
 open, the sitting room has been swept and dusted, the 
 spare chamber aired. The choicest fruits of field and or- 
 chard have been reserved for your entertainment, and the 
 pantry is filled with as many good things as ever graced 
 an old-fashioned Thanksgiving. We are to have a gen- 
 eral handshaking this morning ; then the dinner ; after 
 that, some first rate speaking, and this evening, when the 
 old folks have turned homeward — well, we have plenty of 
 music and one of the best prompters in Bristol county. I 
 am sure you will be glad you came. But we might have 
 all these, the music, the feasting, the oratory, without a 
 reunion. A true joining of hearts and hands such as we 
 have to-day can only come from a feeling of kinship, 
 consciousness of sympathy and good will, pride in a com- 
 mon liistory and hope for a united and glorious future. 
 
 But, in a broader sense, this is more than a reunion, 
 more than a family or neighborhood gathering. Old Re- 
 hobo th, venerable and historic, crowned with the dignity 
 of the centuries, receives at her door the homage of all 
 men who admire the American spirit and the American 
 ideal. Secure in the consciousness of noble descent and 
 worthy deeds, Kehoboth has not troubled herself greatly 
 to advertise her achievments. Like her own housewives, 
 she has been conspicuous by her modesty, her womanl}'- 
 
16 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 reserve, her sound common sense. She has left it to lier 
 children to rise up as they do to-day all over this broad 
 land and call her blessed. 
 
 Rehoboth's history gains to-day in the presence of the 
 high officials of two states, a tardy recognition of its im- 
 portance. There is a large and eminently respectable body 
 of Massachusetts antiquarians who consider no ground his- 
 toric which is not visible on a clear day from the gilded 
 dome of the State House ; while their Rhode Island coun- 
 terparts admit the existence of but one patriotic pioneer, 
 their controversial and enterprising Baptist minister. 
 Some otherwise well informed people near the seat of 
 Massachusetts culture have recently affected not to know 
 where Rehoboth is, and a lower order of intelligence has 
 stumbled at the spelling and the pronunciation of its 
 scriptural name. This celebration will fail of its object if 
 it does not prove that Rehoboth has soil as historic as 
 Lexington, founders as learned and as liberal as Roger 
 Williams, educators as far-seeing as those at Cambridge, 
 soldiers as brave as the men who fell on Bunker Hill, 
 statesmen as patriotic as those who signed the Declaration 
 of Independence. 
 
 Lineage and circumstances of birth have much to do 
 with the formation of character, whether of individuals or 
 communities. Rehoboth was born in an epoch-making 
 era. It was a time of great beginnings, of radical depart- 
 ures in thought, of intense convictions. Europe bristled 
 with activity. In Prussia, Frederick the Gi eat was laying 
 deep and strong the foundation of what has since become the 
 German Empire. In Russia, Peter the Great was leading 
 his semi-barbarous people towards civilization, going to 
 Amsterdam himself to learn the art of ship-building. In 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 17 
 
 France, Louis XIV and the astute Riclielieu had made 
 their country the most formidable power in P^urope, while 
 in England, the mighty Cromwell was leading the revolt 
 of the people against Royalist oppression and corruption. 
 
 From such an atmosphere came the men who crossed 
 the seas and founded Rehoboth. In the ranks of these 
 pioneers four figures stand out in bold relief: William 
 Blackstone, the sage and philosopher; Samuel Newman, 
 the scholar and preacher ; Thomas Willett, the soldier 
 and statesman, and John Myles, the reformer and liberal 
 leader. They sought a place to write anew the history of 
 the world. Their motto was, 
 
 GIVE ME WHITE PAPER. 
 
 The sheet you use is black aiul rough with smears 
 Of sweat and grime and fraud and blood and tears ; 
 
 Crossed with the story of men's sins and fears, 
 Of battle and of famine all these years. 
 
 When all God's children have forgot their birth 
 And drudged and fought and died like beasts of earth ; 
 Give me white paper. 
 
 It is a curious fact that none of these seekers for bet- 
 ter things turned to Rehoboth until they had tried some 
 other settlement. William Blackstone tried Boston ; 
 Samuel Newman, Weymouth ; Thomas Willett, Plymouth ; 
 John Myles, Hingham. Their roseate expectations of 
 what they would find in the new world were not at first 
 realized. They made the inevitable discovery that cross- 
 ing the ocean did not change human nature ; that jealousy, 
 intolerance and self-seeking could live side by side with 
 the severest orthodoxy and the greatest zeal for coloniza- 
 tion. They soon turned, however, in renewed hope, to 
 the fair territory that lay untrodden on the West, as beau- 
 tiful in their eyes as any fabled Eldorado. There their 
 
18 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 ideals were to be realized. In its charmed circle all the 
 virtues were to flourish and error was to halt abashed at 
 its boundaries. 
 
 In the organization of the new colony, several notable 
 ideas were incorporated. The first was Independence. 
 This handful of men, led by Parson Newman, recognized 
 no temporal power as having authority over them. The 
 second idea was a government of the people and by the 
 people. Their compact read, ''We do covenant and bind 
 ourselves, one to another, to subject ourselves to nine per- 
 sons and to assist them according to our ability and estate, 
 aiid to give timely notice unto them of any such things as 
 in our conscience may prove dangerous to the plantation, 
 and this combination to continue until we shall subject 
 ourselves jointly to some other government." 
 
 But Rehoboth's chief glory is that its founders, with 
 due credit to their Oxford and Cambridge training, origi- 
 nated one institution without which the experiment of a 
 free government on this continent must have proved a fail- 
 ure. It was nothing less than the free public school ; the 
 idea of free, universal, compulsor}' education, maintained 
 by the taxation of all citizens. 
 
 The last legislature voted to build a monument on the 
 site of the first free public school. As at present advised, 
 we certainly believe that it should be erected here. There 
 is to be a hearing on the matter before the governor's Coun- 
 cil to-morrow, and we understand that one of the wards of 
 the city of Boston, in whose interests no doubt the act was 
 drawn, will appear and bid for the coveted prize. Reho- 
 both's claim is based on the finding of the learned men who 
 compiled the Digest of the Statutes of Massachusetts, is- 
 sued no longer ago than 1892. The passage reads : — 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 19 
 
 "The act of 1647 made the support of public scliools 
 compulsory and education universal and free. As this 
 was the first law of the kind ever passed by any communi- 
 ty of persons or by any state, Massachusetts may claim the 
 honor of having originated the free public school." 
 
 If the compilers of this Digest were right, as they un- 
 doubtedly were, in ignoring Dorchester's cLaim of 1638 
 when they set the date of the first free public school at 
 1647, then the claim of Rehoboth for Dec. 10th, 1643 is 
 good,for the Rehoboth measure went even farther than the 
 act of 1647 and was four years earlier. It provided for the 
 taxation of all citizens for the support of the school master 
 whether they had children to educate or not, while under 
 the Act of 1647, taxation for schools could, by vote, be 
 limited to parents and guardians. The Rehoboth vote es- 
 tablished a school which met all the essentials of public 
 instruction as we understand it to-day, and doubtless the 
 claim of Dorchester was passed by because the authors 
 of the Digest detected in its plan the lack of some neces- 
 sary feature. I doubt whether Parson Newman realized 
 the full significance of his discovery, any more than did Co- 
 lumbus. And, yet, I think there must have been a strange 
 glow in his heart, a thrill of prophetic fervor in his voice 
 that chill winter's night, as he stretched out his hands in 
 benediction over the bowed heads of the discoverers of the 
 free public school. 
 
 Rehoboth holds as distinguished a relation to the an- 
 nals of Indian warfare as Plymouth to the inception of the 
 colonies, or Lexington to the Revolutionary struggle. It 
 was the frontier town during King Philip's war. The 
 first blood of a contest which menaced not alone the very 
 life but the liberty of the colonies was shed in its original 
 boundaries, while within its present limits the last trium- 
 
20 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 pliant strategy of that struggle was consummated. If to 
 stand on the confines of savage territory and defend the 
 hearths and homes that lie behind be patriotism, Myles 
 Bridge is as truly historic ground as Lexington Common. 
 
 It is not strange, in view of Rehoboth's progressive 
 spirit and conspicuous services, its promising territory and 
 fine frontage on Narragansett Bay, that it should have 
 been selected in 1706 as the place for holding a Conti- 
 nental Congress. When Plymouth and Massachusetts 
 Bay Colonies united to form the state, moreover, Rehoboth 
 became Boston's most formidable rival as the capital and 
 missed the honor by less than one hundred votes in a 
 total of nearly four thousand. 
 
 Attleboro, worthy daughter of Rehoboth, has two 
 special claims to distinction which I have no doubt will be 
 ably exploited at their 200th celebration on the 18th and 
 19th of this month. They need only be mentioned here. 
 One was when Col. Daggett and his command bore arms 
 gainst the King of England a week before the embattled 
 farmers at Concord fired the shot, heard round the world. 
 The Attleboro company only missed opening the revolu- 
 tionary struggle, because, in their Assonet Expedition, 
 April 9, 1775, they captured the enemy without a blow. 
 If some Tory had only had spunk enough to fight, the 
 war would have begun then and there. 
 
 As another distinction, Attleboro has the honor of an- 
 ticipating the spirit and almost the words of the Declara- 
 tion of Independence, two months before that document 
 was signed. They sent this remarkable message to tlieir 
 representative in Congress : "If the Continental Congress 
 shall think best to declare for independence of Great Brit- 
 
ADDRESS OF WELCOME. 21 
 
 ain, we unanimously desire you for us to engage to defend 
 them therein with our lives and our fortunes." 
 
 We are here to tell the story of 250 years. I have 
 oidy outlined a few main features of the picture. It re- 
 mains for the representatives of the visiting cities and 
 towns to fill in the details ; for the orator and other dis- 
 tinguished speakers to give it the light and shade ; for the 
 poet to add a dash of color. 
 
 It merely devolves upon me now to welcome you in 
 behalf of the anniversary committee, the Rehoboth Anti- 
 quarian Society and the old mother town. Your presence 
 in such numbers is all the more appreciated because it has 
 not been easy for you to get here. Rehoboth jealously 
 guards the rare distinction of being one of the few towns 
 in the State where the discordant shriek of the locomotive 
 is never heard. She, at least, gains this assurance by her 
 isolation, that those who visit her are inspired to do so by 
 genuine affection. 
 
 She extends her hands in greeting to her mother, 
 Weymouth, and her eight matronly daughters, each "motli- 
 er of a mighty race, yet lovely in her youthful grace." 
 Swansea is here, bringing with her the breath of the sea ; 
 Attleboro and North Attleboro with differences forgotton, 
 sit side by side, twin jewels of the family circle ; Seekonk, 
 like a modern Ceres, bears in her hands the wealth of her 
 harvests ; while across the imaginary boundary line that 
 divides Rhode Island from the Massachusetts sisters, 
 Cumberland forsakes her spindles and looms, Pawtucket 
 closes her factories and stores. East Providence and Bar- 
 rington leave their homes and gardens, and a smiling, pros" 
 perous quartette, they greet the venerable mother town on 
 hei- 250th birthday. 
 
22 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 We welcome them and you to our homes and our 
 hearts, to our fields rich with harvests, to our woods decked 
 out in the prismatic hues of autumn. No military com- 
 pany turned out to greet you because we do not beleive in 
 keeping up a gilded fiction of war in time of peace. Our 
 courts have not adjourned, because the fair Portias Avho 
 rule the only kind of court we ever find necessary here 
 always have an especially heavy docket on 250th anniver- 
 saries. In our reception committee glisten no official in- 
 signia of Worshipful masters, Noble Grands, or Grand 
 Sachems, yet it is but fair to the town to say that we once 
 had a very Independent Order of Red Men here, a thriv- 
 ing Lodge of ver^r free and very acceptable Masons, found- 
 ed by one Sampson Mason, while as for Odd Fellows, un- 
 prejudiced outsiders find even more of them in town than 
 we do. 
 
 We trust many of you will be so well pleased with us, 
 despite the lack of some of these modern functions, that 
 you will decide to buy back the farms which your ances- 
 tors tilled for so many years and make your homes here. 
 By that we do not necessarily mean that you should give 
 up your regular business and live here all the year around, 
 but register here, vote here, and spend the six pleasantest 
 months in our matchless climate. Why go to the moun- 
 tains and seashore for country air wlien we oiTer every 
 advantage without the annoyance of long journeys in the 
 stifling atmosphere of railway trains ? If your response to 
 our invitation is general and you show a worthy pride in 
 the amount of your personal property when talking with 
 our assessors, we can nt least assure you a very attractive 
 tax rate. 
 
 We regret that we cannot, however, hold out such 
 political inducements as were possible when Rehoboth sent 
 
ADimESS OF WELCOME. 28 
 
 seven representatives to the general court every year. 
 Now it is one every four years. We should wish to re- 
 serve that office to ourselves and make 20 years residence 
 in the town a prerequisite for the lionor. You can have 
 everything but that. An option on our choicest corner 
 lots is yours. You can select your own sites on our pictu- 
 resque hillsides, while plenty of good farms can be had at 
 prices that will lay the foundation for a fortune. We want 
 you : we want your historic names restored to our voting 
 list, and in return we guarantee good schools, good roads, 
 religious harmony, the best of good fellowship, and a wel- 
 come that will warm your hearts. 
 
 This celebration will be futile indeed, if it does not 
 inspire us, the residents of the cities and towns that have 
 grown up on the fair territory of old Rehoboth, with a 
 lofty determinatioii to realize more perfectly the noble 
 ideals of its patriotic founders. I fear that if those wor- 
 thies were to return to-day, they might have some pointed 
 suggestions to offer ; and yet with the larger knowledge, 
 the wider charity of another world, I cannot but think 
 their judgments would be tempered with mercy. Let the 
 artificial municipal boundaries which man's convenience 
 has invented be swept aside, and when great moral, eco- 
 nomic and social questions are to be met, may the Rehoboth 
 household stand together as firm in moral purpose and pa- 
 triotic devotion as ever their forefathers were. '' To our 
 fidelity," in the words of the immortal Burke, '' Let us at- 
 test the retiring generations ; let us attest the advancing 
 generations, between which as a link in the great chain 
 of eternal order we stand." 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, sons and daughters of Old 
 Rehoboth, it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you 
 as the presiding officer of this occasion and its toastmaster 
 
24 
 
 250th anniversary of behoboth, 
 
 a gentleman well-known within and beyond the bounda- 
 ries of our mother town, and whose birthplace was within 
 the jurisdiction originally ours. I present to you, the 
 Honorable Thomas W. Bicknell, of Harrington and Provi- 
 dence, R. I. 
 
KECOCJNITION OF TOWNS. 25 
 
 Recognition of Visiting Towns and Cities, 
 Mainly Daughters of Ancient Rehoboth. 
 
 Addf'ess by Hon, Thomas W. Bicknell, who presided over the 
 forenoon exercises and also acted as Toast-Master. 
 
 It is at once an honor and a pleasure to be the 
 medium of address between this venerable mother town, 
 Rehoboth, two and one half centuries old, and her chil- 
 dren, grand children, and visiting guests. While formal 
 introduction would eool the ardor of the home greeting, 
 it is quite proper that one '' to the manner born " should 
 attempt the word of cordial introduction, and present to 
 the gracious mother, by some fitting thought, her children 
 and guests at this memorable and auspicious meeting. 
 
 Two kingdoms and two kings claimed the territory 
 we now occupy, when in 1644, Rev. Samuel Newman 
 and his little company left old Weymouth near the sea, 
 for this frontier of immigration, the Great West of that 
 early day. Britain with Charles the First as its crowned 
 head, held general title, while Massasoit and the tribe of 
 the Wampanoags, of which he was the Chief Sachem, 
 were tlie owners and occupants of the territory, called by 
 the Indians, Pokanoket, Seekonk and Wannamoisett. 
 Town rights were obtained by purchase and deed from 
 the Great Sachem, and on account of the marvellous 
 room for settlement, Mr. Newman, in reverence for Bible 
 authority called the place "Rehoboth." To the first 
 
26 250th anniveesaey of rehoboth. 
 
 purchase of eight miles square was added iu 1661, what 
 was known as the Rehoboth Nortli Purchase by deed 
 from Alexander, brother of Philip and son of Massasoit, 
 
 Rehoboth, the mother town, has of her great abun- 
 dance and with generous spirit endowed daughter towns, 
 ;so that her own possessions, population and wealth, have 
 in large measure gone to these prosperous municipalities. 
 Swansea on the South, held of Rehoboth by police title, 
 was the first to separate from the mother town in 1667. 
 In 1694, Attleboro on the North, also held by police 
 tenure, took leave of the mother town for an independent 
 life. In 1717, " the Westward end of Swansea " was 
 erected into a town, on account of religious concerns, and 
 called Barrington, the first grand child of old Rehoboth. 
 In 1746-7, Attleboro Gore, the home of William Black- 
 stone, on the Blackstone River, parted from Attleboro to 
 enter upon a corporate being as Cumberland. Seekonk, 
 in 1812, for political reasons, divided equally with the 
 mother town her territorial possessions. Pawtucket for 
 economic purposes was set off from Seekonk in 1828, and 
 East Providence became an independent township in 
 1862, for political, social, economic and religious reasons 
 combined. The latest and youngest of the grand chil- 
 dren of our mother is North Attleboro, which set up 
 house-keeping in 1887. Nine towns and cities possess the 
 territory of Old Rehoboth, within the states of Massachu- 
 setts and Rhode Island, three of which may be styled 
 children of the first, and five, children of the second 
 descent. These have increased, but the mother town has 
 decreased. Her pride in her offspring and her interest in 
 their growth and prosperity have made her self-forgetful 
 of her own narrowed limits and resources. She had 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 27 
 
 rather be the mother of the Gracclii tlian a desohite 
 Racliel, without hope or progeny. 
 
 On the area purchased and settled by Willett, New- 
 man, Myles, Brown and their associates in 1644 and 16G1, 
 dwells in 11,000 busy homes, a prosperous population of 
 50,000 people in as many as fifty cities, towns and hamlets. 
 Education has planted schools of all grades from the 
 Kindergarten to the College, in which every child may 
 receive free school training,preparatory for the University, 
 at the expense of the State. Religion ministers its 
 living grace, instruction and consolations to the people 
 through fifty organized churches and Sunday Schools, 
 with as many ordained ministers and teachers of various 
 faiths. 
 
 The appraised wealth of the nine towns is 
 
 estimated at '!550,000,00O 
 
 The real wealth is probably 75,000,000 
 
 With a per capita wealth of 1,500 
 
 Agriculture and the manufacture of cotton and woolen 
 goods, jewelry, and implements and products of wood 
 and iron employ the well protected capital and labor of 
 thousands of people. Steam and electricity have been 
 active agents in developing the industries of the people, 
 but the slumbers of the citizens of the parent town liave 
 never been disturbed by either. Goldsmith's "Sweet 
 Auburn " has been her type of character and progress. 
 The rural and suburban life of these municipalities lias 
 illustrated in most complete fashion the virtues of the 
 founders. 
 
 To the brief stories of these daughter towns througli 
 their chosen representatives we will now address ourselves. 
 
28 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Weyrr[Oiltln, 1635 : 
 
 A liberal town in a liberal colony sent a liberal com- 
 pany, of her abundance, to level the wilderness, break the 
 virgin soil, subdue wild beasts and more savage men, and 
 sow good seed beside strange waters. The mother town 
 by the sea comes to visit her once Western frontier and 
 may exclaim as she sees the growth and progress of two 
 and one half centuries, "What hath God wrought" through 
 these brethren of that day of grace and greatness. 
 
 Response by Bradfokd Hawes, Esq,, of Weymouth, 
 
 Mass. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Q-entlemen : 
 
 It gives me sincere pleasure to bring to you the con- 
 gratulations of Weymouth on this the two hundred and 
 fiftieth anniversary of Rehoboth, and to add what I can 
 to the rejoicing of this pleasant occasion. 
 
 I have been introduced to you as the representative 
 of the mother town. I might be inclinjgd myself to re- 
 gard the relationship between Weymouth and Rehoboth, 
 in view of the comparatively brief difference in their 
 ages, as that of sisters ; but I will not as a loyal son of 
 old Weymouth, relinquish for her the honor of giving 
 birth to so comely and vigorous a daughter. I find at the 
 head of my toast, Weymouth, 1635. This was indeed 
 the year of her incorporation under her present name, but 
 as the plantation of Wessagussett her age dates back to 
 within two years of the time when the Pilgrims landed 
 at Plymouth, so we see that when she became the 
 mother of Rehoboth she was not so very young as would 
 appear but was already verging on toward a matronly 
 age. The first settlers who came to Weymouth were a 
 
KECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 29 
 
 colony of adventurers consisting of sixty men, gathered 
 from the streets of London and sent out by Thomas 
 Weston in 1622. 
 
 The life of hardship and privation to which they 
 were unaccustomed told heavily upon them, and many of 
 them died during the first winter; the remainder became 
 discouraged and returned the following summer to Eng- 
 land; but the tide was setting westward and in 1693 
 Robert Gorges came with a company of settlers, many of 
 them being men with families, but their experience was 
 much like that of the first comers and at the end of the 
 year saw many of them scattered or returned to England. 
 
 No element of stability actuated the first comers to 
 Weymouth, unlike the Pilgrims at the south or the 
 Puritans at the north of them ; no great religious or politi- 
 cal principle bound them together and they left no per- 
 manent impression on the life of the new colony. 
 
 Weymouth was never proud of her first settlers, but 
 would not at this late day judge them harshly; they 
 probably compared favorably wdth the generality of fron- 
 tier settlers ; at any rate they were pioneers for a better 
 element, which, from this time, continued to build up 
 slowly but surely the foundations of the young colony, 
 until the coming of the Rev. Joseph Hull in 1635 with 
 a company of twenty-one families, or about one hun- 
 dred souls, (the largest number recorded as ever coming 
 to the town in any one year), gave an element of per- 
 manence and prosperity to the new town now incorporated 
 which it had not before attained. , 
 
 When in 1644 Rev. Samuel Newman left Weymouth 
 with his company the population of the town had in- 
 
30 250th anxtversary of rehoboth. 
 
 creased to nine hundred souls. He had been called some 
 four years before to heal a breach which had arisen in the 
 church, and appears to have been at the time successful ; 
 but whether some new difficulty, born of the diverse re- 
 ligious elements of the time had arisen, or whatever the 
 cause, the imperfect records existing do not enable us to 
 determine, but certain it is that he left Weymouth with 
 forty families or about two hundred persons. We may 
 pause here to enquire, in what consisted the liberality 
 of the mother town ? Not in worldly goods, of these slie 
 had but little to bestow upon her daughter. Nor yet in, 
 her ideas, although these, owing to the more varied ele- 
 ments of her population, were not perhaps run so much in 
 one groove as were those of her neighbors to the north or 
 south. I deem that her liberality consisted rather in the 
 giving of her men and of her women, even to one-fourth 
 of all she had to the founding of the infant colony ; and 
 certainly on this line Weymouth has never ceased to be 
 liberal; with the ever widening and advancing line of our 
 frontier, her sons and daughters have been freely given to 
 help in peopling the land, until in every state, and I had 
 almost said in every city and town the men from Wey- 
 mouth or their descendants are to be found. 
 
 '' This liberal company then from a liberal town came 
 to level the wilderness, subdue wild beasts and more 
 savage men, to break the soil and to sow good seed beside 
 strange waters." 
 
 As I came down this pleasant October morning I 
 tried to picture to myself the wilderness through which 
 they toiled, to cover the hills and the plains over which 
 they passed with the primeval forest where danger larked 
 at every step. 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 31 
 
 The liills and the plains are there to-day, but wliere 
 then was a forest wilderness, to-day stand ])usy cities and 
 thriving towns, with the intervening landscape covered 
 with fruitful farms, the abodes of peace and plenty, with 
 the church and the school-house, the twin factors in our 
 Nation's progress, within reach of all whether rich or poor. 
 
 They did well their work. That they sowed good 
 seed the harvest which you to-day reap abundantly testi- 
 iies ; 'these thriving towns, these happy homes, these 
 fertile fields, the industrial, political and religious insti- 
 tutions which bring to us daily benefits are not the fruits 
 of vice or sloth or carelessness. 
 
 But let us not in our rejoicing forget the great lesson 
 of the hour. It is not ours alone to gather the fruits of 
 their toils, but ours also to transmit unimpaired and ever 
 increasing to our posterity the blessings which their wis- 
 dom and piety, their valor and industry gave to us. 
 
 ''The mother town may well exclaim as she visits her 
 once western frontier and sees the progress of two and 
 one-half centuries, wha thath God wrought?" but if it be 
 put as a question who shall answer it ? 
 
 The results of their toils and suffering we cannot see 
 in their fullness, they are world-wide, and shall reach 
 through time. 
 
 If we are faithful to our trust, these evidences which 
 we see to-day may well be but tokens of the greater har- 
 vest which the coming years hold in store. 
 
 You cannot answer, I cannot answer, only He who 
 knows the end from the beginning, and to Whom the 
 future is an open book, — only He can tell what He hath 
 
82 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 wrought "through the men of that day of grace and 
 greatness." 
 
 Swansea, 1667 ; 
 
 The home of Rev. John Myles and the first Baptist 
 Church in Massachusetts. Her founders, through perse- 
 cution, illustrated and advanced the great principles of 
 religious freedom and toleration. 
 
 Response by Edward M. Thurston, Esq., of Swansea, 
 
 Mass. 
 
 Mr. Chairmayi^ Ladies aad Gentlemen : 
 
 It is a pleasure to respond for the town of Swansea. 
 
 Prose and Poem have vied with each other through- 
 out this Commonw^ealth in describing the sterling qualities, 
 profound convictions and strong courage of the defenders 
 of the principles held by the Rev. John Myles, of Swan- 
 sea, Wales, as carried out and embodied in a church cov- 
 enant in New Swansea, New England. There was not 
 '' room " enough in the great township of Rehoboth for 
 the Newman Congregational church, and the seven men 
 who held to what was then called heretical doctrine, 
 believed by Rev. John Myles and the six layman, who, 
 when driven from your territor}^, were incorporated into a 
 church. They located on a strip of land now known 
 as New Meadow Neck, but so far from the church in 
 Seekonk, that although within the borders of the town- 
 ship of Rehoboth at that time, distance would give the 
 old church peace. But soon men of equal courage united 
 with the bold pastor, and were given a grant of land by 
 the Plymouth colony for a new town which they named 
 Swansea, for the Swansea in Wales, from which the pas- 
 tor and some of the settlers had been driven. We can 
 
ELISHA DAVIS. 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 33 
 
 find no reason in history why this beautiful name of 
 Swansea should have been so corrupted by misspelling as 
 it has been, thus changing the pronunciation. Tlie cor- 
 rect way to spell tlie word is S-w-a-n-s-e-a, as it is spelled 
 in Wales, from which our town was named. 
 
 I am of the opinion that Kehoboth feared the tenets 
 held by Myles, and his followers had tainted the ground 
 on which they located, for they were willing to allow that 
 part of Rehoboth to be taken by the new town of Swan- 
 sea. And so we are here to-day as a daughter of Re- 
 hoboth. It now seems harsh and almost cruel that those 
 men should have been driven from your borders, and not 
 only driven away but fined £b each and forbidden to wor- 
 ship for a month. They must have had the grace of God 
 in their hearts to bear such sentences, but they did bear 
 them, and when requested to move on, move on they 
 did. But we can now thank you and our Heavenly 
 Father that that which was intended for their correction 
 and to their hurt was overruled by Him whose they were, 
 to the good of all succeeding generations. Rev. John 
 Myles had for years battled against the civil government 
 controlling the church, and with that courage of which 
 martyrs are made, he came to this, our New England, and 
 true to his convictions he continued the battle, at times 
 against him, but in the end he conquered, and the First 
 Baptist church of Swansea is recognized in history as the 
 first church in the Commonwealth to make a covenant 
 that should speak clearly and plainly that the church was 
 for the spiritual and heavenly work, and the town for the 
 civil and earthly part. And on our soil we received 
 what you rejected, and there was planted the " handful of 
 corn in the earth on the top of the mountain ; the fruit 
 thereof shall shake like Lebanon." 
 
34 250th AIs^NIVERSARY OF REHOBOTH. 
 
 This first church has passed through many trials and 
 dark days, but for nearly two hundred and fifty years the 
 gospel of peace and good-will to men has been sounding 
 in no uncertain strain from its midst. Religious toleration 
 obtained a strong foothold and Swansea soon became to 
 be regarded as the safe place for refuge for all those who 
 would worship God according to the dictates of their 
 conscience. And while this denomination, or sect, as it 
 was then called, continued to suffer persecution they 
 continued to increase in numbers, and with the growing 
 interest in and prosperity of Roger Williams beyond the 
 Seekonk, they soon found that rest and peace which they 
 desired, for, by 1766, Pastor Newman having died, this 
 same persecuted, fined, banished Rev. John Myles was 
 called to preach in the same church by which he had been 
 exiled. So " God moves in a mysterious way His won- 
 ders to perform." 
 
 What more can I say? The town of Swansea is now 
 content. Her churches are as a light on a hill ; they give 
 no uncertain sound. And to this day, so strongly have 
 the doctrines of the Baptist denomination been imbibed 
 by its inhabitants that we are still a Baptist town, and 
 with but one or two exceptions, no other denomination 
 has gained a foothold. We believe that we have entered 
 into the reward of those who labored, were persecuted 
 and banished. And now in our peaceful homes, sur- 
 rounded by well-managed and productive farms with a 
 deep interest in our common schools, and with a constant 
 improvement of our highways, we come to you on this, 
 your two hundred and fiftieth anniversary, and thank you 
 that you gave us such men for our first settlers ; and we 
 would say, that what you considered a punishment for 
 heretical doctrine, has proved a rich reward to those who 
 
RECOdNlTlON OF TOWNS. 1^5 
 
 have followed in the belief, and practised the virtues of 
 those wliom you banished from your territory. We con- 
 gratulate you on youi' prosperity ; and our desire is, that 
 we may in all our councils, liave that charity for each 
 other which has been ours for the generations past ; and 
 the same kindly spirit, rejoicing in each other's prosperity 
 and sorrowing in each other's adversity; and that we 
 may leave to those now pressing to the front, as rich an 
 heritage in a church believing in the fullest toleration, 
 but firm on the great truths of the word of God. 
 
 Allow me in closing, to quote from a memorable 
 address, given by the chairman of the day, before the 
 Bostonian Society, Boston, in 1882 : 
 
 '' We have good reason to hold John Myles in memory 
 as the founder of the first free Baptist church in the Com- 
 monwealth of Massachusetts ; as the co-founder with 
 Capt. Thomas Willett of a town after the Baptist order, 
 the first and the only one in the Commonwealth of the 
 early founding, and of the declaration on Massachusetts' 
 soil, and the practical application of the principles of a 
 true Christian society. In essentials, unity; in non-essen- 
 tials, liberty; in all things, charity." 
 
 Barrington, 1717 ; 
 
 Child of Swansea, and grand-child of Rehoboth, — 
 guardian of the graves of the Wampanoags, and heir to 
 the clam-banks and fisheries of Massasoit. With John 
 Myles as her pastor and teacher, Myles Standish as a pro- 
 prietor, Samuel Willett and John Brown as residents in 
 herown Wannamoisett, and Weymouth as her great-grand- 
 mother, what better lineage and possession could she 
 desire ? 
 
36 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Response by Fred. P. Church, Esq., of Barrington, 
 
 R. I. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 Barrington the grandchild, the beautiful maiden of 
 177 years, sends her cordial, loving greeting to her hale 
 and hearty grandmother, on this her two hundred and 
 fiftieth birthday. 
 
 A child of Swansea, born when she was a blushing 
 maid of fifty, and therefore a grandchild of dear old Re- 
 hoboth, who at her birth was still a comely matron of 
 seventy-three, and a great-grandchild of historic old 
 Weymouth. 
 
 From 1745 to 1770 Barrington dwelt with her twin 
 sister Warren, but at that date set up for herself an in- 
 dependent household on the other side of the river, 
 " guardian of the dust " of that strong and faithful ally 
 of the Pilgrims, the Wampanoags, whose friendship won 
 by fair dealing and firmness, proved a very wall of defence 
 to that weak, struggling band for over fifty years. 
 
 Heir of the sources of the material wealth of old 
 Massasoit, the fisheries and clambanks, which banks are 
 still a perennial source of dividends, whose continuity no 
 hard times can break, and no panics disturb, and the en- 
 joyment of which is not exclusive, for we have no monoply 
 but share the dividends willingly and freely with our 
 neighbors, as many a family church and town reunion 
 abundantly proves. 
 
 Linked to the Mayflower, the rich and beloved old 
 Plymouth, by that brave, fearless, indomitable soldier, 
 Capt. Myles Standish, whose day-dreams and night 
 visions (if we are to believe tradition), were of landed 
 
TlECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 37 
 
 estates, and a noble title over the sea, and who in part at 
 least realized those dreams when he became a proprietor 
 in our fertile meadows near Nayatt. 
 
 Kept in constant touch with that noble band of self- 
 denying, self-sacrificing men and women, for the principle 
 of freedom in civil and religious affairs, by such men as 
 Capt. Thomas Willet and Mr. John Brown. The former 
 a soldier of no mean parts, a man of great executive 
 ability, a born diplomat, the first and twice mayor of New 
 York city, he filled the varied positions to which he was 
 called with talent, energy and intelligence. The latter 
 not so famous outside the town and colony, was identified 
 with all the higher interests of our people. A large- 
 hearted generous Christian man, ready to assume the 
 larger end of every burden, he exemplified the value of 
 true fellowship and active faith, and in serenity and much 
 comfort fell asleep in the Lord, and was buried in Wan- 
 namoisett. John Myles, pastor, teacher,and citizen, broad 
 minded, far seeing, far in advance of his day and genera- 
 tion in the scope and liberality of his faith, warm hearted, 
 tolerant of all, loving wisdom and knowledge for their 
 intrinsic worth, he gave of his rich treasures of wisdom 
 and experience freely and constantly to elevate and en- 
 noble his people. The founder of the Baptist church in 
 Plymouth and the Bay colonies, he led in all that uplifts 
 and purifies the moral and spiritual life of his fiock. 
 
 Fondly do we guard our possessions and rich legacies 
 of character, treasures that enrich and never lose their 
 value. Proud are we of our family connections. Well 
 have we profited by the legacies of the past. 
 
 Barrington has given men of affairs to the state and 
 nation of the character and quality I leave you to judge 
 
38 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 and point you to the honored Chairman as one of her 
 later ones. One other I would refer to here, well known 
 to many in this audience to-day. A man whose large 
 warm heart beat with loving sympathy for the tried and 
 erring, whose clear mature mind and strong common sense 
 united with a liberal spirit and a sublime faith reminded 
 us of the strong men of the past. I speak of the Hon. 
 Lewis B. Smith, " who being dead, yet speaketh " to us 
 to-day. 
 
 Barrington has not acquired as much of material 
 wealth as some of her children or grandchildren of old 
 Rehoboth, but she has kept the spirit o*f her ancestors, as 
 her wide awake, intelligent public spirit indicates and has 
 ever sought to emulate their sterling qualities of honesty 
 and sobriety and high moral character that has for its 
 basis virtue and true godliness. What better lineage and 
 possessions could Barrington desire ? " Truly the lines 
 have fallen unto us in pleasant places and we have a 
 goodly heritage." 
 
 Barrington brings the glory of lier lineage and the 
 honor of her possessions and achievements and lays them 
 at the feet of her grandmother, with her sincere and 
 hearty congratulations on this her anniversary day. 
 
 flttleboro, 1694 ; 
 
 Rehoboth celebrated her fiftieth birthday by giving 
 her dowry and blessing to an enterprising daughter named 
 Attleboro who set up housekeeping for herself at birth, 
 and soon celebrates her two hundredth anniversary. Her 
 two children, Cumberland and North Attleboro, rise up 
 and call her blessed, Avhile our ancient mother Rehoboth 
 says of her, "Many daughters have done virtuously, but 
 thou excellest them all.'' 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. -39 
 
 North flttleboro, 1887 ■ 
 
 Westward the star of Empire and Northward the 
 star of Enterprise takes its way from Rehoboth to the 
 pushing, thriving, driving new municipality of Nortli 
 Attleboro. While she may not remember Joseph and the 
 flocks of Kedar, she has respect for the Gold of Ophir, 
 and of one of her diamond jewelled maidens it might be 
 said, '' Even Solomon in all his Glory was not arrayed 
 like one of these." She is the crown jewel and jeweller 
 of her granddam Rehoboth. May she always wear a 
 glittering diadem. 
 
 Response by Rev. John Whitehill, of Oldtown, 
 
 Mass. 
 
 Mr. Chairman., Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 North Attleboro regards herself as a sister, rather 
 than a daughter of Attleboro. She is the youngest 
 daughter of Rehoboth, and as the same time one of the 
 oldest. 
 
 At the youngest she is but seven years of age, and 
 her body consists of a slice taken from so much of old 
 Rehoboth North Purchase as was left after Cumberland 
 had been set off to Rhode Island in 1746-7. For some 
 years previous to the incorporation of North Attleboro as 
 a separate municipality there were two large villages 
 called North Attleboro and East Attleboro (or sometimes 
 Attleboro simply), about four miles apart. Each village 
 had its own churches, its own high school, as well as com- 
 mon schoole, its own bank, its own jewelry shops and 
 other manufactories, etc. The two places were like the 
 Siamese twins, each complete in itself, each distinct from 
 the other, yet both having the same life blood and the 
 
40 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 same interests. There were some people, however, who 
 said that the ligament holding them together ought to be 
 cut. It was claimed that they were making faces at each 
 other; or if not, they would soon be doing it, for, being 
 rivals, it was but natural that they should. Efforts were 
 made iu town meeting to commit the town by legal vote 
 in favor of division, but without success. 
 
 Finall}^ the legislature was petitioned, and on the 
 fourteenth of June, 1887, a permissive bill was approved. 
 This was an "Act to incorporate the Town of North 
 Attleborousfh." It was to be null and void, unless rati- 
 tied within a certain time by a majority of the voters 
 present and voting in the several precincts on the same 
 day. The voting ook place July 30, 1887, and division 
 was carried by a majority of 23 in a total vote of 1307. 
 Of the 665 votes in favor of division nearly two thirds 
 were cast by those living outside of the proposed new 
 town of North Attleboro. North Attleboro is no seces- 
 sionist. She went out to be by herself, because she was 
 politely but deliberately voted out by those who were not 
 resident on her soil. 
 
 We are a child of seven years only, but we have a 
 vigorous life derived from the sturdy yeomen of old 
 Rehoboth. We number about seven thousand people (as 
 many as were in the whole of the town twenty-four years 
 ago), and our property valuation is about four millions. 
 
 It will give you some faint idea of our prosperity 
 and our great expectations to be told that New Boston 
 lies within our territory, in the northeastern section of 
 our town. You know what a vast difference there is in 
 size and growth and enterprise between New York on 
 this continent and old York in the mother country^ 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 41 
 
 There is as great a difference between the Boston which 
 vauntingly styles herself "the hub of the universe " and 
 the New Boston which lies within the limits of our town. 
 Not a little has been said recently in the newspapers 
 about schemes of annexation, which, if carried into effect, 
 are to result in the " Greater Boston " as it is called. 
 Wait till our New Boston swallows up the old city at the 
 head of Massachusetts Ba}^, and then you will see a 
 greater Boston indeed. 
 
 We have town electric lights, town water, a town 
 fire department and a town library. There is in process 
 of erection a fine library building — the Richards Memorial, 
 — the gift of a public spirited and generous family of the 
 town. 
 
 Two steam railroad systems traverse our territory — 
 the New York and New England and the New York, New 
 Haven and Hartford — furnishing direct communication 
 with Providence and Boston. In addition to these we 
 have two lines of electric street car rails, connecting us 
 with Plain ville, Attleboro and Pawtucket. These rails 
 are a great blessing to our children who get much gym- 
 nastic practice thereon, trying to see how far they can 
 walk on them without stepping off. 
 
 We have in our town four post-offices, making con- 
 siderable work for a number of local politicians every 
 time there is a change in national administration. Our 
 schools number thirty-one, employing forty-two teachers. 
 For school houses we have seven large two-story buildings, 
 besides five smaller buildinsfs for the accommodation of 
 single schools. Our school system is so good that many 
 of our teachers are sought and lured away to QtUer towns 
 and cities where higlxQi: 3,alaries are paid,,. 
 
42 250th anniveksary of rehoboth. 
 
 Our people are well accommodated with cliu relies, 
 each of which is a centre of blessing to its own particular 
 field, and all of which are as one, when anything is pro- 
 jected for the general good, as, for instance, when the 
 cause of temperance or of chanty calls for united action. 
 
 We rejoice in all the prosperity of our sister town, 
 bordering us on the southeast, and we do not intend to be 
 led into anj^ comparisons with her. You know what is 
 said of comparisons. But when you hear of West Attle- 
 boro and Attleboro Falls and Attleboro Agricultural 
 Association and the Attleboro Fair and Attleboro this and 
 Attleboro that, bear in mind that these places and things 
 are in North Attleboro. Even the two principal streams 
 — the Seven Mile river and the Ten Mile river— gather 
 their blessings in North Attleboro, before advancing 
 further in their course pour them into the lap of our sister 
 town with the shorter name. 
 
 Our old mother Rehoboth here may be pardoned, if 
 she feels a special fondness for North Attleboro. It was 
 from North Attleboro that the former pastor of your vil- 
 lage church came — the pastor who served you with such 
 faithfulness and acceptance for a period of fourteen years, 
 and who took the lead in the formation of your Antiqua- 
 rian Society and guided the movement which culminated 
 in the erection of your beautiful Goff Memorial Building. 
 Rev. George W. Tilton was the first pastor of the Cen- 
 tral Congregational Church in North Attleboro, and came 
 to you directly from that church when he had wooed and 
 won the North Attleboro lady whom you knew here as 
 his lovely and accomplished wife. 
 
 I said that North Attleboro was not only the youngest 
 but also one of the oldest of the daughters of old mother 
 
rK(X)(;niti()n ov towns. 48 
 
 Rehobotli. When you speiik of the Massacliusetts i)urt 
 of the old North Purchase, it is North Attleboro cliiefly 
 that you must have iu mind. North Attleboro is the old, 
 original, genuine successor of tliat Nortli Purchase. 
 " All otliers are base imitations."' 
 
 It was in North Attleboro that the first house was 
 built by a Rehoboth settler — the house of John Woodcock, 
 which was also the first tavern, and was used as a gar- 
 rison in King Philip's war. It was in Nortli Attleboro 
 that the first mill was built — the saw and grist mill of 
 Joseph and Nathaniel Daggett. The first establishment 
 for the manufacture of jewelry was in North Attleboro, 
 one hundred and fourteen years ago, and the second too, 
 for that matter. In North Attleboro stood the first meet- 
 ing-house built by the immigrants from Rehoboth. In 
 North Attleboro was, and is, the old powder house, where 
 the settlers kept their ammunition, one hundred and 
 twenty -five years ago, and close by, in the same town, is 
 the training ground used by their military forces. We 
 still keep alive in North Attleboro the old Indian names 
 in our Wamsutta hotel and opera house and our Anawan 
 block. Coming down to more recent times, it was in 
 North Attleboro that the first lociil newspaper was started. 
 
 But I have gone into particulars enough. We are 
 not boasting. We are simply developing and interpreting 
 by this statement of facts the true but glowing eulogy 
 pronounced by you, Mr. Toastmaster, upon our honored 
 town. Our only purpose is to show that North Attleboro, 
 although the youngest of Rehoboth's municipal daughters, 
 is neither a foundling nor an upstart. No other daughter 
 has received more of her life from good, old mother Relio 
 both than she, and none is bound to the mother by ten- 
 
44 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 clerer recollections and stronger and more numerous ties. 
 Even if she were disposed to ignore her origin (which 
 she is not), she could not do it, while so many interesting 
 events in history connect her directly with the distant 
 past and so many monuments on her soil point to the an- 
 cient town from which she came. All these things must 
 pass from sight and from memory before it can be said 
 of her that " she knew not Joseph." As for " the flocks 
 of Kedar," how can she forget them so long as her inhab- 
 itants continue to be assessed for more than half a thou- 
 sand cows and twenty-eight sheep ? 
 
 Although her most conspicuous industry is the 
 manufacture of jewelry, yet many of her ten thousand 
 acres are under cultivation, and her fruits and field 
 products speak for themselves in her annual fairs. She is 
 indeed " the crown jewel and jeweler of her mother Re- 
 hoboth," and can deck herself any day in a glory rivaling 
 that of Solomon ; yet she is no lover of vain display, as 
 any one can see who walks her streets and looks upon the 
 neat and tasteful homes of her people. ' She aims to pro- 
 duce artistic work which shall be "a thing of beauty," 
 if not " a joy forever." But even this work upon which 
 so much ingenuity and skill are expended is regarded as 
 only a means to an end. Personal adornment is not the 
 grand aim of Attleboro life. While seeking to produce 
 ornaments of gold and silver and pearl which shall be 
 unsurpassed in elegance of design and in finish of work- 
 manship, her representative men and women desire, as 
 the town's greatest glory, a population sober, industri- 
 ous, thrifty, self-respecting, public spirited, reverencing 
 God and seeking the good of their fellow men — a popu- 
 lation who shall be the worthy descendants of their Pil- 
 grim ancestors— the pioneers of old Rehoboth. 
 
I!EOO(!NITION nV TOWNS. 45 
 
 SeeKonK, 1812 : 
 
 Push, piety, and patriotism ; prime principles of tlie 
 Pilgrim settlers of Rehobotli ; — Seekonk, a loyal daugh- 
 ter of Rehoboth has illustrated the virtues of the Mother- 
 town in all her liistory. 
 
 Response my Joseph Bkown, Es(^, of Seekonk, Mass. 
 
 Mr. Chairynan, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 It is asserted in the sentiment given me to discuss, 
 that the Pilgrim settlers of ancient Rehoboth were men 
 of push, piety and patriotism, and that their descendants 
 have exhibited the virtues of their ancestors. 
 
 The spirit of Push that moves to action, is ever the 
 same in whatever channel it acts. But action is always 
 evolved by circumstances ; as circumstances differ, action 
 differs. Push is only known in action. 
 
 What caused or led the settlers of Ancient Rehoboth 
 to be men of push ? What were the circumstances that 
 led them to action ? What was the condition of Rehoboth 
 two hundred and fifty-one years ago ? Generally a wilder- 
 ness covered with a dense forest, not a road constructed, 
 not a bridge built, a lot fenced, or a house erected. If 
 they were to make this their home, what must be done ? 
 In order to construct roads, bridges, fences, houses, and 
 subdue the forest, together with the cultivation of their 
 crops, what toil, patience, endurance, and perseverance 
 were necessary? But those settlers were equal to the 
 situation. Their great need and the circumstances in 
 which they were placed, nerved them to action, and 
 almost superhuman efforts. Thus, surrounding circum- 
 stances moved their spirit of push to action, and they 
 stand before the world notably as men of push. 
 
46 250th anntversaky of rehoboth. 
 
 Patriotism is love of one's own country, a personal 
 quality of character always respected in all ages. 
 
 The first settlers of Ancient Rehoboth must liave 
 been men of faith and courage, or tliey would not have 
 left the land of their fathers, the home of their childhood, 
 and severed the thousand associations and ties, binding 
 them to their English homes, and embark on a perilous 
 voyage across the wide ocean, to make a home in a wil_ 
 derness in a far distant land. And for what? Not for 
 gain like the adventurers to California when gold was 
 discovered, but, for conscience sake. They were a liberty 
 loving people. They would rather suffer exile, and if 
 need be, death, rather than an invasion of their natural 
 and inherent rights. 
 
 But they were soon called to meet with more serious 
 difficulties than I have named. They had scarcely cleared 
 their fields, and provided things comfortable, before the 
 Indian war commenced. 
 
 Its commencement and close was within the limits 
 of Ancient Rehoboth. It commenced by an attack of the 
 Indians on Wannamoiset, now Swansea, and closed by 
 the capture of Annawan in the vicinity where we are 
 now assembled. 
 
 Rehoboth probably suffered more in this war than 
 any other town in Plymouth Colony, because of its prox- 
 imity to Mt. Hope, the residence of Philip. Rehoboth 
 gave both men and money for this war, and her soil was 
 moistened with the blood of her citizens who fell in con- 
 flict with the savage foe. The most bloody and disastrous 
 battle of the war was fought within the limits of Ancient 
 Rehoboth. Sixty-three white men and twenty Cape In- 
 
llEco(J^'lTJON or To^v^^8. 47 
 
 dians arrived at Helioboth, now East Providence, when 
 they were joined by some of our citizens, and all went in 
 search of the Indians who were known to be in this 
 vicinity. 
 
 Usually the shrill tones of the bugle, the clang of 
 the cymbal, and the deep roll of the drum, nerve the 
 soldiers for the conflict, but not so here. They marched 
 forward silently to the field of carnage and death, but 
 with that determined step, that told the spirit of that 
 heroic band. 
 
 They came upon the foe a little above Pawtucket, 
 attacked and pursued them until they were drawn " into 
 an ambuscade, and surrounded b}^ more than five times 
 their number." 
 
 Capt. Pierce formed his men in a circle, so as to pre- 
 sent a front in every direction. ••' There was no retreat, 
 it was victory or death." No quarter was asked, no 
 quarter given. The battle raged for nearly three hours, 
 and these brave men fell one by one at their posts till 
 neajly all lay dead or wounded on the bloody field. No 
 monument marks the spot where these biave men fell, but 
 the record of their sacrifice and action is placed on historic 
 shelves, where future generations may read and know 
 somewhat of the courage and patriotism of the first 
 settlers of tliis country. 
 
 History has handed down through the ages the ex- 
 ploits of ancient warriors, records few instances where 
 more courage, determination and patriotism were dis- 
 played, than by Pierce and his brave men on Rehoboth's 
 plains. 
 
48 250th ANNIVEBSARY OF BEHOBOTH. 
 
 The IiKlians then attacked western Reboboth, now 
 East Providence, drove the inhabitants into the garrison 
 house and burned tlieir dwellings. 
 
 When we pass over a century of time, we find the 
 patriotic spirit developed in the Indian war again mani- 
 fested at the commencement of the trouble with Great 
 Britain. 
 
 In 1773 the Town's Corresponding Committee sent 
 a letter to Rehoboth's Representative for him to join 
 in every constitutional measure to remove the unjust 
 burdens laid upon us. 
 
 On July 25, 1774, voted they would not purchase any 
 goods imported from Great Britain after August 31st, 
 unless the "Boston Port Bill" was repealed, and the gov- 
 ernment was restored to its former privileges. Again on 
 May 26, 1775, voted to raise two companies to be ready 
 at any alarm. 
 
 The day the news of the battle of Bunker Hill came, 
 Rehoboth troops marched for Boston. The patriotic 
 spirit of this people was shown by the number of men 
 sent into the field, and the liberal appropriations made for 
 their support. Bliss in his history gives the names of one 
 hundred and forty-five meji who enlisted into the Con- 
 tinental army from Rehoboth. The war lasted seven 
 years and the calls for men came often, and often for 
 large numbers. I have time to speak of only two of 
 these calls. 
 
 On August 18, 1778, there was a requisition on Col. 
 Thomas Carpenter's regiment for one hundred and fifty 
 men to join Gen. Sullivan on Rhode Island. This was 
 only eleven days before the battle. 
 
IIECOC.NITION OF TOWNS. 49 
 
 Tlic men went, and were the first engaged in that 
 coiilliot, I hold in my hand a call for men from Keliobuth. 
 It is an original paper which lias never been publislied. 
 On examining some ancient papers in my possession 
 a few years since, 1 found this and many other papers 
 pertaining to tlie Revolutionary war. It reads as follows : 
 
 Kehoboth, August 11, 1779. 
 
 Sir : — I have received orders this day from Col. 
 Thomas Carpenter for the purpose of raising two hundred 
 and twenty-eight men out of our Regiment, to march as 
 soon as possible, and to be under the command of the 
 Continental General, to serve four weeks from the time of 
 their arriving in camp, and likewise three Captains and 
 six Lieutenants, to commaad them, with one Field officer 
 from the Regiment. You are therefore required to raise 
 thirty-three men, and you are desired to meet at Mr. 
 Jeremiah Wheeler's to-morrow, at two o'clock in the 
 afternoon, to consult further about this matter. 
 
 Hereof fail not as you regard the welfare of these 
 states, and make due return of the men raised, as soon as 
 made to the Col. of the Regiment or myself. 
 
 NATHANIEL CARPENTER, Major. 
 
 Capt. JOHN PERRY. 
 
 Kehoboth not only sent men but money for their 
 support. On May 5, 1770, voted to appropriate £1,200. 
 On May 10, 1770, X3,000. On October 23, 1780, 
 £26,400. Bliss in his history says the whole amount 
 raised by Rehoboth in 1780, was £50,527, 4 shillings. 
 Probal)ly these large appropriations wej'e made on ac- 
 count of the depreciation of the currency, which was a 
 formidable difficulty they had to encounter. 
 
50 250th a>:niveesaiiy of rehop.oth. 
 
 The people of Rehol)oth in common with those of 
 the Colonies, though comparatively few in numbei", and 
 lacking materially the "sinews of war," when they 
 learned that they could not obtain any redress from the 
 burdens imposed on them, boldly bid defiance to the 
 British lion, trusting themselves and their cause to the 
 Great Arbiter of nations, believing that the race is not 
 always to the swift, or the battle to the strong. 
 
 The patriotic spirit of 1675 and 1775 still remains. 
 When news came of the firing upon Ft. Sumter and the 
 defeat of the Union army at Bull Run, the whole North 
 was electrified, — thousands enlisted and rushed to arms ; 
 determined to sustain the honor of the old flag. 
 
 What caused this great outburst of patriotism ? It 
 was the spirit of this people moved to action by the events 
 I have named. We are still the same patriotic people 
 and any attack on our government either from without or 
 within, will stir up this patriotic spirit to action. In 
 conclusion I would say, that though Ancient Rehoboth 
 had not the fertile soil of many of the rich valleys and 
 prairies of the West, the mild climate of Southern Cal- 
 ifornia, or the remarkable scenery of the Yosemite Valley,, 
 this can be said of her, Jihere is no place in this broad 
 Union, of the same population, that has produced more 
 high-minded, stalwart, brave, industrious, patriotic men, 
 or more noble, virtuous women, than Ancient Rehoboth, 
 which is the noblest fruitage of wliich any place or nation 
 can boast. 
 
 PawtucKet. 1828 ■ 
 
 Town building was the chief work of the men of the 
 fust generations. Later came state-craft and as a result of 
 both, later still came the spindle, the loom and the bu«y 
 
RKOOCJNJTION DF TOWNS. 51 
 
 factoiy. Newmiiu spun his coiicoidance near the same 
 spot in old Kehoboth where Samuel Slater spun tlie ilrst 
 yard of American cloth. Both " wrouo-ht as in tlie jxreat 
 Taskmaster's eye." 
 
 Response by Hon. Henry E. Tiepke, Pawtucket. 
 
 Cilnriberlarid, 1746: 
 
 Around Rehoboth as a centre and Samuel Newman 
 its intellectual and spiritual light gathered otlier great 
 men as representatives of freedom of thought, opinion 
 and action of the elder day. Among them was William 
 Blackstone who fled England's Lords-Bishops and Boston's 
 " Lord's brethren '' for the quiet retreat of Study Hill in 
 Rehoboth, now the soil of Cumberland, a town worthily 
 one of the oldest grand-daughters of Rehoboth. 
 
 Hon. Ellis L. Blake was expected to respond for 
 Cumberland, but was not present. 
 
 East Providence, 1862 ; 
 
 A town of varied and successful fortunes : once 
 Rehoboth, then Seekonk, now East Providence ; a part 
 of Plymouth County, Bristol County, Providence County : 
 in the States of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The 
 Custodian of the ancient church site, the ''Ring" of the 
 town. Philips Chair, an original copy of Newman's Con- 
 cordance, the old Churchyard of the Weymouth worthies, 
 and the graves of Capt. Willet and John Brown. " In 
 the resurrection whose child shall she be? " 
 
 Response by Hon. George N. Bliss, East PiioviDENCE, 
 
 R. L 
 
 In the resurrection, the lirst settlers of Relioboth with 
 a goodly number of their descendants will all be found at * 
 
52 250th ANNIVERSAKY OF KEHOliOTH. 
 
 the ancient Ijurial ground near the Congregational Church 
 within the "ring of the town " in East Providence and 
 in Little Neck Burial Ground at Riverside. Capt. 
 Thomas Willett, the first mayor of the City of New York, 
 has been sleeping more than two hundred years. It 
 should not be forgotten that Roger Williams in 1636 
 built a house and planted crops near the mouth of Ten 
 Mile River in East Providence intending to make his 
 home there, but the Governor of Massachusetts wrote 
 him a letter, claiming jurisdiction and advising Roger 
 Williams to go across the river, which he did, thereby 
 losing a crop that year, as it was too late in the season to 
 plant again at his new location in Providence. 
 
 The dispute as to the boundary line was not ended 
 until March 1, 1862, when East Providence became a part 
 of Rhode Island, at which time the population was twelve 
 hundred and fifty and the valuation of property was 
 11,354,935. The last' thirty-two years have given us a 
 rapid growth: the population by the census in 1890 was 
 8,422 and is now estimated at more than 10,000, and the 
 assessors of taxes for 1894 give as the valuation of taxable 
 property the sum of -19,018,431. When under Massachu- 
 setts rule two dilapidated toll bridges gave the only con- 
 nection with Providence ; these have been replaced by 
 new free bridges and one of these (the Red Bridge) is 
 is now to be rebuilt to give passage to electric street cars; 
 school houses costing 1125,000 have been erected; a new 
 Town Hall, containing a fire proof office for the Town 
 Clerk's records has been constructed ; iron pipes have been 
 laid conveying water to all parts of the Town, and tlie 
 electric street rail cars convey the citizens swiftly and 
 cheaply along the highways. 
 
 East Providence lias about eip^iit miles of water front 
 
JEREMIAH W. HORTON. 
 
UKCOCNITION OF TOWNS. 53 
 
 Upon the Seekonk and Providence rivers, witli steam rail- 
 roads running tlie entire distance adjoining or near th(; 
 water, and there is every i-eason to expect that tlie land 
 occupied by the lirst settlers of Rehobotli will sooji be 
 the centre of a thickly settled peo[)le. 
 
 Newport : 
 
 The sons and daughters of Rehoboth liave not oidy 
 founded towns and cities of their own but have gone 
 forth to assist in building and governing towns, cities and 
 states to the ends of the earth. The Mother-town is 
 proud of their labors and honors, and especially congrat- 
 ulates the ancient municipality of Newport, in the State 
 of Rhode Island, that a successor to John Coddington 
 was found in one of her youngest and most worthy rep- 
 resentatives and children. 
 
 Response by Hon. Jeremiah W. Horton, Newport, 
 
 R. I. 
 
 Mr. Chairman^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 While I do not purpose to make a formal speech, I 
 am very grateful for an opportunity to thank ray friends 
 for the kind invitation which permits me to join with you 
 in celebrating the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary of 
 the settlement of our native Town. I am pleased to 
 meet so many of the friends of my youth, and I have 
 heartily enjoyed the eloquent words that have been 
 spoken by the distinguished gentlemen who have pre- 
 ceeded me. I am also glad of the opportunity I have to 
 speak in behalf of my adopted home. No one has greater 
 reason to be proud of their home or to speak well of it 
 than I have to be proud of Newport and to speak in 
 praise of the " Beautiful City by the sea." In the year 
 
54 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 1638 Governor Coddington with seventeen others pur- 
 cliased Aquidneck, (afterward named Rhode Island), of 
 the Indians and begun a settlement in the northern part 
 of the island, now known as Newtown. The following- 
 year, 1639, they went south and settled Newport, there- 
 fore Rehoboth is five years younger than Newport. Pre- 
 vious to the Revolutionary war, Newport was the most 
 prosperous and thrifty town in the Colonies. It was 
 then styled the "Emporium of fashion, refinement and 
 taste." Many of the houses were models of architectural 
 beauty, and not a few of its inhabitants were wealthy, 
 cultured and refined. The British took possession of the 
 town in the year 1776 and for three years it was under 
 martial law. The eiglit thousand British soldiers literally 
 sacked the town. Not less than five hundred houses 
 were burned, shade and fruit trees were cut down, all the 
 churches except two w^ere used for riding schools and 
 stables. All the bells except one, the gift of Queen Anne, 
 were taken down and sent to New York, the State House 
 was used for a hospital, all the wells were filled up just 
 before the British evacuated the town. When the British 
 took possession of the town it had a population of twelve 
 thousand. Three years later when they evacuated it there 
 were but four thousand. The inhabitants were then so 
 poor they had to be helped by the neighboring towns, and 
 the State sent one hundred and sixty cords of wood worth 
 120.00 per cord, and |1,000 to be distributed to the poor. 
 Newport has many places of historic interest, and was 
 the birthplace and home of many distinguished men ; and 
 among them were such men as Rev. Wm. Ellery Channing, 
 a statue of whom was last year placed upon Touro Park 
 near the Old Stone Mill, the history of which is so 
 shrouded in mystery. Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry, 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 55 
 
 the hero of Lake Erie ; his statue stands on Washington 
 Park and was the work of Turner, one of Newport's sons. 
 Commodore Matthew C. Perry who negotiated the treaty 
 with Cliina and Japan and opened tlieir ports to the com- 
 merce of tlie world; liis statue stands on Touro Park 
 near Bellevue Avenue; and such artists as King, Mal- 
 bone, Stuart, Stngg and Ricliards. On Clarke Street 
 may be seen the Vernon House where Gen. Wasliington 
 stayed during liis first visit to Newport. He was the 
 guest of Count Rochambeau. Upon liis arrival in the 
 town the French soldiers formed a line which extended 
 from the wharf where he landed to the Count's head- 
 quarters. The following evening there was a parade and 
 the town was ilhniiinated. The Town Council caused 
 candles to be distributed to tliose who were too poor to 
 buy them so that every window might be liglited. Tliirty 
 boys marched at the head of the procession with candle 
 torches. A little anecdote is related of Washington at 
 this time. A little boy in the crowd who had heard 
 much about Gen. Washington was very anxious to see 
 him so his father took him in his arms and carried him to 
 an open window near to which Gen. Washington was 
 standing and pointed him out to the boy. The child 
 looked amazed and said " Why papa, Gen. Washington is 
 a man." The old hero was near enough to hear what the 
 boy said, and turned and put his hand on the boy's head 
 and said, '^ Yes my lad and nothing but a man." 
 
 From that day to this, Newport has been honored by 
 many distinguished visitors. Last year, as Mayor of the 
 city, it was my pleasant duty to be the first to welcome 
 Capt. Anderson with his Viking Ship to America. We 
 were also honored with a visit from Admiral Kaznakoff, 
 with his Russian Ueet. The Rajah of Rajahn, King of 
 
56 250th ANKIYEBSAEY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 Kapurthala, India, also made us a visit. I am here re- 
 minded of a little incident which occurred while the King 
 was at Chicago. Governor Brown met the Rajah at some 
 reception, and while talking with him asked him how he 
 liked Rhode Island. He hesitated for a moment and then 
 said, ''I have travelled so much and seen so many places that 
 I don't seem to remember Rhode Island." " But," said the 
 Governor, " don't you remember Newport?" " Oh, yes," 
 he said, " I remember Newport, Newport is a beautiful 
 place, I had a delightful time there." So Mr. Chairman 
 you see that while one may forget the State, he will 
 remember Newport. 
 
 The vein in which I am speaking reminds me of a 
 story of the Yankee who visited Europe and was there 
 entertained by some English friends. They took him 
 through the halls of Parliament, and wheu asked what lie 
 thought of them said, " Oh, they don't compare with the 
 halls of Legislation in Washington. America is far ahead." 
 They took him to France, and while he acknowledged that 
 some things were beautiful, he said, " America is ahead." 
 They then took him to Rome and visited St. Peters. ''This," 
 he said, "is a fine chapel, but we have some cathedrals in 
 my country, America is ahead." His friends were getting 
 a little tired of it, and knowing his weakness they gave 
 him all he wanted to drink, and he got sleepy, so they took 
 him down into the catacombs and laid him down on the 
 cold marble floor, and placing a lighted candle at his liead 
 left him to sleep off liis stupor. When they thought it 
 was time for him to awake they went back and stood a 
 little way off to see what he would do. Soon he sat up 
 and rubbing his eyes looked around at the skulls and cross- 
 bones that were piled about him. He then seized the 
 
RECOGNITION OF TOWNS. 57 
 
 lighted candle, jumped to his feet, and waving the candle 
 above his head exclaimed, " It's the Resurrection morn- 
 ing, and I am the first man up. America is ahead." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, again I thank 
 you for this cordial greeting, and I sincerely hope that 
 blessings like those which have been so bountifully 
 bestowed upon this Town for two hundred and fifty years 
 may be continued to it for centuries to come. 
 
58 250th anniveesary of rehoboth. 
 
 Historical Address 
 
 ]iY HON. EDAVIX L. BAEXEY 
 
 Men and Women of Rehohoth : 
 
 The flight of years, the round of time, has brought 
 to this old town the two hundred and fiftieth anniversary 
 of its settlement. The third century of its existence is 
 passing into history. A review of the decades that have 
 gone by reveals the story of a town — Rehoboth has not 
 been incorporated into the cities that have sprung up 
 around her. The farm and homestead still remain. An- 
 cient landmarks are not obliterated. The peaceful hills 
 and valleys have not been converted into the avenues of 
 trade : the fields have not been given over to the factory 
 and the store. The restless, teeming tide of commerce has 
 made no confusing labyrinth of the ways and lanes of this 
 quiet New England town — a town with ambition — a town 
 with influence and blessed with the strength of sturdy 
 men and women. It was not decreed that traffic should 
 rule here. It was not destined that the plan by which 
 this place was created should be thwarted. 
 
 The advanced ideas of its founders, their devoted pur- 
 pose to provide a home-loving community, with a just and 
 impartial government gives its story a never-ending inter- 
 est. It is not alone the dignity of years that gives signifi- 
 cance to this occasion. A great lapse of time would have 
 no particular charm, if that were only for us to contem- 
 plate. It is the consideration of what has been done that 
 claims our attention. We are to profit by the contrast 
 between our condition and that of our forefathers. We 
 have cause on this natal day for congratulation, little for 
 regret and none for apology. Our great country has but 
 
HISTORK^AL AI)i)UESS. 59 
 
 just concluded the celebration of its grand Columbian 
 yeai". Beside the things of the past have been set the 
 things of the present. The old lias been compared vvitli 
 the new. Each step in the great era of progress has been 
 shown by the greatest exposition the world ever looked 
 upon. 
 
 The glory that comes from the demonstration there 
 made, that this is the foremost nation of the earth belongs 
 to no single place or section. The four hundred years 
 that had passed witnessed this great development when 
 other countries were already old on the race of the globe. 
 
 The growth, advancement and progress of these United 
 States gives us all a just cause for pride. The works of 
 today, contrasted with those of days gone by, promise ac- 
 complishments for the future that almost surpass belief. 
 
 What part has been played by our townsmen ? What 
 impress has been made by this community ? I call your 
 attention to the fact that the founders of Rehoboth estab- 
 lished here a government based upon principles that were 
 never abandoned. They believed in a people's govern- 
 ment and carried it fearlessly and unflinchingly into effect. 
 It required no ordinary courage for the colonists to leave 
 their homes for an unknown shore. The fortitude with 
 which they met all adversity compels our admiration. 
 The pioneers in these fields had no thought of conquest ; 
 they did not seek riches ; they were not filled with greed 
 for plunder. To despoil, pre-empt and rob was no part of 
 their purpose. Devoted to principle, they had left their 
 mother country to escape persecution. 
 
 Non-conformists to the religious views of the majority 
 of their fellows, they sought a home where they might 
 believe and worship as they pleased. Stout-hearted and 
 
60 250th anniversaky of rehoboth. 
 
 courageous, they braved the seas for the new world. 
 Others there were who had preceded them and become as 
 arrogant as those from whom they had fled. Forgetting 
 the protest they had made against those above them, they 
 domineered with increasing stringency when they held 
 power themselves. 
 
 Your first white settler, William Blackstone, left 
 England because he couldn't endure the "Lord bishops," 
 and although he was quite a landed proprietor in Boston, 
 he left his fellows there, saying "I cannot join with you, 
 because I would not be under the "Lord brethren." 
 
 The home he established in the wilderness near the 
 river which takes his name was dedicated to the quietness 
 of study. 
 
 When Newman and his followers came from Wey- 
 mouth, they were bent on organizing a community where 
 the rights of conscience should be respected. Boston and 
 Lynn had become unbearably intolerant. The bitter ex- 
 perience of John Myles, and the trials of Roger Williams, 
 tempest tossed in the depths of winter, were painful ex- 
 amples of the dire penalties meted out to heretics. 
 
 Purchasing the land from Massacliusetts, by honest 
 covenant, they carried into effect the purposes for which 
 they had joarneyed thither. In order that there might be 
 a fair distribution, they had, at a meeting held before they 
 left Weymouth, laid the preliminaries for the division and 
 apportionment of the lands they were to occupy. 
 
 This same Weymouth meeting, in 1643, passed by a 
 vote of the planters an order for the support of the schools. 
 The schoolmaster was made fifth in the list of land owners. 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 61 
 
 This was the first vote in all the world for the estab- 
 lishment of free public schools by public taxation. All 
 had to contribute, whether the father of a family or not. 
 
 The Massachusetts Bay Colony, four years afterward, 
 made the same enactment. 
 
 To Massachusetts has always been conceded the 
 honor of being the first in that great system. To Reho- 
 both belongs the credit of inaugurating that grand institu- 
 tion, now freely acknowledged to be first in importance of 
 any department under our government. 
 
 Regulations and laws were made for their mutual 
 benefit and protection, but none for ostracizing any person 
 on account of his beliefs. The little band held dear the 
 tenets of their faith. 
 
 They directed their hands and thoughts to employ- 
 ment and education. To these they remained steadfast. 
 Thus were developed those traits of character which gave 
 the basis to the achievements done within these borders. 
 No witch was ever hanged in Rehoboth ; no Quaker was 
 ever tortured here; no heretic was ever whipped here. 
 Bent upon a plan of cultivation and improvement, it was 
 never forsaken for the base uses of trampling upon the 
 weak and struggling, to their own enrichment. No dis- 
 sension or contention disrupted their numbers. The little 
 community existed by the fruits of its own labors, and 
 had no thought of trouble. 
 
 A glance at their condition at this time is not like 
 reading a tale that is closed, without moral and pointing 
 no useful lesson. Their method was adhered to and ac- 
 quiesced in b}' all. Accident or chance had no part in 
 their doings. They were directly under the control of the 
 
62 250th anniversary of REHOBOXri. 
 
 Plymouth court, which was conducted with marked liber- 
 ality. The land grant of Massasoit was confirmed by the 
 court. 
 
 Although a general settlement was made in 1643, it 
 was not until a year later that the town was fairly organ- 
 ized. The year following, 1645, the commissioners of the 
 United Colonies formally incorporated the town under its 
 present scriptural name, Rehoboth. It included the ter- 
 ritory now comprised in the following towns ; Seekonk, 
 East Providence, Pawtucket, Cumberland, Attleboro, 
 North Attleboro, Swanzey, Somerset, Barrington and 
 Warren. Each succeeding year the number of land pro- 
 prietors increased. The necessary town officials were 
 regularly elected. The records show that all claimed title 
 to land by virtue of purchase, and that a system of record- 
 ing was adopted which was a perpetual assurance of the 
 owner's rights. 
 
 Wamsutta, the son of Massasoit, ratified the deed of 
 his father. 
 
 Each land-holder held his possessions by strict right, 
 and no one questioned it. The quiet home life they had 
 sought seemed to he guaranteed them. Strange to say 
 their thrift proved their only menace. It was because 
 they built houses, fenced their lots and extended their 
 fields that the enmity of the crafty King Philip was in- 
 curred. His father, Massasoit, and his brother, Wam- 
 sutta, saw nothing harmful in the presence of industrious, 
 frugal and honest neighbors. 
 
 Newman had named the town Rehoboth, because in 
 the Hebrew it meant '-a large place," and he piously pro- 
 claimed, "The Lord has made room for us." Tlie old 
 chieftain and his eldest son never doubted but what there 
 
JIISTOUICAL ADDRESS. 63 
 
 was room enough for all ; but Philip saw with jealous eyes 
 the day not far distant when there would be no room for the 
 Indians. He had ratified the covenant of purchase given 
 by his father and brother, and had seemed to be friendly, 
 but his disposition changed; he hated with all the ven- 
 geance of his vile nature. He struck the blow ; the torch 
 was applied ; houses were destroyed ; lives were taken 
 whose only offense had been that they had dared to use 
 the strength of mind and muscle that God had given them 
 for the improvement of their condition. 
 
 Philip is said to have been remarkably endowed. He 
 was keen, crafty, sagacious and resourceful. He had 
 once before cleverly allayed suspicion by surrendering his 
 arms when he was accused of preparing war against the 
 whites. There can be no doubt his bloody plans had long 
 been maturing. He had thoroughly united all the tribes 
 of the Indians from Plymouth to the Connecticut river. 
 Sausaman, his fellow Indian, after his supposed conver- 
 sion, returned to Philip only to again abandon wild life 
 and rejoin the settlers. When he was shortly afterwards 
 found murdered in Middleboro, the crime was traced to 
 several Indians. Their guilt being proven, they were 
 executed. From that time Philip made no effort to con- 
 ceal his hatred. 
 
 The war he waged was furious and relentless. The 
 year that followed was one of horror. The frenzy of the 
 red man thoroughly aroused, inspired hini^ to deeds of 
 awful barbarity. He despoiled with demon-like atrocity. 
 From his headquarters on Mount Hope, Philip directed 
 the slaughter. Thirteen towns were pillaged. Six hun- 
 dred colonists were killed. The same number of houses 
 were reduced to ashes. This section was the scene of de- 
 
64 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 vastation and nun. The war was commenced and ended 
 within the confines of the original town of Rehoboth. 
 
 The terrors of that winter cannot be adequately pic- 
 tured. Vigilance was never abated until the twelfth of 
 August of seventy-siXf when Philip was killed by Captain 
 Church's company. With the capture (»f Annawan, six- 
 teen days later, almost at your very doors, and but a few 
 miles from the spot where we are now gathered, the war 
 was closed. Rehoboth furnished thirty men, who served 
 with valor and distinction. Subjected to great privation 
 and ceaseless anxiety, they had spent the year. The end 
 of the struggle saw the people impoverished, but not dis- 
 heartened. 
 
 With saddened hearts the work of reconstruction was 
 commenced. Undismayed by hardship, they built anew. 
 Calamity had not discouraged them. With commendable 
 energy they labored. 
 
 Fortunatel}^ the next one hundred years saw nothing 
 of war. Peace and progress reigned supreme. It is not 
 written that much of historical interest transpired between 
 this period and the Revolution, What effect it would 
 have made upon the after growth of the town and vicinity 
 had the State House been built here when the Massachu- 
 setts bay and Plymouth colonies united in 1692, can only 
 be a matter of conjecture. Boston was the largest of the 
 one and Rehoboth the largest of the other colony. A 
 spirited contest was made by the aspirants of each for the 
 honor of being the State Capital ; it was developed that 
 Boston had a few votes the most and won the prize. 
 
 A continental congress was held in Rehoboth in 
 October, 1709. At just what point they assembled is a 
 
HTSTOIUCAL ADDRESS. 05 
 
 matter of doubt. Tlie town grew in size and influence. 
 Highways w^ere ])uilt and new settlements appeared. The 
 names of the residents at this time are in a great part 
 familiar. Many there are present directly descended from 
 this sturdy band. Successive generations, iilled with an 
 abiding love, have lemained faithful to the old town. 
 Hehoboth's people are not rovers by disposition. Tlirough 
 the long years they have trod the walks of their ancestors. 
 
 The trials of that colonial era w^ere forming a sub- 
 stantial character that has been transmitted from genera- 
 tion to generation. The vicissitudes that had been under- 
 gone, the obstacles that had been overcome, w-ere pro- 
 ducing a marked type of humanity. 
 
 The time was coming to shake off the yoke of op- 
 })ression. The })reliminary murmurs of the impending 
 struggle for independence were heard in the land. It Was 
 manifest that a crisis in their affairs was near at hand. 
 The policy of the colonies could not be determined in a day. 
 
 Opportunity for conferences was limited ; methods of 
 travel primitive, the conveyance of news slow and in- 
 frequent. It was not every man who stood ready for 
 battle. Some counseled caution and more deliberation. 
 One man's influence counted for little beyond his imme- 
 diate circle ; the voice of a community stood for every- 
 thing ; there was no uncertainty of the attitude of New 
 England and no hesitancy on the part of the town of Re* 
 hobotli. The legislative representative of the town was 
 quickly advised, in Boston, that James Otis was indorsed ; 
 a military company was organized and the town stood t(» 
 resist the might of tyranny as against the right of man 
 and family. Had not their fathers left the onl}- home 
 they knew for a dwelling or home in reality with all that 
 
C)6 250Tn a>:niveksaey oy rehoboth. 
 
 implies? Had not the Indian all but destroyed it 
 beyond redemption '.^ In all things they had triumphed 
 under the banner of right, and should the}', their sons, 
 now surrender ? 
 
 . The wholesome, patriotic ideas that were deeply in- 
 stilled in their minds forbade such a thought. The minute 
 men of Concord and Lexington were not trained soldiers. 
 They left their plows to take up the musket. All men 
 know the story of that gallant conliict. It was the same 
 kind of patriot tliat the process of the years Avas making" 
 in the town of Rehoboth. 
 
 Fortunately the desolation of war did not come to 
 tliese borders. The peace so much coveted was not dis- 
 turbed. Myles bridge and garrison house, as truly historic 
 as Lexington common, ere not to be again the theater of 
 combat. 
 
 We can imagine the thrill of exultation with wd)ich 
 our ancestors received the news that justice had prevailed ; 
 that England had relinquished her efforts to compel alle- 
 giance. Hovv'- tlieir hearts must have been gladdened at 
 the thought of freedom ! They bad sought to sever 
 every tie of religious and civil relationship that bound 
 them to the land of kings ; they had longed for liberty of 
 conscience. To entirely escape the old, and be unmolested 
 in the new life was their greatest hope and fondest desire. 
 It is true that their neighbors had not always met them 
 in the frank, open spirit of the Plymouth colony, but 
 there was no division of opinion, they thought as one — on 
 the subject of resisting absolute subjugation by Great 
 Britain. When the time had come for battle it found 
 them a band of brothers united ; standing steadfast and 
 undivided. 
 
ESEK H. PIERCE. 
 
HISTORICAL AhDUIOSS. (IT 
 
 Right successfally resisted might. Then as the 
 smoke of battle cleared away it must have dawned glo- 
 riously upon tlie faitliful men and women that tliereafter 
 they were to be assured immunity from inter-colonial inter- 
 ference ; that the birth of a great republic should see the 
 acknowledgement, without question, of the right of all 
 men "to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.'' 
 
 They were diligent in the management of the affairs 
 of the town. All efforts were made for the encourage- 
 ment of industry and education that their means would 
 permit. The slender salaries of the parson, the doctor 
 and the schoolmaster amuse us, but they were paid by the 
 labors of honest toilers who could spare no larger. They 
 freely gave the utmost they could afford. Their deep ap- 
 pi-eciation of the equity of a people's government is dis- 
 played in the conduct of the town meetings. Stringent 
 provisions were made for compelling attendance. The 
 greatest regard was had for a full, fair and honest debate. 
 Their belief in the honesty of majority rule lead them to 
 invite the fullest discussion of all matters up for consid- 
 eration. It was very essential that the accurate sentiment 
 of the majority be obtained. It is reported that there was 
 great unity in their deliberations and a remarkable absence 
 of discord or honest difference of opinion. All were im- 
 bued with the same patriotic instincts and eacli strove 
 diligently for the common good. The town meeting is 
 the ideal government. Every man speaks for himself. 
 His views are presented directly to liis fellows. Each 
 can learn from the other by actual presence, sight and 
 hearing, the force of his convictions, his manner, sincerity 
 and purpose are on exhibition. The opportunity^ for the 
 minutest investigation is had without the intervention of 
 a representative. Of course, when, as in modern days, the 
 
f)S 250th ANNTVERSAKY of REHOIiOTH. 
 
 populcitiou of the districts and cities becomes large, the 
 people must delegate their powers, in the city, state and 
 nation, to act for them in the councils, legislature and 
 congress. It cannot be controverted, however, that the 
 town meeting is the highest example of the perfection of 
 a o-overnment of the people, by the people and for the 
 people. The number of those who do not attend are a 
 small proportion of a town's inhabitants. 
 
 The townsman goes interested and determined to act 
 as his best judgment shall dictate. As communities in- 
 crease in size and the necessity of a government by repre- 
 sentation arises, the keen attention of the voters is diverted 
 from the subjects passed upon. With some one to act for 
 them there is no necessity to do for themselves, and it is 
 too often true that the agents do not respect the wishes of 
 the principals. The constituency is not infrequently ig- 
 nored by the legislator. In a town meeting each man 
 represents himself and together all represent the town. 
 
 The doings are for what is conceived to be the right. 
 No townsman meaningly prejudices the town ; no man 
 intentionally robs himself. Rehoboth's people have an 
 enviable record for their wise control of her corporate 
 affairs. There has been no anticipation of alliance with 
 the cities. There has been constant and close attention 
 on your part to the needs of the present. 
 
 Wisdom has characterized your use of the prerogatives 
 of citizenship. Fidelity to honorable principles has been 
 an inheritance that has equipped each generation for laud- 
 able endeavor whenever occasion has demanded. Educated 
 in an atmosphere of honesty and integrity, you have sent 
 enerc^etic and able men, who have won wealth and dis- 
 tinction in other fields. They have reflected credit on the 
 place of their birth and added strength and dignity to the 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 69 
 
 homes (»f their adoption. Tliey have been well schooled 
 in the practical phases of life and went adniirabljMiualihed 
 to cope with the l)nsy throng whei-ever fortune should 
 send them. At home and abroad these people have been 
 of the bone and sinew that seeks to build firmly, soundly 
 and enduringly ; who were content to produce ; who aimed 
 to do all things well. This firm solidity of character has, 
 in the process of evolution, given us remarkable specimens 
 of manhood. 
 
 A brief consideration of a few honored names fur- 
 nishes us with examples froni which we may learn with 
 profit. 
 
 The pronounced individuality of William Blackstone, 
 the Newmans, father and son, Roger Williams, John 
 Myles and Thomas Willett, has often been recalled. Far 
 in advance of their times in mental growth they have 
 come down to posterity as marvels of consistency. They 
 deprecated warfai-e, and preferred pacific means, but in 
 defense of home they possessed that staunch courage 
 which braves all suffering with unswerving calmness. 
 Over the grave of William Blackstone now stands an im- 
 posing shaft ; it is inscribed to the first white settler of 
 Rhode Island. The tribute to his worth is richly deserved. 
 As the foremost illustrious quartet, which included with 
 him Newman, Myles and Willett, he is rightfully entitled 
 to all homage and enduring memory. This noble four, the 
 contemporaries of Roger Williams, his firm friends and 
 close in his counsel and esteem, are as notable exponents 
 of the cause of liberty as histor}^ anywhere discloses. 
 The}' have not been accorded their full measure of praise ; 
 their names are not as familiar and as oft repeated as 
 others who gave their lives to the same cause. 
 
70 250th anniversary of kehoboth. 
 
 There are other parts of this commonwealth better 
 known and more generally spoken of, which have been 
 favored with a continued recital of the deeds of men of 
 glorious cliaracter, of towering luster, who have brought 
 renown to their particular locality ; name and place have 
 become coupled and inseperable. Without boasting, but 
 with becoming modesty, you have the privilege of denaand- 
 ing that all hearts be turned with appropriate regard to a 
 lasting remembrance of these grand freemen. 
 
 James Brown, Obadiah Holmes and John Hazell suf- 
 fered bodily for daring to assert their mauhood as their 
 convictions compelled them. They bore their troubles 
 stoically, and sought a refuge in Rehoboth, where no man 
 was harassed. Walter Palmer, the first deputy to Ply- 
 mouth court, was a man of ripe judgment and great good 
 sense. 
 
 Stephen Bullock, judicially minded and able, repre- 
 sented with great satisfaction his district in congress. 
 Phanuel Bishop, also in the halls of the national house of 
 representatives, was a wise and studious legislator. 
 
 I should like, if the time permitted to speak of towns- 
 men of recent date of the typical names of Pierce, Bullock, 
 Davis, Horton, Gotf, Bliss, Carpenter, Miller, Wheaton, 
 Hunt, Thurber, Peck, Robinson, Perry and others, whose 
 acquintance I have enjoyed. Our distinguished chief 
 justice of the superior court, Albert Mason, traces his an- 
 cestry to the Samson Mason of CromweH's army, who early 
 settled liere. 
 
 The state of Rhode Island has elevated to the gov- 
 ernor's chair a Rehoboth man in the person of " Honest 
 John Davis." What higher encomium could man desire ? 
 What prouder title could attacli to integrity. 
 
TirSTOKTCAL ADDRESS. 71 
 
 You liiivo been .sensible of the value of relics of for- 
 mer days ; you liave desired to preserve the nienentos of 
 anti(|uaiian values. The society you have organized is of 
 inestimable worth ; its woik will nniterially promote the 
 cause of education in the town. 
 
 The loyalty of Dai-ius Goff in defraying the greater 
 part of the cost of this memoiial building, which takes his 
 name, cannot be too highly commended. His was a char- 
 acter fine and sensitive. 
 
 Constituted witli a lasting pride in Rehoboth, he gave 
 freely. 
 
 When it became manifest that the people, tilled with 
 enthusiasm, were bound to secure an edifice for town pur- 
 poses ; when he saw that a subscription from the common 
 purse was gladly forthcoming, he readily gave from liis 
 abundance the sums that made so tine a structure possible. 
 
 It was the assurance that the interest was general 
 that appealed to him ; the fact that all the people greeted 
 the idea with pleasure, and were ready to contribute as 
 their means would allow, was to him the convincing evi- 
 dence of the wisdom of building largely and well. 
 
 Generous and wise man that he was, he delayed not ; 
 he saw the people use this building ; he had the pleasure 
 of sharing their gratification. Standing near the spot 
 where his father before him and his brothers with him 
 had commenced and carried into execution the industry, 
 which in after years had, in the cities, made wealth for 
 him and employment for many, it is indeed iitting that in 
 this hour of reminiscence, we feel and acknowledge our 
 profound appreciation of his sterling worth and merit. I 
 have spoken of the all-important fact that must become 
 
72 250th anniversaey of eehoboth. 
 
 indelibly impressed upon tlie mind of tlie reader of history 
 that the Rehoboth man is endowed with the greatest rev- 
 erence for the sanctity of home; that lie is unalterably 
 opposed to oppression. 
 
 Outside of the ordinary pursuits of the home and 
 farm he has made his influence felt and his w^ord of con- 
 sequence and moment. The industries of Pawtucket and 
 Providence have had substantial indorseis in Rehoboth 
 men; they have put time and capital into the channels of 
 business that built up these cities and caused them to 
 flourish. The first mill in Fall River had subscribers for 
 one-fourth of its capital stock from this town. 
 
 The men of this town have never lacked courage to 
 engage in that which involves labor ; they are so consti- 
 tuted that, they are not awed by task. 
 
 I have endeavored to relate, with some attention to 
 their chronological order, the instances and occurrences of 
 their domestic life that have seemed to me important. I 
 have told of the attitude they assumed when they have 
 suffered encroachment, whether as a community in par- 
 ticular, or as a part of our nation in general. In the last 
 great civil strife, the war of the rebellion, Rehoboth fur- 
 nished her full quota of men. 
 
 With a population of fifteen hundred souls, she sent 
 a goodly number to shoulder the musket for their country. 
 To those of us who recall the days of that trying period, 
 it seems but a short time since the marching troo])s re- 
 turned. Back from the horrid ordeal of waLriuLT cruel 
 warfare against their own countrymen— men of the same 
 great national famil3% having the same ambitions, alike 
 honorable, and the eijual of any in social and })()litical 
 status. Divided on the question of the abolition of the 
 
iriSTOKlCAL ADDKESS. 73 
 
 slave trade, one part of the couiitiy opposing another, sec- 
 tional liate once aroused, soon swept away all thoughts of 
 former unity. 
 
 The remembrance of their power wJien all Jiearts 
 beat for a mutual cause, held no power to sta}^ the threat- 
 ening storm. It was useless to try to avei't the necessity 
 of a resort to force. Tliere was no cowardice on the part 
 of either north or soutli. Since the days of the " Father 
 of his Country," the southern suns liad beheld the colored 
 man the property of his white brother, who was not want- 
 ing in refinement and sensibility. Distinguished men who 
 had inherited, owned, bought, bartered and sold the slave 
 in precisely the same manner as otlier property. People 
 became habituated to their surroundings ; they grew ac- 
 customed to the uses and practices about them. By no 
 word or argument could the position of either great sec- 
 tion be made plain to the other. The Union was threat- 
 ened, it must be preserved. 
 
 The pitiable spectacle of brother against brother in 
 deadly affray was only terminated after bloodshed 3-et 
 fresh in mind. The present generation has eagerly sought 
 a rehearsal of its every detail ; the world of literature has 
 retold the story from every standpoint, — the grim chron- 
 icles having a fascinating interest to the student of his 
 country's history. 
 
 The abhorrent and unholy traffic in human life was 
 forever sto2:)ped in the " land of the free and the home of 
 the brave." Secession was prevented; the Union was 
 maintained. The victory, however, had been for principle 
 instead of power. 
 
 The proud privilege of wearing the button and the 
 .badge is each year vouchsafed to a smaller band. On 
 
74 250th anniveksaey of rehoboth. 
 
 each succeecliijg observance of the veterans' holiday fewer 
 liands there are to place the flowers, and more graves 
 there are to decorate. May Decoration Day teach to the 
 sons who take np the fathers' work, the beauty of heroic 
 love for country; may it prove a potent factor in inspiring 
 us all to deeds of loyal duty ; may the necessity of facing 
 the blight of war again be long postponed. Thirty years 
 have since gone by, — years that have seen but little change 
 in the phj^sical appearance of the town. Your population, 
 uncentralized, clings to the localities identified with fam- 
 ily tradition. Surrounded by the evidence of the honor- 
 able past^ you pursue uninterruptedly the vocations of 
 your choice. You have gathered and arranged in this 
 hall antique records and relics that stimulate in us a ven- 
 eration for our fathers. The objects of interest carry our 
 minds to the days when they fought against dangers that 
 we shall never know. The library is commemorative of 
 the free hearted and illustrious name of Blandiug, and 
 contains the chronicles of trials bravely met and patiently 
 overcome. 
 
 Our thoughts are turned devotedly to the inheritance 
 that has come down to us. Amidst this environment 
 there is inspiration for the future. The legacy that is 
 ours points a golden pathway of promise. We live in a 
 great epoch of improvement. Science has made great 
 discoveries ; invention has rendered, great mechanical 
 problems easy of solution. On every hand the onward 
 march of civilization is observed. As the foremost nation 
 of the earth, we are but yet in our infancy. Tliere is 
 much to be done to render easier, more just and equitable, 
 the condition of all men. The relations between capital 
 and labor are not such as the enlightenment of the cen- 
 
in STORK ;al adduioss. 75 
 
 tury requires. The extension of the grand system of 
 arbitration is to be perfected. 
 
 Great work remains to be done to limit the increase 
 of poverty. The control of criminality by universal edu- 
 cation, and many other great problems, are engrossing 
 public attention. Science is constantly producing more 
 wonderful phenomena and improvement in mechanics is 
 the order of the day. Human ingenuity has succeeded in 
 abridging distance by marvelous advancement in the art 
 of building conveyances for travel on land and sea. On 
 every hand we see the realization of projects that Jiave 
 been considered beyond the scope of man's ability to com- 
 plete. Great as has been our progress, it is not within the 
 bounds of prophecy to predict with any degree of accurac}^ 
 with what success we shall yet advance. 
 
 The world grows wiser from many trying experiences. 
 Each disaster has its compensating lesson. Every calamity 
 emphasizes the method of its prevention in the future. We 
 should have few safe-guards if no accidents happened to 
 show their necessity. It is not human to fortify against 
 that which is not likely to occur. We defend against the 
 things our daily life has taught us are liable to take place. 
 
 With what success we render our existence the more 
 secure depends entirely upon our intelligence as a people. 
 The ability to take heed of passing events, to utilize for 
 present employment and future perfection is not an uni- 
 versal gift. The men who shape the policy of trade : tlie 
 minds that direct the course of business, are not equipped 
 by chance. Hard and persistent work has been the only 
 pathway that leads to success. The thoroughly reliable 
 man in whatever sphere of action has gained his qualifica- 
 tion only through constant application. A work that re- 
 
70 250th AKKIVKKSARY OF KEHOBOTH. 
 
 ([uires quick and decisive action cannot be properly per- 
 formed by one except he has trained himself in each suc- 
 cessive channel that leads to the result he would attain. 
 Intuitive genius and keen perception are faculties that in 
 many amount to talent. 
 
 As auxiliary accomplishments they may be of the 
 greatest service in whatever capacity they are applied. 
 Tact, which in its broadest cultivation we are wont to call 
 diplomacy, is often of a utility that works benefit to the 
 cause in which it is exercised. We often stand amazed 
 at the variety of ac({uirements one man raay posi5ess ; we are 
 moved to wonder at the facility wdth which he can sur- 
 mount a portion of the difficulties which are spread in life's 
 pathway. Such instances are numerous ; our admiration 
 is challenged ; we are pleased to contemplate the qualities 
 displayed and are in turn moved to regret the inadequacy 
 of the whole man. 
 
 The hand that points the way in any given line is 
 seldom conspicuous by a great array of adornments. The 
 efficiency of a well trained mind lies in the equal distribu- 
 tion of the qualities needed. The prominence the few 
 rrif ts bring to the possessor is dimmed if as an entirety he 
 is deficient ; the talents intensify the defect. 
 
 There can be no loftier work to demand a town's at- 
 tention than the persistent effort to foster and promote 
 the fundamental precepts that lead to the grandeur of 
 self-reliant and dignified manhood. The safety and pro- 
 tection of our country, the perpetuation of her institutions, 
 depend not alone on zeal and tireless energy : respect for 
 ju'inciple, love of right and truth, home and family, kind- 
 ness, consideration, sympathy and charity must be cherished 
 and not allowed to decay. There is no place like tlie vil- 
 
ihSTORICAL ADDRESS. 77 
 
 anr3 aad the town in whicli the virtues that make suhstan- 
 
 o 
 
 tial citizenship can be so well matured. 
 
 Here you have no confidence in the base and artifi- 
 cial ; you dismiss the counterfeit and strive for the true 
 and the genuine. 
 
 My friends, I commend to you the continued reverence 
 for your ancestors ; I congratulate you on your present 
 material prosperity ; I bespeak for you further contentment 
 and happiness in the good old town of Rehoboth. 
 
78 260th anniversary op rehodoth. 
 
 Sarripson Masori, 
 
 Exile frovz (Dorchester i6^y 
 Leave to sojourn at (kehoboth 
 (Lee. g, i6jy. 
 
 RernarKs of Albert Mason. 
 
 one of his descendants 
 Oct, ^, i8g4 at the celebration 
 of the 2joth Anniversary of the 
 settlojient of (RehobotJi. 
 
 Citizens or Rehoboth : — 
 
 A record which I cannot question, denies me the 
 distinction of nativity in this historic town. My humble 
 claim of duty and pleasure to have share in your five-fold 
 jubilee, rests upon a simple vote of Rehoboth passed Dec. 
 9, 1657, '' That Sampson Mason have free liberty to sojourn 
 ivith 2^s." 
 
 The language is suggestive and significant, and truth 
 compels me to admit that my ancestor was at that time 
 deemed unworthy of citizenship in the colony of Massachu- 
 setts. He was an adjudged heretic under sentence of 
 banishment. He came to you a homeless exile, and you 
 gave him free liberty to sojourn with you. Those of his 
 faith who had preceded him in Rehoboth had not proved 
 altogether peacemakers, but the broad spirit of tolerance 
 which had charactized the settlement was not exhausted, 
 and it cheerfully bore this further test. Seven years before 
 the sturdy soldier fresh from service in the parliamentary 
 army under Fairfax, had settled in Doichester. 
 
 Macaulay in that scathing paragraph upon the days 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 79 
 
 which followed the restoration of Charles II, says, " The 
 o^overnment lias just ability enough to deceive, and just 
 religion enough to persecute." The colony of Massachu- 
 setts surely had more than this quantum of religion, but 
 the rigid Puritan, earnest for freedom to live up to his own 
 religious convictions, was not as ready to accord the same 
 freedom to others as was the separatist Pilgrim of ^tlie 
 earlier colony. Narrow formulas of doctrine were inad- 
 equate to the spiritual thirst of the scholarly Newman. 
 He sought less restricted means of reaching infinite stores 
 of truth in the Divine Word. He saw in his experience 
 a likeness to that of Isaac when his herdsmen strove with 
 those of Gerar over successive wells insufficient for the 
 natural tliirst of animals, until a well was digged equal to 
 the needs of all " And for that they strove not, and he called 
 the name of it Rehohoth ; and he said, for 7ioiv the Lord hath 
 made room for us, and we shall he fruitful in the land."" 
 Two years after Newman and his flock withdrew to find 
 here the Rehoboth which he sought, the hard lines of the 
 restrictive puritan polity found embodiment in a standing 
 law of the colony, that any who should openly condemn or 
 oppose the baptizing of infants, or should purposely depart 
 the congregation at the administration of that ordinance, 
 should on due conviction be sentenced to banishment. 
 Sampson Mason had become a Baptist while in the army. 
 The characteristic tenet of the denomination at that period 
 was not with reference to the mode of administering the 
 ordinance nor the logical consequence of its administration 
 by an insufficient mode, but was the doctrine upon this 
 very question of baptizing those incapable of assenting to 
 the spiritual purification which the ordinance signified. I 
 trust it is no surprise to those who have known his 
 descendants in Rehoboth and Swansea, to learn that what 
 
80 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Sampson Mason condemned or opposed he condemned or 
 'Opposed openly, and that he was obstinate therein and 
 incurred the sentence oE banishment. He came hither 
 with his wife, Mary Butter worth. They then had three 
 sons. Five other sons and four daughters were born in 
 Rehoboth. Ten years Later he was of those wlio under the 
 leadership of John Myles set up separate worship. At the 
 friendly suggestion of the court at Plymouth, tlie church 
 gathered by Myles was transferred '' to some place not 
 already in parish relations." This place proved to be the 
 unoccupied region south of the present Rehoboth, which 
 became the town of Swansea. Sampson Mason did not 
 remove to the new town until 1672 or later. In his will 
 dated Oct. 22nd of that year he is described as of Rehoboth, 
 but he gives to liis oldest son Noali " my house which is 
 shortly to be built in Swansea or that house wherein I do 
 now dwell, that is to say, that house which his mother my 
 said wife shall order him to take." Lands in Rehoboth 
 and Swansea were devised to eight sons and due provision 
 made for four daughters. Sampson Mason died in 1676, 
 but his widow lived to a good old age dying in 1711. He 
 was the close friend of his pastor John Myles, of James 
 Brown, and of John Butterworth his brother-in-law. 
 Nearly all his children settled in Swansea or Rehoboth and 
 reared families. His numerous descendants under many 
 names have intermarried with nearly all the older families 
 of Rehoboth, and our kindred are beyond enumeration. 
 
 The church established by Myles was broad and cath- 
 olic in its membership, but its location was not central as 
 the town was afterward settled, and not many years after 
 the death of Myles and his immediate associates, a second 
 church was instituted wherein a still greater effort was 
 made to gather a small community not of uniform faith 
 
JIISTOKICAL ADDIIESS. 81 
 
 into one Cliristiaii fukl. Christian character only was 
 requii-ed for admission and no doctrinal tests were applied. 
 A son of Sampson Mason was the second pastor of this 
 church and for more than a century the pastorate was in 
 his charge or that of no[)hews bearing tlie family name. 
 
 Of my ancestry bearing the name of Mason in this 
 country, five generations lived and died in Rehoboth or 
 Swansea, and the remaining six had nativity in the 
 neighboring city, so kindred in origin and in spirit. My 
 great grandfather, Noble Mason, found his wife Lydia 
 Thurber, in the parent town. My grandfather Aaion 
 Thurber Mason, returned hither to secure my grandmother 
 Mary Bullock, one of whose sisters was the mother of 
 Darius Goff whose name is gratefully perpetuated this in 
 beautiful memoiial building, and another sister was the 
 grandmother of the distinguished ex-governor of Rhode 
 Island who is to follow me. This lineage is not ancient 
 as old world families measure lineage, it is not famous as 
 the world counts distinction, but it covers nearly the 
 wdiole period of New England life and is intensely New 
 England in character. For nearly two centuries it is in 
 and of the local life of this community, reflecting its quiet 
 tone, and may I not hope something of its sterling quality. 
 If one may not be proud of an inheritance, nor puffed up 
 with that which he hath not earned, it is an inheritance in 
 which I have much satisfaction, and I gladly accept the 
 duty and privilege of bringing hither my grateful tribute 
 to the memory of the founders of the peaceful haven which 
 the pious leader called Rehoboth, in recognition that the 
 Lord had there given him and his flock emancipation from 
 >strife and contention. 
 
 To the sainted Newman, to his loyal and liberal asso- 
 
82 250th A^xIVEKSAIlY or eehoboth. 
 
 ciates, and to you their successors and descendants, 1 
 return grateful acknowledgment that Sampson Mason had 
 free liberty to sojourn in Rehoboth. 
 
-cy^ /^^'^^^^w^ 
 
Rr\ Address By Hon. JohM W. Davis. 
 
 Mr. Piiesidi:nt and Friends of Uehoroth:— - 
 
 There are no o-i-eetincrs so warm as those of one's own 
 killi and kin, and no homes so briglit as tliose of our 
 youthful recollections, indeed with tlie full tide of this day's 
 celebration upon me, I might falter in my allegiance to 
 my residential Town and State, did I not remember that in 
 part, Pawtucket was once part and parcel of that" Antient 
 Rehoboth," whose original settlement is now within Rhode 
 Island limits. In the remarks I may submit, I purpose to 
 speak of "Antient Rehoboth," from a colonial standpoint, 
 or of "Antient Rehoboth" and her early colonists, as a 
 steppingstone to Rhode Island and founders of religious 
 liberty in America. 
 
 Rehoboth, — the name we are told implies a wide-open- 
 roomy-place, and for a name I think our fathers chose better 
 than they knew, for Rehoboth proved to be an open door 
 to broad thoughts and principles, as well as an ample home- 
 stead to its colonists. 
 
 Locally, "Antient Rehoboth" bounded — approxi- 
 mately — upon a line from Woonsocket Falls on tlie Blacks 
 stone, to Dighton's famous rock upon the Taunton river, 
 and included all the lands southward to the shores of 
 Narragansett Bay, Pokonoket, (which Ossamequin and lii,-: 
 sons had reserved for their homes,) — only excepted. 
 
 It is not my province to trace the history of the town; 
 the orator of this occasion and others preceding me have 
 attended to that, but at the risk of repeating " twice toUl 
 tales" I will venture some commentaries u])on Relioboth's 
 
84 250TII ANNIYEFvSARY Ol? REHOBOTH. 
 
 colonists and their characteristics, in the early days of 
 the town. 
 
 " Antient Rehoboth " was a sort of debatable border- 
 land between the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay 
 Cyolonies upon the east and north, and the Plantations of 
 Providence and Rhode Island on the west and south 
 respectively, to which, such colonists as the '^brethren of the 
 Bay " thought not quite good enough to dwell witli them 
 in full fellowship — but yet not so wholly bad and lost to 
 grace as to deserve banishment to the outer darkness of 
 Rhode Island — were suffered to come as to a city of refuge 
 to sojourn for a season with the hope of light. 
 
 It is known that for years before the Pilgrims came 
 to Plymouth, voyaging fishermen and traders had been 
 sailing up and down these coasts, trafQcing with the natives 
 and wittingly or unwittingly by their introduction of the 
 sins of civilization (largely condensed in ardent spirits 
 and pestilence) prepared the wa}^ for European coloniza- 
 tion. 
 
 So too, before the Rev. Samuel Newman and his people 
 came from Weymouth and Hingham into this region, there 
 were pioneers in the land, frontiersmen, like Daniel Boone 
 of Kentucky, who felt crowded when neighbors came too 
 near, or " had settled within thirty miles of his cabin." 
 
 Among the pioneers of " Antient Rehoboth " was 
 William Blackstone, famous for his declaration that he 
 " left England to be free of the Lord Bishops, and Boston 
 to be clear of the Lord Brethren." 
 
 Blackstone was in no sense a hermit, but a scholarly 
 crentleman, a priest of the English Church and who like a 
 patriarch prophet of old loved best to commune with 
 
TTTSTORTOAL ADDRESfi. 85 
 
 nature in God's solitudes, (wliicli were no solitudes to him) 
 for the nund of the Creator in every phase of nature 
 breathed responsive to his thoughts. He eschewed man 
 and society not for their humility, but because of their 
 piide and pretentions, as his declarations, (which 
 give us a better insight into his life and character than 
 pages of history could do,) so plainly indicate. 
 
 Roger Williams too, with his friends lirst came this 
 way and planted within the limits of what afterwards be- 
 came Hehoboth. Having been advised by Governor 
 Winthrop, his personal friend, (though unable to protect 
 him against the prejudices of the " brethren ") to go to 
 the Narragansett Country, he came here and supposed he 
 had found it beside the tide-waters of the beautiful 
 Seekonk, but being warned by Governor Winslow that he 
 was within the Plymouth grant, and by him advised (" to 
 please the brethren- of the Bay ") to cross the river, he did 
 so to get beyond their jurisdiction, and there planted the 
 Plantations of Providence, and then and thus it was in 
 the first instance, that Rehoboth became a steppingstone 
 to Rhode Island, for the founders of Christian freedom, a 
 position she after v/ards industriously occupied for many 
 year^. 
 
 Some have argued from a few words used by Williams 
 in an account of his sufferings on his journey of exile, that 
 he came to Seekonk by sea, sailing out from Salem in an 
 open sliallop, with his friends in mid-winter, across the 
 boisterous Massachusetts Bay, around Cape Cod, along the 
 treacherous coasts of Malabar, thence through the then 
 little known Vineyard Sound and Gosnold's Islands, on- 
 ward around the twech-rocks of Sakonett and up the 
 
Sr; 2o0tU ANMNI'ilJSAin' ok KlOlloliOTli. 
 
 Narragansett to Seekonk, but the imprubabilities not to 
 say the impracticabilities of tlie voyage discredit the theory. 
 
 Bhickstoiie and Williams \Yere both notablemen of 
 the same colony and times, the}^ knew each other well and 
 were bound together by the strong ties of a common 
 calling and sufferings. Men may rejoice together and be 
 glad, aye, feast and forget, but they who together have 
 endured a common hardship or suffered a grievous wrong 
 are linked together in bonds which naught but death can 
 sever, a comity of feelings which bury all other differen- 
 ces. With these conditions controlling, there can hardly 
 be a reasonable doubt, but that Williams and his followers 
 came direct from Salem to Blackstone's home (which for 
 prudential reasons was not advertised) and from there 
 went out to find their own retreat upon the banks of the 
 same beautiful stream which flowed b}' the door of their 
 friend. 
 
 Blackstone's home was. on the east shore of the river^ 
 two miles north of Pawtucket Falls, Williams planted on 
 the same bank two miles below, why this distance between ? 
 Was it as with Abram and righteous Lot that their herds- 
 men might not quarrel ? Allow me to suggest that 
 another was alread}^ there, Pawtucket was covered by the 
 homestead of John Hasel, a man like his illustrious neigh, 
 bors (though not a minister) of finest sensibilities as his 
 subsequent history shows. 
 
 When Hasel came to Pawtucket we cannot tell, nor 
 certainl}' that he was there when Williams came, but we 
 ma}^ reasonably infer it, from the fact that first comers into 
 a new teri'itory, take first choice of location, and with the 
 due modesty of a Pawtucket man, I think it may be 
 aHowed me to say that the particular choice spot of 
 
HTS'IOFJCAL ADDllKSS. 8T 
 
 " Aiitient Kehobotli "' was this self-sunie Piiwtucket site — 
 John Hazel bad it — "ergo" ITasel was the first frontiers- 
 man, indeed it may have been he who [)iloted BUickstone 
 to his I'iveiside home. Be this as it may, certain it is that 
 he was there present as principal interlocutorand witn'esscd 
 the treaty C)f John Biown and his Weymouth fiiends with 
 ()ssame(]uin (alias Massasoit) for the township in Kill, 
 three years before Newman witli his friends came to 
 Hehoboth— that he was in Plymouth in August in 1642 to 
 give an account of his surroundings and belongings in the 
 land,— and again in November of the same year he was 
 before the Plymouth Court and required to profess his 
 allegiance to the colony and fealty|tothe church — require- 
 ments upon the part of tiie Plymouth Colony which 
 substantially give us the key to his status and character 
 as one not theretofore of the colou}^ or communion, but a 
 frontiersman at Pawtucket upon the borders of the civil- 
 ized settlements 
 
 The people of the church of Mr. Newman ratljerthan. 
 Newman himself, weie of the Pilgrim of Plymouth type 
 of Congregationalists as contradistinguislied from tliat of 
 the Puritans of the Bay, and that tliere was a marked 
 difference between them every student of New England 
 history well knows. But marked as this difference may 
 have been, that between Plymouth and Hehoboth in the 
 same direction, (along the lines of a broader Christian 
 cbaiity) was even wider, and the reason for this feature 
 in the Rehoboth Society is readily traceable to their 
 antecedents in Weymouth — of which our friend Harris 
 from that town has hereto-day given us an inkling. 
 
 The church in Weymouth had been a perturbed 
 Society,several ministers within its brief existence had taken 
 it in charge, the Court of Plymouth had found occasion 
 
88 250th xVNNlVEESAEY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 to iiiterveDe in its affairs, and in 1637-8 one Hazard 
 Knollys, a Baptist preacher from London bad been in tbe 
 colony publishing his sentiments, which took roc)t in tliat 
 town, and a church in sympathy with his ideas had been 
 tentatively organized there, thongh later snppressed by 
 prudential measures of the Plymoutli Court. 
 
 Knollys retnrnecl to England in 1639 — bnt his win- 
 nowings and siftings from amongst the Weymouth and 
 Hingham people very generally joined in the exodus to 
 Rehoboth and as was natural they took their predilections 
 along with them, the croppings out of which later, gave 
 Mr. Newman all his trouble. 
 
 However, Newman if not dominant was prominent 
 among his ]jeople, and in 1650 — only six years after the 
 settlement of the town, a complaint was lodged at Plymouth 
 Court against John Flasel — Obediah Holmes — Joseph 
 Tony — John Spurr — and others of Newman's parishionei'S 
 and they were there severally arraigned for heresy — but 
 the Court wiser than the parties complainant, contented 
 itself by administering monitions, and accepting their 
 prisoners as bondsmen for each other (a sort of "round 
 robin" arrangement) jiermitted them to retui-n to their 
 Rehoboth homes in peace. Evidently the brethien of the 
 Ba}^ some of them having been parties to the complaint, 
 were indignant at this Plymouth tolerance, and waiting 
 their chance, to make an example, in July 1651 — aiTested 
 Obediah Holmes, with two fiiends — Chirke and Crandall 
 from Newport, R. I. — at Lynn, and brought them to Boston, 
 where they were charged with contumacy and for preacli- 
 ing without a license in Massachusetts, this they did not 
 conceal or deny, and thereupon they w^ere sentenced — 
 Crandall to a fine of £5, — Clarke £20, — and Holmes £50 
 to be paid on or before the next General Court, or in de- 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 89 
 
 fault they were to be severally severely whipped — a most 
 unchristian sentence. 
 
 Subsequently Ciandall was released under bonds 
 which were afterward paid — Chirke's friends rallied and 
 paid his fine for him, and thus the Rhode Island men were 
 got off — but poor Holmes of Rehoboth, manifestly had 
 more scruples than shillings, he refused to pay his fine or to 
 allow others to pay it for him lest it should be deemed an 
 admission of fault upon his part, he was kept in jail until 
 October, then taken out, stripped, tied to a post and most 
 inhumanly whipped, thirty^ lashes, blood springing at 
 every stroke, as was stated at the time. 
 
 I know that a statement like this in the light of to-day 
 sounds questionable, but for its verity in every particular 
 I cite you the Rev. Doctor Benedict's "History of the 
 Baptists," published in 1813, and the authorities quoted 
 therein, Dr. Benedict was for many ' years a most 
 estimable Baptist minister of Pawtucket, and especially 
 distinguished for his probity, charity, scholarship and con- 
 scientiousness, and particularly was he one who would not 
 write without authority or wantonly color an historic nar- 
 rative to abuse or extenuate. 
 
 Among the friends of Holmes who went from Reho- 
 both to Boston to intercede for a remission of the brutal 
 sentence was our own John Hasel, the veteran pioneer 
 settler of Pawtucket, but to his prayer both Church and 
 State were obdurate, and all that he could do was to afford 
 his friend and neighbor such support and consolation as 
 the countenance of his presence protesting against the 
 outrage could give. 
 
 The cruelty of this chastisement and its inflic- 
 tion cut Hasel even more keenly than it did its more 
 
90 250th A^S^NIVERSARY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 immediate victim, and when the tragedy was over, Hasel 
 like the good Samaritan that he was, stepped forward in 
 the silence of speechless grief and took Holmes by the 
 hand. For this expression of sympathy — though he had 
 said not a word — he was forthwith arrested and cast into 
 prison, but grief for him had done its perfect work, the iron 
 had entered his soul, his heart was broken, in prison his 
 mind wandered, he sank rapidly, and his persecutors af- 
 frighted at the result of their diabolism, hastened to turn 
 him out of the prison house, but it was too late, the load 
 was more than he could bear, and he bowed his head and 
 died, in Boston, a victim of " man's inhumanity to man," 
 and so it came that Obediah Holmes shed the first martyr 
 blood, and John Hasel was the first to lay down his life 
 in martyrdom for religious liberty in the English Colonies 
 in America, and these men be it ever remembered, were of 
 the pioneers of this ancient town, and friends and neighbors 
 of our ancestors in Rehoboth. 
 
 Now, after tlie lapse of more than two centuries, we 
 men of Rehoboth and Rhode Island can look back upon 
 the Boston Puritans dispassionately, and see tliem like 
 many other sectarians of their day, more zealous than wise, 
 forgetting (if indeed they ever appreciated the import of 
 the text) " veugence is mine," they mistook themselves 
 for God's vicegerents, rather than Christian stewards, and 
 honestly no doubt, thought it to be their duty to stamp 
 out what they deemed heresy, without mercy, and they 
 simply practiced what they preached. 
 
 Sectarian feelings, like public opinions vibrate from 
 side to side as the pendulum of a clock, and the Jjigher 
 the swing in one direction, the further the rebounding 
 momentum will carry it in tlie opposite. In Boston, two 
 centuries ago, the pendulum was swung away up towards 
 
IirSTORICAL ADDRESS. 91 
 
 the nineties of bigotry, superstition and intolerance, to-day 
 it is at the other end of the arc, and nowhere on earth is 
 there larger liberty in religious opinion than in Boston, 
 where every phase of belief finds place and scepticism per- 
 chance, too willing listeners. 
 
 That " the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the 
 church" was never more manifestly exemplified than in 
 Rehoboth after this Puritan persecution. The people 
 were indignant, men went out far into the woods to meet 
 Holmes and escorted him home as soon as he was able to 
 travel, but poor Hasel returned to his home upon the banks 
 of the beautiful Paw^tucket no more, and his vacant place 
 was a potent protest against the great wrong perpetrated. 
 The story of this wicked crime against conscience ran from 
 mouth to mouth, from colony to colony, crossed the great 
 sea, and from every direction protests came echoing back 
 with bitter reverberations and reproach. 
 
 Holmes, Torry and others left Rehoboth and went to 
 Newport, where Holmes lived and officiated acceptably as 
 a Baptist minister for thirty years thereafter. 
 
 But while many left Rehoboth as a steppingstone to 
 Rhode Island, others came in across her borders from out- 
 side, and Quakers, Baptists and Independents began to 
 abound upon every hand, while the church of Newman 
 was filled with troubles. Indeed it seemed as if the Baptist 
 leaven of Hasel, Blackstone and Williams earlier "free 
 soul" plantings in the soil of the town and permeated the 
 entire earth and people, until all were leavened with the 
 liberal faith. 
 
 It is said that at the close of the great conflict of the 
 States, President Lincoln w^as asked who of all his generals 
 
92 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 he esteemed greatest, to which that wise man character- 
 istically answered, " the General People " they who had 
 without stint or question responded to every demand upon 
 their patriotism. So it was in "Antient Rehoboth" in her 
 days of trial ; and where all did well it would be invidious 
 to single out names for distincton, but for illustration of 
 Rehoboth's characteristics we may recall a few examplars. 
 
 John Brown, if not an ancestor, was an antitype at 
 least of him "whose soul is marching on." Though always 
 himself a loyal Pilgrim Churchman, he gave unmistakable 
 evidence of the strain of his blood, spirit of independence, 
 Christian charity and courage of conviction, by bravely 
 standing up in Plymouth Court and protesting against an 
 enforced collection of church rates in Rehoboth. Being 
 himself an assistant of the Court, he pledged his estates 
 and honor to make good for seven years any deficiencies of 
 voluntary contributions for the support of public worship in 
 Rehoboth, and had his pledge allowed, and though he 
 died in 1662 his name has never wanted for an honored rep- 
 resentative in the Town, State and Nation his wisdom did so 
 much to develop. Richard Bullock was another to protest, 
 and so too was Thomas Willett of whom our orator has so 
 kindly spoken. The Pecks, Joseph and his brothers, were 
 eminent exemplars of the same line of thought, and the 
 descendents of all these, generation by generation have 
 maintained it, and made their's, honored names to bear. 
 Sampson Mason, a stalwart Cromwellian soldier, ancestor 
 of the Judge here present, came into this town in 1657 
 and lent the weight of his great energy to the cause of 
 religious freedom, and I need not add, that his posterity 
 have been honored amongst us and through all the land 
 wherever they dwell as the best of citizens. 
 
 In 1663, the year that Parson Newman died, John 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 9^ 
 
 Myles, a Baptist preacher from Wales, came with Nicholas 
 Tanner, Eldad Kingsley and others of his faith, to the 
 little colony of *'Antient Rehoboth" and found shelter from 
 the persecutions in their own far-away land. As an indi- 
 cation of the kindly disposition of the church of the town, 
 Myles though not in full fellowship, was invited to preach 
 at stated seasons, in the public meeting house, and did so, 
 holding forth a liberal fellowship to all professed Christian 
 worshippers, as subsequently his church in Swansea did, 
 and has ever done, and this catholicity of spirit has ever since 
 obtained witli the ancient parish church of Rehoboth, as a 
 whole, what differences soever may at times have divided 
 its members among themselves. 
 
 But outside of ancient Rehoboth, all were not like 
 charitably minded. The brethren of the Bay felt scandal- 
 ized at these conditions in this town, and Plymouth though 
 exercised in mind and faith, took a conservative course to 
 rid herself of Rehoboth's infidelity. But to do so instead 
 of expatriating the Baptists as the Bay colony had done, 
 she set off to the recalcitrants that goodly southern district 
 of "Antient Rehoboth" which was incorporated in 1667 as 
 ths town of Swansea, so named for John Myles' former 
 home in Wales, or otherwise to state the case, Plymouth 
 as a peace offering divided Rehoboth almost equally be- 
 tween the Baptist and Congregationalist Communions of 
 the settlement, to reconcile the people to live in good 
 neighborhood. 
 
 Of course the reason of this, the love of peace and chari- 
 ty,was not avowed in the aet ; (the true reasons for acts of 
 legislation are rarely ever avow^ed.) None the less that 
 was the underlying cause, of which the town of Swansea 
 was the result and though not all betook themselves to 
 locations in accordance with their thus localized senti- 
 
94 250th ANNIVERSi^KY OF REHOBOTH. 
 
 ments, the general trend of individual opinions were in 
 those directions, as is indicated in the Judge's citation 
 from the will of his ancestor, so aptly stated here to-day. 
 
 A few years later in King Philip's war, Capt. Michael 
 Pierce of Weymouth, (being in sympathy with Swansea 
 and Rehoboth sentiments and interests, ) came to 
 their assistance, and fought the great fight of the Plain, 
 as our orator has to-day told us. Indeed it was a fight 
 worthy of an epic, a battle to the death, a fight which for 
 courage and devotion had hardly a precedent, or repetition 
 until in our own time, Custer and his command fell upon 
 the plains of the upper Missouri, a victim of like strategy 
 at the hands of the same wild race. But though Capt. 
 Pierce fell, he left a vigorous posterity who later settled 
 in the town their father had sacrified his life to save, and 
 his descendants inheriting his spirit, have in all their gen- 
 erations been distinguished for their energy, enterprise and 
 intelligence, and a good examplar of his tribe, I am 
 pleased to note is the honored president of this Society, 
 now in the chair. 
 
 About 1690 Jacob Barney Jr. of Salem, where in his 
 youth he had listened to Roger Williams, and later in life 
 been one to assist in establishing the First Baptist Church in 
 Boston, came with his family via Newport to Rehoboth, and 
 purchased a large tract of land on Torry's Creek, west side 
 of Palmer's River near the Swansea Line, where he settled, 
 and some of his descendants still occupy their ancestral acres 
 in the village of Barneysville. The descendants of this 
 family like the others named have been noted for their 
 energy, industry and enterprise, and one of them, our orator, 
 has to-day honored us as an excellent examplar of his 
 family blood, "may their shadows never grow less." I 
 ought to observe in passing from these family names, that 
 
HrSTORICAL ADDRESS. 95 
 
 the Masons, Pierces and Barneys liave been noted for the 
 clergymen they have raised up in their generations, and 
 all with the single exception, (so far as I can now recall) 
 of the Kev. James O. Baj ney who so long graced the pas- 
 torate of the Newman Church, Baptists and Independents 
 in doctrine or sentiments. 
 
 While speal{ing of clei-gymen I think I ought to say 
 a word of the Rev. Elhanan Winchester, who in 1771 was 
 settled over the First Baptist Church in Rehoboth, and 
 long before the churches in Boston had evolved the broad- 
 er charities of Unitarian Christianity from Trinitarian 
 Calvinism, Winchester had become convinced in his own 
 mind of the final reconciliation of all men to God through 
 Christ, and bravely begun to preach this doctrine here to 
 his people. His sentiments however were not acceptable 
 to his parish as a whole, and he was dismissed. But being 
 an able preacher he did not want for "calls" and proceed- 
 ed to journej^ through the Colonies and in England, 
 disseminating his faith with great acceptance. Though 
 Winchester had left Rehoboth his ideas had taken root 
 here and grew, and while never dominant, the}^ have ever 
 been prominent Christian sentiments of Rehoboth people. 
 
 This be it remembered was in 1771, the same year in 
 which Hosea Ballon tbe patriarch preacher of Universalism 
 was born, and thus we see Winchester io Rehoboth had 
 preceded this worthy by a full generation. This I men- 
 tion to show that the intellect of Rehoboth was of old 
 alert, and even in advance of the religious thought of the 
 age, and it is not undue to say that Universalism as a 
 theology has done as much, if not more, to promote Chris- 
 tianity and subvert bigotry, than almost any other sect, 
 a good personal examplar of which in faith and practice I 
 am glad to see upon this stage, and to in this way recog- 
 
96 250th ANNIVEESAEY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 nize my friend the Hon. Nathaniel B. Horton, who 
 honors a family name than which none stands higher in 
 the town. 
 
 The proximity of Rhode Ishmd undoubtedly contrib- 
 uted to make ancient Rehoboth the questionable border 
 ground that it was, which while politically, always loyal 
 to Plymouth and the Bay, was yet ever in religious senti- 
 ments, more in harmony with the larger liberties of Rhode 
 Island, with whose people their most intimate business 
 and social relations subsisted. In such relations " Antient 
 Rehoboth " and Rhode Island were like two rooms in the 
 same house, occupied by different families indeed, but 
 separated only by the thinnest of political portieres and in 
 kindred the families were so intimately connected and 
 blended, that morally and religiously they were as one. 
 
 The intensity of the alike distress and disgust, of 
 Massachusetts at these conditions in Rehoboth. is well 
 illustrated in the "motif" of certain transactions con- 
 nected with the settlenient of the town of Bristol, which 
 though unwiittcn history, is none the less true as devel- 
 opments show. 
 
 When at the close of King Philip's War, Pokonoket, 
 (over which though tl^^ Rhode Island Charter painly cov- 
 ered it, the weight iei Colony of Plymouth had always assert- 
 ed and maintained jurisdiction,) came by conquest to the 
 English, a stiife arose between Plymouth, Rhode Island 
 and Massachusetts, as to which should have final juiisdic- 
 tioii over the territory, the dispute was referred to the 
 King, who assigned it to Plymouth, notwithstanding liis 
 grant to Rhode Island. Whereupon four notable men of 
 Boston, of whom Nathaniel Bytield was one, in the inter- 
 est of Puritanism hastened down to Plymouth, and bought 
 
NATHANIEL B. HORTON. 
 
mSTOlUCAL ADDRESS. 97 
 
 fur XllOO the entire tract, and though naturally it sliouhl 
 liave been municipally joined with Swansea, these men of 
 Boston ignored that town, as they did Rehoboth, as apos- 
 tate, and at once established a new township which they 
 named Bristol, and proceeded to organize and support it 
 at considerable personal inconvenience and expense. 
 Byfield was chosen Moderator, (which practically meant 
 mastership) of the first Town Meeting and a rate of fifty 
 pounds was voted for the first year, (forty pounds for the 
 use of the church, and ten for all other purposes,) all of 
 this indicated the drift of their purpose to establish Bristol 
 as a sort of outer wall of defense for Massachusetts, against 
 the heresies of Rhode Island, a kind of religious redoubt at 
 the front, or missionary bulworkfor the salvation of Swan- 
 sea and Rehoboth. Of course, as it was in the case of the 
 incorporation of Swansea, the purpose was not avowed, 
 nonetheless, these were the reasons, and Bristol the result, 
 of these reasons practically enforced. To give the town 
 dignity and influence to the ends sought to be established, 
 it was made the Shire Town of the County, which too was 
 called Bristol and included all the territory east of the 
 Blackstone, whose waters drained towards Narragansett 
 Bay, and substantially covered about all of southern Mass- 
 achusetts, and these political conditions so remained from 
 1680 to 1746, when the King's Commissioners established 
 the compromise line which gave about an equal part of 
 the territory in dispute to each Colony. 
 
 Of Nathaniel Byfield, the leader of the proprietors of 
 ancient Bristol, it deserves to be said that he was not only 
 a zealous Puritan and successful merchant, but a generous 
 hearted and public spirited citizen. When he left Bristol 
 and returned to Boston which he eventually did, he en- 
 dowed a school in Bristol, which still bears his name, and 
 
98 250TPT ANNIVERSARY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 is yet a flourishing institution, and an honor to the donor 
 and to the town. It was at this school that Benjamin West 
 (a son of Rehoboth) the distinguished mathematician 
 mentioned here to-day was educated. Nor yet, after 
 Byfield had left Bristol did he lose or abate his interest 
 in education and the Puritan church, but reaching out 
 from Boston he endowed a parish and school in Essex 
 County, Massachusetts, (this school was long a principal 
 feeder of Harvard University) and the parish took and 
 still bears his name, the Byfield Parish, covering the 
 greater part of the towns of Newbury, Georgetown and 
 Rowley. I was privileged to attend a Sabbath service in 
 the church there last year, and found it in every particular 
 a typical development of the ancient New England Puritan 
 Meeting, and an honor to one, who, though he did not 
 admire the religious polity of " Antient Rehoboth " or 
 Rhode Island, was yet one of God's noblemen. All honor 
 then to Nathaniel Byfield, the founder of Bristol. 
 
 As to the disputed boundaries between Rhode Island 
 and Massachusetts, which grew out of these religious 
 piques and prejudices, I may be pardoned if I trespass up- 
 on your time to speak of them. 
 
 Plymouth Colony deriving its right of domain from 
 the British Government, claimed jurisdiction over all 
 lands between Cape Cod and Narragansett Bays as theirs 
 by charter grant, while Connecticut from the same British 
 source was granted all lands south of Massachusetts, and 
 westward of the Narragansett. These claims left only the 
 islands in Narragansett Bay and a small section (not 
 much larger than ancient Rehoboth) between the Paw- 
 tucket and the Pawtuxet rivers at the head of the bay 
 uncovered. Roger Williams with his friends occupied 
 this latter tract in 1636, and called their homes the Prov- 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 99 
 
 idence Plniitiitions. Clarke, Coddington and others set- 
 tled upon the bay islands in 1G38 and called tlieniselves 
 Rhode Islanders. 
 
 Now the staunch religious polity which environed 
 these two little settlements, was of the same fellowship, 
 which under Cromwell in 1649 bad beheaded Charles I. 
 and established the " Commonwealth " which titular gov- 
 ernment (*' Commonwealth ") was adopted and is still 
 retained by Massachusetts. Now so it was that when 
 Charles II. came back to occupy the throne of his fathers, 
 although for the sake of his kingdom he had promised to 
 forgive his adversaries (with a few exceptions) he evident- 
 ly did not forget them, and when Williams who had been 
 exiled from Salem, and Clarke, were sent over to England 
 in Rhode Island interests, they met a personal friend in 
 Sir Henry Vane (who as before stated had been ostracised 
 from Massachusetts in 1686, but, who was now in Eng- 
 land, and a power at Court) and through him they got the 
 willing ear of Charles II. who gave them for their Col- 
 onies of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, the 
 most liberal charter of all the royal grants, and upon points 
 of boundary, provided that the mouth of the Pawcatuck 
 River should be Connecticut's Narragansett limit eastward, 
 hence all that large part of Rhode Island between the Paw- 
 catuck and the Pawtuxet Rivers was long colloquially 
 known as the King's Province, having been practically the 
 gift of the King. 
 
 By the same charter strangely indefinite bounda- 
 ries were named as Rhode Island's north-easterly limits, 
 so indefinite indeed that the late Rufus Choate once 
 characterized them as, " as untraceable as Samson's 
 foxes with fire-brands at their tails. " If fairly fol- 
 lowed these bounds would have left "Antient Reho- 
 
100 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 both" with Dighton, Freetown and Fall River almost 
 wholly to Rhode Island ; possibly it was the King's intent, 
 (or more probably, Vane's intent) so to do, as a sort of 
 left-handed compliment or sinister reminder to the more 
 Puritan Colonies, which had taboed him. Be this as it 
 may, these charter bounds were so manifestly in violation 
 of the earlier Plymouth grant, that that colony stoutly 
 resisted them, with the support and aid of Massachusetts, 
 for more than eighty years. But the Kingly prerogative 
 was popular in England and the people of Rhode Island 
 and Providence Plantations steadfastly leaned upon it, 
 until the Royal Commissioners as stated in 1746-7 ran the 
 compromise line, dividing the debatable ground between 
 them . 
 
 Rhode Island small as she is to-day, is thus seen to 
 have been much smaller in her beginnings, and may fairly 
 be said to have been wrenched out from between Con- 
 necticut and Massachusetts, providentially, in connection 
 with *'Antient Rehoboth" for the purpose of establishing 
 Christian freedom in America, and like a diamond between 
 an upper and nether mill-stone, she has impressed her 
 character upon her surroundings, and brightened with 
 the grind. 
 
 Rhode Island is indeed a small State to-day, though 
 if measured by population, productive industry, wealth 
 and intelligence she is by no means the least in the Union, 
 but small as she is, she was that particular, State of the 
 old thirteen which had the moral courage and strength 
 of will, alone, to stubbornly stand out single handed, and 
 refuse to ratify the Federal Constitution, or enter the 
 Union, mainly because her cherished principle of relig- 
 ious liberty had not been guaranteed in that compact, nor 
 
, HrSTORTCAL ADDRESS. 101 
 
 would slic, nor did she ratify the Constitution or enter 
 the Union until the amendment, now known as "Article 
 I. of Amendments," prohibiting Congress frona establish- 
 ing any particular church or religion by law, and guaran- 
 teeing free toleration to all, had been by Congress duly 
 propounded and its adoption practically assured, then 
 Rhode Island ratified and entered, the thus, and by her 
 made consolidate national Union, with the dogma of re- 
 ligious liberty, (the sheet anchor of the little State, to 
 which our "Antient Rehoboth" had been the stepping- 
 stone,) the law of the Nation and the hope of mankind. 
 For all of which under God's Providence (magnifying 
 the work of the humble) our ancestors of this town (with 
 Rhode Island) are entitled to reverential thanks. 
 
 I have no time, nor if I had would it be proper for 
 me to continue this discussion. I have already trespassed 
 too long. "Antient Rehoboth" is a rich field for study, 
 and her sons and daughters whether here or in sister 
 towns may well be proud of their ancestors' record, and 
 the blood in their veins. Here for full two and a half 
 centuries our fathers of all faiths have lived together in 
 peace and harmony, and thanks to their Civil Laiv 
 and Christian righteousness, no act of ecclesiastical 
 diabolism, bigotry, perfidy or infamy stains their escutch- 
 eons. 
 
 But kinsfolk of mine, allow me a few words of our 
 own more immediate surroundings and belongings in our 
 Rehoboth of the present. 
 
 Here within the confines of the present town, our fa- 
 thers came and dispossessed a race, living in primeval 
 simplicity and dependent almost wholly upon Nature's 
 bounty. Here within Rehoboth's dark woods the last and 
 
102 250th anni versa ky of rehoboth. 
 
 best great chief of the Wamponoags (Philip's counselor) 
 Annawan, bowed himself to the cruelties of fate, a captive 
 in the land of his fathers, was taken hence by aliens to 
 his race and betrayed to his death, a victim to the civilized 
 barbarism of his times, and his great "unhewn rock" rifted 
 and broken, "here within our borders" fitly perpetuates 
 his fame. Here upon these hillsides and along these val- 
 leys our fathers for more than two centuries have planted 
 corn in springtime with hope, and harvested in autumn 
 with thanksgiving. 
 
 Here upon the hearthstones of these quiet country 
 homes, our mothers through ten generations have kept 
 their household fires sending up perpetual iucense to 
 Heaven, in gratitutde for benedictions received, and for 
 us who have wandered, our fathers' thresholds have 
 spanned ever open doors, and mothers' fire-lights glowed 
 warm welcomes to our return. 
 
 Let us be just too, to the soil once tilled b}^ our sires 
 even though to our sorrow v/e now view fields of historic 
 industry abandoned, aye, the surface of our town is 
 written all over with ruined stone fence walls, eloquent 
 in their silence of the prosperity and industry of other 
 da3^s, and protesting as earnestly as written language can 
 protest against the neglect of their whilom enclosures. 
 
 The wild woods in many places are creeping over pas- 
 ture lands and meadow ground, fallow field and orchard 
 lots, and even crowding upon the carriage way along 
 the roadsides. Here where once all trades and handicrafts 
 found place, no echo now reverberates the voice of many 
 once busy industries. The hum of spindles and cackle of 
 looms once resounding the employ of thiifty youth and 
 adult age of both sexes,are hushed in the valleys,the waters 
 
IIISIOIUCAL ADDRESS. 103 
 
 of our streams once turned to toil, now run idly to the sea, 
 and the merry voices of the workers are silent upon the 
 hills. The banks of the river, southward, once at 
 niglitfall in spring-time, wont to reverberate the jocund 
 merriment of fishers, who came from all the country round 
 to cast their nets — alike inhopeand sport — are silent now, 
 and even the waters have been despoiled of those 
 abundant finney stores, which came annually to bless the 
 tables of the homes of this town, in our earlier days. 
 Here within my own recollections close upon our southern 
 border the shipyard of Mason Barney (the honored grand 
 sire of our orator) to which Rehoboth's timber principally 
 contributed, used to launch two ships each season, the 
 building of which gave employ to scores of men, the echoes 
 of whose labors made the air for miles around vocal with 
 the music of mallets, the ringing of hammers, the rasp of 
 the saw and thud of the maul, but all this too has passed 
 away, the old Esquire whom everyone knew and respected, 
 after a long life of great enterprise and untoward vicissi- 
 tudes, has gone to his fathers, his employees, axe-men 
 and adz-men, tree-nailers and caulkers, top-sawyers and 
 pit-men are mouldering with the dust of their toils, as 
 silent as the echoes of their industry and the ships they 
 built, which once sailed every sea the wide world round, 
 have been swept from the face of the ocean, leaving no 
 vestige to tell the story of their voyaging, save perchance, 
 here and there some wreck bleaching on the sands of a 
 distant shore. So too, the brave men of Rehoboth who 
 once so proudly sailed them, are fast fading from sight, 
 leaving naught but the traditions of their brave exploits 
 and bold enterprise as a heritage to the town. 
 
 And of the old ship-yard itself there is nothing 
 left to mark the spot, as it was, save only the deserted 
 
104 250th ANi^lVEESARY OF REHOBOTH. 
 
 wharf, the bridge and the river slumbering in the bosom of 
 green meadows and woodbinds. Yes, the river's refluent 
 tides still ebb and flow, their stinted meets and bounds 
 as of old; and its shimmering surface still gleams and 
 glistens in the summer sunlight, or wave toss at eventide, 
 dances, frolics and wantons to the kiss of the fragrant 
 in-coming south-sea winds, as in days that are gone. Truly 
 *' men may come and men may go " but tides and winds 
 abide. 
 
 Now what, pray tell me what, are the lessons of these 
 transitions ? There is, tliere can be but one answer . 
 They are the results of an evolution of depopulation, 
 coupled with the developments of mechanical invention, 
 to which Rehoboth b}^ reason of her local situation has 
 been unfavorably subjected. Fixed as she is midway 
 between the great cities of Providence and Pawtucket 
 upon the west, and Taunton and Fall River upon the east, 
 each within an easy half hour drive of her borders, with 
 busy Boston and wealthy Newport not far distant upon 
 the north and south respectively, each and all great mael- 
 stroms of humanity, standing with ever outstretched arms 
 beckoning, inviting, soliciting and beguiling the young 
 manhood and womanhood of this town to come to their 
 all-consuming embraces, "'Tis true, and pity 'tis, 'tis 
 true," too many have listened to the song of the sirens for 
 their own good, or the good of their heritage in this town. 
 
 But let the good old town and her citizens take cour- 
 age from this time forth, brighter days are uprising for 
 Rehoboth, even now, the horizon is all astreak with the 
 daybreak of a better morrow. By evolution Reliobotli lost^ 
 by evolution she shall recover. City life is artificial, and 
 unsatisfactory, in its struggles a few succeed but the mul- 
 titude go down, and were the city populations not contin- 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 105 
 
 ually recruited with fresh country blood, they wouki 
 die out as fires for want of fuel. Tlie denizens of cities 
 are now realizing this, and all who can, are seeking coun- 
 try homes with hope to perpetuate a posterity who may 
 enjoy the fortunes they have accumulated. More than this 
 the people of the country are realizing their advantages 
 and turning their attention to their own more immediate 
 opportunities, even now the current evolution is progres- 
 sing. Wherever we look about this town to-day we see new 
 homes building, each better than the old, with new barns 
 of fourfold capacity of those which served our fathers, all 
 of which testifies that the climate of Rehoboth is whole- 
 some, and the soil of her fields yet fertile, and only wait- 
 ing the renewed upturn of the ploughshare and a kiss by 
 the sun, to smile again with harvests as of old. 
 
 With nature's resources abundant to support fivefold 
 her present population, with broadening developments 
 yet to come to her through better roads and the possibili- 
 ties of electric transportation, with all that it implies, Re- 
 hoboth from her commanding position here midst the 
 cities ma}^ become not only their market garden, but a 
 garden of New England residential homes. In that day 
 the cities upon her borders may beckon and solicit Reho- 
 both's sons and daughters, but they will beckon and so- 
 licit in vain. 
 
 A few words more and I am done. Within the last 
 century the fields of mechanical invention and philosophic 
 discovery have been explored beyond the seeming proba- 
 bility of like further developments. With steam to speed 
 our feet, and the lightnings our messenger, with great 
 iron liviathans bridging the ocean and linking continents 
 and islands, shore to shore, with wires surcharged with 
 intelligence girding the earth, and breathing reponsive to 
 
106 250th AKNIVEKSAEY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 tlie life of its remotest corners, it would seem as if little 
 more could be looked for along like natural lines in pro- 
 o-ressive phj^sics, although undoubtedly much yet remains 
 to be developed ; hence future inquiries will needs be di- 
 rected to those mental realms, which even in the light of 
 what we think civilization are yet darkly clouded. 
 
 He would be a bold man who should affect to fore- 
 cast the future, or presume to paint conditions which may 
 here obtain when Rehoboth shall celebrate her next 
 quadra-millenial. I shall not attempt it, but let us hope 
 that the progress of the future may out-do that of the 
 past, as we have many reasons to think it will. I believe 
 we are on the verge of greater intellectual changes and 
 evolutions than the i^ast has shown, and if perchance on 
 that next centennial day, aught of us or of our conditions 
 is remembered and studied, the contrasts developed will 
 be almost immeasurable, and'the darkness of even our day 
 and civilization will seem to our posterity surprising, in 
 the light of their then better knowledge, conditions and 
 wisdom. 
 
 It was declared of old by Him who knew wherof He 
 affirmed, "that the seed of the woman shall bruise 1the 
 serpent's head; " I have faith in the promise, I know the 
 exegesis with which the problem is clerically discussed, but 
 choose to take a broader view. What is the seed of 
 woman, but woman's work and influence upon our race, 
 and now after centuries of waiting, the time seems nearing 
 when by the uplifting power of education and better 
 opportunities, woman shall take her place as the vindicator 
 of humanity, an arbiter whose power the lords of the race 
 must respect. Already she is the teacher of the coming 
 generation of manhood and womanhood, as never before, 
 
HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 107 
 
 and her influence with tliera tlirougli tliese opportunities 
 is unbounded. 
 
 Think you, that when another quadra-millenial shall 
 have rolled its circling centuries round for this ancient 
 town, that God-fearing, man-loving woman, enfranchised 
 and cultivated, refined and powerful, will consent to, or 
 tolerate in her consort sex, the barbarisms she to-day suffers 
 him to commit. I tell you nay, nor will the educated and 
 enfranchised woman of the coming centuries countenance 
 in man the vices she instinctively abhors in woman, again 
 I tell you nay, but by that power which to woman has 
 been given, to make of man what she will, or compel him 
 to live an outcast forever, she will be able to crush out 
 the evil and develop the good in her fellow being, as the 
 skilled gardener destroys weeds, that corn may grow. 
 Thus woman casting her seed, by her work, influence and 
 opportunity, will, little by little as the years go by, lift 
 both herself and her fellow man up to higher levels and 
 better conditions than obtain today, or than our ancestors 
 ever dreamed of, and so onward progressing, until she 
 becomes the herald she was intended to be, of "Peace 
 on earth, good will to men." Then indeed the seed of 
 the woman shall have bruised the serpent's head, as has 
 been promised. 
 
 The churches and people of this ancient town have 
 chosen well in these latter years to commemorate the 
 virtues of their sires by annual festivals in endurance, 
 as contrasted with a festival, the most solid of all 
 architectural monuments fail to compare, the cities of 
 Egypt, built of stone, substantial and once thronged with 
 civilized life, are now lost in the dust with their builders' 
 the pyramids crumble with decay, and no man can tell 
 their story, the obelisks are obliterate, the sphinxes silent 
 as the ledges from which they were hewn. But the feast 
 
108 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 of the Passover, ordained to commemorate the deliverance 
 of the first born of Israel, is yet celebrated wherever an 
 intelligent congregation of Hebrews sojourn, and such 
 congregation do so sojourn in every civilized city the 
 wide world round, as witnesses of God's goodness to man. 
 So too, the monuments and temples of ancient Greece 
 and Rome, temples only within the shadows of which, 
 Peter and Paul were permitted to proclaim the mission 
 and life of the Redeemer, all now lie low in ruins and for- 
 getfulness, but the feast of the Last Supper instituted 
 to commemorate the passion and resurrection of Him, 
 whom Peter and Paul so humbly preached, is now cele- 
 brated by every enlightened nationality of the globe. So 
 too, let us commemorate this ancient town and the virtues 
 of our sires by festival. What though in our day she 
 may have been an humble town, and we her children an 
 humble people, what though our walks in life may have 
 been alloted to us along the valleys, and our town never 
 have stalked strident along the hilltops of modern pros- 
 perity and renown, as some of her sister towns have done ? 
 we love her ! nonetheless, we love her ! the milk and 
 corn of her herds and breasted hillsides nourished us in 
 youth, the lint and wool of her fields and flocks clothed, 
 aye, literally clothed, her roof-trees sheltered and her fire- 
 sides warmed, and more than all else, the dust of those 
 who were nearer and dearer to us than all others lies bur- 
 ied in her soil, then perish the heart, forever perish the 
 heart that shall forget to honor this, the town of his fa- 
 ther's hope and toils, or fail to speak his mother's praises 
 in the land. 
 
 Then friends, let us and our posterity as we would 
 lienor God, our parents and ourselves, year by year in 
 autumn come up to this ancient town, in the season of the 
 roasting ears, and as to-day, together eat the harvest liome. 
 
HISTOllICAL ADDRESS. 
 
 109 
 
 Hon. Edwin C. Pierce, of Providence, R. I. 
 
 Mr. President^ Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 The lateness of the hour admonishes me that I must 
 detain you only a few minutes, although on an occasion 
 so inspiring, and in a company like this, where all are re-- 
 lated by the ties of common tradition, and very many by 
 kinship of blood, not so remote that it cannot be traced, 
 pregnant thoughts would easily frame themselves into 
 words upon the lips of even the most unaccustomed speaker. 
 
 I come to this spot to-day out of filial loyalty to the 
 memory of Samuel Newman, the founder, of whom I am a 
 lineal descendant on my mother's side, in the seventh gen- 
 eration. I am equally proud to claim descent, like your 
 honored chairman, from that Captain Michael Pierce, of 
 Scituate, who with his band of New England Spartans, 
 among whom were citizens of Rehoboth, died on the bed 
 of honor a few miles from here, in defence of all the set- 
 tlements in the Old Colony. 
 
 The early settlers of New England were distin- 
 guished, in an eminent degree, by courage, both moral and 
 physical, and by perseverance. They had for conscience 
 sake separated themselves from an established church, 
 some of their ministers, like Newman, giving up comfort- 
 able livings in that church. 
 
 They had left their native land and crossed a stormy 
 ocean, and had made their homes in a wilderness. They 
 were surrounded by forests peopled by barbarians upon 
 
110 250th anniveesary of eehoboth. 
 
 whose peaceful disposition they could never reckon, and 
 who attempted their destruction. 
 
 I need not recount to you, their descendants, the 
 story of the fortitude and perseverance of those ancestors 
 of ours. 
 
 From the New Englanders of to-day are demanded 
 also heroic qualities, although their foes and their trials 
 are of a different sort from those of their fathers. 
 
 The dangers and the problems of political corruption, 
 of intemperance, of the just acquisition and distribution of 
 wealth, the unifying in one harmonious citizenship of im- 
 migrants of various nationality and creed, these it is that 
 confront the New Englanders of to-day. 
 
 Let them face these dangers and these problems not 
 only with courage and perseverance, but with confidence. 
 As the perils of the wilderness did not daunt our fathers, 
 let their children face the perils of civilization with 
 unquailing hearts. 
 
 Let them cherish their fathers' faith in God and have 
 faith in their own great destiny. 
 
 There is no occasion for New Englanders to lose 
 confidence in themselves, or doubt the future success of 
 their institutions or their enterprises. 
 
 The cities which crown the hill-tops of New England, 
 while they present problems, are on the whole in whole- 
 some and hopeful condition. They are destined to be 
 cities of the light. 
 
250tl\ flriniversary 
 
 POEM-- 
 
THOMAS W. BICKNELL. 
 
UKKilNAL POEM. U^ 
 
 fln Origirial Poenri 
 
 I<Y THt).MAS W. lilCKNELL. 
 
 EHRLY PILGRIMS. 
 
 Wc meet where ancient altar lii-es 
 Were kindled by ancestral siren, 
 And grateful homage here we pay 
 To worthies of an earlier day. 
 
 Our Mecca this, a sacred shrine. 
 
 Made holy by the Face Divine ; 
 
 Our Salem, where with joyful lays 
 
 The tribes once met for prayer and praise. 
 
 'Twas Israel's wont, atZion's seat, 
 The story and the song repeat 
 Of captive days, of grand release 
 From rharaoh's bonds to Canaan's peace. 
 
 They sang again sweet Miriam's? strains 
 That echoed over Goshen's plains; 
 As horse and rider filled the sea. 
 "Jehovah triumphed gloriously. ■" 
 
 At Marah's springs tliey drank anew, 
 Till bitter w^aters sweeter grew ; 
 'Neath Elim's palms they slaked then thirst 
 And gained new strength by days of rest. 
 
 Across the desert sands they stray,— 
 Their guide the pillared cloud by day ; 
 In darksome uight, the stars their tent, 
 O'eraching God's high firmament. 
 
 Fi'e yot the Promised Fiand tlioy s|)y. 
 For Egypt's leeks and corn they cry ; 
 E'en Joshua's speecli of fruitful vines 
 And corn and Avine are empty signs. 
 
114 250th A^'NIVEllSAIlY OF KEHOBOTH. 
 
 But on they press at Moses' word, 
 And reach the Sacred Mount of God, 
 Where blessed anew with Law and Love, 
 They pledge their faith in Heaven above. 
 
 Through Moab's land, past Nebo's cave 
 AVhere Israel's leader found his grave; 
 His strength still new, his vision bright, 
 He rested there 'neath Heaven's sweet light. 
 
 "On Jordan's stormy banks they stand," 
 And view their Canaan, promised Land, 
 Its waters feel their Master's wand 
 And swift obey His great command. 
 
 These earlier Pilgrims find their home. 
 Where God has made them plenteous room ; 
 The rocks yield honey, milk their kine. 
 They seek His precepts all divine. 
 
 To the high theme of Pilgrim days, 
 In modern lands, our thoughts we raise. 
 And trace the path the fathers trod. 
 Who lived and walked and died with God. 
 
 FROM OLD TO NEW, 
 
 stout of heart and strong of hand. 
 
 Were the men who journeyed from old Enghmd, 
 
 Who broke the chains of a despot king, 
 
 And with freemen's shouts made the welkin ring 
 
 "Charles is a tyrant," they boldly said. 
 And under the banners of Cromwell led, 
 These sires of ours won their spurs of yore. 
 On Naseby's fields and at Marston Moore. 
 
 The King of Kings was their leader then : 
 They feared no foes of the sons of men. 
 But forth to battle and death they went, 
 As unto some holy sacrament. 
 
 Some called them Koundheads as in scorn ; 
 Others named them Puritans and low born. 
 Both they confessed and proudly chose 
 I'o die with these than to reign with those, 
 
OKIGIXAL I'OE.M. US 
 
 A stern resolve tired tliese noble men, 
 Their faith in God well served them tlieii ; 
 "We had rather brave the new world's fears, 
 Than to dwell on a soil sown with bitter tears. 
 
 This laml of our birth is now desolate, 
 
 The Chnrch is corrupt and worse the State. 
 
 We will not bow to an earthly crown 
 
 That tramples the laws of God's kingdom down. 
 
 Across the seas in the Golden West, 
 Lies a newer land where the soul may rest. 
 Where the foot of the tyrant has never trod, 
 And with freedom of faith we may worship God.'* 
 
 The Mayflower brought of the choicest stock; 
 They planted their feet on Plymouth Rock. 
 The seed of three realms was the freight they Ijrouglit 
 In that little ship, men counted naught. 
 
 I see her prow^ as it parts the waves 
 To the land of the free from a land of slaves ; 
 A pillar of cloud was their guide by day, — 
 The lamp of Hope led their nightly way. 
 
 How strange was the sight that met the view 
 
 Of these pioneers to a land so new ; 
 
 The shores and the woods like the waves were wild, 
 
 For Nakire alone on these scenes liad smiled. 
 
 'Twas God's dear welcome alone they sought, 
 
 As into this wilderness they brought 
 
 Their wives and children and household stulf ; 
 
 With the Church and the School they were rich enough. 
 
 But list to the sound that floats on the air; 
 Methinks it's the chorus of praise and prayer 
 That rises from hearts in that cabin lone. 
 And mingles and sw^ells at God's high tlirone. 
 
 This promised land they hold in trust, 
 To Heaven they pledge allegiance first ; 
 Then with their faith in fellow man, 
 They knew not race nor creed nor clan. 
 
1lr» 2;j0th annttkrsary of rEiTor.oTtt. 
 
 These tenets bold the Pilgrims gave, 
 
 As principles the world to save. 
 
 The winds took up the bold refrain, 
 
 And swept them westward o'er the main,— 
 
 Till o"er the land Columbus saved 
 And seized from out the western wave, 
 One song shall till all souls with praise, 
 And crown earth's latest, sweetest days, . 
 "The brotherhood of man maintain, 
 The Fatherhood of God jiroclaim." 
 
 ON THE iVLHRCH. 
 
 Out of the East, ere the sunrise, in the dawn of colonial story, 
 While the red streaks of the morning were lighting the plains and the forests, 
 Gatl-iered the neighbors at Weymouth to speak their good-byes at the fording. 
 Late yester-night it was ordered the march should begin on the morrow. 
 Prayers had been offered at hearthstones and around the old Weymouth puli)it. 
 Newman, the elder, their leader, was to be of the new flock their shepherd. 
 To lead to the pastures of Seekonk, beside the still waters of Blackstone. 
 Trusty, the Indian guide, who knew the long trail through the forests, 
 Knew where the camps should be made and the Titicut's stream could be forded, 
 Knew where the ale wives swarmed and the nuts had been stored by the squirrels, 
 Knew where the goose laid its eggs, and the hedgehogs fashioned their burrows ; 
 Knapsacks strapped to their backs, and their horses well laden with baggage, 
 Clothing from over the seas, and stores from old Wessagussett ; 
 Men astride English-bred horses, and women on pillions behind them, 
 Babes on their arms or their backs, and barefooted children as footmen. 
 Narrow the trail through the woods that leads to the Western horizon, 
 Where these first pilgrims shall rest, on the march to the farther Pacific. 
 Oreen and mossy the carpet that is spread o'er the floor of great Braintree ; 
 Sweet are the songs of the Robins, and the redwing is joyous with music ; 
 The catkins are green on the willows, and brilliant the blush of the maple ; 
 The mayflowers are modest as maidens, and the cowslips drink gold from the 
 
 brooklets. 
 Onward they make their way, with serious mood, yet glad-hearted, 
 Looking with hope for the day when their future new home should be sighted 
 Near to the land of Mosshassuck, on the borders of blue Narragansett, 
 Where Williams, the exile from Salem, had made an asylum for freemen. 
 Early their first camp they made, in sight of the blue Massachusetts, 
 
OPJ(!TNAL POEM. Il7 
 
 Beddetl beneath the pines near the watei's of the white-itebbled Mashjiau*?. 
 
 Early next clay on the trail they meet with the Chief Metaeoniet, 
 
 Sagamore now of the tribe that rules over waved-washed Sowamset. 
 
 Welcome he gives to the band, which holds in its girdle the legend 
 
 Written by Massasoit, their deed to the broad AVannamoisett. 
 
 Royal the Puritan i)ageant, the redface now leads the procession, 
 
 Winding across the plains till Titiciit's waters are forded. 
 
 The camp Is set for the night with Indian warriors for sentries. 
 
 Near the great hill on the south, where later the beacons were lighted. 
 
 Joy fills the heart of the people, for well they know on the morrow 
 
 They wnll feast on the bivalves of Seekonk and drink from the waters of r.lack- 
 
 stone. 
 On the third day ere the nightfall, they reach this land of their purchase. 
 Hei"e Samuel Newman, the elder, now well within his possessions, 
 (Iratefully pours out his soul in a prayer of deepest devotion. 
 Voicing the hearts of his church in the wilderness here to be planted, 
 Sacredly sets up his standards and christens this new land Rehoboth. 
 "For," said the Puritan leader, "This is the land full of promise. 
 Here hath the Lord led his fiock to the pastures and waters of plenty, 
 Its name shall henceforth be Rehoboth,for here there is room for onr planting. 
 Mother of towns shall she be and of churches so true and so faithful, 
 Blest of the Lord in the life which here on these plains we have i)lante(l." 
 
 THE CHURCH AND HOME IN THE WILDERNESS. 
 
 Across the years and lives of men, 
 The Church and home liave welcome been ; 
 Each in its sphere a power for good — 
 A power more felt than understood. 
 
 Each near the other found its place, 
 The Home for life ; the Church for grace. 
 Like sentries firm their watch towers stand 
 To guard the treasures of the land. 
 
 The earliest thought of Newman's flock 
 Was planted first on Plymouth Rock; 
 But seed like this finds ready root 
 In soils that tempt no other fruit. 
 
118 250th ANNlVERSi^RY OF KEHOBOTH. 
 
 At Providence, across the tide, 
 Brave Williams and his church abide. 
 There exile saints and sinners meet 
 At freedom's common mercy seat. 
 
 At Study Hill, Blackstone's retreat, 
 The hermit settler thinks it meet 
 To flee the priestly lord of men ; 
 And tyrant more — the lord-brethren. 
 
 On Seekonk's plains, in sweet accord, 
 With these true followers of the Lord, 
 Samtiel, the seer, of English blood, 
 Reveres the oracles of God. 
 
 He plants the church on corner stone, 
 Where priest and prophet meet in one. 
 He rears the humble Bethel roof 
 On soil that thirsts for Heaven's own truth. 
 
 The sacred desk he weekly fills. 
 And from his lips Heaven's dew distills ; 
 The hourglass tests the sermons's lengtli; 
 Its doctrines try men's faith and strength. 
 
 Two preachments on each Sabbath day, 
 A week-day lecture, grave, not gay — 
 Discourses suited to an hour 
 When men must hew their w\ay to power. 
 
 NEWMAN RED HIS FLOCK, 
 
 Teacher and pastor w'as our Newman, too, 
 His hands some task were always near to do. 
 Tlie sick had healing, comfort the distressed, 
 The dying solace and the weary rest. 
 
 To feed his flock the pastor must be fed, 
 Himself must lead to pastures rich with bread, 
 God's word to him was daily manna blest, 
 Newman's Concordance tells the story best. 
 
OlMdlNAL roEM. 
 
 110 
 
 With axe or liannner ecjiial was his skill, 
 
 As with the faithful hut relentless quill. 
 
 He wrought by day ; no midnight oil he burned, 
 
 Because forsooth pine knots were all he earned. 
 
 His salary was fifty pounds a year ; 
 His work was broad, yet many called it dear. 
 That ancient flock had need of various care 
 A modern pastor ne'er would try or share. 
 
 He led the sheep by pastures fair and large, 
 The lambs he nurtured as a shepherd's charge. 
 The Church was foremost, yet in things of State, 
 He oft was called the town to moderate. 
 
 Physician, too, he knew the art and skill 
 To practice with the knife or murderous pill. 
 A Judge he was, in suits not always civil. 
 The case went hard that savored of the devil. 
 
 The meeting house, (juite like the pastor, too, 
 Had uses for all times and seasons new. 
 Its high-backed pews concealed the deacon's nod, 
 Who bowed to Somm^s while he worshipped God. 
 
 The sounding board high o'er the pulpit tower. 
 Resounded with the preacher's vocal power, 
 While on town meeting days the county squire, 
 Set all the town ablaze, with lungs on fire. 
 
 The galleries above were tilled with youth 
 Who went to meeting more for fun than truth ; 
 The tithing man, though patient as a rule, 
 Found here a task as hard as keeping school. 
 
 The Church and State united here in one ; 
 
 The pulpit was the forum and the throne. . 
 
 All human wrongs were righted at this court; 
 
 They prayed and quarreled when tliej'- came to vote. 
 
 The deacon's hat crown was the voter's box, 
 Where every freeman cast his w^ritten prox. 
 The kangaroo and ballot were unknown, 
 The seeds of ballot stufifing were not sown. 
 
120 250th ANKIVEBSARY OF BEHOLOTH. 
 
 'Tis well to call it consecrated groiuul, 
 Where men and deeds of primal stock are found, 
 Old Seekonk's plains, though waste as a Sahara, 
 Are hrilliant yet as diamond-decked tiara. 
 
 For here the Church has stood the centuries' shock, 
 And round her hearthstones many a loyal flock 
 Has gathered since the days of "forty-three," 
 To make the Church and State both strong and free. 
 
 Newman, the scholar, was their leader then, 
 A true-horn son of God and king of men. 
 Across these fields his active pathway lay, 
 "Allured to brighter worlds and led the way."" 
 
 Tlirice blessed he who saw that early day, 
 Before these times when saints hunt heresy : 
 Who made his doctrines square and orthodox. 
 Because forsooth, there was no other dox. 
 
 'Twas Father Xewman to the elder men, 
 And Parson Newman to the younger clan. 
 He taught true faith, great hope and charity, 
 Untrammelled by the weight of a D. D. 
 
 A fiery chariot like Elijah's train, 
 
 As carrier for this sacred servant came . 
 
 "Angels your office do,'' his latest word. 
 
 And mounted heavenward, toward the throne of Clod. 
 
 Time fails to tell of grand, heroic souls. 
 And women, too, bright stars on history's rolls; 
 Wlio lived and labored, loved and journeyed on, 
 From life's bright morning till its setting sun. 
 
 Who set the standards of our later times 
 Of honest service and of well-earned dimes : 
 Who sought not honors nor earth's poor reward. 
 But rightecuis living, richest gift of God. 
 
 Around us are their sons who run the town : 
 Their names are Peck and Allen, Hunt and Brown, 
 Walker and Martin, Carpenter and Bliss, 
 Cooper and Holmes, and lots of names like this. 
 
ORIGINAL VOEM. 121 
 
 Palmer, whose name our shadowy river bears ; 
 
 Devill, who left a multitude of heirs ; 
 
 Whcaton and Inoram, Miller, Ide ami Peck. 
 
 With Bowen, Bucklyn, Payne, near Wachemoquit Neck. 
 
 John Brown, the statesman, born a gentleman, 
 Who served his God, by serving common men ; 
 Lover of freedom, both in Church and State, 
 A noble man, a faithful magistrate. 
 
 Plandjng ai;d BoswortU, Daggett, Smith.and Bullock ; 
 Perry and Fuller, Mason, Grant and Woodcock ; 
 Good men and true, their wives and children all 
 In truth, as good as any since the Fall. 
 
 Brave Thomas Willett, Captain of the State, 
 Standish'S successor, with fame as great, 
 W}io laurels>von at old Manhattan's town, 
 And at Kehobotli's feet did lay them dowp. 
 
 Peace to their ashes, resting 'neaththe sod 
 Of yonder graveyard ; souls, they rest in God. 
 Living, they come to cheer our burdened way, 
 And lift our souls to Heaven's eternal day. 
 
 THE FIRST BHPTISM. OF BLOOD AND FIRE, 
 
 The wilderness now Jias been vanquished, 
 The wild brier was fragant in June, 
 
 The cornfields were bright for the harvest, 
 And the farmers were resting at noon. 
 
 When lo, on the southern horizon, 
 
 A storm cloud quick threatens the land. 
 
 'Tis charged with the lightning of vengeance, 
 From the hearts of a barbarous band. 
 
 From the heights of his throne, Metacomet 
 
 Has marshalled his forces for war ; 
 Their tomahawks sharp for the conflict. 
 
 The torch and the knife gleam afar. 
 
 The camp fires are kindled on Montaup, 
 And over the Titicut shines 
 The beacon which rouses the red man,— 
 Its omen the white man divines. 
 
122 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Across the blue Narragausett 
 Caiionchet his warriors has sent ; 
 
 Their cheeks are now fresh with the war paint, 
 The blood of the Pilgrims they scent. 
 
 The roses are blooming at Seekonk, 
 Their red is the omen of blood ; 
 
 The moon was eclipsed in the evening. 
 Was this a strange message from God ? 
 
 A runner has come from old Swanzey, 
 The warning to Newman he brings ; 
 
 At midnight the war dance was lighted, 
 To-day on the war-path they spring. 
 
 The settlers on broad Kickemuit, 
 Have deserted their homes for the fray 
 
 To strengthen the guard at Myles' fortress 
 And hold the red warriors at bay. 
 
 The order has come from New Plymouth, 
 Proclaiming a fast o'er the land. 
 
 '*To avert God's displeasure against us, 
 The pestilence stay by his hand." 
 
 "Jehovah, the pilgrims' defender, 
 Who hast saved from the storm and the flood, 
 
 To thy care we now meekly surrender ;— ^ 
 Oh, stay the sharp blows of thy rod." 
 
 "Our sins we most humbly confess them ; 
 
 Like crimson our hearts are deep stained ; 
 We merit the direst destruction. 
 
 But save us in Jesus' great name." 
 
 •*And now from your homes," cries the captain, 
 "To the fort your old bell muzzles bring, 
 
 There are powder and bullets in plenty ; 
 Round the ears of the redskins they'll siug." 
 
 " 'Tis true we're not fond of such music. 
 But we are not setting the tune. 
 
 The red man may do some tall dancing 
 Arownd the red roses of JuHC." 
 
ORIGINAL POEM. 123 
 
 Then Newman, tlie younger, with mettle 
 
 As true and as brave as liis sire's, 
 Takes command of his forces for battle ; 
 
 Their courage in danger inspires. 
 
 The women and children safe gathered 
 
 Within the broad "Ring of the Town," 
 The parson and flock hunt for redmen— 
 
 A dozen or more they shoot down. 
 
 The battles rage fiercely around them, 
 These plains were well crimsoned with blood, 
 
 Where Pierce, with a valor so splendid, 
 Fell facing Pawtucket's swift flood. 
 
 The warwhoop sounds out the alarum. 
 
 The Indians cover the plains. 
 They stealthily hide in the thicket, 
 
 While the people the garrison gain. 
 
 The story is told that one yeoman — 
 
 A Celt and the first in this land — 
 Fled not from the face of the redman, 
 
 But died with his Bible in hand. 
 
 Oh, sad was that dark night of terror 
 When the torch swept this peaceable town ! 
 
 It seemed like the fires of dark judgements, 
 As rain from the heavens coming down. 
 
 *Twas Nero, the tyrant, who sported. 
 When Rome from her proud station fell, 
 
 'Twas Philip of Montaup who revelled, 
 While the fires raged, a pitiless hell. 
 
 Here Annawan, bravest of chieftans, 
 
 Sought refuge in yon rocky wood, 
 Whom Church from his eagle-eyed eyrie 
 
 Seized and slew with small tumult and blood. 
 
 The soil of yon Common is sacred. 
 
 Its ashes are mingled with blood ; 
 The red and the white fell together — 
 
 Both await the great judgement of God, 
 
124 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 The roses are blooming at Seekonk, 
 The sweetbrier is fragant in June, 
 
 War sleeps at the roots of the daisies, 
 Sweet Peace yields her grateful perfume. 
 
 FREEDOM OF CHURCH AND STHTE. 
 
 From scenes like these of earliest times, 
 
 My INIuse, turn thou away, 
 And sing of happier hours and deeds. 
 
 Of men of later day. 
 
 When Freedom, child of Western birtli, 
 
 Approached its natal hour ; 
 And stern Oppression fought to hold 
 
 Iler strong but waning power, 
 
 Nature, stern savage, first was met. 
 
 The fight is not yet o'er : 
 From cape to gulf the contest's on, 
 
 From ocean's shore to shore. 
 
 Our fathers met a sterner foe 
 
 In hostile sons of men ; 
 The Indian wars left many scars 
 
 And tried their courage then. 
 
 United 'neatli one common flag — 
 
 The banner of the free — 
 They marched along life's broad highway 
 
 To grander liberty. 
 
 Each cycle as it swept around 
 
 Unrolled a fresh-born hour; 
 The century aloe bloomed anew 
 
 With more luxuriant flower. 
 
 The priest and people, equals then 
 
 By common heritage, 
 And equal sacrifice for peace, 
 
 Proclaimed the coming age. 
 
 The watchmen on this Zion's walls 
 
 Studied the starry night, 
 And as Heaven's curtains rolled away 
 
 Announced the rising light. 
 
ORIGINAL POEM. 125 
 
 The happier home, the freer scliool, 
 
 Were streaks of morning's dawn, 
 But brighter yet was manhood's growth 
 
 In whicli our State was born. 
 
 The cliurch fulfilled her mission high 
 
 And led toward kindlier life ; 
 She showed men how to live in love, 
 
 To shun all earthly strife, 
 
 Except as truth should need defense— 
 
 Her breastwork then was men 
 Who stood at Concord's stony bridge 
 
 Or fell at Lexington. 
 
 The pulpit sounded forth, "To arms !" 
 
 The pews the call obey ; 
 The courage born of Christian faith 
 
 Won all the victory. 
 
 With men of mother race there came 
 
 The fratricidal strife ; 
 The sons of Seekonk bravely stood 
 
 To save the nation's life. 
 
 The star that led their pilgrim sires 
 
 Across the western wave, 
 Then reached its zenith ; o'er the world 
 
 Its light to millions gave, 
 
 Till in these latest days we dwell 
 
 On Pisgali's lofty stand, 
 And view bright Canaan yet afar— > 
 
 Our children's promised land. 
 
 Ilow glad the promise of the hour,— 
 
 Around us all is peace. 
 Our homes are beauteous heavens below— 
 
 We ask no swift release, 
 
 Our neighbor dwells beyond the hills 
 
 And o'er the stormy seas; 
 We know no color, creed nor clan — 
 
 Except the far Chinese. 
 
126 2^0th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Our chariots ride on wino's of wind 
 
 Across the land and main ; 
 We cliase the lightning in our speech ; 
 
 It lights our flying train. 
 
 We talk with men in far Cathay, 
 And dine in our New York, 
 
 We steam to London in four days, 
 And supper take in Cork. 
 
 Our Uncle Sam he squints his eye 
 
 Across our northern border, 
 In half a jiffy stout John Bull 
 Brands him as a marauder. 
 
 "The Grand Old Man" in Parliament 
 Declares for good home rule, 
 
 And Cleveland echoes back "Amen," 
 Before his words are cool. 
 
 A western town of fifty years 
 
 Invites all to Chicago ; 
 The warships of the world unite 
 
 To say "We'll not to war go." 
 
 Our women vote, orate and pray, 
 And cook the best of dinners ; 
 
 They drive seven devils out of men 
 And watch for bigger sinners. 
 
 What's still to come n^ seer can say, 
 
 No poet yet divine, 
 One thing is true, we're mo\ing on 
 
 Along the appointed line. 
 
 From England old to England new- 
 Columbia newer still. 
 
 From New^man of the elder stock, 
 Through Greenwood, Hyde and Hill. 
 
 The veteran Barney, in wiiose years 
 This church had strength and peace, 
 
 Evans and Johnson, Woodworth, too. 
 And Ferris last, not least. 
 
ORIGINAL POEM. 127 
 
 The church is freer than of yore, 
 
 Her creeds are lighter grown, 
 The Christ has entered liumanlife 
 
 To fill it with his own. 
 
 The State now stands for freedom large, 
 
 In thought and action one ; 
 The man of wealth and man of work 
 
 Are equal 'neatli our sun. 
 
 To-day, for blessings large and full, 
 
 We owe to English stock. 
 We grateful raise our voice of praise 
 
 On this our Plymouth Rock. 
 
 The mother town salutes her own, — 
 
 Her children strong and true, 
 In coming time, with faith sublime. 
 
 She'll conquests gain with you. 
 
 All honor to those noble sires, 
 
 Who planted on these plains, 
 The seeds of virtue, labor, truth. 
 
 Whose fruitage rich remains. 
 
 May He who leads to pastures rich, 
 
 Our guide and guardian be. 
 Till in the west we sink to rest 
 
 Beyond life's golden sea. 
 
 Read at the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the planting 
 of the Newman Congregational Church and of the founding of the 
 town of Relioboth, June 7, 1893. 
 
GEORGE N. GOFF. 
 
BlOCiRAnilCAL NOTES. 129 
 
 [It is proper to add to tlie published acu-ouiit of the proceediu};^ at 
 the two himdred Jiftieth auniversaiy of Rehoboth, brief biograph- 
 ical notes of the Committee who served the Autiquarian Society 
 and the town in the successful undertaking, and of two or three 
 persons intimatly connected with the history of the town and the 
 celebration.] 
 
 Darius Goff. 
 
 Among the distinguished manufacturers of New Eng- 
 land of the last half century, as a pioneer in the establish- 
 ment of new and important manufacturing industricKS. 
 Darius Goff, of Paw tucket, R. I., was undoubtedly the 
 foremost representative. Bred to the pursuit of textile 
 manufacture, and gifted with mechanical insight and in- 
 ventive talent, from the beginning to nearly the end of 
 his long business career he labored to open untouched 
 fields of industrial enterprise ; and by reason of the un- 
 failing success of his numerous undertakings, creating 
 and permanently establishing industries of great national 
 importance, his legacy to American manufactures is of 
 immeasurable value, demanding full recognition in the 
 annals of permanent history. 
 
 Darius Goff was born in the town of Hehoboth, Mas- 
 sachusetts, May 10, 1809, and he was the youngest son of 
 Lieutenant Richard and Mehitable (Bullock) Goff. He 
 had four brothers and two sisters ; names, Richard, Otis 
 Horatio, Patience, Nelson, and Mary B., his sister Mary 
 being the only one of the children 3'ounger than he. 
 
 His ancestral line in the New World begins in the 
 early settlement of the Old Colony, and comes down 
 through the generations in honorable succession. Darius 
 Goff's mother was the daughter of Hon. Stephen Bullock. 
 His great-grandfather on the paternal branch, Richard 
 
130 250th anniversary oe rehoboth. 
 
 Goff, was one of the first settlers of the Old Colony, and 
 his grandfather, Joseph Goff, was of Harrington, both in 
 their day being men of influence, and held in high esteem. 
 His father, Richard Goff, was a pioneer in wool manufac- 
 ture, establishing at Rehoboth, in 1790, a fulling and cloth 
 dressing mill, which he carrid on with success until 1821, 
 when mills of that character were generally supplanted by 
 large factories, in which all the operations of manufacture 
 were done by improved methods and machinery. 
 
 The boyhood days of Darius Goff were in part spent 
 in the village school, where he obtained the rudiments of 
 an English education, and in part in his father's mill, 
 where he acquired a general knowledge of the business, 
 attaining, however, a greater proficiency in the processes 
 of coloring, as most of his work, and his especial interest, 
 was in that department. After his labors at home were 
 ended, he went to Fall Rivei', and was employed for a time 
 in the woolen mill of John and Jesse Eddy. In 1827 he 
 engaged as clerk in a large grocer}^ store in Providence ; 
 and he continued in that employn:ient until 1833, when he 
 returned to Rehoboth, and with his brother Nelson, equip- 
 ped and put in operation the first mill in the country 
 known to have been run successfullj^ in the manufacture 
 of cotton batting. Mr. Goff's development of this branch 
 of manufacture, by the introduction of machinery and 
 processes of his own conception and original application, 
 and his other business undertakings from that time until 
 1861, is outlined in the history of the Union Wadding 
 Company of Pawtucket, which was the grand culmination 
 of his efforts aad labors in that line of industrial prooress. 
 
 In 1861, Mr. Goff conceived and put in execution 
 another enterprise, compassing a field of equal if not 
 greater importance — the manufacture of worsted braids in 
 
lHOGKAnilCAL .NOTES. 181 
 
 tliis country, which had previously been purely experi- 
 mental, and had utterly failed of successful establishment. 
 Upon the foundation then laid by liim after strenuous 
 efforts, shared from the beginning by his son, Darius L. 
 Goff, has been established the great worsted braid concern 
 of D. Goff & Sons, whose products are known throughout 
 the whole civilized world. Its history elsewhere given is 
 practically the history of the inception, growth, and de- 
 velopment of the worsted braid industry in the United 
 States ; and in it is briefly recorded the nature of the 
 principal difficulties encountered and overcome to effect 
 its permanent and prosperous establishment. 
 
 Another signal achievement of Mr. Goff was the 
 founding of the mohair plush industry in America. Prior 
 to 1882, the manufacture of this article for upholstery and 
 other uses of a similar character had been mostly confined 
 to France and Germany. The importation .of this ma- 
 terial had become considerable, and was annually increas- 
 ing, and Mr. Goff was inspired with the desirability of its 
 being made a home product, and with the belief that he 
 could profitably undertake it in competition with the for- 
 eign manufactures. To carry out this purpose, in 1882, 
 he sent a skilled mechanic to visit the principal plush 
 manufactories of France and of Germany, to acquire a 
 thorough knowledge of their methods and processes and 
 to purchase the requisite machinery. But his agent 
 utterly failed in accomplishing the object of his mission. 
 The operations at the factories were carried on with the 
 utmost secrecy ; and by no strateg}^ could the necessary 
 machinery be obtained, hence Mr. Goff was thrown back 
 entirely on his own resources of invention, and a resolute 
 determination to achieve a success independent of foreign 
 locks and keys. With characteristic energy he immedi- 
 
132 260th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 ately instituted a series of experiments, which, although 
 protracted to a period of five years, finally resulted in the 
 construction of a loom, the products of which were fully 
 equal in perfection and value to the best foreign manu- 
 factures. 
 
 The last manufacturing industry established under 
 the auspices of Mr. Goff, was the Royal Weaving Com- 
 pany of Pawtucket, and it grew out of an incident which 
 occurred about two years before his death. In looking 
 over a building owned by him, rented to several tenants 
 engaged in various pursuits, he found one of the rooms 
 occupied by an English weaver, Mr. Joseph Ott, employ- 
 ing two hand looms in the manufacture of coat linings, 
 using in their fabrication fine imported yarns. Mr. Ott 
 had but recently arrived in this country, and as far as 
 could be learned, he was the only producer of that class 
 of goods in- the United States. Mr. Goff at once discerned 
 the value of this new industry and the feasibility of estab- 
 lishing it here on a permanent and paying basis. To that 
 end he became interested with Mr. Ott, and with his per- 
 sonal assistance and substantial aid the above named com- 
 pany was organized. A factory was soon fitted up with 
 suitable machinery and power, and the manufacture of 
 these goods was successfully inaugurated. The factory 
 of the Royal Weaving Company is at Central Falls ; sev- 
 enty-five looms are now in operation, and the fabrics pro- 
 duced are worsted, cotton, and silk. 
 
 To within a brief period of his death, Mr. Goff retained 
 in a remarkable degree the full exercise of his mental 
 faculties and physical activity. With unrelaxed interest 
 he visited his mills, gave close attention to the work in 
 hand, and the methods employed, and in an advisory way 
 
BTOGRAPHTCAL NOTES. 133 
 
 he was to the last the means of eifecting more or less 
 salutary changes and improvements. 
 
 Mr. Goff died at his home in Pawtucket, R. I., April 
 14, 1891, closing a long career of great value to the indus- 
 trial interests of the country, and of immeasurable useful- 
 fulness in all departments of life which claimed his ser- 
 vice, aid or sympathy. On his decease the City of Paw- 
 tucket, through her journals, societies and official boards 
 made grateful acknowledgements of its indebtedness to 
 him for his instrumentality in making it first among the 
 textile manufacturing centres of the United States, rela- 
 tive to its population; and for his activity in the promo- 
 tion of every undertaking for the advancement of its busi- 
 ness, educational, social, and religious interests. 
 
 The National Association of Wool Manufacturers, of 
 which he had long been an active member, at a meeting 
 held in Boston, paid earnest tribute to him for his " Pre- 
 eminent services in the diversification and extension of 
 the v/ool manufacture, to his high character as a ma'n, his 
 large public spirit, his conscientious discharge of every 
 obligation to society, and the earnest devotion to principle 
 by which his life and actions were governed." 
 
 Holding in affectionate regard the place of his birth 
 and its early associations, in 1884 Mr. Goif purchased and 
 gave to the Town of Rehoboth, as a site for a Memorial 
 Hall, the old homestead estate which had been in the 
 family since 1714. The old Goff Inn, one of the noted 
 hostelries of colonial days, still remained, and the spot 
 occupied by it was chosen by him for the place of the 
 Hall. Under his auspices, with liberal aid from the town 
 people, a fine edifice was erected, containing school rooms, 
 a lecture hall, a library, and an antiquarian room, in which 
 
134 250th anniveesary of rehoboth. 
 
 are interestingly exhibited the primitive hand implements 
 of the early days, used in the textile arts. The building 
 was dedicated as the Gofr Memorial Hall, on May 10, 
 1886, the 77th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Goff, and 
 the 240th anniversary of the delivery of the deeds of the 
 old town by Massasoit to the English. 
 
 Mr. Goff was one of the original stockholders of tlie 
 Pawtucket Gas Company, and for many years he was the 
 sole surviving member of its first board of directors. He 
 was a director in the Pawtucket Hair Cloth Company, 
 from its organization ; and he was also a director of the 
 Franklin Savings Bank, of the First National Bank, and 
 of the Pawtucket Street Railway Company. He was called 
 to serve in the Town Council of Pawtucket, and in 1871 
 he was elected State Senator. From 1848, Mr. Goff was 
 identified with the society and interests of the Pawtucket 
 Congregational Church, and from 1856 he was a promi- 
 nent and active member of that religious organization, con- 
 tributing most liberally for its support, and its numerous 
 allied interests, at one time subscribiug ten thousand dol- 
 lars in liquidation of the church debt. Broad as the world 
 was the scope of his interests and sympathies. He gave 
 freely of his means for home and foreign missions ; his 
 public gifts were widely known and appreciated, and his 
 life was replete with deeds of benevolence and quiet acts 
 of every day charity. 
 
 In May, 1839, Mr. Goff was married to Sarah Lee, a 
 daughter of Israel Lee, of Dighton, Mass. Of the com- 
 panionship of this wife he was early bereft by her death, 
 and her only child also died. He was afterward married 
 to Harriet Lee, a sister of his former wife, and the chil. 
 dren by this marriage are Darius L., Lyman B., and Sarah 
 C, wife of Thomas Sedgwick Steele, of Hartford, Connec- 
 ticut. 
 
lUOfiKAl'EirCAL NOTES. 135 
 
 EseK H. Pierce. 
 
 Mr. Pierce was born in Swansea, Mass., January 25, 
 1830, of Pilgrim stock, his ancestry being among the most 
 worthy people of Plymouth Colony. A farmer's son, he 
 had the usual district school opportunities of that day, 
 removing to Rehoboth in 1841. Mr. Pierce w^as a bright 
 pupil, made the most of his advantages, and qualified him- 
 self to teach school, following this useful work for eleven 
 years ; after which he engaged in mercantile pursuits and 
 in farming. His character and experience naturally fitted 
 him for public business, and the confidence of the people 
 in his ability and integrity gave him a large share of pro- 
 bate work and the settlement of estates. He has been a 
 member of the school committee of Rehoboth, and a tax 
 collector for five years. He has been a life-long Repub- 
 lican, and was elected to the Massachusetts General Court 
 in 1892 from the Tenth District, serving on the Committee 
 on Harbors and Public Lands. 
 
 ]Mr. Pierce is not only a public-spirited citizen and a 
 well-read man, but he has also travelled extensively in 
 this country and abroad. In 1891 he sailed from Boston 
 to Liverpool ; thence to Naples, to Alexandria ; thence to 
 Cairo, taking a trip up the Nile, returning to Cairo and 
 then to Tsmalia, passing through the Suez Canal to Port 
 Said. Thence he sailed to Jaffa, and by carriage went 
 to Jerusalem ; from Jerusalem he took a horseback jour- 
 ney of 600 miles to Beirut, and thence to Constantinople, 
 with a homeward trip across the Continent; reaching New 
 York after an absence of about five months, and enriched 
 by the gains of a most interesting and instructive tour. 
 
136 250th anniyeesaey of eehoeoih. 
 
 Mr. Pierce was one of the most foremost of our citi- 
 zens in promoting the celebration of the two hundred and 
 fiftieth anniversary of the Town, and as Chairman of the 
 Committee performed his part with honor to himself and 
 credit to the Antiquarian Society and the Town. His in- 
 terest in all that relates to the preservation of the honor- 
 able history of Rehoboth and the advancement of the pre- 
 sent condition of Town affairs is strong and influential, 
 and the Town will alwaye hold his services in high esteem. 
 
 Natlnaniel BaKer Horton. 
 
 Mr. N. B. Horton is one of the solid men of Reho- 
 both — solid physically, financially, socially, politically, in- 
 fluentially. He was born to a farmer's life in Rehoboth, 
 July 25, 1820, and by habits of industry and economy has 
 secured a handsome fortune, and by devotion to high prin- 
 ciples of action has won the universal respect of the people. 
 Mr. Horton owns a valuable farm of 250 acres, from which 
 he obtains annual crops of fruits, strawberries, corn, pota- 
 toes, celer}^, and other vegetables. 
 
 Mr. Horton 's active interest in putting down the Re- 
 bellion made him the recruiting officer of the Town during 
 the war. He served as a Representative in the Massachu- 
 setts General Court in 1862 and 1868. He was town 
 treasurer and tax collector for several years. He is one 
 of the largest mill owners in Rehoboth, and is a Director 
 in several Fall River mills. He is also interested in the 
 coal and quarry business. He has acted as executor and 
 administrator of many estates, and is a local banker for 
 loaning money. 
 
WILLIAM W. BLANDING. 
 
BlOGRArillCAL NOTES. 137 
 
 In politics Mr. Horton is an ardent Republican, and in 
 all the relations of a man and citizen lie is respected and 
 trusted by tlie people. 
 
 Williarn W. Blanding. 
 
 The Blanding ancestry came to New England from Up- 
 ton, County of Worcester, England, as early as 1640, and 
 settled at Boston. William Blanding, the first, owned a 
 section of land south of what is now Summer st., in the 
 neighborhood of Hovey's dry goods store. William 
 Blanding, 2nd, came to Rehoboth about 1660, and settled 
 on Rocky Hill. The Carpenters had already come to 
 Rehoboth, and the two families were united in marriage 
 in the 3rd generation in America, bringing the best blood 
 of the colonial settlements into one family name, the 
 Blanding. William W. bears the name of the first pro- 
 genitor, and the name also of Wheeler, one of the col- 
 lateral branches of the family. William had excellent 
 native ability — developed in one of the best New England 
 families in rural life, — and received a fair common school 
 education, with a few terms at private school. Brought 
 up on a farm, he has devoted his life to this most useful 
 and honorable occupation, and the farm on which he was 
 born has constantly improved under his intelligent care 
 and industry. He has caused more than two blades of 
 grass to grow where there was only one, and may there- 
 fore be styled a real benefactor. His farm and farmhouses 
 are samples of real enterprise, thrift, neatness and econ. 
 omy. 
 
 Mr. Blanding has not been an office-seeker, yet his 
 fellow citizens have honored him with a number of public 
 trusts, having been selectman, assessor, town and. church 
 
138 250th anniveesaey of eehoboth. 
 
 treasurer. He was one of the founders of the Rehoboth 
 Antiquarian Society, and is the largest stockholder. He 
 has been treasurer of this Society since its formation. He 
 is an active member of the Congregational Church of Reho- 
 both, and is interested in all the progressive movements 
 of the time. 
 
 George Nelson Goff, 
 
 The name Goff is found upon the early records of 
 New England. Thomas Goff, a wealthy merchant of Lon- 
 don, Eng., associated with Matthew Craddock, John Endi- 
 cott, Sir Richard Saltonstall and others, were among the 
 principal actors in laying the foundation of the Massachu- 
 setts Bay Colony. " By mutual agreement among them- 
 selves they were framed into a body politic and confirmed 
 or rather so constituted by the royal charter." The first 
 Gov. chosen was Matthew Craddock ; the first deput}'-- 
 Gov., Thomas Goff. They were sworn March 23, 1628. 
 
 The first Goff to be made a freeman by the General 
 Court was one John, May 18, 1631. But the first Goff in 
 Rehoboth of whom we have any authentic record was 
 Richard, who married Martha Toogood. Their son Joseph, 
 b. in Rehoboth 1724, m. Patience Thurber; they lived 
 together seventy yrs. and had 14 children, one of whom, 
 Richard, b. 1749 in Rehoboth, m. Mehitable Bullock. 
 Richard was a manufacturer, operating a fulling mill on 
 Palmer's River as early as Jan. 1776, but after the intro- 
 duction of power looms he with other townsmen formed 
 a manufacturing company and built the 3rd cotton mill 
 in this country. He was also a commissioned officer 
 under John Hancock. Two of his sons. Nelson and 
 Darius, succeeded him in the cotton industry in Rehoboth. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 139 
 
 George Nelson, son of Nelson and Alice (Lake) Goff was 
 born in Rehobotli, 1837 m. Julia Bishop Horton. Pie is 
 the owner and lives on the old parental homestead, which 
 has been in possession of the family since 1714. He was 
 raised a farmer and has always pursued that vocation, but 
 has held various town offices and represented the lOtli Bris- 
 tol Representative District in 1885. 
 
 Hon. Elislia Davis. 
 
 Hon. Elisha Davis, son of John and Nancy Davis, 
 was born Nov. 27th, 1831, upon the homestead in Reho- 
 both where he has since resided. He was educated in the 
 public schools, and, with the exception of the season of 
 1860, when engaged in brick making, he has devoted him- 
 self to farming upon the paternal acres which came into 
 his possession by inheritance and purchase in 1861, and 
 by his eminent success in his business, has demonstrated 
 the certainty that practical farming, when directed by 
 intelligence and pursued with industry, can be made pro- 
 fitable in the Old Bay State; an object lesson in facts 
 worth more to his wisely observing neighbors than vol- 
 umes of verbal exemplifications could be. That Mr. 
 Davis' abilities have been appreciated by his townsmen 
 is evidenced by their having for many years chosen him 
 to be of their board of selectjnen (as they had his father 
 many times before him) and in 1870 he was elected to 
 represent his district — Berkley, Dighton, Rehobotli and 
 Seekonk — in the State Legislature, besides which, he 
 has long held the Governor's Commission as a Justice of 
 the Peace and been largely employed in the settlement of 
 estates in Probate. 
 
140 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 In connection with Mr. Davis' success as a farmer 
 and usefalness as a citizen, it deserves to be said that his 
 estimable wife Etherinda — daughter of the late Burden 
 and Lydia (Baker) Munroe — has been a most notable 
 housekeeper and an exemplary helpmate in all his under- 
 takings. 
 
 Their children are two sons, Elisha T. and Daniel E. 
 both now engaged in active business in Chicago, and one 
 daughter, Lydia B. the respected wife of the Rev. F. 
 E. Bixby, pastor of the First Baptist church in Swansea, 
 of which body, both Mr. and Mrs. Davis are dutiful 
 members and it may well be said of them that they are 
 typical representatives of the best citizenship in Massa- 
 chusetts country life, and have kept themselves well 
 abreast with the moral, social and industrial progress 
 of their times and have been and are an honor to their 
 families and the good old town of Rehoboth. 
 
 Gilstavils B. PecK. 
 
 Gustavus B. Peck, son of Cyrus and Rebecca (Sher- 
 man) Peck, was born in Providence, at the southwest 
 corner of John and Thayer streets, December 31, 1832. 
 The Pecks are an old Rehoboth family, settling in that 
 town about 1650 ; and their descendants are now scat- 
 tered far and wide in the. surrounding towns and the 
 county at large. Mr. Peck's mother was from the Sher- 
 man stock, of Newport, one of the leading families of that 
 city. Mr. Peck is a mason by trade, but has devoted con- 
 siderable time to farming. He married Lydia J. Luther, 
 daughter of Rodolphus and Sophia (Goff) Luther, in 
 1857. One daughter, Ella Rebecca Peck, was born to 
 the parents. She died at the age of 22 years. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTKS. 141 
 
 Mr. Peck has resided at Rehoboth Village since his 
 marriage, and is an active member of the Congregational 
 Church and of the Antiquarian Society. Mr. Peck 
 rendered valuable service in connection with the two 
 hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the town, and is 
 deeply interested in all that relates to its progress. 
 
 Ex-Gov. Jol^n W. Davis. 
 
 The subject of this sketch was born at his father's 
 farm-house in Rehoboth, March 7, 1826, spending the first 
 eighteen years of his life on the farm and attending the 
 district schools of the neighborhood as opportunity al- 
 lowed. In 1844 young Davis left home to learn a mason's 
 trade in Providence, devoting six years to that occupa- 
 tion ; teaching public school winters or travelling as a 
 journeyman, working at his trade in the Southern States. 
 In 1850 he opened a grain store on South Water street. 
 Providence, where he conducted a successful business as 
 a grain and flour merchant for forty years,closing his active 
 mercantile life in 1890. His business career was marked 
 by constant industry, vigorous energy, and thorough 
 honesty. In politics Mr. Davis is a Democrat; and, 
 while not seeking office, he is deeply interested in the 
 political affairs of the city, state, and nation. He was 
 appointed by President Cleveland, in 1886, appraiser of 
 foreign merchandise for the Providence, R. I. ,U. S. Customs 
 District. In 1887 he was selected as the standard-bearer 
 of the Democratic party for governor of Rhode Island, 
 and was elected by a majority of about 1,100 over all 
 other candidates. He filled the office with ability and 
 fidelity, but was defeated 1888. He was again a candi- 
 date for governor in 1889, receiving a plurality vote of 
 4,400, over Herbert W. Ladd, but failing of a majority of 
 
142 250th anniveesaey of rehoboth. 
 
 all the votes, as was then required. Mr. Ladcl was made 
 Governor by the General Assembly. In 1890, Mr. Davis 
 was again candidate for Governor, received a plurality 
 vote, and was elected by the General Assembly. In 1891, 
 Mr. Davis again led Mr. Ladd in the popular vote as in 
 the years 1889 and 1890, but was defeated by the General 
 Assembly. Among the prominent outcomes of his 
 administration as Governor of Rhode Island may be men- 
 tioned an Investigation and Reform in Prison Discipline ; 
 the Adoption of an Amendment to the State Constitution 
 Extending the Electoral Franchise to all Citizens upon 
 Uniform Qualifications, thus ending a long and bitter 
 partisan controversy of many years standing; also the 
 Adoption of a Ballot Reform Law, and the Establishment 
 of the Rhode Island College of Agriculture and Mechanic 
 Arts. 
 
 The citizens of his adopted city, Pawtucket, have 
 always been glad to honor him, and he represented that 
 city in the State Senate in the years 1885, 1886 and 1890. 
 He was also President of the Town Council in the years 
 1882 and 1885. In 1891' and 1895, he was a candidate for 
 Mayor of Pawtucket, wanting only a small vote of an 
 election. 
 
 Mr. Davis is now a member of the State House Com- 
 mission, and holds other important business connections. 
 He is highly respected by all parties for his candid 
 expression of opinions, his strong convictions, honesty of 
 purpose and action, and sympathetic touch with the 
 common people, and his appreciation of the needs of 
 society. Old Rehoboth, with her many honored sons and 
 daughters, has great reason to be proud of her son, John 
 W. Davis, the true citizen, the upright Senator, the able 
 Executive of Rhode Island, the honest man. 
 
BIOGRAnilCAL NOTES. 143 
 
 Thonaas W. BicKnell. 
 
 Thomas W. Bicknell, son of AUin and Harriet B. 
 Bicknell, was born in Barrington, R. I., September 6, 1884. 
 Ilis education was obtained in the public schools of his 
 native State, Rhode Island, until he was sixteen years of 
 age. 
 
 In 1850, he entered Thetford Academy, Thetford, Vt., 
 then under the principalship of Hiram Orcutt, LL. D., 
 graduating from the Academy with tlie Greek Oration in 
 1853. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell passed entrance examination at Dart- 
 mouth and Amherst colleges, and entered Amherst in the 
 Class of 1853, under the presidency of Rev. Edward 
 Hitchcock, D.D. At the close of the first year in college 
 he went West, teaching school one year in Illinois, and 
 returning East, taught a high school at Rehoboth Village 
 for two years. Prior to that he taught two terms of 
 winter public schools at the " Old Red School-house" near 
 Rehoboth village, and two terms of private schools at the 
 village. 
 
 In 1857, Mr. Bicknell entered the sophomore class of 
 Brown University, and graduated with the degree of 
 A. M., in 1860, under the presidency of Rev. Dr. Barnas 
 Sears. In 1859, he was elected from his native town to 
 the House of Representatives of Rhode Island, and served 
 in that body during his senior year in brown University. 
 In 1860, Mr. Bicknell was elected principal of the High 
 School, Bristol, R. I., occupying that position five years, 
 and the principalship of the Arnold Street Grammar 
 School, Providence, four years. 
 
144 250th anniveesary of eehoboth. 
 
 In 1869, Mr. Bicknell Avas nominated by Gov. Seth 
 Padelford as Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode 
 Island, and unanimously confirmed by the Rhode Island 
 Senate, and held the office until 1875, securing, 
 
 1. The creation of a State Board of Education. 
 
 2. The re-establishment of the Rhode Island Normal 
 School, at Providence, on a permanent basis. 
 
 3. Legislation on public libraries, and appropriations 
 therefor. 
 
 4. Terms of office of School Committee extended 
 from one to three years, with the election of women thereon. 
 
 5. A salaried school superintendent for each town in 
 the State. 
 
 6. The establishment of evening schools. 
 
 7. A more vigorous enforcement of the laws relating 
 to truancy and illiteracy. 
 
 8. A large increase in the State and town appropria- 
 tions for public schools. 
 
 9. The dedication of more than fifty new school- 
 houses, and a general improvement of the moral and 
 material condition of school work. 
 
 10. The restoration, editing and publishing of The 
 Rhode Island Schoolmaster, the State educational journal. 
 
 11. The advance of public sentinient, by public dis- 
 cussions, institutes, lecture?, etc., in all parts of the State, 
 and the gathering of great educational meetings, especially 
 of the annual meeting of the Rhode Island Institute of 
 Instruction ; the audiences numbering, in the latter case, 
 more than three thousand people. 
 
 Ihe Board of Education })ronounced the following 
 verdict on Mr. BicknelFs State administration of schools : 
 
BiOGKArnrcAL notes. 145 
 
 " He has labored with a diligence, a wisdom, and a conta- 
 gious enthusiasm, which have resulted in lasting benefit to 
 the cause with which his name is identified." 
 
 Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, the historian, 
 speaks of Mr. Bicknell's "six years of eminently useful 
 service," of the " thoroughness and method " in his reports, 
 of his fearlessness in presenting facts as to illiteracy and 
 other evils, and of his wise methods for school improve- 
 ment and administration. 
 
 In 1875, the various monthly educational journals of 
 New England were united in The New England Journal 
 of Education, and Mr. Bicknell was called to the editor- 
 ship, and in the following year became owner and publisher 
 as well as editor. The Primary Teacher was established 
 in 1877, Good Times in 1878, and the bimonthly inter- 
 national magazine, Education, in 1880. All of these 
 educational papers obtained large circulation and influence, 
 and all have to-day a most successful mission in the 
 educational field. 
 
 The Bureau of Education, now in charge of Dr. Hiram 
 Orcutt, was established by Mr. Bicknell in 1876. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell's highest ability is seen in the organiza- 
 tion and unifying of educational forces and work, and this 
 has been recognized in the presidencies he has held in 
 secular and religious educational organizations. As presi- 
 dent of the Rhode Island Institute of Instruction, he 
 awakened it to new activity and success. 
 
 While president of the American Institute of In- 
 struction, 1876-7-8, the largest meeting ever held in New 
 England was gathered at Fabyan's, at the White Mountains, 
 and as one of the results, of the net income one thousand 
 dollars was set apart as the Bicknell Fund. 
 
146 250th ANNIVEESARY OF EEHOBOTH. 
 
 In 1880, Mr. Bicknell was cliieily instrumental in the 
 orcranization of the National Council of Education, and 
 was its first president until 1884. 
 
 In 1884, Mr. Bicknell, as president of the National 
 Teachers' Association of the United States, organized the 
 plans and gathered at Madison, Wis., the largest and most 
 noted educational meeting ever held, at that date, in this 
 country. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell represented Massachusetts in the Inter- 
 state Congress held at Louisville, in 1883, and was presi- 
 dent of the Interstate Commission on Federal Aid. 
 
 He was a member of the International Congress of 
 Education, held at New Orleans, in 1886, and read two 
 papers before that body, one on " A Plan for Federal Aid 
 in Education," and another on "School Journalism," both 
 of which have been published by the National Bureau of 
 Education. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell has delivered more than six hundred 
 lectures and addresses on educational topics, several of 
 which have been published in current educational litera- 
 ture, and has spoken on education in nearly every State 
 in the country. His addresses on "School Supervision," 
 before the American Institute of Instruction, in 1874, and 
 on " Civil Service Reform in Education," have been 
 published by the American Institute. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell has travelled extensively throughout the 
 United States ; has visited the South several times, and 
 addressed the people and teachers on education ; and has 
 visited Europe three times, to make himself familiar with 
 the educational systems, life, character, and history of the 
 people. He was a Commissioner from Rhode Island to the 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 147 
 
 World's Exposition at Vienna in 1873. He was elected 
 president of the International Sunday School Conven- 
 tion, held at Louisville in 1884, and was a Massachusetts 
 delegate to the Raikes S. S. Centennial in London in 1880. 
 He was selected by Dr. J. H. Vincent to organize tlie 
 Chautauqua Teachers' Reading Union, in 1886. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell was elected from the largest Republican 
 ward in Boston to the House of Representatives of Massa- 
 chusetts in November, 1888, and in 1889, was Chairman 
 of the Committee on Education and Woman's Suffrage, 
 an honor which the Boston Herald says was most appro- 
 priately bestowed. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell married in 1860 Miss Amelia D. Blanding, 
 daughter of Christopher Blanding, of Rehoboth. He has 
 taken a great interest in the affairs of the town, and may 
 be considered as one of its truest friends. 
 
 His wife, Mrs. Amelia D., gave five hundred dollars 
 for the foundation of the Blanding Library, of Rehoboth, 
 to be named in honor of her parents,Christopher and Chloe 
 (Carpenter) Blanding, of Rehoboth. 
 
 Mr. Bicknell is now (1896) a resident of Providence, 
 R. L, taking an active part in the business, political and 
 educational interests of the city and his native State. 
 
148 260th ANNiVERSi^RY OF REttOBOTH. 
 
 Briel Slietclies ol Some Distinguislied Settlers and Sons ol EeloDotli. 
 
 John Brown, one of the original proprietors and founders 
 of Rehoboth, was born in England ; in his youth 
 travelled in Holland where he became acquainted 
 with the Pilgrims; came to Plymouth in the 
 early days of the Colony ; was made a freeman 
 in 163-i ; was elected to the office of Assistant in 
 Plymouth Colony in 1636, and held the place for 
 seventeen years ; was one of the Commissioners 
 of the United Colonies of New England from 
 1644 to 1655 ; was the owner of large estates in 
 Rehoboth and Wannamoisett, now Barrington 
 and East Providence ; and was captain of the 
 Swansea militia ; built the house in which he 
 lived till his death, on the Main Road, near River- 
 side, East Providence ; died April 10, 1662, and 
 was buried at the Little Neck Burial Ground, 
 near Bullock's Cove. Mr. Brown was liberal in 
 religion and was the first magistrate who opposed 
 compelling the people to support the ministry^ 
 offering to pay the taxes of those who should 
 refuse. He was an able, conscientious, noble. 
 Godfearing man, and his life was a blessing to the 
 town and colony. 
 
 Thomas Willett was one of the founders of Rehoboth, 
 as well as one of the most distinguished men of 
 Old Plymouth Colony. Born in England, he 
 spent his early years, as did Mr. Brown, in 
 Holland, where he learned the Dutch language, 
 manners and customs, and became acquainted 
 with the Pilgrims. He was about nineteen years 
 
r 
 
 fV 
 
 ,.<% *ti^ 
 
 GUSTAVUS B. PECK. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 140 
 
 old when he hinded at Plymouth in 1629. He 
 had charge of the English trading port at Ken- 
 nebec, Maine. Mr. Willett married Mary Brown, 
 daughter of John Brown, July 6, 1636, by whom 
 he had eight children. In 1647, he succeeded 
 Myles Standish as Captain of the Plymouth 
 militia. In 1651, he ^vas elected one of the 
 Governor's iVssistants and held the office till 
 1665, when he was succeeded by his brother-in- 
 law, James Brown, of Swansea. He was appointed 
 as Agent of the Colony in organizing the govern- 
 ment at New York and reducing affairs to En- 
 glish Customs and as a result was chosen to be the 
 first governor or Mayor of the town and was re- 
 elected to the position. The Dutch also had so 
 much confidence in Mr. Willett that they chose 
 him to arbitrate on the disputed boundary be- 
 tween New York and New Haven. In February, 
 1660, Mr. Willett became a free holder in Reho- 
 both, residing at Wannamoisett, then a part of 
 the wardship of Rehoboth, but within the 
 territory of Sowams or Sowamsett. The chimney 
 of his house is now standing on the main road, 
 near Riverside, R. I., and not far from the home 
 of his father-in-law, Honorable John Brown. 
 
 Mr. Willett cultivated friendly relations 
 with the Indians and made Purchase of Rehoboth 
 North Purchase, (now the Attleboro and Cum- 
 berland) Taunton North Purchase (Norton and 
 Mansfield) and other large tracts. For his ser- 
 vices to Rehoboth, the town, on the 21st of 
 February 1660, voted " that Mr. Willett should 
 have liberty to take five hundred or six hundred 
 
150 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 acres of land northward or eastward, beyond the 
 bounds of our town, where he shall think it most 
 convenient for himself." With John Myles and 
 John Brown, he was influential in the grant and 
 settlement of the town of Swansea, and the 
 foundation of the Baptist Church in that town, 
 under the pastorate of Rev. Mr. M^les, the 
 ancestor of Major General Nelson A. Myles, 
 U. S. A. 
 
 After a few years residence in New York, 
 Mr. Willett returned to his home in Wanna- 
 moisett, where he closed a useful and honored 
 life, August 4, 1674, aged 63 years. A rough 
 stone in the Little Neck Burial Ground at the 
 head of Bullock's Cove, bear this inscription : 
 
 1674. 
 
 Here lyeth the body of the worthy Thomas Willett, Esq., 
 Who died August 3^e 4th, in the 64th year of his age. 
 
 Anno . 
 
 Who Was The First Mayor 
 
 OF New York, 
 
 And Twice Did Sustain The Place. 
 
 His wife, Mary, died in 1669, and is buried by his side. 
 
 Rev. Samuel Newman, the founder and first pastor of 
 the Congregational Church, which now bears his 
 name, was the most distinguished of the Rehoboth 
 founders and one of the most noted of the early 
 ministers of New England. His Concordance, a 
 work of great learning and vast labor, testifies to 
 the intellectual and spiritual quality of the man. 
 
BIOGKAIMIICAL NOTES. 151 
 
 His life and labors have been so frequently 
 written and are so familiar to all the sons of 
 Rehoboth that it is not necessary to repeat the 
 story. 
 
 Benjamin West, L.L. D. This noted mathematician, 
 philosopher and patriot was born in Rehoboth, in 
 the year 1730. His grandfather came from En- 
 gland and settled in the south part of the town, 
 near the Swansea line. He was an astronomer 
 and occupied a professorship in Boston University 
 from 1788 to 1798. He was postmaster of Provi- 
 dence in 1802, and filled the office until his death, 
 in 1813, in the 83rd year of his age. 
 
 Rev. Josephus Wheaton, A.M., was a native of Reho- 
 both, the son of Capt. Joseph and Mrs. Sarah A. 
 Wheaton. He graduated at Brown University, 
 1812; was a tutor for two years ; was pastor of 
 Congregational Church in Holliston, Mass., till 
 his death in 1825, at the age of thirty-seven. 
 
 Horatio G. Wheaton, M. D., brother of Josephus, gra- 
 duated at Brown University in 1820, and died at 
 Charleston, S. C, a victim of yellow fever, 1824. 
 " He was a scholar of fine talents and a voung- 
 man of high promise." 
 
 Nathan Smith, M. D;, professor in the medical schools 
 of Dartmouth, Yale and Bowdoin Colleges, was 
 born at Rehoboth 1762. An account of his life 
 will be found in Bliss" History of Rehoboth. 
 
 Samuel Metcalf Fowler, for some years the able 
 editor of the Pawtqcket Chronicle, was a son of 
 
152 250th anniveksary of eehoboth. 
 
 Dr. Isaac Fowler, of Rehoboth. He was editor 
 and proprietor of the Chronicle until his death, 
 in 1832, at the age of 27 years. 
 
 Peter Brown Hunt, Esq., was born in Rehoboth, now 
 Seekonk, February 1, 1794, graduated at Brown 
 University in 1816 ; w^as admitted to Massachu- 
 setts and Rhode Island bars ; commenced practice 
 1819; died 1831. 
 
 Hon. James Ellis, son of Rev. John Ellis, graduated at 
 Brown University 1791, commenced practice of 
 law in Rehoboth ; removed to Taunton, and held 
 the office of County Attorney. 
 
 James Bliss, M. D., born in Rehoboth, 1757. Studied 
 medicine with Drs. Brownson and Blackinton ; 
 was a successful practitioner in Rehoboth for 
 many years. He married Hannah Guild, of 
 Attleboro, by whom he had twelve children. At 
 the age of 19, he was surgeon's mate in Col. 
 Carpenter's Regiment, in the war of the Revolu- 
 tion. '•' He was a man of sound judgment, strict 
 integrity and great industry and economy." He 
 died in 1831. 
 
 George W. Bliss, M. D., son of Capt. Asa and Mrs. 
 Polly Bliss, received a medical diploma at Brown 
 University in 1822, and died in 1829, aged 39 
 years. 
 
 Darius Carpenter, M. D., born at Rehoboth, 1786, 
 studied medicine with Dr. Bolton ; commenced 
 practice in 1816, died 1833, 
 
BIOGKAPHICAL NOTES. 153 
 
 Royal Cakpentek, M. D., born at Rehobotli, studied 
 medicine with Dr. Isaac Fowler ; commenced 
 practice in 1808 ; married in 1834. 
 
 Draper Carpenter, M. D., son of Daniel Carpenter, 
 born in Rehoboth, 1791, graduated Brown Univer 
 sity, 1821 ; commenced practice in 1827. 
 
 Benoni Carpenter, M. D., born at Rehoboth, 1805; 
 graduated Brown University, 1829 ; received 
 degree M. D. at University of Pennsylvania, 
 commenced practice in Pawtucket, 1832. 
 
 Col. Abraham Blanding, born at Rehoboth, 1775, 
 graduated Brown University and studied law 
 with Judge Brevord, of Camden, S. C, where he 
 commenced the practice of law ; removed to 
 Columbia, S. C; married first wife Miss Betsy 
 Martin, of Camden, and for his second wife Mary 
 Caroline Desaussure, of Columbia. 
 
 William Blanding, M. D., born at Rehoboth, 1773, 
 graduated at Brown University, 1801 ; studied 
 medicine, and practiced at Attleboro and Cam- 
 den, S. C. Married Susan Carpenter, of Reho- 
 both, who died 1809, afterwards Rachel Wellett, 
 of Philadelphia. His estate at Rehoboth is now 
 owaied by William W. Blanding. 
 
 Dr. Abram Blanding, son of James Blanding, Esq., 
 born in Rehoboth 1823, graduated from the 
 Homeopathic Medical College in Philadelphia, 
 1850. Began practice of his profession in 
 the West in 1856 ; was a surgeon in the army 
 from 1861 to 1865 ; went to Florida and resided 
 at Palmer until his death in 1892, in his 70th 
 year. He joined the Congregational Church, 
 Rehoboth, in 1843. 
 
154 250th anniversary of rehoboth. 
 
 Rev. Sylvester S. Bucklin, was a Congregational 
 minister. 
 
 Rev. Augustus B. Reed, son of Dea. Augustus Reed, 
 was a Congregational minister. 
 
 Thomas Kinnicutt, Esq., was a lawer at Worcester, 
 Mass. 
 
 George A. Bucklin, M. D., graduated Brown Univer- 
 sity 1824 ; first read law and then studied medi- 
 cine with Dr. Wells, of Columbia, S. C; died 
 1829, on his journey from New Orleans to Texas. 
 
 Shubal Peck, graduated Brown Universit}^ ; died soon 
 after graduation. 
 
 Johnson Gardner, M. D., son of James Gardner, of 
 Rehoboth, born 1799 ; a student at Brown 
 University ; studied medicine with Dr. Lewis 
 Wheaton, of Providence, and received degrees of 
 M. D., 1824; married Phebe L. Sisson, 1829, 
 was a practicing physician in Pawtucket, R. I. 
 
 Zenas Bllss, a. M., son of Jonathan Bliss, read law but 
 became a manufacturer and lived in Johnson, 
 R. I. His son, Zenas Bliss, is a graduate of West 
 Point Military School and is now a Brigadier 
 General in the United States Army, 1895. 
 
 William Blanding Carpenter, M. D., born 1810, 
 graduated Brown University, 1829, with salu- 
 tatory addresses, studied medicine with Dr. 
 Parsons, Providence ; died 1830. Was a student 
 of great promise. 
 
 Edward P. Brown, the son of Dea. E. A. Brown, of 
 Rehoboth, was born about the year 1848, prepared 
 for college at the Rehoboth High School, then 
 under the charge of Thomas W. Bicknell; at 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 155 
 
 Thetford Academy, Tlietford, Vt., and at the 
 University Grammar- School, Providence, R. I.; 
 entered Brown University in 1859 ; enlisted as 
 private in a Rhode Island Regiment in 1862, 
 returned in 1865, with the rank of Major by 
 brevet ; graduated from the Universit}^ in class 
 of 1867, from Harvard Law School in 1869; 
 entered on practice of law at North Attleboro, 
 Mass., and removed to Boston in 1870 ; built up 
 a valuable business and was a member of the 
 General Court from Boston for three years ; 
 conducted the celebrated case of General and 
 Governor Benj. F. Butler, vs. the managers of 
 the Tewksbury Alms House, in behalf of that 
 institution and won the verdict of acquittal of 
 the charges made by the Governor ; is now con- 
 ducting a general law business in the City of 
 New York. (1895) 
 
 Hon. Jeremiah W. Horton, of Newport, R. I., is one of 
 Rehoboth's most promising and successful sons. 
 He is the son of Tamerlane Horton and obtained 
 his education in the schools of Rehoboth includino* 
 
 o 
 
 several terms at the High School. He is now 
 (1895) a successful merchant in Newport ; has 
 been honored by an election to the mayoralty of 
 the city, (1893) declining a re-election ; he has 
 also been colonel of the Newport Artillery and 
 is now a representative to the General Assembly 
 from that city. He is a public spirited citizen 
 and his character and attainments reflect honor 
 upon his family and native town. 
 
 Edgar Perry, Esq., is one of the brightest and ablest of 
 the younger sons of Rehoboth. He has had the 
 
156 250th anniversaey of rehoboth. 
 
 education and training of a journalist, graduating 
 from an Attleboro jDaper to the Cleveland Press, 
 and thence advancing to the Boston Herald. He 
 is Boston correspondent of the New York Tribune 
 and other papers, and his future is full of hope 
 and success. He was one of the main movers in 
 the celebration of the two hundred and fiftieth 
 anniversary of the town and as a member of the 
 Committee of Arrangements was most efficient 
 in making it a successful occasion. 
 
 The Goffs as Manufacturers. The biographical 
 notice of Mr. Darius Goff gives an account of 
 his relation to the manufacturing interets of 
 Rehoboth, but fails to state the work of his 
 ancestors in utilizing the water power of the 
 village tributary to Palmer's River. The fact is 
 that Joseph Goff, of Rehoboth, used the water- 
 power of this stream, at or near the village, for 
 sawing lumber and other mill purposes prior to 
 the year 1764. His son, Richard Goff, used the 
 power of the same stream for running a fulling 
 mill prior to January 1776. His sons. Nelson 
 and Darius, succeeded their father, Richard, in 
 the use of the same stream, in operating the mill 
 of the Rehoboth Union Manufacturing Company, 
 and still further in the erection of a mill prior to 
 1840 for the manufacture of batting and wadding 
 which was one of the first of its class in the 
 country. Lyman and Darius Goff , of Pawtucket, 
 the sons of Darius, are the fourth generation of 
 manufacturers from Joseph, who harnessed the 
 runaway waters of Palmer's River to practical 
 uses, one hundred and thirty-one years ago. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 
 
 157 
 
 Other Important Manufacturing Interests. The 
 men who first formed the Rehoboth Union Manu- 
 facturing Company were Dexter Wheeler, 
 Richard Goff, Stephen Carpenter, Thomas Car- 
 penter, James Carpenter and Peter Carpenter. 
 The building was erected at RehoLoth Village in 
 1809, and the machinery was introduced for 
 manufacturing yarns. The number of spindles 
 was 360, run by 14 hands, making 550 pounds of 
 yarn a week. James Carpenter was first agent, 
 succeeded by David Anthony, William Marvel 
 and Dea. E. A. Brown. 
 
 This mill was afterwards owned and oper- 
 ated by Nelson and Darius Goff and Stephen 
 Carpenter. 
 
 The Cotton factory, at Orleans Village, 
 Rehoboth, was built in the year 1811, the prin- 
 cipal stockholders being Asa Bullock, Bernard 
 Wheeler, Capt. Israel Nichols, of Rehoboth, 
 Thomas Church, John Howe and Capt. Benjamin 
 Norris, of Bristol, and Richmond Bullock, of 
 Providence. In 1825, David Wilkinson bought 
 the property and put in new machinery consisting 
 of 48 looms with spindles and preparations to 
 supply them. This is said to be the first success- 
 ful attempt to used spindles called mules for 
 warp as well as woof in the manufacture of fine 
 cloths for calico printing. It is a matter of 
 interesting record that Dexter Wheeler and David 
 Anthony, of Rehoboth, were among the first 
 founders of the manufacturing interests of the 
 City of Fall River, Mass., and that they were 
 part owners of the first cotton factory erected in 
 that city. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 Address ol Welcome, Edgar Perry, 15—24 
 
 " llecognition, Thomas W. Bicknell, 25—7 
 
 " Response, Bradford Hawes, 28—32 
 
 •' " Edward M. Thurston, 32—5 
 
 " •' Fred. P. Church, 36-8 
 
 " " Kev. John Whitehill, 39-44 
 
 " " Joseph Brown, 45—50 
 
 " " George N. Bliss, 51—3 
 
 " «* Jeremiah W. Horton, 53—7 
 
 " Historical, Edwin L. Barney, 58—77 
 
 " " Albert Mason, 78—82 
 
 " " John W. Davis, 83—108 
 
 " " Edward C. Pierce, 109—10 
 
 Attleboro, 38 
 
 " North, 39 
 
 Barney, Edwin L., Historical Address 58 
 
 Barrington, 35 
 
 Bicknell, Thomas W., Address, 25 
 
 " Poem, 113 
 
 " Biog. Sketch, 147 
 
 Blanding, William W. " 2, 137 
 
 " Col. Abraham " 153 
 
 " William; M,D., " 153 
 
 " Abram;M.D., 153 
 
 Bliss, James; M. D., 152 
 
 " George W.;M.D., 152 
 
 " George N., 51 
 
 " Zenus,A. M., 154 
 
 Brown, Joseph 45 
 
 " Edward P. 154 
 
 Bucklin, Rev. Sylvester S.. 154 
 
 George A., M.D., 154 
 
 Carpenter, Benoni, M. D., 153 
 
 " Darius, 152 
 
 " Draper, M. D. 153 
 
 " Royal, M. D. 153 
 
 " William B. 154 
 
 Church, Fred. P. 36 
 
 Committee onRehoboth Celebration, 2 
 
 Cumberland, 51 
 
 Davis, Elisha 2, 139 
 
 Davis, John W. 83, 141 
 
INDEX. 
 
 East Providence, 51 
 
 Educational Progress, 8 
 
 Ellis, James 152 
 
 Fowler, Samuel M. 151 
 
 Gardner, Jolinson, M. D. 154 
 
 Goff, Darius 129 
 
 Goff , George N. 2, 138 
 
 Gofls, as manufacturers, 156 
 
 Hawes, Bradford 28 
 
 Horton, Nathaniel B. 2, 136 
 
 Horton, Jeremiah W. 53,155 
 
 Hunt, Peter Brown 152 
 
 History, Religious 9 
 
 Indian Conflicts. 
 
 Patriotism, 
 Peck, GustavusB. 
 " Shubael 
 
 7 
 
 Introduction, 2 
 
 Kinnicutt, Thomas . 154 
 
 Manufacturing Enterprises, 11, 156, 157 
 
 Men Notable, 13 
 
 Mason, Albert 78 
 
 Newman, Samuel 4^ 9^ 13 159 
 
 Newport, R. I. 53 
 
 Notable Men, 13 
 
 10 
 
 2,140 
 
 1S4 
 
 Pierce, Edward C. 109 
 
 " Esek H. 2 135 
 
 Perry, Edgar 2, 15,' 155 
 
 Poem, Thomas W. Bicknell, 113 
 
 Pawtucket, 5q 
 
 Rehoboth, brief review by Edgar Perry, 3_14 
 
 Rehoboth, 250th Celebration, 2 
 
 Reed, Augustus B. Rev. 154 
 
 Review, Brief Historic 3—15 
 
 Schools, Free g jg 
 
 Seekonk, ' ^^ 
 
 Smith, Nathan, M. D. 151 
 
 Swansea, 32 
 
 Tiepke, Henry E. 51 
 
 Thurston, Edward M. 32 
 
 Willett, Thomas 4^ 13^ 69^ 14g 
 
 West, Benjamin 251 
 
 Wheaton, Rev, Josephus 151 
 
 Wheaton, Horatio G., M. D. 151 
 
 Weymouth, 28 
 
 Whitehill, Rev. John 00