Mil MilMiMMMia III iiMiiii iiwiiiwiWiiiaWWaliWi.'w* ¦«¦« -^^ ¦•>».¦¦>» t ¦« , iiVMriilfMAililAaAiyHlt ^ ^ < it'' '- \ r ^ N'^.l^lx iiV \ \ , ^- \Af . N'v^'i^ ¦1,^ JM ijfl^B rll YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Gift of Edith and Maude Wetmore in memory of their father George Peabody Wetmore B.A. 1867 Recollections of Olden Times; Rowland Robinson of Narragansett and His Unfortu nate Daughter. With Genealogies of the Robinson, Hazard, and Sweet Families of Rhode Island. THOMAS R, hazard, "Shepherd Tom," IN HIS EIGHTY-FIBST AND EIGHTY-SECOND YEARS. ALSO GENEALOGICAL SKETCH OF THE HAZARDS OF THE MIDDLE STATES. By WILLIS p. HAZARD, OF WESTCHESTER, PA. NEWPORT, R. I. : PUBLISHED BY JOHN P. SANBORN. 1879. Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1879, by ' ' JOHN P. SANBORN, in the oflBce of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. Ocr Preface, The following narrative and genealogies first appeared, simultaneously, in the "Newport Mercury" and "Narragansett Times," in the latter part of the year 1877 and early part of 1878. Their perusal having excited some interest among the public, it is tliought advisable by some, including the un dersigned, that tlie papers should be embodied in book form. Thomas R. Hazard. Vaucluse, E. I., May 1, 1879. Table of Contents, CHAPTER I. PAGE Rowland Robinson. — Marquis Lafayette. — Extract from Mrs. Mary Hunter's Diary. — Governor Brenton. — Large Landed Estate in Narragansett. — Robert Hazard the great farmer. — Gov. John Potter. — Judge William Potter. — Jemima Wilkinson. — Hon. Elisha R. Potter. — Abolition of Slavery in Rhode Island. — Wealth of South Kingstown and high price of land in "olden times." 9 CHAPTER II. Old Time Costume. — Count Rochambeau. — Tliomas Robinson of New port and his daughter Mary. — William Gardiner. — Dr. Sylvester Gardiner. — Slaves from Guinea landed at Franklin (now South) Ferry. — Murder of Jackson by William Carter. — Tower Hill. 19 CHAPTER III. Dr. Job Sweet. — Rowland Robinson's Children. — The Unfortunate Hannah. — Sarah Robinson of Newport. — Mrs. Mary Hunter's Diary. 30 CHAPTER IV. Personal Beauty of Hannah Robinson. — Thomas Hornsby. — Madame Osborne. — Mr. Peter Simons. — Dr. William Bowen. — Col. Harry Babcock. — ^Dr. Joshua Babcock. — Dr. Franklin. — John Case. — Queen of England and "Crazy Harry." . 34 CHAPTER V.' Richard Smith. — Daniel E. Updike. — Lodowick Updike. — The great Indian Swamp Fight. — ^Canonchet, the Indian Chief. — King Tom. — Queen Esther. — King George the last King of the Narra- gansetts. — Hannah Robinson elopes and marries Peter Simons in Providence. — Simon and Ray Mumford. — Gov. William Robinson imports the Narragansett pacing horses from Andalusia. — Ridge Hill. - - 41 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER VI. PAGE Mr. Simons takes his bride to Newport, and thence to Providence, to reside.— The "Unfortunate Hannah " deserted by her husband.— Her sickness and return home with her father. — Miss Beldqn. 49 CHAPTER VII. The Sweet Families of "Natural Bone-setters."— John Hazard.— Alexander Gardiner, and Ephraim Hazard. — MacSparran Hill. — St. Paul's Church.— Pettaquamscutt Lake.— Gilbert Stuart.— George Rome. — Lawyers Bowne and Joe Aplin. — John Randolph of Roanoke. - . 59 CHAPTER VIII. Gen. Nathaniel Greene. — Colonel Whalley the regicide.— The Wil- lets of New York and Narragansett. — "Stout Jeffrey" Hazard. — Dr MacSpaTran. — Pettaquamscutt River. — George Hazard, fath er of Thomas G. — The War Brig Orpheus. — Narragansett Pier. — Pacing Horses. - ti7 CHAPTER IX. Pattaquamscutt Rock. — Great Snow-storms. — Christopher Champ- lin. — .Tames Gould,. — Otter Sheep. — Jeremiah Niles. — Captain Kidd.— " Nailor Tom ' ' Hazard' s ' ' Blue-book. " 77 CHAPTER X. "Old Benny Rodman's Horsewhip." — Augustus Hazard of Enfield. — Coijtinuance of the subject of Great Snow-storms. 85 CHAPTER XI. Great Snow-storms continued. — Great distress in Newport in 1780. — Samuel Elam. — Vaucluse. — Historic Trees. — David Buffum. — Dr. Abernethy. . 87 CHAPTER XII. September Gale of 1816.— William Knowles drowned. — Tower Hill first settled. — Rowse J. Helme, C. J., Rowland Brown, Commo dore Oliver Hazard Perry. — Thomas Hazard's testimony against slavery. — Moses Brown, John Woodman, Jeremiah Austin. 96 CHAPTER XIII. Thomas Hazard, first settler. — Robert his son. — Thomas Hazard's Will. — Importation of the famous Arabian Stallion Snip. — Job Watson. — Mrs. Mary Hunter's Diary. — George Gibbs. — Governor Nichols. — Judge Stephen Hassard. — William Hunter. 103 CHAPTER XIV. William T. Robinson. — Count Vernon. — Headquarters of Count Ro chambeau. — Colonel Wanton. — Capt. Wallace. — Mrs. Mary Hun ter's Diary. — Abigail and Anne Greene. — John Allen. 112 TABLE OF CONTENTS. 7 CHAPTER XV. PAGE Updike's History of the Narragansett Church. — Old Time Customs. — Nicholas Gardiner. — "Dorothy Hollow." — "The Crying Bog." — Gooseberry Island.— The French Hermit. — " The Palatine Ship." 119 CHAPTER XVI. The Unfortunate Hannah on MacSparran Hill. — Singular state of the atmosphere. — Mr9. Simons' nice sense of hearing. — Her con ductors take her from the hill and proceed homeward. 127 CHAPTER XVII. Pettaquamscutt Bridge. — Mrs. Simons arrive^ home. — Dr. Robert Hazard. — Death and burial of the "Unfortunate Hannah." — Lines contributed by Miss Eliza Gibson Hazard. 136 CHA PTER XVIII. Genealogical Tables of the Robinson Family of Narragansett. 146 CHAPTER XIX. Genealogical Tables of the English and Irish Hazards, or Hassards. 165 CHAPTER XX. Genealogical Table of the Rhode Island Hazards. 181 CHAPTER XXI. Historical Sketch and Genealogical Table of the Hazard Family of the Middle States. 226 CHAPTER XXII. Genealogical Table of the Sweet Family, the Natural Bone-setters of Narragansett. 265 Recollections of Olden Times, Rowland Robinson of Narragansett and his Unfortunate Daughter, CHAPTER I. About one mile west of Narragansett Bay, and a half mile north of the old colonial highway that leads to and from the South Ferry, formerly called "Franklin Ferry," there now stands a gambrel-roofed house, occupied at present by Mr. Rowland F. Gardiner, and built by Rowland Robinson before the middle of thelast century. Originally, the house including the negro quarters was one hundred and five feet in length, the stone foundations of the whole being now visible ; but the present structure measures but fifty-four feet front. The west front room on the ground floor is twenty feet square. This room is paneled and elaborately finished in the best architectui'al style of that day. The timber was cut on the estate, and is very large. In a recent visit to the premises I took especial note of the middle cross-beam that supports the chamber floor over the west front room. It is twenty feet long and twelve inches square, and is without support underneath its full length ; yet I could not perceive that, in the century and more that have passed since it was placed there, it had sagged or bent in the least degree. All the 10 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. rooms in the house are finished after the same costly pattern, and most of the fire-places ornamented with the old-fash ioned Chinese tiles. The dining-room is twenty-two by twenty feet in dimensions. On the panel over the fire-place in a back room ou the ground floor is a large, ancient paint ing in which the artist has, in a more graphic than finished style,sketched in oil a stag or deer hunt that occurred on the premises while the house was being built. The hunts men are depicted fully accoutered in their sporting costumes, with high flap boots, and sitting, or rather standing very erect in their stirrups. The chamber over the west room was occupied for some time during the Revolutionary war by the Marquis La- fa\'ette, and has ever since been designated by the successive occupants of the premises, "The Lafayette Chamber." In making some recent repairs two one-ounce bullets were found embedded in the plank in front of this room. Whether there is any historical significance attached to this incident, I have not learned. A large apartment over the dining-room is called to this day the "Unfortunate Hannah's Chf),mber," from its having been occupied by a beautiful daughter of Mr. Robinson by that name, whose tragic story is briefly told in Updike's "Histo ry of the Narragansett Church." The cupboard is still shown in which her lover used to retreat when the steps of her irascible father were heard on the stairs. Rowland Robinson was born October 8, 1719, and was the eldest son of Gov. William Robinson, who owned and improved an estate, in the beginning of the eighteenth cen tury, lying in Point Judith and extending west of the River Saucatucket, the Indian for "dead man's bi-ook," of several thousand acres, most of which had descended to him by inheritance from his great-grandfather, Rowland Robinson, who came to Narragansett fi'om England, and purchased a large tract of land directly from the Indians, on which he built not far from where the old Gov. William Robinson RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. 11 house, with the exception of the negro quarters, is now standing, a little north of the pond in Point Judith called " Kit's Pond." Updike, in his History of the Narragansett Church, p. 179, says : " In Narragansett, resided tiie great landed aristoc racy of the colony. Their plantations were large," some of them very extensive. Major Mason of Connecticut, in a letter to the commissioners of that colonj^ dated August 3, 1670, persuading them to relinquish all further claim of jurisdiction over the Narragansett country, says: 'Those places that are any way. considerable, are already taken up by several men, in farm and large tracts of land, some having five, six and ten square miles — j'^es and I suppose some have much more, which some of you or 3'ours may see or feel here after.' " If the following account, taken from Mrs. Mary Hunter's diary, written some fifty years or more ago, is correct, it would seem that the first Robinson who came to Rhode Isl and, though of an ancient and highly respected English family, was nevertheless in some respects a self-made man. " Rowland Robinson the fii-st ran away from his parents and escaped on boaid a ship from England to the colonies, and bound himself to a carpenter. By good behavior he soon got advanced in business, and bought from the Indians large tracts of land on which he built, partly with his own hands, tiie homestead in Point Judith. He married a rich farmer's daughter, had many children, and from his eldest son, William, the Robinson family are descended." Wm. T. Robinson, son of Thomas and father of Mrs. Mary Huriter, used to lelate an amusing anecdote of one of the early Robinsons who, it appears, had joined the Quaker Meeting. Governor Brenton had placed him on a farm belong ing to him, situated on the south end of the island, adjacent to Brenton's Point, and stocked it largely with sheep. In a violent snow-storm, such as used to prevail more fre quently than of late in New England — though I have known 12 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. several in my day, perhaps equally destructive — ,these sheep having been left in an exposed position, were driven by the inclement tempest of wind and sleet off the rocks into the sea, where they perished. When Robinson communicated the loss of the sheep to Brenton, the Governor being a man of hasty temper, as most of the early settlers of Newport and King's — now Washington — counties in Rhode Island seem to have been, he flew into a towering rage with his tenant, and reproached him in unmeasured terms for the loss of the sheep through, as he charged, gross neglect. To all the abuse heaped upon him Robinson answered not a word, which submissiveness seemed only to increase Bren ton's ire, who at last, in his frenzy, declared that Robinson should pay for the lost sheep, and bid him choose a man to arbitrate their value, while he chose anothei", which Brenton did on his part instanter. It was now Robinson's turn to choose his man . "Friend Brenton," said he, "I know of no one whom I should prefer to trust my interest v/ith than thou ! I think I will choose thee for my man." This was too mucb for the governor, who, after bursting into a fit of laughter, told his unmanageable tenant to go back to the farm and he would venture to trust one more flock of sheep to his care. The extent of Governor Robinson's farming operations may be guessed at from what my paternal grandmother, who was his daughter and a sister of Rowland by his, first wife, used to saj', that after her father had given several large tracts of land to his sons, including the Governor Sprague, .Little Neck and Narragansett Pier estates, he used to congratulate him self upon having his parlor and kitchen family reduced in the winter season to seventy persons all told. Nor was Governor Robinson the only large land-holder in those days. Robert Hazard, my father's grandfather, im proved, including large cattle ranges lying adjacent to Wor- den's Pond, several thousand acres, two thousand of which lay in the rich southern portion of Boston Neck and on the RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. IS Tower Hill slope adjoining Governor Robinson's estate on the north. My father said that his grandfather used to ship to the West Indies about one hundred horses annually, all of which were raised on the farm he improved, and that he employed twelve women, each with a young assistant, to manage his dairy, and sent occasionally two schooners from the South Ferry to the West Indies, laden entirely with pro duce and live stock from his own farms. For a more de tailed account of Robert Hazard's farming operations, see Updike's History, pages 179-181. Updike also states that Colonel Staunton owned one tract of land in-Narragansett, four and a half miles long and two miles wide. Colonel Updike owned three thousand acres, lying adjacent to Wickford. Mr. Sewall owned all the land in Point Judith lying south of Governor Robinson's estate, now constituting six largs farms, whilst the Champlins, Potters, Noyeses, Babcocks, Gardiners, Perrys, Browns, Nileses, Brentons, and many others, owned and Occupied large landed properties. The Champlin estate lay for the most part in Charlestown, and I can remember when the old family mansion-house was in pretty good repair, and have traced the lines of the race course, lying on the plain south of the house toward the sea, .. where the old-time gentry used to prove the speed of the horses that were reared on their own estates. Farther still to the east lay the Colonel Staunton estate, the manor-house of which, situated on the old post-road, I think may yet be standing. Still farther to the east used to stand, since my recollec tion, what was called the "Old Hull House," being one of the first six houses that were built by the early settlers of Narragansett between Franklin Ferry on the east and Paw- catuck river, which made the western boundary of the country of the once powerful Indian tribe of Narragansetts. It was in the parlor of this house that the first murder in Narragansett was perpetrated, under the following circum- 14 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. stances. A daughter of the host had been married during the day, and whilst in the evening the friends were celebrat ing her wedding, a rejected lover approached in the dark a window where the newly married couple stood conversing, and, placing the muzzle of his gun within a few feet of his victim, sent a bullet through her heart. Still farther to the east, on the south side of the old post- road, stood the old mansion of Judge Samuel Perry, who, since my memory, was held to be the largest land-holder in Southern Rhode Island. It was from this family that Com modore Oliver Hazard Perry descended, he having been named after his grandfather, Oliver Hazard, the -fourth in degree from the first settler, Thomas Hazard. Yet still farther to the east, used to stand beside the "Potter Pond," on the old post-road, the Governor John Potter house? which was removed some score or two years ago by the late James and John — Jimmy and John — Sherman, who lived and died in the old mansion-house, which still stands near the west bank of Saucatucket river, one mile or more north of Peacedale. The Governor John Potter house was built and finished throughout in a really palatial style, as I can well remember. The stone steps leading to the front door weie circular in form, and very lofty. The ceilings of the lower rooms were nearly or quite twice the ordinary height. On the panel over the fire-place in a chamber I used to observe a full-length portrait of Governor Potter's daughter, which was said to have been painted by an Italian artist whom he had employed to embellish the walls of his house. Tradition used to say, that, taking advantage of the fath er's somewhat prolonged absence on a certain occasion, the perfidious Italian painted himself kneeling at the feet of the charming Miss Potter. This, however, gave such offence to the irate old gentleman, that immediately upon his discovery of what had been done in his absence he drove the . poor artist from his house, and afterwards employed another to expunge the kneeling figure. The lovers, however, were RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. 15 not thus to be separated, and shortly after Miss Potter eloped from the parental roof and was united in wedlock with the fascinating stranger. The late Daniel E. Updike, of East Greenwich, who was a perfect gazetteer in old time recollections and anecdotes, used to tell a great deal of ''Old Bocca Chicca" John Potter, who, I have since been told, lived on Little Rest Hill. Were it not for this fact, I should think the nickname might be a corruption of the Italian word Boccaccia, signifying "ugly mouth," bestowed upon the old gentleman by his vindicitive son-in-law. At any rate, the coincidence is rather singular. About one mile north of the village of "Little Rest,"now Kingston, used to stand, since my recollection, the fine old mansion of Judge William Potter, who owned a large land ed estate adjoining. In about the year 1780, Judge Potter became a devoted follower of the celebrated Jemima Wil kinson, and, to accommodate herself and adherents, "he built a la>ge addition to his already spacious mansion, con taining fourteen rooms and bedrooms, with suitable fire places." It was probably from this cause that the house used to be popularly called "The Old Abbey," partly on ac count of its spaciousness, and partly from the character of its occupants. Updike, in his history of the Narragansett Church, page 235, says,"that in consequence of his devotion to this art ful woman. Judge Potter was compelled to mortgage his estate ; and finding it impossible to redeem it in its deterio rated condition, he finally, in 1807, sold the remainder of his . interest in it and settled in Genesee. "The late Hon. Elisha R. Potter purchased the homestead, but the elegant garden, with parterres, borders, shrubbery, summer-house, fruit orchard, his ancient mansion, with the high and costly fences, outhouses and cookery establish ment, and the more recent erections for the accommodation and gratification of the priestess of his devotions, were in ruins, and, within a few years, the whole buildings have been 16 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. removed." To this account, I may add in parenthesis, that a somewhat similar fate as attended the Potter estates has fallen on score upon score of others that were occupied by the gentry of the olden time. A stranger now viaiting Narragansett and obsei'ving the unthrifty and worn-out appearance of most of the farm-houses and lands, the latter to a great extent disfigured with dilapi dated walls and loose boulders and cobble-stones, and fast being overrun with briers and bushes, could hardly believe that scarcely a century ago this beautiful, though now deso late-looking, farming country, teemed with a superabundance of dairy and other agricultural products, and was studded throughout with princely mansions, a few skeleton specimens of which only are now left standing. As Updike in his History narrates, the original owners and occujiiints of the soil of Narragansett were for the most part high-toned, highly cultured English country-gentlemen, who, with their accomplished and carefully educated families, constituted a social fiaternity which was certainly not sur passed in polite culture, refinement and hospitality in the British American colonies. This fascinating social structure was, however, based upon and sustained by the unrequited toil of the African race, and has been visited with the blight that always, sooner or later, follows in the foot-prints of human slavery. In an address delivered by him before the Rhode Island Historical Society, February 19, 1851, the Hon. Elisha R. Potter said, " All along the belt of land adjoining the west side of Narragansett Bay, the country, generally productive, was owned in large plantations by wealthy proprietors, who resided on and cultivated their land. They had the cultiva tion which would naturally result from a life of leisure, from intercourse with each other and with the best informed men of the colony, and from the possession of private libraries for that day large and extensive." Says Updike, p. 184, "The gentlemen of ancient Narragan- RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. 17 sett were well informed, and possessed of intellectual taste. The remains of these libraries and paintings would be suffi cient testimonials if other sources of information were de fective. Doctor Babcock, Colonel Staunton, Judge Helme, Captain Jones, Colonel Potter, Colonel Willet, Colonel Robert Brown, the Hazards, Captain Silas Brown, the Bren tons, owned valuable libraries. Doctor McSparran, Doctor Fayerweather, Colonel Updike, and Matthew Robinson pos sessed rich collections for that day in classical and English literature." In alluding to the subject of slavery. Judge Potter, in his address, said, "From the nature of the climate, the expense of supporting slaves was greater than in more southern lat itudes, and public opinion would not sanction overwork or ill-treatment. The children of their owners were brought up in leisure, with little acquaintance with any profession or business, and when, in the course of time, slavery was abol ished and they were brought into contact with men educated to labor and self-dependence, the habits, they had acquired from slavery proved the ruin of most of them, and their property was encumbered and passed into other hands. "The equal division of property upon the death of the parent contributed to the breaking up of these large plan tations, and probably contributed also to the abolition of slavery itself. Until 1770, the eldest son inherited, by law, the whole estate of a person dying without a will ; and after that time until 1792, he was entitled to a double portion. But public opinion and the common sense of right were stronger than the law ; and except in a very few cases property was equally divided by will. And so strong was this feeling that in many cases where the eldest son, for want of a will, became entitled to the whole, he voluntarily _ gave up his legal rights, and admitted the other children to a share in the estate. "The abolition of slavery [in Rhode Island] was gradual. In 1774, the importation of slaves was prohibited, and every 18 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. slave brought into the colonj' was declared free. Large numbers of them joined our Revolutionary army, and were declared free on enlisting. They were among the best of the American troops, and rendered efficient service in the war, and finally in 1784, all children of slaves, born after that year were declared free." It is an historical fact that the first regularly organized body of American colored troops that ever engaged in battle, was during the Revolutionary war under General Sullivan in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, where they bravely withstood the charge of British troops and more than once repulsed them. (See Hon. S. G. Arnold's Centennial Address, 1878.) Even at a time to which my memory extends, when dairy products, the staples of Narragansett, were less than half the price they now are, farming lands in South Kingstown sold for twice the sum that can now be obtained for them. The Gov. George Brown farm, containing nearly four hun dred acres, which formerly constituted one of the most eligible tracts of the Hazards' Boston Neck estates, has been recently sold, as I am told, after long advertisement, for less than ten thousand dollars ; and yet I have heard my father say that his ancestors paid in early colonial times as high as sixty dollars per acre for land in the same vicinity. I well remember when the late Elisha Watson, Esq., more than fifty years ago, purchased the farm lying north of Governor Brown, containing about three hundred and thirty acres, for which he paid in coin seventeen thousand dollars. Arnold says, in his History of Rhode Island, that so late as 1780, "South Kingstown was by far the wealthiest town in the State, paying double the taxes assigned to Newport, and one-third more than Providence." CHAPTER II. Rowland Robinson, though perhaps a little too much after the brusk order of Fielding's "Squire Western," was a fair specimen, in temper and manners, and a perfect beau ideal, in costume, presence and person, of the old-time country gentlemen who constituted the semi-feudal aristocracy of Narragansett. In person he was portly, tall and erect. His features were Roman, slightly tempered with the Grecian type. His clear blonde complexion, inclining to red, and undulating brown hair, worn in a cue behind, attested his Saxon descent. When in full dress Mr. Robinson gener ally wore a dark silk velvet or brown broadcloth coat, light yellow plush waistcoat with deep pockets and wide flaps resting partly on the hips, short violet colored velvet breeches buckled at the knee, nicely polished white-top boots, or sil ver buckled shoes, fine cambric shirt profusely ruffled and plaited at the bosom and wrists, with white silk neck-tie to match ; the .whole surmounted and set off by a looped-up, triangular hat on his head and a stout gold-headed cane in his hand. I have heard it said by persons acquainted with Revolu tionary data, that such was the admiration inspired by the fine appearance and courtly bearing of Rowland Robinson, though then far beyond the prime of manhood, who occasion ally came to his brother Thomas Robinson's house in New port, where Count Rochambeau, commander of the French land-forces, resided for some time as a guest, that many of the count's officers sought introductory letters to Mr. Robinson, that they might obtain access to and share in the hospital- 20 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. ities of his home in Narragansett. To what extent Mr. Rob inson's beautiful and accomplished daughter, then deceased, might have contributed as a further element of attraction had they seen her when in the zenith of her glory, to the proverbially gallant and light-o-love Frenchmen, can only be surmised. I do, however, know that a fair cousin of Han nah's, Mary -by name, was sent to Narragansett and placed by her parents in the care of her uncle and aunt (my grand parents), that the lovely maiden might be removed from the society of the numerous young French officers, one of whom, under the cloak of calling at her father's house to see his general. Count Rochambeau, had nearly succeeded through his blandishments in pursuading the little Quaker beauty to exchange her drab bonnet for a Parisian hat and become his bride, before the alarming plot was discovered and its fur ther denouement arrested hj keeping the lovers separated until his "most Christian Majesty's" land-forces took their final departure from Newport. Thomas Robinson, of Newport, the father of Mary, the Quaker beauty, and his brother-in-law, Thomas Hazard, of Narragansett (my grandfather), were two of the earliest, as well as the most active and efficient, advocates for the abo lition, not only of the slave trade but of slavery in any form in the British colonies. In Thomas Robinson, the wronged and oppressed, whether white or black, were ever sure to find a friend, and I have heard my father and others narrate deeds of daring performed by the Quaker philanthropist in defense of outraged humanity, truly heroic. On one occasion, learning that a negro had been abducted for the purpose of being sold into slavery, and was then on board a vessel in Newport Harbor just about to sail for the West Indies, Mr. Robinson, accompanied by only one man, proceeded in a row-boat to the vessel, which he boarded, and demanded of its ruffian captain that the man should be given up to him. This, after torrents of foul oaths and threaten- ings, the pirate was finally compelled to do, although Mr. RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 21 Robinson had no legal warrant with which to enforce his determined demand. Nor did his sympathetic nature manifest itself in one di rection only. I have heard " old Thomas Goddard " — that prince among his peers and gentleman by natural right — say that he had known Thomas Robinson to come to his house early in the morning, when the weather had suddenly be come stormy and cold, and hand to him thirty doUars or more at one time, with directions to spend it all in furnish ing wood to such poor families as he might find in need ; and this, too, although his own income was quite limited. Though irritable and passionate beyond measure or reason when crossed or opposed, Rowland Robinson's nature seemed wholly devoid of malice and as compassionate and full of tenderness when not angered as any woman's. When quite young I used to hear many anecdotes told illustrative of these traits in his character, some of which I will narrate. In the year 1741, Mr. Robinson married Anstis Gardiner, daughter of Colonel John Gardiner who lived in a house yet standing on the old family estate a few furlongs south of the South Ferry, in Boston Neck. Dr. Sylvester Gardiner, of Boston, the ancestor of the Gardiners of Maine, was a son of William (grandfather to Anstis), and was born in the house before mentioned. Sylvester's constitution being frail, his father sent him to Boston to be educated as a physician, and finally to England and Prance, where he remained for eight years under the medical instruction of the most distin guished practitioners of the healing art. (See Updike's History of the Narragansett Church.) Previous to establishing his household Mr. Robinson en gaged with others of his friends in sending a vessel from Franklin Ferry to the Guinea coast, for slaves, out of his por tion of which he proposed to select most of his domestic servants and farming hands and dispose of the remainder by sale, as was the custom in those days. Up to the time of the return of the vessel — such was the force of education and habit — the cruelty and injustice involved in the slave-trade 22 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. seemed never to have entered Mr. Robinson's mind, but now when he saw the forlorn, woe-begone looking men and wo men disembarking, some of them too feeble to stand alone, the enormity of his offense against humanity presented it self so vividly to his susceptible mind, that he wept like a child, nor would he consent that a single slave that fell to his share — twenty -eight in all — should be sold, but took them all to his own house where, though held in servitude, they were kindly cared for. I have heard it said by old people that these Africans ar rived at Mr. Robinson's at a season of the year when rye was fit for harvest ; that he had a large field of this grain on the east side of his farm which was bounded on Narragan sett Bay ; and that not being provided with a sufficient quantity of sickles to supply all the men, a part were set to work furnished with case-knives for want of better imple ments with which to gather the grain into sheaves. "' Among the African slaves imported by Mr. Robinson was a woman who after her arrival was called by the name of, Abigail. Abigail became in time so pleased with her Nar ragansett home, that she solicited and obtained the consent of her master to return to Guinea for the purpose of bring ing to Narragansett her only son. Mr: Atmore Robinson, of Wakefield, had at one time in his possession the account- books of old Rowland Robinson, containing the expenses for outfit and passage of Abigail on board a slave-ship to Afri ca and return with her son. In this schedule the articles deemed by Mr. Robinson essential to their comfort while on board ship are minutely inventoried. The entries in the book include table-linen, bedding, cooking utensils, dishes, spoons, knives and forks, etc., etc. Abigail successfully ac complished her mission, and returned in safety with her son, who was thereupon domesticated into Mr. Robinson's family. Rowland Robinson held many responsible positions under both the colonial and state governments ; and among others that of sheriff of Kings county. RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 23 Sometime during the winter of 1741, two travelers stop ped late in the afternoon at the Iiouse of a widow Nash, who lived in one of the six old houses before alluded to, which I think is yet standing near a small rivulet on the east side of the old post-road, about one mile from Dockray's corner. Mrs. Nash had the kindness to dress their hair, and playful ly remarked to the smaller of the two whilst so engag ed, that if he was murdered she could identify his person by a round black lock of hair that marked his head. About sunset the two men proceeded on their journey with the avowed intention of reaching Franklin Ferry that night and passing over to Newport in the morning. It subsequently came to light that one of the men, whose name was Jackson, had started from Virginia with a horse load of deer-skins which he intended to convey to Boston, and that he was joined on the way by a Captain William Carter, an old privateersman of Newport, Rhode Island, who had been shipwrecked somewhere on the coast south of the Chesapeake, and was making his way home on foot. After leaving Mrs. Nash's, and when passing over the southern por tion of Tower Hill in the evening, it also appeared that Carter knocked Jackson from his horse by hitting him on the back of the head with a stone. Jackson, however, recovered him self and ran to an old uninhabited house near by — which was the only semblance of a habitation within a mile and . more of the spot — where he was pursued and beaten to death by Carter, who then proceeded on his way with Jackson's horse and pack, having previously dragged his victim nearly a mile down the hill to a salt water estuary called Petta quamscutt Cove, and shoved the corpse under the ice, from whence it was fished up some days after by a man whilst jab bing for eels with a spear and identified by Mrs. Nash as the stranger with the black spot on his head, to whom she had unconsciously spoken so ominously. The place where Jackson was first knocked down by Car ter is still marked by a stone at the base of the road wall 24 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. directly west of the exact spot, with the figures "1741" en graven on it. This stone is not far from the junction of the road and the north line of the lot on which the late Nich olas Austin some years ago erected a house on the very same site where the ruins of the old "Carter and Jackson chimney" since my remembrance stood. This monument, in commemoration of the murder, is sit uated a few rods south of the print of the horseshoe made in a stone, as tradition said, b}' the Devil, who left his home among the Massachusetts Puritans in Cotton Mather times, in pursuit of an old Indian squaw, who, after honestly for feiting to him her soul, meanly attempted to escape out of her sable creditor's own proper jurisdiction into Rhode Is land, just before the penalty became due. The Devil's first sttip can now be traced by the print of a giant foot — called to this day "the devil's foot" — in a rock situated in the old post-road, some half way between East Greenwich and Wickford, from whence he struck next on Chimney Hill, having previously, in order to disguise his route, caused his cloven foot to be shod with an old horse shoe. From this point the Devil landed at the next stride on Block Island, where he captured his victim, and seizing her by the hair of the head, delivered her into the hands of his Puritan children in Boston to be shipped to the Barba- does and exchanged for rum and sugar on his account. Rowland Robinson, who was sheriff of Kings (now Wash ington) county, at the time of the murder, arrested Carter on the "Point," in Newport, where he found him at his sis ter's, holding her child on his knee, and without aid brought the criminal, who was a remarkably powerful and desperate ly resolute man, over both the ferries and lodged him in jail at Tower Hill, which was the county seat, "whence he was taken, tried, convicted and condemned, and shortly after hanged in gibbet at the eastern foot of Tower Hill, on what is now called the "training lot," lying between the highway leading to the South Ferry and Pettaquamscutt river. RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 25 When I was a boy I used to sit in the kitchen chimney-- corner and listen, with my hair on end, to "Uncle Sci" and other old negroes as they told how scared they used to be when they rode by of a dark night and heard the chains creaking in the wind, and ever and anon one of Carter's bones fall cajunk to the ground. Whilst on the way from the ferry to the jail, a distance of four miles. Carter, who was walking, showed signs of weariness; upon observing which Sheriff Robinson, who rode a powerful black horse, after loosing the bonds of his prison er, made him mount and ride on the crupper behind him. My father was named for his maternal uncle, Rowland Robinson, who, after the death of his wife and children, be queathed to him a large part of his landed property, which, under time-honored semi-feudal usage, rendered it morally incumbent on him to make comfortable provision for the support of the superannuated negroes and other dependents who had become domiciled on his deceased uncle's estate. One of these, an old negro, by the name of Cuddymonk, used to occupy a few acres of land and a small house of my father's, that stood on the pleasant promontory that projects from the west side of the Wakefield mill pond, a little north of the dam. It used to be told that Cuddy once raised the earliest pota toes that were ever dug from the ground in South Kingstown. The old man had just finished planting one day when a friend chanced to call unexpectedly, and Cuddy was obliged to dig up his newly-planted potatoes to furnish his guest with a dinner. Cuddymonk was quite a philosopher in his way, and his ideas on the abstruse questions of finance and political econo my might well be favorably compared with some of the the ories that have been broached of late, on the floor of Congress, by members who stand high in the estimation of a majority of their constituents. Cuddy used to fatten yearly two pigs on corn that he 26 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. bought, the pork from one of which he cured for his own use, whilst he sold the other. In making up his accounts and finding that the money received for his pig scarcely paid the cost of the corn it had consumed. Cuddy used to remark that " times would never be good in dis country, till corn was pistareen (20 cents) a bushel, and pork pistareen a pound." Another old retainer (of Welsh descent) who had lived from boyhood with Mr. Robinson and claimed to have been his head farmer, by the name of Benjamin Nichols, also occupied a tenement of my father's for many years. I knew the old man well, and used, some sixty years ago, to like very much to talk with him about " old times." Let the subject commenced with be what it might, it was pretty sure to run into some anecdote or relation on his part connected with " old Rowland Robinson," whose memory he fairly idolized. Many of the stories he used to tell, like the following, strik ingly illustrated the peculiarities of Mr. Robinson's hasty and undisciplined, but yet kindly, nature. Mr. Robinson had furnished an old Guinea negro that he imported, named Steppany, who was a .notorious thief, with a little home some miles away. Steppany fell sick one time, and sent his boy to his old master. The boy happened to come about noonday, when Mr. Robinson and his work peo ple were going home from the field. Noticing the boy in the company behind him, the old gentleman asked Nichols who he was, and was told it was Steppany's boy, who had come to tell him that his father was sick. Upon this Mr. Robin son turned to the boy and said, excitedly, "Boy! what makes your father such a thief?" and, as he walked along, continued to berate Steppany most vehemently. After a little time, looking over his shoulder and not seeing the boy, Mr. Robinson hastily inquired where he was, and was told by Nichols that he had frightened him so that he had taken to his heels and run away ! " Run quick and catch him, Benjamin !" cried Mr. Robinson. Nichols accordingly start- RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 27 ed, but the boy seeing himself pursued only ran the faster and got clear away. The same afternoon a horse was laden with necessaries and sent by Mr. Robinson's body servant, Prince, to the relief of the " thief," by his old master. This boy was afterwards killed by a stroke of lightning. Mr. Robinson lost no time, after being apprised of the fact, in going to see Steppany. On his arrival at the old negro's house he found him sitting beside the body of his child and looking very glum. On Mr. Robinson offering some words of condolence, Steppany gruffly said, " Yes, massa ! s'pose God ormighty tink he do some big ting when he kill dat little boy," adding defiantly, " nex' time let him try his thunder on ole nigger !" Another thief, by the name of Jerry, lived in a small tene ment of Mr. Robinson's, for whom he had worked as a farm hand a great many years. Mr. Robinson kept a large flock of sheep, from which Jerry used occasionally to take one by night for his family's use. Against these proceedings of his old farm servant Mr. Robinson had made no decided protest until in one of his sheep-stealing expeditions Jerry accident ally got hold of a fine English ram which Mr. Robinson had recently imported and, without the knowledge of the depre dator, turned in with his flock. One morning Nichols dis covered that this ram was missing. On informing Mr. Robinson of the fact, the old gentleman flew into a frenzied rage and without hesitation declared that the rascally thief Jerry must have stolen it, and ordering his horse he rode at once to the delinquent's house. Jerry was cutting wood at the door, but espying Mr. Robinson hastily approaching in the distance he slipped into the house and hid beneath a bed. When the thundering, rap of Mr. Robinson's heavy cane was heard on the door it was tardily opened by Jerry's wife, who, in answer to his angry demands to see the " rascally thief," told him that her husband had gone fishing " to get some thing for his children's dinner." This the exasperated old 28 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. gentleman knew to be false, as he had got a glimpse of Jerry just as he was entering the door on his approach, and more over readily divined by the odor that reached him through a broken window, that a portion of his English ram was at that moment in process of being cooked. Amidst Mr. Robin son's loud and angry threatenings that he would cane the "rascally thief" to death, Jerry was finally forced to^ show himself at the door, when, raising his cane aloft, as he sat on his horse, the irate old gentleman roared at the top of his voice, " Come here, you rascally thief, while I break every bone in your body for stealing my English ram !" The trembling culprit knew it would naught avail to deny the main fact, and sought to palliate his offense by alleging that owing to the darkness of the night he did not discover, until he came to dress the mutton, that he had made a mistake in catching the ram under the supposition that it was " a big wether sheep." To the hypocritical old sinner's entreaties for mercy Jerry's wife joined her tearful appeals, aided by some half-dozen, ragged,whimpering children, that she brought forward to the rescue, who, if her asseverations could be relied upon, had been for the week past suffering from sheer starvation. , Altogether, the aggregate forces were too much for Mr. Robinson's placable and compassionate, though un trained and fickle, nature to resist, and after striving in vain to maintain his angry deportment he was at length forced to capitulate and turn away hastily — lest the gathering moisture in his eyes should be observed — with the semi-angrily ex pressed caution and threat that if Jerry did not want every bone in his old body broken, he had better be careful in future how he mistook his " English ram for a wether sheep." Old Benjamin Nichols used to relate that on another occasion, whilst Mr. Robinson was assisting Jerry in driving some young cattle through an open bar- way between two of the adjoining famous six " Smith meadows," that are bound ed northerly on the South Ferry road and easterly on the Ferry estate, the old gentleman became very much excited RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 29 because of the persistence of the cattle in refusing to leave the lot they were in — as experienced farmers are aware is often their most provoking wont under similar circumstances. Again and again, the cattle were driven up to the bar-way, and just as they seemed in the act of passing quietly through would suddenly start back and race away across the field. On the last of these occasions Mr. Robinson, who was on horseback, in an excessively angry freak, threw his cane, missed the steer at which the blow was aimed, and broke Jerry's leg short off below the knee. Upon this Mr. Robin son's angry passion was at once succeeded by one of a different mood. Jerry was tenderly conveyed home, a messenger having been previously dispatched in haste to Point Judith to obtain the immediate services of old Job Sweet, who, with his son Jonathan and his grandsons Job and William of Sugar Loaf Hill in South Kingstown, were never known to fail in replacing and healing a fractured or dislocated bone out of the thousands or tens of thousands they had operated upon, save in one remarkable instance, wherein the patient's spine, being broken, was forced inward in a position where it was impossible to be reached or pressed against by the hand. Old Benny used to say that scarcely a day passed from the time Jerry was hurt until his substantial recovery, on which Mr. Robinson did not ride over to inquire after ^his health, whilst during the whole period of confinement he amply provided for the wants of Jerry's family. After Jerry got entirely well, and again went to work on the farm, he used to say that he wished Mr. Robinson would break his other leg, that his family might live as they did whilst the one he broke was getting well ! CHAPTER III Rowland Robinson made a large dairy, and his fancy was to have none but what were called "blanket cows," that is, cows that are entirely white all around the body between the shoulders and hips. His ambition, old Nichols said, was to have in his yard exactly one hundred " blanket cows," neither more nor less, and he took great pains to keep this number good by raising or purchasing animals so marked, but never fully succeeded. He could manage to keep ninety- nine pretty readily, but whenever the hundred was made up one or more were sure to sicken and die, or be lost through some accident. Rowland Robinson was the father of three children only, viz.: two daughters named Hannah and Mary, both of whom were very beautiful, but especially the first named, and Wil liam, his only son. William, who in gentleness and ami ability of disposition was the very opposite of his father, married Ann (called Nancy), the daughter of George Scott, of Newport, and lived and died in the fine old mansion tliat still stands at the north-east corner of Broadway and Mann avenue in that city. From all I have heard, William Robinson must have been a man most singularly beloved by his fellow-townsmen. He died in October, 1804, and the late Stephen Ayrault Robin son told me that in his boyhood he used to hear that the RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. 81 whole town of Newport mourned his loss, and that strong men, not his especial personal acquaintance, were seen to shed tears on the mere mention of his name days after his funeral. The death of his second daughter, Mary, in early woman hood, by consumption, and the tragic fate of his eldest daughter soon after, called ever after the " unfortunate Hannah," greatly weakened Mr. Robinson's mind, whilst the subsequent loss of his wife and that of his only and dearly beloved son in addition, proved altogether too much for his sensitive and undisciplined nature to bear up against, and his mind soon relapsed into a state of second childhood. Many were the anecdotes that used to be told of eccentric sayings and doings of the old gentleman after his faculties had become thus impaired. Among scores of others the following : One day while in the ferry-boat, on his way to Newport, a fellow passenger made some remark derogatory to the Society of Friends, for which Mr. Robinson reproved him in not very gentle terms. " Are you a Quaker, sir ?" said the stranger. " No," was the quick reply, "but I know and love the Quakers so well that I would fight knee-deep in blood in their defense." The wife of his brother Thomas Robinson, of Newport, whose house is now standing on the "Point," having recently been put in full repair by his great-grandson, Benjamin R. Smith, of Philadelphia, who has considerately made the re pairs in harmony with the ancient architectural design, was a remarkably fine woman and a great favorite of her brother- in-law, Rowland Robinson, who, in case of serious difficulty or trouble, used in his latter days always to resort to her for counsel and comfort, though it necessitated several miles' travel by land and the passing of two long ferries together measuring seven miles. One day he came to Mrs. Robinson in a towering rage against one of the Robinson family in Narragansett, with whom he had quarreled. After stating his grievance to his 32 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. sister, " Sal," said he (as he always called her), " the Robin sons are all rogues." " Why, no," said she, " that cannot be so, brother Rowland, for in that case thou, being a Robinson, must be a rogue thyself." " I believe I am, Sal ! I believe I am !" was the old gentleman's quick reply. On another occasion Mr. Robinson crossed the ferries to Newport to enter a complaint against my father, with whom he had become offended. " Sal," said he, " Rowland Hazard and I have quarreled, and I don't intend to leave him a cent." " And what have you quarreled about, brother ?" mildly asked Mrs. Robinson. After trying a few moments to gather in his thoughts the old man testily replied, " I can't remember now, Sal ! I can't remember now ! but I dare say it was something about money matters !" Sarah Robinson, the wife of Thomas Robinson, was a daughter of Thomas Richardson, who lived in the gambrel- roofed house now standing on the west side of Thames street in Newport, next but one north of Marlborough street, and occupied by Micah W. Spencer. Mr. Richardson was a man of the strictest probity and honor, and was for many years treasurer of the colony of Rhode Island. The original of the following love-letter addressed by Mr. Richardson to Miss Ann Newberry, who afterwards became his wife, has been preserved in the family of his great-grandson, Rowland T. Robinson, of Ferrisburgh, Vermont. It is printed pre cisely in the language of the original : " , YE 17th of 6 MO., 1703. Dear Ann : I have long thought for an oportunity to present thee with a few lines whereby (if thou wilt but Pleasure me So much as to read them) thou may in part perceive the Distemper which Continually Greives mee that is (first) the unhappi- ness that I ly Under by reason of the Great Distance between us so that thereby I am debared from that felicity of Injoy- ing the Company of Thy Person whom I Dearly Love but that is not all for I hope in a Short time to see Thee RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 33 (Secondly) that which Greives mee most is the want of Some Assurance of being excepted in to thy honn.ourable favour (for as'I told Thee) if it stand with God's will that I Injoy Thee for my Dearest friend I should esteemle it a great Blessing even beyond all other this world can afford beside therefore Dear Ann I beseech Thee if thou hast but ye least spark of respect for my happiness honnour mee with a line of Incorredgment Whereoff I take leve and subscribe my self Thy Constant Lover Until Death." But though childlike in intellect, Rowland Robinson re tained his activity of body — owing, probably, in a measure, to his passing so much of his life on horseback — up to almost the day of his death, which occurred in the year 1807, in the 88th year of his age. The late Mrs. Mary Hunter, wife of Hon. William Hunter, formerly United States Minister to Brazil, in moralizing in a diary she kept some half a century ago upon the situation of her great-uncle after the decease of his wife and children, makes this entry : " Rowland Robinson was thus left alone in his grandeur, a man of violent passions, which was charac teristic of the Robinsons, but of a noble, benevolent nature." His remains lie buried in the family vault, beside those of his wife and children. The vault is about twenty feet long by fifteen broad, and is situated on an elevated mound that commands a beautiful land and sea view, some three furlongs west of the old family mansion in Boston Neck. Formerly North Kingstown and South Kingstown constituted one town — Kingstown, in Kings county, which was a part of the old " King's Province " — , and in running a division line between the two towns, when it was subdivided, it is said the line across Boston Neck was veered a little to the north to meet Mr. Robinson's expressed wishes that his house and family place of burial might be included in the town of South Kingstown, within the limits of which he was born and where most of his family, relatives and friends resided. CHAPTER IV. From all I used to hear related in my young days con cerning the "unfortunate Hannah Robinson," her personal charms and accomplishments must have been of a character almost exceeding belief. She was described as being rather above the medium height, her figure just a trifle inclined to embonpoint, of a clear complexion delicately tinted with the rose, dark hazel eyes, Grecian features of the finest mould throughout, surmounted with a faultless head of auburn hair that fell in luxuriant ringlets about her swanlike neck and shoulders, all of which was made the more bewitchingly at tractive by a surpassingly lovely expression of countenance and an incomparable grace in speech, manner, and carriage. As had been the custom of the Narragansett gentry in times past, the parents of Miss Robinson spared neither pains nor expense in the education of their children, and, when ad vanced in her teens, their daughter was placed in the care of aji aunt at Newport, that she might receive instruction in the more polite branches under the care of the celebrated Madame Osborne, a most accomplished lady, whose fame as an instructor of young ladies was not confined to Newport, where she resided, nor to America. It was said that Madame Osborne was a Swedenborgian in belief, and very devotional in her nature. Most of her patrons were ruined in property, or greatly impoverished by the events of the Revolutionary war, and she was left in RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 35 quite destitute circumstances in her old age, but yet her faith never wavered from an entire assurance, that she would be provided with everything necessary for her comfort during her sojourn on earth. Old Thomas Hornsby, of Newport, whose life was devoted to nursing and attending on the sick, for which his gentle breeding and sympathetic nature pre-eminently qualified him, used to tell me a curious anecdote in this connection. Mrs. Osborne lived in chambers for which she paid five dollars a quarter rent. As the time for a quarterly payment drew near, it was the practice of some of her friends to a'scertain the prospect she had of getting the needful cash, so as to assist her, if necessary. On one such occasion it seemed to them very doubtful whether this would be forthcoming ; the old lady, however, manifested no uneasiness, but simply said, when queried with, that she would certainly have the amount in season. The day of payment, notwithstanding, arrived with not a cent in prospect to meet the quarter's rent. Still Madame Osborne manifested no alarm, and maintained that the money would come in due season. This did not satisfy, and her friend begged her to inform him whence she ex pected the money to come. Thus urged, the old lady ex hibited some impatience, and rather sharply replied that she did not know whence it was to come — it might be " from France, for all she knew ;" but that she would certainly get it in season to meet the payment ! Scarcely had Madame Osborne pronounced the last word, when a rap was heard at the door, which was opened to a genteel stranger, who, after satisfying himself of the identity of the lady present, proceeded to say that he was from Paris, and that shortly before he left the city, in an interview with a friend of his, who was formerly an aide on Rochambeau's staff in Newport, he requested that if, in his contemplated visit to America, he chanced to, visit Newport, he would much oblige him by seeking out his old friend, Madame Osborne, of that town, and handing her with his kind re- 36 RECOLLECTIONS OF OLDEN TIMES. gards this sovereign (just f5), as a small token of his re membrance of the pleasant hours he had passed in hersociet3\ It was while taking lessons unde?" Madame Osborne's roof that Miss Robinson first saw M. Pierre Simond, or Mr. Peter Simons, a young and highly accomplished teacher in music and other branches of belles-lettres, the scion of a Huguenot family of some note, who were obliged to flee their country during the persecution of the French Protestants, in the reign of Louis XIV. Almost from the hour they met, a senti ment of affection sprung up in the hearts of the young tutor and his lovely, unsophisticated pupil, which had ripened into a strong mutual attachment before Miss Robinson's return to her parents' home in Narragansett. The lovers were aware that it would not do_for one in Mr. Simons' position in life to venture into Mr. Robinson's house as a suitor of his daugh ter, and that it might be equally unsafe to conduct a corre spondence by post. In this dilemma fortune seemed to favor the young people. Miss Robinson's maternal uncle. Col. Wil liam Gardiner, who lived less than two miles from her father's house, found it most convenient to educate his children partly at home. With this purpose in view, in looking about for an accomplished private tutor, through the recommendation of Madame Osborne and others of his Newport friends he engaged Mr. Simons to go with him to Narragansett and •occupy that position in his family. Thus situated, it may be readily divined that the lovers enjoyed many opportunities of seeing each other, especially as Colonel Gardiner, who was of a kind and easy disposition, on becoming aware of the strong attachment that existed between his lovely niece and her former tutor, sought rather to promote opportunities for in terviews between the lovers than otherwise. It was not until her mother's suspicions were aroused on account of the unusual frequency of her daughter's visits to her uncle Gardiner's that Miss Robinson confided to her the secret of her love. After trying for months in vain to per suade her child to discard her affianced lover, and finding RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 37 that nothing could induce her to prove false to her plighted faith, Mrs. Robinson forbore further opposition. Thus en couraged by the mother's tacit consent, if not approval, of his suit, it was mutually arranged by the lovers that Mr. Simons should occasionally walk over from Col. Gardiner's of an evening, and, on the appearance of a signal light in Miss Robinson's chamber window, approach the house and secrete himself in a large lilac bush that grew beneath it, whence billets might be easily passed ; or they could converse in whisper without being detected. In fact, so emboldened did the lovers become by the unbroken success that attended this stratagem that they finally arranged for occasional meet ings in Miss Robinson's own chamber, her mother lending her presence aud countenance to the dangerous adventure, rendered all the more critical because of it being the un- deviating practice of Mr. Robinson to bid his daughter good night before he retired^ even if it required his going to her own chamber or elsewhere. Hence it was necessary to have a convenient place, like the cupboard before alluded to, into which Miss Robinson's lover might retreat on untoward occa sions. Though not yet grown to mature womanhood. Miss Robin son, as might be readily surmised, had many admirers. — Among these was a Dr. William Bowen, of Providence, who was ardently attached to the fair damsel, and earnestly sought her, with her father's full approval, in marriage. Miss Rob inson, however, graciously declined his addresses, and that he might not indulge in delusive hopes, imparted to him in confidence, the fact that her affections were irrevocably en gaged to another. The heart of that rudely chivalric and perfect " dare-devil" Col. Harry Babcock, of Narragansett, but known the world over as " crazy Harry Babcock," was perhaps never subdued by female charms but once. He was the eldest son of Dr. Joshua Babcock, of what is now Westerly, in Narragan sett, a gentleman of refinement and wealth, at whose house 38 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. Benjamin Franklin used always to stop — as he also did with his friend, John Case, Esq., who lived on Tower Hill — in his yearly journeyings on horseback to and from Philadelphia and Boston. Updike, in his History, relates a characteristic anecdote of Dr. Franklin, while he was stopping at Dr. Babcock's. Mrs. Babcock asked him if he " would have his bed warm . ed." " No, madam, thank'ee," he replied ; " but if you will have a little cold water sprinkled on the sheets I have no objection." It was on one of these annual journeyings that Dr. Franklin happened to arrive at a tavern near New London on a cold evening, where he found every place around the blazing wood fire closely occupied. No one offering to relinquish his seat, the doctor called upon the landlord to give his horse a peck of raw oysters, which order was repeated in a more decided tone upon the host hesitating to comply with his re quest. The oysters were accordingly carried out by the landlord, followed by the individuals who had monopolized the seats around the fire, they all being curious to see a horse eat oysters. The landlord soon returned and told the doctor, who, by this time, was comfortably ensconced in the arm chair in the warmest corner, that his horse refused to eat the oysters. " Poor, foolish beast !" said the doctor ; " he don't know what is good ; bring them to me, and see if I will re fuse them !" Alluding to "Crazy Harry," Updike says: "Doctor Bab cock's eldest son. Col. Harry Babcock, was a brilliant and extraordinary man, formed by nature and education to be the flower of his family and an ornament to the country which gave him birth. His biography, written by one who had the requisite documents, talent and leisure, would form a curious, interesting and instructive work." During England's wars with France, in colonial times, Colonel Harry Babcock performed many marvelous feats of valor, both by land and sea, and in all his engagements and RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. 39 fights he never once, it is said, succumbed to a foe. Before the Revolutionary war he went to London, and on the night of his arrival attended a play at Covent Garden Theatre. There being no seat vacant, the Colonel stood in a passage-way. A policeman, seeing his tall, gaunt figure standing erect, with a big slouched hat on his head, touched his shoulder with his baton and told him to be uncovered. Col. Babcock thereupon took off his hat, and, reaching up to a chandelier near by, hung it over one of the lights. A murmur of disapprobation ran through the hall, and the police were about to eject the rude intruder, when some one present, called out, " Colonel Harry Babcock !" - Upon this announcement the performers in the play ceased acting their parts to join in the uproarious applause that greeted the pres ence of the far-famed hero, " Crazy Harry Babcock." A short time after this. Col. Harry Babcock received an invitation to the palace, and w'as introduced to the royal family. When the Queen, in accordance with usage, offered him ' her hand to kiss, the gallant colonel sprang' from his knees to his feet, briskly exclaiming, " May it please your majesty, in my country it is the custom to salute, not the hand, but the lips of a beautiful woman !" and suiting the action to his words, he seized the Queen by the shoulders and impressed on her lips a loud and hearty smack ! Rowland Robinson chancing once to meet Col. Babcock on Little Rest Hill (now Kingston), during a session of the court in February, asked the eccentric colonel to go home with him and stay the night. " Ah, ha !" said Crazy Harry ; " so you want me to see Hannah, that I've heard so much of, do you ? Well, I will go, but don't expect me to fall in love with her, as so many fools have done." As was the general custom in those days, they both rode on horseback, and when they came near to McSparran Hill, one of the longest and probably the steepest hill road in Rhode Island — the ground being covered with ice at the time — ,Mr. Robinson cautioned his friend against the danger 40 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. of descending' on a smooth-shod horse, as his appeared to be, and advised him to dismount and lead his beast down the descent. Instead of heeding the well-meant caution, when they reached the brow of the hill, and Mr. Robinson w^as in the act of dismounting, " Crazy Harry" suddenly exclaimed, " Now, Mr. Robinson, I will show you how the devil rides !" and putting spurs to his horse, he went slipping and sliding down the steep declivity, fortunately without accident, on the full run. When they shortly after arrived at the house, the colonel was in high and outspoken glee at the prospect, as he said, of seeing " the prettiest woman in Rhode Island," these words being spoken in a loud, jocular tone, just as they entered the door of the sitting-room, where Miss Robinson was at the time engaged in sewing. With a slight flush on her cheeks, and a look of surprise, she arose with her cus tomary dignity and grace to receive her father, and welcome his boisterous guest, whose ejes no sooner fell upon the beautiful vision than the rough-spoken hero seemed ito have been suddenly overcome by some charmed spell. As Miss Robinson, on being introduced by her father, extended to ward him her hand, the " crazy colonel" reverentially took it gently in his, and gazing in her face with a subdued look of wonder and admiration, he dropped on his knee before her, and, with a voice tremulous with emotion, softly and slowly said : " Permit, dear madam, the lips that have kissed unrebuked those of the proudest Queen of earth, to press, for a moment, the hand of an angel from heaven." Scarcely less flattering, though in a different vein, was a compliment that was once paid to Miss Robinson's charms by an old Quaker preacher, who chanced to meet her at her uncle Thomas Robinson's, while she was yet attending school. After gazing steadfastly in her face for some minutes, the old man drew his chair to her side and remarked, " Friend, thou are wonderfully beautiful !" CHAPTER V. Though Dr. Bowen kept inviolate the secret of her engage ment imparted to him in confidence by Miss Robinson, her naturally frank and unsuspicious father, nevertheless, began to imagine that there must be some cause unknown to him to account for his daughter's rejection of the addresses of so many suitors, and especially of Dr. Bowen, who seemed every way qualified to confer upon her happiness in domestic life. It was not long before his suspicions were confirmed. Chancing late one evening to step suddenly out of the front door of his house which had been left ajar, Mr. Robinson caught a glimpse of his daughter's arm reaching down from the window above, just as she was about to drop a billet into the extended hand of her lover. Instantly seizing a heavy buckthorn cane that stood near the door he thrust it violent ly into the lilac bush, from which, upon the stick coming in contact with his person, rushed forth a man who was quickly lost to sight in the darkness, but not until Mr. Robinson rec ognized him to be no other than the young teacher of music he remembered to have occasionally seen at the house of his brother-in-law, William Gardiner. Frantic with rage the in censed parent hastened to his daughter's chamber, and up braided her in unmeasured terms for her unfilial conduct in disregarding his wishes respecting the choice of a husband in every way befitting her, and thus throwing herself away upon a wretched " French dancing master," as Mr. Robinson ever after designated Mr. Simons. The poor girl answered 42 RECOLLECTIONS OP OLDEN TIMES. not a word, either in way of confession or denial, but remain ed mute as a statue un