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AN

HISTORICAL ADDRESS

POEM,
DELIVERED AT THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
OF THE INCORPORATION

TOWN OF BAREINGTON,

JXJNE Xr, 1870.

WITH AN HISTORICAL APPENDIX.

EDITED BY
THOMAS W. BICKNELL, A. M.

PEOVXDENCE :
PKINTED BY PROVIDENCE PRESS COMPANY.
1870.

CORRESPONDENCE.

nda lo ; jhotograph^.

Thomas W. Bicknell,

Fronting Title Page

James Bowen,

Page 33

Emerson Humphrey,

" " 57

Allin Bicknell,

" 83

Congregational Church,

" 99

Episcopal Church,'

" 121

Centennial Committee,

'¦ 143

Map of Barrington,

" 170

Barrington, July 2d, 1870.
Ho^n. T. W. BicTcnell:
Dear Sir — At a meeting of the Barrington Centennial Commit
tee, holden at the Town Clerk's Office in said town, on Friday
evening, July 1st, it was unanimously
Beaolved, Tbat tbe thanks of tbe Committee be tendered to Hon. Thomas W.
Bicknell, for tbe eloquent and highly inteiesting Oration delivered by him, on
tbe occasion of the Centennial Celebration.
Regarding the address as a valuable contribution to the early
history of the town, the Committee earnestly desire that it may be
put in some enduring form ; and with that view, the author is
requested to furnish a copy for publication.
I remain, sir, raost respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
. JOHN B. HUMPHREYS, Secretary.

Providence, July Sth, 1870.
J. B. Sumphre'ys, Esq., Secretary Centennial Committee, ^c. :
My Dear Sir — Yours of the 2d instant is at hand, conveying
the vote of the Centennial Committee of Barrington. I shall most
cheerfully comply with the request of the Committee, not from any
special satisfaction I have in the imperfect words prepared for the
Centennial Anniversary, but from a high regard for the lives of the
ancestry who planted our flourishing town, and from a pure admira
tion of the principles on which it was founded,- and which have, in
the main, controlled the sentiments of our people, and have ensured
our present and future prosperity. Whatever will tend to preserve

b CORKESPONDENCE.
in memory the worthy deeds of the good men and virtuous women,
who have made our history valuable, it is the duty, as well as the
privilege, of the loyal descendants of the Pilgrims to do ; and to
prove that loyalty, I shall tender to the Committee the manuscript
of my Oration, for publication.
Extend to the Committee my congratulations for the success
attending their arduous labors, in connection with the Celebration
on the 17th ult., and my thanks for many kind personal favors
shown. I remain, your obedient servant, T. W. BICKNELL.

Barrington, July 2d, 1870.
B. Butterworth, Esq. ;
Mt Dear Sir — At a meeting of the Barrington Centennial Com
mittee, holden at the Town Clerk's Office in said town, on Friday,
evening, July 1st, it was unanimously
Resolved, Tbat tbe thanks of tbe Committee be tendered to Hezekiah Butter
worth, Esq., for the pleasing and appropriate Poem, written by bim for the
occasion, a copy of which is hereby respectfully requested for publication,
I remain, sir, respectfully.
Your most obedient servant,
¦ JOHN B. HUMPHREYS,
Secretary Centenmal Oom'mittee.

Warren, R. I., July 18th, 1870.
John B. Humphreys J Esq. .
Dear Sir— I acknowledge the receipt of your kind note, and
thank the Centennial Committee for their resolution in respect to
the poem. I wish I could have served thera better. I enclose a
copy for publication. Again thanking you, I am, very respectfully yours,
HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH.

jj^ditaiion.

OF THE FOUNDERS OF BARRINGTON AND THEIR
DESCENDANTS,
AND OP SOME THINGS WHICH A LOYAL POSTERITY SHOULD NOT
P0K6ET CONCERNING
A NOBLE ANCESTRY.

SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE TOWN,
WHO CHERISH WITH PROPER REGARD THE MEN AND MANNERS
OF THE OLDEN TIME,
THIS VOLUME IS AFEECTIONATELT DEDICATED.

; jr^at^.

This volume is but a partial record of the men and events which
have made our town's history. The materials have been gathered,
in the midst of other pressing duties, from manuscript records,
letters, tombstones, and the stories of aged men and women. The
amount of labor connected with the preparation of the work from
scattered data, without a printed word to guide me, can be appre
ciated only by those who have been similarly engaged, and errors
will undoubtedly appear, which may be corrected by some future
gleaner of our local history, who with more time for patient toil,
may well reap these fields, rich and white unto the historian's
harvest. The records of Plymouth Colony were first examined ; then the
proprietors' records of Sowaras and Swanzey ; then the records of
old Swanzey ; and subsequently the records of Massachusetts Bay
Colony at Boston, and the town records of Barrington and Warren.
I am especially indebted to Gen. Guy M. Fessenden, of Warren,
for the use of valuable books and manuscripts, and for his interest
which has encouraged me in the work. I am also obliged to other
parties who have loaned me books and manuscripts, to aid in
this undertaking. Among these are the First Baptist Church of
Swanzey, for their courtesy for the use of their ancient records ;
to the Town Clerks of Barrington, Warren, Swanzey and Somerset;
and to Miss Mary W. Armington, of Providence, for valuable papers
written by her father concerning Matthew Watson and his times.
I have written this book that the children might know more of
their ancestors, and how frora the early settlement within the limits

10 PREFACE.
of Ancient Swanzey our goodly town has grown up. In all the
manuscript records and documents I shall let our ancestors speak
and spell for themselves, having endeavored to copy word for word
and letter for letter all that I have printed. The limits of an
address with the notes appended, will not entitle the work to be
called a History of Barrington. The outline only is sketched, to
be filled up by other writers, and I hope that a candid criticism will
aid in correcting errors. I wish to thank all who have aided and
encouraged me, and whose kind indulgence I have most heartily
enjoyed.
T. W. B.
Barrington, July, 1870.

AN

HISTORICAL ADDRESS

DELIVERED AT

BARRIJYGTOJy, JUJYE 17, 1870,

THOMAS W. BICKNELL,

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

Mr. President, Sons a'nd Daughters of Barrington, Adopted
Children, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen :
Welcome Home ! Our good mother, this dear old
town of Barrington, extends her cordial greetings to
this goodly and grand assemblage, who have come with
joyful hearts and willing feet to the maternal hearth and
board on this Centenmal Municipal Birthday. She
welcomes with extended arms and smiling face in this
lovely month of June, the bridal season of the year,
all those who lay claim by birth, by social ties, by
friendly interest, or by official relationship, to her gener
ous hospitalities. Even on the hundredth birthday of
her civil history, and the two hundred and third since
her ancient settlement, her eye is not dimmed nor her
natural strength abated. Indeed the hale and hearty
dame has a prouder step and a nobler mien, than on
the day she left the loving home embrace of her mother,
ancient Swanzey, in 1717, and set up for herself; she
has soberer manners and a more stately walk, than when
thirty years later, a maiden of eighty summers, she
2

14 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
coquetted with Warren, of equal age, who lived in a
snug way just over the river, and with whom she formed
a kind of matrimonial alliance which lasted — well, as
long as many such matches do — as long as both parties
were agreed. And then came the separation in 1770,
the day we celebrate, a day of tears as well as rejoicings,
when the one became twain again — a day of trial as
well as triumph, when the coy and comely maiden,
grown now to the stature and the stamina of independ
ent womanhood asked of her stepmother and guardian,
the State of Rhode Island, a revocation of the bonds of
wedlock which twenty-three years before had made the
two, one. What matrimonial infelicities made them do
it, alas, I know not; or what "little unpleasantness,"
rising like a cloud no larger than a man's hand, seemed
to portend dire disaster to future hopes and happiness,
1 cannot here relate.
Dear brothers and sisters, our lovina: mother has with
wise forethought , provided ample things for this birth
day festival, this natal day of her independence and
enlarged prosperity, and with her usual hospitality she
has opened wide her doors on this glorious hill-top, and
invited us with many more to our old home circle, to
talk over, youth with age, the stories of the olden time,
which grandsires told to the delighted ears and hearts
of these silver-haired and glory-crowned men and women,
as they sat and listened with childish wonder on the
knees of their reverend grandfathers and grandmothers.
It is good thus to come home from our toils and scenes
of business, thick with anxious cares, and return her
royal messages with our loyal response, as when in days
of old, the mail-clad knights gathered around their chief

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 15
to celebrate his victories. Her brow, as you will see,
is not wrinkled with age, even after the roughening
influences of two hundred winters. Her step is yet
strong and vigorous as in youth, and she still keeps pace
with the sisterhood after so long a journey. Her heart
beats steady and full, even with quickening pulsations,
as the hours gather on the dial of her third century.
On this day of mutual congratulations and rejoicings,
we hope to receive new inspirations as we listen to the
voices of the Past, commune with the living Present,
and look forth with prophetic vision into the realms of
the Future. It would have been more fitting had the
tongue of age spoken to-day, rather than that of youth,
of renown rather than of inexperience.
Pardon the error, children, if error it was. I heard
the mother's voice, which bade me speak. I knew
naught but to obey. It is a loving service I render to
day, for "I have considered the days of old, the years of
ancient times," and would preserve with filial care the
landmarks our fathers have set up.
Our first and proudest thoughts on this natal day are
of the mother that bore us, — Ancient Swanzey, — the
maternal dame who has given birth to three towns and
sits as a queen in the centre of the group to witness
tbeir progress and to rejoice over their prosperity ; and
we?may well be filled with filial pride, when we remem
ber that this old town, with an area of more than a
hundred square miles, was once the home of the Wam-
panoags, and contained the royal residence of their
chiefs ; that after the first friendly salutations between
Gov. Bradford and Massasoit, in 1621, the path between
Swanzey and Plymouth was worn by friendly feet, until

16 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
made blood red by the massacres of Philip and his
warriors in 1675 ; that the short, sharp and decisive
contest known as Philip's War, was begun within its
borders by the torch and the tomahawk ; that the Bap
tist refugees under John Myles as leader, sought here
an asylum, and founded the first church of that order
within the limits of Massachusetts and the third in New
England ; that the founders of this old town were among
the foremost men of Plymouth, and were the first to
teach their own colony, as well as that of Massachusetts
Bay, that true religious liberty abolished denominational
titles, and allowed Baptists, Congregationalists and
Quakers to worship under the roof of the same meeting
house, before the pulpit of a Baptist Elder ; that from
hence, an hundred years after her foundation. Brown
University sent forth her first graduates, whose names
are doubly starred on the catalogue and in the history
of that institution, and that on the same territory a cen
tury later, a busy population rise up, by their industri
ous thrift and in their intelligent citizenship to bless the
memories of honored sires.
Barrington, as I have just intimated, was formerly a
part of Swanzey, Mass. The original limits of that
town embraced, beside its present area, the towns of
Barrington and Warren in Rhode Island and Somerset
in Massachusetts. As the first settlement of this old
town made by the whites, was within the limits of the
present town of Barrington, and as the principal events
of its subsequent history for fifty years were transacted
within and on the very borders of our town, it will be
proper for me, and necessary too, to refer as briefly as
possible to the leading facts, in the aboriginal, proprie-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 17
tary and civil history of Swanzey, providing my readers
will bear in mind that the main settlement with the
church as its nucleus, was within the limits of what is
now known as New Meadow ^eck.
The history of Barrington is naturally divided into
six periods.
The first part relates to its ownership and occupation
by the Indians, and may be styled its Original and
Aboriginal History.
The second embraces the period from its purchase by
the early Plymouth settlers of king Massasoit, until its
foundation as a town, as a part of and under the title of
Swanzey in 1667, and is called its Proprietary His
tory. The third period extends from the settlement of
Swanzey, in 1667, until the separation of Barrington
from Swanzey, in 1717, including the memorable con
test with the Wampanoags under Philip of Mount Hope.
This is properly the history of the first Baptist Church
in Massachusetts or Plymouth Colonies and may be
styled its Baptist History.
The fourth period extends from 1717 until 1747,
when the whole of Bristol county was set off into Rhode
Island, with a part of Newport County, and the town
was fiyst incorporated under the name of Barrington ;
this may be called its Congregational History, or the
union of its civil and ecclesiastical histories.
From 1747 till 1770, Barrington was a part of War
ren, and the period may be styled one of partial eclipse,
— the Fusion period. In 1770 we began again an inde
pendent career under the former title of Barrington, and
for a century have kept on our separate existence, and

18 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
since it opened -vrith the events of the American Revolu
tion, I shall call it the period of our Civil Independence.
IXDIAN HISTORY.
On the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 16:20,
thev found their lot cast within the limits of a deserted
Indian country. Of the name of the tribe wliich inhab
ited that section, its history or the cause of its depart
ure, they knew absolutely nothing.
Three months after landing, on the IGth of ]\Iarch,
1621, an Indian came among the settlers and addressed
them in English with " ^\'elcome, English I" " Welcome,
English I" He informed theni that the Indian name of
that place was Patuxet, and that the tribe which had
occupied the adjoining lands had been swept ofi" by a
plague, so severe that it spared neither man, woman nor
child ; that their nearest neighbors were the Wampa
noags, a powerful tribe at the southwe.^t, the chief of
whom was Massasoit : and that none could claim their
lands or rightfully molest them.
On the following day they dismissed this Indian,
whose name was Samoset, and a sagamore of a tribe
" lying hence a day's sail by a great wind and five days
by land," giving him presents and requesting him "to ,
return with some of Massasoit"s men with beaver skins
for traffic." On the 22d of March Samoset returned,
accompanied by Squanto, the sole remaining nati\-e of
Patuxet, and informed Gov. Carver that the great
sachem Massasoit, with Quadequina, his brother, and
all his warriors were near.
This was the first interview between the Indians and
the English at Xew Plymouth, resulting in the inter-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 19
change pf friendly salutations, and the ratification of a
treaty whieh was feithfUly observed for over half a cen
tury by both parties. Thos was made the first acqoaint-
anceship of the Pilgrim strangers with the lords of the
soil, and there was made the verbal agreement, by which
Ma^asoit acknowledged ~ himself content to become the
subject of our sovereign lord the King aforesaid, his
heiis and successors ; and g^ve unto them all lite lands
adjacent, to them and their heirs forever."
This treaty of peace and trade was equally beneficial
to the Wampanoags and to the settlers of Plymouth.
To the former it offered the opportunity of an exchange
of &rs and the products of the chase for the implements
of husbandry and hunting and other articles of (avilized
life. 'Diis friendship also served as a protection against
their powerBil neighbors, ' he Narragansetts, who often
cherished an unfriendly spirit and showed frequent signs
of hostility toward the warriors of Pokanoket.
It was a shield of strength to the weak-handed,
diough stout-hearted Pilgrims, and when Grov. Bradford
received fiom Canonchet the savage diallenge of the
rattle-snake skin filled widi poisoned arrows, he retnrned
it the more boldly filled with powder and shot, since
Massasoit and his tribe had swom to be their feithful
prolectOTS. Still Luther, the fertile peninsulas extend
ing into Mt. Hope and Narragansett Bays were more
attractive to the sagacious eyes of Standish, Winslow,
Brown, Willett and Bradford, than the sandy deserts of
Cape Cod, and as soon as comfortable homes had been
raised at Plymouth Bay, the gpirit of Westem emigra
tion -filled the hearts of th^» earliest pioneers to explore
and settle the wilds along the Sowams and Patuxet
rivers.

20 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
The territory of the Wampanoags, of whom Massa
soit was the chief sachem, extended from Cape Cod on
the East, to the Narragansett Bay on the West, and
from the Narragansett Bay and the Atlantic Ocean on
the South to the southern boundary of the Massachu
setts, who occupied the territory to the South and West
of Boston.
The Wampanoags, under Ousamequin, better known
as Massasoit, numbered about thiee thousand warriors,
and were divided into several minor tribes or villages,
each under the rule of a petty chief or sachem. Their
nearest neighbors were the Massachusetts, on the north,
with Chickalaubut for their king, with three thousand
warriors ; and the Narragansetts on the west of Narra
gansett Bay, who, under their grand sachem, Canonicus,
mustered more than five thousand warriors.
The Indian word Pokanoket, like many other names
of localities in this language, had various applications.
In its largest signification, it embraced the whole country
occupied by the Wampanoags, extending from the Cape
to Narragansett Bay. From this fact, it was often used
as a synonym for the name of the tribe, and in the Ply
mouth records, reference is often thus made to the Poka-
nokets, or Wampanoags. In other places, the signi
fication is more limited, and applied apparently to the
towns on the West of the Taunton river, over which
Massasoit's jurisdiction extended, namely, the present
towns of Raynham, Norton, Attleborough, Cumberland,
Pawtucket, East Providence, Seekonk, Dighton, Reho
both, a part of Taunton, Somerset, Swansey, Warren,
Barrington, and Bristol.
This contraction was probably owing to the occupation

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 21
of the other parts of the territory by the whites, in their
expansion westward from Plymouth, and the range of
the tribe under Philip seems to have been limited to the
last named section, and while Mount Hope Neck was
the royal seat of the chief, he seems to have had his
summer residence in the northern part of his domain,
within the limits of Norton, Taunton and Raynham.
A more limited use of the word Pokanoket caused it
to embrace the towns of Bristol, Warren and Barring
ton, with parts of Swanzey, Rehoboth, Seekonk and
East Providence. The Wampanoags often called this
section Pawcanokik, to which the Narr&,gansetts gave the
name of Sowams. The residence of the chief also is
often called Pokanoket. Governor Winslow in describ
ing his visit to Massasoit, says : " At length we came to
Mattapuyst, and went to the sachimo comaco, for so
they called the sachem's place, though they call an ordi
nary house witeo; but Conbatant, the sachem, was not
at home, but at Puckaliokick, which was some five miles
off. The squa-sachem, for so they called the sachem's
wife, gave us friendly entertainment. Here we inquired
again concerning Massasowat ; they thought him dead,
but knew no certainty ; whereupon I hired one to go
with all expedition to Puckanokick, that we might know
the certainty thereof, and withal to acquaint Conbatant
with our there being."
In modern times the term Pokanoket is frequently
used to indicate the chief town or residence of the king
himself. The location of Pokanoket or Sowams, as
thus used as the home of Massasoit, was within the lim
its of the present town of Warren. The evidence of
this is clear and various, as presented in Gen. Fessen-
den's history of that town.

22 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
In 1641, the township of Rehoboth was purchased of
Massasoit, which was " a tract eight miles square,"
and the old town embraced the present — with the towns
of Seekonk and Pawtucket, and that part of Swanzey
and Barrington, called by the Indians, Wannamoisett ;
also Cumberland and Attleborough bought by Rehoboth
in 1666, and known under the names of "Rehoboth
North Purchase and Attleborough Gore."
In 1647, the settlers at Rehoboth, anxious to secure
certain privileges of upland and marsh on the borders
of Warren and Bamngton rivers, applied to the Ply
mouth Court to obtain them, the Court having already
secured the contract of these lands from Massasoit.
This lease of land was only provisional and tempo
rary, terminating in 1667, when the township of New
Swansea in New England was formed, including the
territory now owned by Somerset, Swanzey, Warren
and Barrington. This transfer of lands completed the
sale of all of the original territory of the Pokanokets,
west of the Taunton river, with the exception of that
portion known as Montop or Mount Hope Neck, where
the remnant of the tribe withdrew, and which they made
their dwelling-place, until their fate was sealed by the
issue of Philip's war, when the remainder of the lands
of Massasoit passed by right of conquest into the hands
of the English.
The land of this section has a southerly slope towards
the bay, somewhat hilly in the eastern part toward the
Taunton river, but nearly level in the central and west
ern parts. Originally it was heavily wooded with oak,
walnut, cedar and pine forests, with the exception of
the borders of the several rivers, on the margins of

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 23
which were unequal widths as now, of fresh and salt
meadows, while various clearings on the uplands adjoin
ing these water courses afforded the Indians an opportu
nity to cultivate the soil in their rude and simple style.
Between the two branches of the Sowams river, now
known as the Warren and Barrington rivers, lies a
tract of land called New Meadow Neck. This name it
received as early as 1653, for in an agreement between
the delegates of Rehoboth and the proprietors of " Sow
ams and Parts Adjacent," I find the following record,
dated the 29th June, 1653:— "The Towne of Reho
both shall make suffiscient Fence to keepe horses and
cattle from rangeing into the neck of land called the
New Meadow Neck and maintaine the same." This
neck has an average width of one, and a length of three
miles. The Indian name of it was Chachacust.
The western neck of land now occupied by a portion
of the town of Barrington, lies between the Barrington
and Warren rivers on the East, Narragansett Bay on
the South, and Providence river on the West, of irregu
lar shape and containing about nine square miles. The
Indian name was Popanomscut, with the exception of
the north-western part, which was called Wanna
moisett, but which has been strangely corrupted to MoUy-
wasset or Monnawasset. In the Proprietors' Records as
early as the 5th of March, 1679, I find reference made
to Popanomscut, under the name of Phebe's Neck.
Why so called I am unable to tell. By this name a
portion of the town of Barrington was known until its
incorporation in 1717.
The south-easterly part of Popanomscut or Barring
ton, was known by the Indian name of Chachapacassett,

24 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
or Little Neck. At the upper end of this neck is a
noted spring called Scamscammuck, situated upon the
premises of Joseph Hodges, Esq. This neck of land
was called Rumstich as early as 1697. Why or by
whom is unknown. Tradition tries to solve the mystery
of so curious and equivocal a title, by saying that a
barrel of rum floated high and dry upon the beach, and
the treasure vvas considered of such great value, that the
event was celebrated by so free a distribution of the con
tents, that the term dry and high could be truthfully
applied for several days to all the dwellers thereabouts.
Another story goes, that while the Indians were
removing; the aforesaid treasure of "strong water," for
which they had a most wonderful liking, the hoops broke,
the barrel burst and the spirits of ruin sank into the
sand, while the Indians' spirits sank within them, and
in sad disappointment over their loss, more fearful than
the ravages of the Maine law or the constabulary, they
lifted up the mournful lamentation : — " Rum stick
here!" "Rum stick here!"
Whatever may have been the views and tastes of the
aboriginal inhabitants on the temperance question, and
their actions in that locality, we are very sure that a
more summary fate would befall such articles should they
land within the same waters to-day.
West of, and about one mile from Chachapacassett
Neck, is the point and section of land well known as
Nayatt, still bearing its Indian title, though spelled
Jfayot in the old records. This point extends southwest
into Narragansett Bay and was the nearest approach of
the territory of the Wampanoags to the Narragansetts,
who occupied the lands adjoining Conimicut Point, in
¦yS^arwick, opposite to Nayatt,

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 25
North of Nayatt, and separating it from a tract of
land called by the Indians Annawomscutt, is a creek
known by the name of Mouscochuck, now used as a
canal by the Narragansett Brick Company, and on which
their manufactory is situated. Annawomscutt brook or
creek flows into the bay near the residence of Mr.
George Noble, and the section now known as Drown-
ville bore the title of the brook.
In the grand deed to the Proprietors , one other creek
is referred to under the name of Mosskituash, which, in
the language of the Wampanoags, means a place where
grass or rushes grow, and of which the natives made
their beds or couches. Mosskituash Creek is within the
Wannamoisett bounds, and empties into Bullock's Cove
near the Viall Burying Ground.
Owing to the fertility of the soil along the banks of
these creeks, rivers and bays, and the facilities which
the forests afforded for hunting and trapping, and the
waters for fowling and for scale and shell fisheries, a
large portion of the tribe occupied the territory of Old
Swanzey. The evidences which exist, to detei'mine the sites of
their principal villages and camping-places are numer
ous. Thfey are marked, not as ours, by their proximity
to centres of trade, and by piles of brick and mortar,
but by their nearness to the centres where fish and fowl
congregated, and by heaps of shells taken from the
rivers. The burial grounds of the lesser tribes were
near their villages. Their implements of husbandry and
domestic iife, of war and of the chase, of fowling and
of fishing, in the form of stone or iron, have been found
in large numbers, in various localities, between the Titi-
8

26 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
cut and Patuxet rivers, and the farmer's ploughshare
often unwittingly disturbs the resting-place of the first
proprietors of the soil. At Mattapoyset, Towesit,
Montop, Kickemuit and Sowams, vast quantities of
oyster, clam and quahaug shells, either in heaps or scat
tered throughout the soil, not only mark their homes,
but indicate the antiquity of these favorite resorts.
These are the last material vestiges and memorials of
the brave old tribe of the Wampanoags. While time
is consuming these, would it not be fitting to restore and
preserve the historic and ofttimes euphonious titles over
the localities from which they have been removed by the
extinction of the tribes themselves.
The introduction between the Pilgrims and Massasoit,
in March, 1621, as already described, was the first bond
of union between them, and the visit of the Indians was
kindly reciprocated in July of the same year, when
Edward Winslow and Stephen Hopkins were dispatched
on a visit to Sowams. This was the first attempt of
the English to explore the interior, and their object was
to gain a knowledge of the Pokanoket country, " to
apologize for some misbehavior, to establish and to regu
late an intercourse, to procure corn, and to strengthen
their mutual good understanding." .
Before this time the Pilgrims had not set foot outside
their little settlement, but now with Squanto as guide,
they proceeded on their western exploration, with greater
intrepidity and greater hazard than those who now
attempt the like service on the frontiers of the far West.
They bore as gifts to the Indian chief a horseman's laced
coat of red cotton and a chain.
They set out on foot on the morning of the 3d of

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 27
July, and at three p. m. of the same day were receiv.ed
with joy at the Indian village of Namasket, in Middle
boro', and were refreshed by an Indian repast of bread
called Mozium, made of Indian corn, and also with the
roes of shad, which were boiled with acorns.
Eight miles further on, they reached the Titicut river,
when they found the Namasket Indians fishing at . a
weir, where they caught plenty of bass. The natives
exchanged provisions and shared their lodgings with
them in the open fields at night. The land was well
cleared and productive, and the evidences were manifest
of many settlements along the banks of the stream, but
the pestilence of the previous years had been so fatal
that the living were unable to bury the dead, and many
Indian skeletons lay bleaching on the ground.
Six of the natives joined them in the morning on their
journey, and about three miles below the Taunton Green
they reached a fording place where two old Indians on
the west bank of the stream prepared to resist their
passage. A show of friendship and a bracelet of beads con
quered their hostile spirit, and the emigrants or ambas
sadors were received with the kindest welcome, and the
natives vied with each other in acts of hospitality, by
giving them food, by carrying them in their arms over
the small rivers, and by kindred acts of civility. In
passing down the Taunton river they found evidences
that the country had been recently thickly settled, but
rank weeds spread over the fertile soil, and desolation
now reigned throughout the country.
Traveling on through the Indian country, known as
Mattapoyset, in the eastern part of Swanzey, they

28 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
came to an Indian village, where they were fed with fish
and oysters, and in the afternoon arrived at Pokanoket
or Sowams, the residence of Massasoit. They dis
charged their muskets as a salute to the grand sachem,
and received from him a hearty welcome. The coat
and chain pleased the chief and his people highly, and
Massasoit pledged them his constant friendship, promised
to prevent any further molestation by his people, and to
send seed corn to Patuxet or Plymouth, as they requested.
He then addressed his own people, spoke of his exten
sive dominions, and encouraged trade with the English.
With all his greatness, however, the royal commissariat
was limited to two fishes to be distributed between forty
guests ; and between scanty food, filthy cabins and
sleepless nights, they were compelled to frame excuses
for a hasty departure, and on Friday morning before
sunrise they turned their faces towards Plymouth with
Tokamahamon as guide, leaving Squanto to barter with
the natives. A two days trip, by the same route as
they came, brought the embassy home again, to relate
to their friends the wonders of the new country and to
receive their congratulations over their successful mis
sion. Winslow and Hopkins were the first white men
who ever trod this soil of whom we have any reliable
record. Their mission was a peaceful one; they little
dreaming, perhaps, that night as they slept by the side
of the powerful sachem, that in fifty years or a little
more, the little settlement of Plymouth would have
extended its plantations and its government too, over
the whole forty miles over which they had travelled.
And the kind-hearted Indian king had no conception
of the fact that a half century would witness the white

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 29
man's cabin, where then the smoke of his wi&wam
ascended, or that a new civilization would so soon, if
ever, plant its foundation, upon the ruins of this early
barbarism. On one of these visits Massasoit was sick.
Says Cotton INIather, "the fees he paid his English
doctor, were a confession of the plot among several
nations of the Indians to destroy the English." This
information was most timely to the English, and enabled
them to ward off fhe threatened conspiracy which had
been formed between the Massachusetts tribe and the
people to the south and west of Plymouth, and which
Massasoit had been often and urgently solicited to aid
in carrying out. The cause of the jealousies and com
binations against the whites at. this time was owing to
the unkind treatment of the natives by a company of
men who had settled at Plymouth , and called " Weston's
Plantation of Settlers," from the name of their leader.
The character of these settlers was profligate and
unprincipled, and after they had become reduced to
extreme penury by their idleness and dissolute habits,
excited the ill-will of the Indians by fraudulent dealings
and by theft. Massasoit advised Winslow, that the
English should make an immediate attack upon the
Massachusetts, lest after the tribes had destroyed the
Weymouth settlement, they should fall upon the people
of Plymouth and easily destroy them. The prompt and
brave action of Miles Standish, with his "little army of
eight men," soon put an end to this destructive plot, by
the slaughter of a few of the leaders among the Massa
chusetts and the dispersion of the rest into unhealthy
swamps where disease and death made conquest of many
of them. When the pious Robinson heard of these

30 HISTORICAL . ADDRESS.
deeds, he was much grieved and said, " Oh that you had
converted some, before you had killed any."
Thus the humane acts of Winslow and Hampden, in
saving, by providential aid, the life of Massasoit, were
repaid by friendly counsels, which preserved the infant
colony from complete extermination. While an Indian's
revenge is proverbial, his gratitude should also be kindly
remembered, and the dwellers in Plymouth and Bristol
counties ought ever to cherish in grateful memories the
name of Massasoit, of Sowams, who saved their ances
tors and their colony from a premature but inevitable
destruction. The path broken and trodden between Sowams and
Plymouth by the pioneers, Winslow, Hopkins and
Hampden, became in process of time a well-beaten high
way for the interchange of the products of the chase
for the implements of civilization used in husbandry and
himting. Although as the elder Cushman justly said,
" the first care of the Plymouth adventurers was to settle
religion before either profit or advantage," yet the cir
cumstances of their colonization demanded the utmost
use of every opportunity offered to secure money, to
repay their outfit and the traders who had aided their
establishment in the new world. They were not greedy
of amassing money or lands for their own sake, so much
as to meet the large demands made upon them in the
first years of their settlement by the London and Ply
mouth merchants. From England they received cloth,
coats, hatchets, hoes, knives, kettles, plates, shoes,
powder, shot and guns. These they exchanged with
the Indians for the furs of beaver, mink and otter, and
the skins of deer and foxes, which they shipped to Eng-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 31
land : and their tours of inspection among the Massa
chusetts, the Kennebecks, the Wampanoags, and the
Manhattoes, were mainly to secure friendly commercial
relations. It is said that Gov. Winslow, on his return from a
western tour, visited again his friend Massasoit, whom
he solicited to accompany him to Plymouth. When
they approached the settlement, the chief sent an Indian
messenger privately, to inform the whites that Winslow
was dead. Great grief came over them at such tidings,
until the arrival of the party, when to their happy sur
prise Winslow made his appearance with the rest.
When asked why he sent such word, Massasoit replies,
" That they might be the more glad to see him when
they came." While Squanto and Hobbamok acted as
agents for the colonists in their traffic, frequent visits
were undoubtedly made by the leading men among them.
Among them we may mention the names of Miles
Standish, Thomas Willett and Edward Winslow, and
we do not wonder that as they looked out upon the
charming landscape and icaterscape at Mattapoyset,
Sowams and Popanomscut, they should have selected
these lands for occupation, in preference to the bleak
shores of old Plymouth. PROPRIETARY HISTORY.
The social, civU and business relations of the Pil
grims, made their society a pure Oommonwealth. With
the exception of the house, which each family built, and
the little garden patch adjoining, all things were in com
mon. The lands were owned and cultivated as a com
mon interest, and the products of tillage, hunting.

32 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
fishing and trade were gathered in a common stock for
the benefit of all. At first, one acre was allowed for
present use, then two acres, afterwards sixteen, and
at the expiration of ten years from the landing", wc find
many of the settlers possessed of large tracts of land.
As their numbers and possessions increased, other
settlements sprang up around Plymouth, each with its
church as the leading element of government. At
Duxbury, Marshfield and Scituate, separate settlements
were thus first formed. The lands were held by occu
pancy or by grant from the Plymouth Court, and not
by any title founded on English law.
With reference to Indian purchases, the Court passed
a law that no title should be valid unless confirmed by
it. In order to secure larger possessions, of which
they soon became greedy, several persons would unite
in the purchase of a large territory of the natives, and
on application to the Court, a charter was issued to them
under the title of a proprietary, and the owners were
called proprietors. After settlements had been made
upon the proprietors' lands in sufficient numbers to
justify the act, an incorporation was granted, by which
the proprietary was created a town, all unsold I'ands
still remaining in the hands of and under the control of
the proprietors.
Thirty years had stamped success upon the planting
of the little colony, and the skilful as well as brave
management of affairs had secured peace and good will
with all their neighbors.
Their previous prosperity swelled their desire for
larger gains, while the large quantity of unoccupied
lands satisfied the natives, who, as yet, saw no reasons

1

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 33
which should awaken their jealousy, at the steady intru
sion of the settlers.
In a " Memorial, or Record of ye Lands at Sowams,
alias Sawomsett," I find the first record of any action
by the original proprietors, with all their signatures
attached.* As we have already seen, Massasoit had already made
a formal transfer of all his territorial possessions and
allegiance to King James, his successors and agents.
In order to confirm their title, we find that the proprie
tors- of Sowams and Mattapoyset sought and secured of
the sachem a deed of the land granted them by the
Plymouth Court, under the signatures of the chief and
his son Wamsetto.
This is supposed to be the last deed which Massa
soit ever signed, and in it he earnestly urged the pro
prietors to insert the clause, " never to draw away any
of his people to the Christian religion," for he, with
consistent faith, believed that the Great Spirit would
preserve his race, only as they bore loyalty to their
heathen worship, while the Pilgrims, with a better knowl
edge and a purer belief, sought to establish Christianity
as well as civilization, with the feeling that the latter
was dependent on the former for its advancement.
The following is a copy of this deed, taken from the
Record Book of the " Proprietors of Sowams and parts
adjacent."
THE GRAND DEED OF SAILE OF LANIiS from Osamequin
and Wamsetto, his son, dated 29th March, 1653.
TO ALL PEOPLE to whome these presents shall come, Osame
quin and Wamsetto his eldest Sone Sendeth greeting. KNOW
YEE, tiiat wee the said Osamequin and Wamsetto, for & in Con-
* Appendix A.

34 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
sideration of thirty-five pounds sterling to us the said Osamequin
and Wamsetto in hand payd By Thomas Prince Gent; Thomas
Willett Gent; Miles Standish Gent; .Josiah Winslow Gent; for
And in the behalfe of themselues and divers others of the Inhabi
tants of Plioaouth Jurisdiction, whose names are hereafter specified,
with which said summe we the said Osamequin and Wamsetto doo
Acknowledge ourselues fully satisfyed, contented and payd, HAUE
freely and absolutely bargained and Sold Enfeoffed and Confirmed
and by these presents Doo Bargaine Sell Enfeoffe and Confirm from
us the said Osamequin and Wamsetto and our and Euery of our
haiers unto Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish, Josia
Winslow, Agents for themselues and William Bradford Senr Gent ;
Thomas Clark, John Winslow, Thoraas Cushman, William White,
John Adams and Experience Mitchel, to them and Every of them,
their and Every of their haiers and assigns forever :
All those Severall parcells and Necks of upland. Swamps and
Meadows Lyeing and being on the South Syde of Sinkhunch. Els
Rehoboth Bounds and is bounded frora n Little Brooke of water,
called by the Indjans, Mosskituash Westerly, and so Ranging by a
dead Swamp, Eastward, and so by markt trees as Osamequin and
Wamsetto directed unto the great River with all the meadow in and
about ye Sydes of bothe the Branches of the great River with all
the Creeks and Brooks that are in or upon any of the said meadows,
as also all the marsh meadow Lying and Being wth out the Bounds
before mentioned in or about the neck Called by the Indians Chach
acust, Also all the meadow of any kind Lying and being in or about
Popasquash neck as also all the meadow Lyeing from Kickomuet
on both sides or any way Joyning to it on the bay on Each Side.
TO HAUE AND TO HOLD all the aforesaid upland Swamps
Marshes Creeks and Rivers withe all their appurtinances unto the
aforesaid Thomas Prince, Thomas Willett, Miles Standish, Josia
Winslow and the rest of the partners aforesaid to theme, And Every
of them their and Every of their haiers Executors And assignes
for Ever And the said Osamequin and Wamsetto his Sone Covenant
promise and grant, that whensoeuer the Indians shall Eemoue from
the Neck that then and from thenceforth the aforesaid Thomas
Prince Thomas Willett Miles Standish .Josiah Winslow shall enter
upon the Same by the Same Agreement as their Proper Rights And
Interest to them and their haiers for Ever.
To and for the true perforemance of all and Every one
of the aforesaid severall Perticulars wee the said Osamequin and
Wamsetto Bind us and every of us our and every of our haiers

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 35
Executors and Administrators and Assignes ffirraly by these
presents. In witness whereof wee haue hereunto sett our hands and Seales
this twentieth day of March, anno Domini 1653.
The marke us of)
OSAMEQUIN^ a (Seale.)
WAMSETTO M & (Seale.)
Signed, Sealed and Delivered,
in ye presence of us.
John Browne
James Browne
Richard Garkett
The original proprietors of Sowams and Mattapoy-
sett dwelt at Plymouth and the neighboring towns. As
this was the capital town of the colony, it was the most
convenient place for assembling' the proprietors for the*
transaction of all business connected with the division
and settlement of the territory under their charge, and
here the first meetings of the original owners of all the
Plymouth colony proprietorship were held. These joint
stock companies purchased the lands, assumed all charges
with reference to the survey and division of them, and
sold, as occasion oflered, to those who wished to become
actual settlers upon them. Often the same men held
shares or interests in several proprietaries, just as now a
man may hold shares and a control in several banks.
The democratic principle of majorities ruled in most of
their decisions, and their records were kept by an officer
called the Proprietors' clerk.
Their own title to the lands was secured by Indian
deeds and confirmed by grants from the Plymouth Courts.^
The several divisions of the land were recorded by
the clerk, and this record constituted each proprietor's
claim to the lands. Legal sales were confirmed by

36 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
deeds, which are the first land records in our town and
county offices.
The first business of the proprietors was the division
of the whole of the land grant into shares, and the
assignment to each share of a particular portion of the
upland, both timbered and cleared. Each of these lots
consisted originally of eighty acres, ahd a whole share
was entitled to two lots or one hundred and sixty acres.
The land was surveyed and divided on this plan, the
length of the lots extending east and west, and they
were numbered one, two, three, &c., commencing on
the South line of the grant.
The fresh and salt meadows adjoining the creeks and
rivers, were divided into lots of ten acres each, as far
as could be. Sometimes the share of meadow lands
was in two localities, in order that an equal quality as
well as quantity might be assigned to each.
While carefully consulting for their business pros
perity, the early settlers of our town did not forget that
the highest success of their undertakings depended not
Only on the planting of good settlers, as the basis of
a thriving town, but also in the encouragement of edu
cation, morality and religion as agencies in sustaining
its truest interests ; hence, we find their first acts were
to establish a godly ministry and an efficient system of
public instruction. In order that the pastor and teacher '
might receive a part of their support of the meagre con
tributions of the people, certain lands were set apart,
called the pastors and teachers lands, the proceeds of
which aided in their maintenance. These lands . wefe
set apart and used as funds for these noble purposes,
until, by a multiplication of church interests, the estab-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 37
lishment of several churches, and the divisions of the
old town, they have been sub-divided and sold for the
benefit of each particular interest which claimed them.
Besides the "home lots," as they were called, the
meadow lots and the pastor's and teacher's lots, the
remaining patches of undivided lands, lying in parcels
of a few acres each, in different parts of the town, were
called common lots, subject at any time to the disposal
of a majority of the proprietors, and the proceeds to be
used for their common benefit.
Under date of December 25, 1660, appears the fol
lowing record :
" We whose names are hereunder written the proprietors of these
lands called and known by the name of the Sowames lands do
unanimously and jointly hind ourselves and covenant to perform
these petitions. First. That none of us shall at any time let or sell
any of the said lands to any stranger that is not already a proprie
tor with us without the joint consent of us all subscribed under our
hands, vid, neither uplands nor meadow.
John Brown, Peteb Hunt,
Thomas Willett, Henrt Smith,
Stephen Paine, Philip Walker,
Joseph Peck, Thomas Chaffee,
John Allen, Samuel Newman."
POPANOMSCTJT LANDS.
The meadows, fresh or salt, about Popanomscut or
Phebe's Neck, alias Barrington, were divided and owned
as follows :
The first lot, originally Thomas Clarke's and sold to
John Allen, extended from Barrington Bridge along the
Swanzey or Warren river to a point near Scamscammuck
Spring. The next lot south, on the east side of Chachapacas-

38 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
sett Neck, was owned by John Adams, and was sold by
him to John Allen and Joseph Peck.
Lot number three, beginning at " a great rock in the
bay," at the south end of the Neck, and extending about
"Hide's Hole," was a common lot, and was bought by
John Allen, the Pecks, Browns, Samuel Newman the
Rehoboth minister, and others.
Gov. Bradford owned the fourth lot, which extended
along the Bay, from " Hide's Hole " towards Nayatt,
and sold it to Rev. Mr. Newman, Nathaniel and Israel
Peck. John Brown, Senior, was the proprietor of the lands
from this tract to Nayatt Point, which were trans
ferred to his sons, James and Capt. John Brown.
" The next lot, origionally Capt. Miles Standishes, begineth at
Nayat beach or creek and takes in all the- meadow of any sort or
kind on both sides of Mouscochuck northerly creek, and also on
both sides the easterly creek and all the meadow on Anawomscut
creek so far up as the moable land lyeth according to the tenor of
the grand deed, all which meadow situate lying and being on the
easterly creek and all the meadow on the east side of the northerly
creek and all the meadow on Nayett side pertaineth to Mr. James
Brown and Capt. John Brown. And all the other meadows on the
West side of the northerly creek and all the meadows lying upon
Anawomscut creek pertains to Captain Thomas Willett sinse
Alliannated to William Allen."
LANDS UPON NEW MEADOW NECK AND WARREN AND
PALMER RIYERS.
The first lot, commencing at Tyler's Point and extend
ing along the shore of Warren river to Kelley's Bridge,
was owned by Experience Mitchel and sold to John
Brown, Senior. Above this lay a common meadow,
which adjoined a lot of Thomas Cushman's, bought by
Thomas Willett.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 39
Gov. Prince owned the next lot on the north, and
sold it to John Brown, Senior.
Josiah and John Winslow owned the meadows about
Barneysville, and Thomas Willett owned " two lots of
meadow called Broad Cove," supposed to be what is
now the part of Palmer's River near Barneysville.
John Adams chose the lands on the west side of
Palmer's river, " over against Rocky River," and sold to
Joseph Peck and John Allen, Senior. His nearest
neighbor on the north was John Winslow, who owned
all the meadow and mowable land to the upper end of
the Salt Marsh river, called New Meadow, now Palmer's
river. On the east side of the river, Josiah Winslow owned
a tract " near or by the clay pits," where bricks are now
manufactured, above Barneysville.
Lots two and three originally belonged to Thomas
Cushman, which he sold to Capt. Willett. They
extended from the clay pits " to a white oake marked
and blown up by the roots on an island of upland in the
said meadow to a certain white oake tree on the upland
likewyse blown up." A special bounty is offered to the
person who will identify the last named bounds.
The next lot begins "at the root of the white oak
tree, where the two last lots end," and extends southerly.
It was owned by the Whites, Peregrine and Resolved.
The fifth and sixth lots lay to the west of Rock Ray
mond and Judge Haile's residence, and were owned by
Josiah Winslow and Governor Bradford, and bounded
by flat rocks and pine trees.
The last lot in this section was owned by Governor
Prince, and extended along Belcher's Creek and Cove.

40 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Such is the summary of the meadow lands of the
original proprietors, as attested by John Allen, Noah
Floyd and John Brown, who were appointed in 1681 a
committee to search, examine, and state these things to
their best skill and ability.
I have thus traced out these proprietorships at Sow
ams, that the owners thereof . of to-day may know
through what a noble line their heritage has descended,
and if their pleasure in knowing fully equals my own in
the research, we shall both be repaid by what might
seem to some a tedious trial of one's patience, if not
" Love's labor lost." TOWN AND LAND FENCES.
It was the custom in olden time, not only to fence the
lands pf individuals, but also to surround the whole
township with a fence.
At the first meeting of the original planters of Reho
both, held at " Weimoth the 24th of the Sth month
(October) 1643,"
" It was ordered that those who have lottes granted and are 
inhahitants, shall fence the one end of their lottes and their part in
the common fence, in the same time, by the 20th day of April next,
or else forfeit their lottes to the disposal of the plantation."
It wUl readily be seen that fencing " one end of their
lottes," secured the enclosure of the whole plantation,
while the " common fence " spoken of, probably refers
to the fence which enclosed the whole town, built in
common by the settlers. As the south line of Rehoboth
was the north line of Sowams and afterwards of Swan
zey, a part of the " common fence " or town fence here

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 41
referred to, was the original boundary between the two
settlements. ¦ This fence is described as a "five Rayle fence," extend
ing from Patuckquet, now Providence river, to the river
by Bowen's Bridge, which is now known as Runen's
Bridge, across the upper end of New Meadow Neck
towards Broad Cove, a name given to a part of Palmer's
or War»-en river, near the village of Barneysville. That
portion of the line of fence between Runen's and
Palmer's rivers, was near the present boundary line
between Swanzey and Barrington a'nd Seekonk. I have
been able to trace a portion between Providence
and Runen's rivers, and suppose that it extended in
nearly an east and west direction between these rivers,
and north of the present boundary between Barrington
and East Providence. The eastern, western and south
ern boundaries of Sowams and of Old Swanzey had a
water enclosure, with the exception of that part which
adjoined the Indian settlements, and the territory of
Montop Neck. A fence was built across the Neck near
the present boundary line between the towns of Bristol
and Warren, and was the basis of it. These several
fences prevented the cattle, horses and hogs, which were
allowed to run at large on the common lands, from
making depredations upon the lands of the Indians,
which were not fenced, and also aided in preserving
friendly relations among their more civilized neighbors.
The vagueness of the original bounds of large tracts
of land, as described in the first transfers from the
Indians, and from the planters to each other, led into
unavoidable difficulties between towns and individuals.
The grant by Rehoboth, in 1645, to Mr. John Browne,

42 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
of a parcel of land on the north end of Wannamoisett
Neck, which had been recently vacated by the Indians,
and the occupancy by the inhabitants of Rehoboth, of
certain lands on New Meadow Neck, withiu the juris
diction of the Sowams planters, led to a meeting of
delegates of the two settlements, and an adjustment of
certain points at dispute, concerning the meadows and
boundary lines.
The results of the conferences are thus recorded :
An agreement raade between the Delegates of Rehoboth and the
Proprietors about ye Meadow and the bounds of the Said Lands of
Saworas, Dated the 29th June, 1653.
Whereas the town of Rehoboth the 28th June, 1653, did depute
and authorize Stephen Payne, Richard Bpwen, Thomas Cooper and
William Sabine, as their Delegates to treat and conclude with Capt.
Miles Standish, Captain Thoinas Willett, and Josias Winslow,
Concerning such Lands And all other matters as are in difference
betwixt the Town of Rehoboth and the aforesaid Capt. Miles Stand
ish and Capt. Thomas Willett, Josias Winslow — aud the rest that
are interested in said Lands it is Concluded as followeth.
1. That all such Marsh or meadow Lyeing on either side of the
river Running under the Bridge, Commonly called Bowens Bridge
or the Common Fence, and usually called the hundred Acres which
said Meadow were allotted in several Allotments at the first settling
of the Towne, all those meadows are to remain unto the several
Inhabitants of the towne as their true Proprities.
2. That all such Lands as the Towne of Rehoboth, formarly
passed over unto Mr. John Browne by an agreement of such Arti
cles as now stand in the Towne Booke bearing date the 29th 10th
Month 1645, and also recorded inthe Court of Plimouth, the summe
of the said Lands, so many acres as the Said Lands shall arise unto
when it is Measured, shall be Layed forth for the use of the Said
Capt. Miles Standish, Capt. Thomas Willett, Josias Winslow and
the rest on the north side of the Lyne betwixt the Towne and the
markt trees neere to Mr. Brownes flfence, frora the salt water to the
River Called Bownes Bridge River.
3. Ffor all such marshes as lye on the west side- of the River
running downe toward the Common ffence and Butting on the East

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 43
End of some house Letts now Layd forth. If ye said Capt. Stand
ish, C.ipt. Willett, Josias Winslow and the rest shall desier the
same at any tyme hereafter, they shall have them, allowing the triie
valuation thereof out of such Meadows as lyes upon ye west shoare
of Sawams River at the uper End of the same as shall be valued
by two Indefforent men.
4. That the Towne of Rehoboth at any time within three years
after the date hereof Shall remove the Common ffences & in the
mean time Suffisiently repiiire the Same, And when they do
Reraove ye sarae they shall Sett it vpon their own Land in the Lyne
betwixt the Towne and the Parties aforesaid from the Salt Water at
High Water marke of Patuckitt vnto the River running under
Bowens Bridge & uphold it.
5. The Towne of Rehoboth shall make a suflSscient flfence to keepe
horses and Cattle frora Rangeing into the Neck of Land Called the
New Meadow Neck and raainetaine the Sarae.
6. That Timber on either side Shall be Lawfull to be made use of
from tirae to time for the Meadows aforesaid for their fencing.
7. That for such Meadows as lye to the north side of the great
Plaine, it shall be lawfull for the towne to make use of untill ye
aforesaid persons interested doe see cause to use ye sd meadowes,
or if att any time they shall sell them, the Towne to have the first
refusall of Buying thera.
Stephen Patne, Thomas Cooper,
Richard Bowen, William Sabin.
Bowen's Bridge River, here referred to, is the upper
part of Barrington River, and probably received its
name from Richard Bowen, a Rehoboth proprietor, who
owned a large tract of land along this stream.
The "Hundred Acres" referred to heretofore, included
the salt and fresh meadows on both sides of the upper
part of Barrington river, with the meadows on the south
of "Nocome Hill," now known as "The Tongue." This .
name, ("Hundred Acre") is now often applied to the
cove on the east and southeast of " The Tongue." Many
portions of these meadows are still owned by the people
of Rehoboth and Seekonk, the descendants of the origi
nal owners.

44 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
In 1662 an agreement was made between the same
committee on the part of Rehoboth and the Sowams
proprietors, by which the line of the two proprietorships
was removed one-eighth of a mile northward, and as an
equivalent for the land thus transferred, Standish, Wil
lett and others were to build and keep the common
fences in repair.
This agreement reads as follows :
January 29th, .'62. — A new contract or agreement was made betwixt
Capt. Thomas Willett and the rest of the purchasers and the Towne
of Rehoboth, to prevent both prasent and future trouble as also for
the preservation of there mutual peace to thera and their successors.
At A full Towne meting Lawfully warned it was voted and con
cluded hy the Towne that Capt, Thomas Willett and the rest of
the purchasers, there heirs and successors, should have Seaven
Score Rord of I/aod and the fence upon the neck from their Line
towards the Town and soe ranging from the river Commonly called
Patuxect river, crose the Neck to the river by Bowens hridge, and
forty rods of Land on the New Meadow Neck and the fence from
there Lyne towards the Town crosse the Neck towards broad Cove,
provided the Town there heirs and successors should forever be
free from all former ingagements or Covenants of either raaking or
upholding any fence or fences upon the fore mentioned Neck or
Necks To which proposition Capt Willett and the rest of the pur
chasers assented And Cap* Willett promised to the Towne the
wrightings in convenient tirae.
Ensine Smith and Philip Waker, Joseph Peck and Nicholas Peck
were chosen by the Towne and purchasers to measure out the Land
and the charges to be equally divided. This fore mentioned vote
was assented to hy the Towne save only Gilbert Brooks and John
Woodcock who declared their dissent.
In the division of the lands of Sowams, public roads
were laid out for the convenience of general travel, and
by-ways for private advantage. The former varied in
width from two to eight rods, some of which still retain •
their original width, to testify to the generosity and

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

45

public spirit of the planters. The proprietors' records
describe their localities. Some of these roads have
been reduced in width by sales of the towns, and othgrs
have never been opened.
I have presented some of the leading facts of our early
history, prior to the actual settlement of the town, when
as yet the Indians still roamed over its fields and woods
for game, and sought a portion of their food from these
waters. I have confined myself to the western sectioir
of the town, because this proprietary was formed before
that of Shawomut or Somerset, which was established
and laid out in 1677, at the close of Philip's war.

Names of Proprietors at Soivams, prior to 1680.

William Bradford,
Thomas Prince,
Edward Wiuslow,
Thoraas Cushman,
Thomas Clark,
John Adams,
Josiah Winslow,
Thomas Willett,
John Brown,
Stephen Paine,
Joseph Peck,
John Allen,
Peter Hunt,
Henry Smith,
Philip Walker,
Thomas ChaflTee,
Samuel Newman,
Noah Floyd,
Hugh Cole,
John Myles,
Sampson Mason,
Obadiah Brown, Sr..
Job Winslow,
Richard Sharp,
John Paddock,

John Winslow,
Experience Mitchell,
Knelm Winslow,
Resolved White,
Peregrine White,
Myles Standish, Sen.,
James Brown,
John Saffin,
Nathaniel Paine,
Stephen Paine, Jr.,
Israel Peck,
Joua. Bosworth,
Joseph Chaffee,
Abrahiim Perrin,
James Brown. Jr.,
John Vial,
Nicholas Tanner,
Sarauel Luther,
John Myles, Jr.,
William Ingraham,
Jno. Butterworth,
Benjarain Alby,
John Martin,
Gideon Allen,
Nathaniel Toogood,

46

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

John-West,John Thurber,
Thomas Estabrook,
Tiipothy Brooks,
John Crabtree,
Thoraas Barnes,
John Wheaton,
Jacob Ingraham,
William Howard, or Hayward,
Sarauel Woodbury,
George May,
Joseph Wheaton,
Zachariah Eddy,
James Cole,
Thomas Manning,
Nathaniel Lewis,
Richard Heath,
Richard Johnson,
Hezekiah Luther,
John Martin,
William Salisbury,
William Hararaond,
Nicholas Lange,
William Cahoone,

John Cole,
Joseph Carpenter,
Anthony Lowe,
Richard Burgess,
Joseph Lewes,
Robert Jones,
Nehemiah Allen,
Gideon Allen,
Thoraas Mann,
Roger Kinnicutt,
John Thurber, Jr.,
William Bertram,
Nehemiah Allen,
John Dicks,
Hugh Cole, Jr.,
Obadiah Bowen,
Nicholas Peck,
Samuel Walker,
Eldad Kingsley,
Caleb Eddy,
Joseph Kent,
Jeremiah Child,
John West.

THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH IN MASSACHUSETTS.

The act of banishment which severed Roger Williams
from the Massachusetts colony, was the means of ad
vancing rather than hindering, the spread of the
so-called heresies which he so bravely advocated.
As the persecutions which drove the Disciples of
Christ from Jerusalem were the means of extending; the
cause of Christianity, so the principles of toleration and
of soul-liberty were strengthened by opposition, in the
mind of this apostle of freedom of conscience in the
new world. His Welsh birth and Puritan education
made him a bold and earnest advocate of whatever truth

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 47
his conscience approved , and he went every where'"preach-
ing the word" of individual freedom. The sentence of
exile could not silence his tongue, nor destroy his
influence. " The di\-ers new and dangerous opinions " which he
had "broached and divulged," though hostile to the
notions of the clergy and the authorities of Massachu
setts Bay, were art the same time quite acceptable to a
few brave souls, who, like himself, dared the censures
and even the persecutions of their brethren, for the sake
of liberty of conscience.
The dwellers in old Rehoboth were the nearest white
neighbors of Roger Williams and his band at Provi
dence. The Rev. Samuel Newman was the pastor of
the church in this, ancient town, having removed with
the first settlers from Weymouth in 1643. Learned,
godly and hospitable as he was, he had not reached the
" height of that great argument," concerning human
freedom, and while he cherished kindly feelings towards
the dwellers at Providence, he evidently feared the intro
duction of their sentiments among his people. The
jealous care of Newman to preserve what he conscien
tiously regarded as the purity of religious faith and
polity, was not a sufficient barrier against the teachings
of the founder of Rhode Island.
Although the settlers of Plymouth Colony cherished
more liberal sentiments than their neighbors of the
Bay Colony, and sanctioned the expulsion of Mr. Wil
liams from Seekonk only for the purpose of preserving
peace with those whom Blackstone called " the Lord
Bretheren," yet they guarded the prerogatives of the
ruling church order as worthy not only of the respect.

48 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
but also the support of all. Rehoboth was the most
liberal, as well as the most loyal of the children of.
Plymouth, but the free opinions which the planters
brought from Weymouth, where an attempt had already
been made to establish a Baptist church, enabled them to
sympathize strongly with their neighbors across the See
konk river.
"At this time," says Baylies, "so -much indiflTerence ~
as to the support of the clergy was manifested in Ply
mouth Colony, as to excite the alarm of the other cour
federated colonies. The complaint of Massachusetts
against Plymouth on this subject, was laid before the
Commissioners, and drew from them a severe reprehen
sion. Rehoboth had been afflicted with a serious schism,
and by its proximity to Providence and its plantations,
where there was a universal toleration, the practice of
free enquiry was encouraged, and principle, fancy, whim
and conscience, all conspired to lessen the veneration for
ecclesiastical authority."
As the " serious schism " referred to above led' to the
foundation of the first Baptist Church within the Com
monwealth of Massachusetts, on New Meadow Neck in
Old Swanzey, it is worthy of record here.
The leader in this church revolt was Obadiah Holmes,
a native of Preston, in Lancashire, England. He was
connected with the church in Salem from 1639 till 1646,
when he was excommunicated, and removing with his
family to Rehoboth, he joined Mr. Newman's church.
The doctrines and the discipline of this church proved
too severe for Mr. Holmes, and he, with eight others,
withdrew in 1649, and established a new church by
themselves.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 49
Mr. Newman's irascible temper was kindled into a
persecuting zeal against the offending brethren, and,
after excommunicating them, aroused the civil authori
ties against them. So successful Avas he that four peti
tions were presented to the Plymouth Court ; one from
Rehoboth, signed by thirty-five persons ; one from Taun
ton ; one from all the clergymen in the colony but two,
and one from the government of Massachusetts. How
will the authorities at Plymouth treat this first division
in the ruling church of the colony ? Will they punish
by severe fines, by imprisonment, by scourgings, or by
banishment. By neither, for a milder spirit of tolera
tion prevailed, and the separatists were simply directed
to " refrain from practices disagreeable to their brethren,
and to appear before the Court."
In 1651, sometime after his trial at Plymouth, Mr.
Holmes was arrested, with Mr. Clarke, of Newport, and
Mr. Crandall, for preaching and worshipping God with
some of their brethren at Lynn. They were condemned
by the Court at Boston to suffer fines or whippings.
Holmes refused to pay the fine, and would not allow his
friends to pay it for him, saying that, "to pay it would
be acknowledging himself to have done wrong, whereas
his conscience testified that he had done right." He was
accordingly punished with thirty lashes from a three-
corded whip, with such severity, says Gov. Jenks,
"that in many days, if not some weeks, he could take
no rest, but as he lay upon his knees and elbows, not
being able to suffer any part of his body to touch the
bed whereon he lay."
Soon after this. Holmes and his followers moved to
Newport, and, on the death of Rev. Mr. Clarke, in 1652,
s

50 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
he succeeded him as pastor of the First Baptist Church
in that time. Mr. Holmes died at Newport in 1682,
aged 76 years.
The • persecution offered to the Rehoboth Baptists,
scattered their church, but did not destroy their princi
ples. Facing the obloquy attached to their cause, and
braving the trials imposed by the civil and ecclesiastical
powers , they must wait patiently God's time of deliver
ance. That their lives were free from guile, none clainj.
That their cause was righteous, none will deny, and
while the elements of a Baptist church were thus gath
ering strength on this side of the Atlantic, a leader was
prepared for them, by God's providence, on the other.
In the same year that Obadiah Holmes and his band
established their church in Massachusetts, in opposition
to the Puritan order, Charles the First, the great Eng
lish traitor, expiated his " high crimes and misdemean
ors " on the scaffold at the hands of a Puritan Parlia
ment. Then followed the period of the Commonwealth
under Cromwell, and then the Restoration, when "there
arose up a new king over Egypt, who knew not Joseph."
The Act of Uniformity, passed in 1662, under the
sanction of Charles the Second, though a fatal blow at
the purity and piety of the English church, was a royal
blessing to the cause of religion in America. Two
thousand bravely conscientious men, who feared God
more than the decrees of Pope, King or Parliament,
were driven from their livings and from the kingdom.
What was England's great loss was America's great
gain, for a grand tidal wave of emigration swept west
ward across the Atlantic to our shores. Godly men
and women, clergy and laity, made up this exiled band,..

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 51
too true and earnest to yield a base compliance to the
edict of conformity. For thirteen years here the Dis
senters from Mr. Newman's church waited for a spirit
ual guide, but not in vain ; for among the number who
sought a refuge from religious oppression, we find John
Myles, of Swansea, Wales.
How our Baptist brethren here conducted themselves
during these years, and the difficulties they may have
occasioned or encountered, we know but little. Ply
mouth, liberal already, has grown more lenient towards
church offenders in matters of conscience. Mr. John
Brown, a citizen of Rehoboth, and one of the magis
trates, has presented before the Court his scruples at the
expediency of coercing the people to support the minis
try, and has oflTered to pay from his own property the
taxes of all those of his townsmen who may refuse their
support of the ministry. This was in 1655. Massa
chusetts Bay has tried to correct the errors of her sister
colony on the subject of toleration, and has in turn been
rebuked by her example.
Leaving the membership awhile, let us cross over to
Wales to find their future pastor and teacher, — John
Myles. Wales had been the asylum for the persecuted and
oppressed for many centuries. There freedom of relig
ious thought was tolerated, and from thence sprung
three men of unusual vigor and power, Roger Wil
liams, Oliver Cromwell and John Myles. About the
year 1645, the Baptists in that country, who had previ
ously been scattered and connected with other churches,
(began to unite in the formation of separate churches,
under their own pastors. Prominent among these was

52 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
the Rev. Mr. Myles, who preached in various places
with great success, until the year 1649, when we find
him pastor of a church which he organized in Swansea,
in South Wales. It is a singular coincidence that
Mr. Miles' pastorate at Swansea, and the separation of
the members from the Rehoboth church, a part of whom
aided in establishing the church in Swanzey, Massachu
setts, occurred in the same year.
During the Protectorate of Cromwell, all dissenters
enjoyed the largest liberty of conscience, and, as a
result, the church at Swansea grew from forty-eight to
three hundred souls. Around this centre of influence
sprang up several branch churches, and pastors were
raised up to care for them.
Mr. Myles soon became the leader of his denomina
tion in Wales, and in 1651 he was sent as the represen
tative of all the Baptist churches in Wales to the Baptist
Ministers' meeting, at Glaziers' Hall, London, with a
letter, giving an account of the peace, union and increase
of the work. As a preacher and worker he had no
equal in that country, and his zeal enabled him to estab
lish many new churches in his native land.
The act of the English Saint Bartholomew's Day, in
1662, deprived Mr. Myles of the support which the
government under Cromwell had granted him, and he,
with many others, chose the freedom of exile to the
tyranny of an unprincipled monarch. It would be inter
esting for us to give an account of his leave-taking, of _
his church at Swansea, and of his associates in Christian
labor, and to trace out his passage to Massachusetts,
and to relate the circumstances which led him to search
out and to find the little band of Baptists at Rehoboth.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 53
Surely some law of spiritual gravitation or affinity under
the good hand of God thus raised up and brought this
under-shepherd to the flock thus scattered in the wilder
ness. Nicholas Tanner, Obadiah Brown, John Thomas, and
others, accompanied Mr. Myles in his exile from Swan
sea, Wales. The first that is known of them in America
was the formation of a Baptist church at the house of
John Butterworth in Rehoboth, whose residence is said
to have been near the Cove in the western part of the
present town of East Providence. Mr. Myles and his
followers had probably learned at Boston, or at Ply
mouth, of the treatment offered to Holmes and his party,
ten years before, and his sympathies led him to seek out
and unite the elements which persecution had scattered.
Seven members made up this infant church, viz. : John
Myles, pastor, James Brown, Nicholas Tanner, Joseph
Carpenter, John Butterworth, Eldad Kingsley and Ben
jamin Alby. The principles to which their assent was
given were the same as those held by the Welsh Bap
tists, as expounded by Mr. Myles. The original record
book of the church contains a list of the members of
Mr. Myles' church in Swansea, from 1640 till 1660,
with letters, decrees, ordinances, &c., of the several
churches of the denomination in England and Wales.
This book, now in the possession of the First Baptist
Church in Swanzey, Massachusetts, is probably a copy
of the original Welsh records, made by or for Mr.
Myles' church in Massachusetts, and the sentiments of
which controlled their actions here.
Of the seven constituent members, only one was a
member of Myles' church in Wales, Nicholas Tanner.

54 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
The others were probably residents of Rehoboth at the
time of their arrival. James Brown was a son of John
Brown, both of whom held high oflSces in the Plymouth
colony, whom we shall have occasion to notice in
another connection. Mr. Newman and his church were
again aroused at the revival of this dangerous sect, and
they again united with the other orthodox churches of
the colony in soliciting the Court to interpose its influ
ence against them, and the members of this little church
were each fined five pounds, for setting up a public
meeting without the knowledge and approbation of the
Court, to the disturbance of the peace of the place ;
ordered to desist from their meeting for the space of a
month, and advised to remove their meeting to some
other place where they might not prejudice any other
church. The worthy magistrates of Plymouth have not told
us how these few Baptist brethren "disturbed the
peace " of quiet old Rehoboth. Good old Rehoboth,
that roomy place, was not big enough to contain this
church of seven members, and we have to-day to thank
the spirit of Newman and the order of Plymouth Court
for the handful of seed corn, which they threw away on
the waters, which here took root and has brought forth
the fruits of a sixty fold growth.
From a carefid reading of the first covenant of the
church, we judge that it was a breach of ecclesiastical,
rather than of civil law, and that the fines and banish
ment from the limits of Rehoboth were imposed as a
preventive against any further inroads upon the member
ship of Mr. Newman's church.
In obedience to the orders of the Court, the members

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 55
of Mr. Myles' church looked about for a more conven
ient dwelling-place, and found it, as near to the limits
of the old town and their original homes, as the law
would allow. Within the bounds of Old Swanzey, in t
the northern part of the present town of Barrington, \
they selected a site for a church edifice. The spot now
pointed out as the location of this building for public
worship is near the main road from Warren by Munro's
tavern to Providence on the east side of a byway lead
ing from said road to the residence of Joseph G. West,
Esq. A plain and simple structure, it was undoubtedly
fitted up quickly by their own labor, to meet the exi
gency of the times. Here they planted their first spirit-
' ual home, and enjoyed a peace which pastor and people
had long sought for.
The original covenant is a remarkable paper, toned
with deep piety and a broad and comprehensive spirit of
Christian fellowship. HOLY COVENANT.
SwANSET IN New England. — A true coppy of the Holy Covenant
the first founders of Swansey Entred into at the first beginning
and all the merabers thereof for Divers years.
Whereas we Poor Creatures are through the exceeding Riches of
Gods Infinite Grace Mercyfully snatched out of the Kingdom of
darkness and by his Infinite Power translated into the Kingdom of
his dear Son, there to be partakers with all Saints of all those
Priviledges which Christ by the Shedding of his Pretious Blood
hath purchased for us, and that we do find our Souls in Some good
Measure wrought on by Divine Grace to desire to be Conformable
to Christ in all things, being also constrained by the matchless love
and wonderfull Distinguishing Mercies that we Abundantly Injoy
from his most free grace to Serve him according to our utmost
capacitys, and that we also know that it is our most bounden Duty
to Walk in Visible Communion with Christ and Each other accord
ing to the Prescript Rule of his most holy word, and also that it is

56 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
our undoubted Right through Christ to Injoy all the Priviledges of
Gods House which our souls have for a long time panted after.
And finding no other way at Present by the all-working Providence
of our only wise God and gr.acious Father to us opened for the
Injoyraent of the sarae. We do therefore after often and Solemn
Seeking to the Lord for Help and direction in the fe.ar of his holy
Narae, and with hands lifted up to hira the most High God, Humbly
and freely offer up ourselves this day a Living Sacrifice unto him
who is our God in Covenant through Christ our Lord and only
Savior to walk together acccording to his revealed word in the
Visible Gospel Relation both to Christ our only head, and to each
other as fellow-members and Brethren and of the Same Household
faith. And we do Humbly praye that through his Strength we will
henceforth Endeavor to Perform all our Respective Duties towards
God and each other and to practice all the ordinances of Christ
according to what is or shall be revealed to us in our Respective
Places to exercise Practice and Submit to the Government of Christ
in this his Church ! viz. furthur Protesting against all Rending or
Dividing Principles or Practices from any of the People of God as
being most abominable and loathsome to our souls and utterly
inconsistent with that Christian Charity which declare men to be
Christ's Disciples. Indeed further declaring in that as Union in
Christ is the sole ground of our Communion, each with other, So
we are ready to accept of. Receive too and hold Communion with
all such as by a judgraent of Charity we conceive to be fellow-
members with us in our head Christ Jesus tho Differing from us in
Such Controversial Points as are not absolutely and essencially
necessary to salvation. We also hope that though of ourselves we
are altogether unworthy and unfit thus to offer up ourselves to God
or to do him a — or to expect any favor with, or raercy frora Him.
He will graciously accept of this our free will offering in and through
the merit and mediation of our Dear Redeemer. And that he will
imploy and emprove us in his service to his Praise, to whom be .all
Glory, Honor, now and forever. Amen.
The naraes of the persons that first joyned themselves in the
Covanant aforesaid as a Church of Christ, John Mtles, Elder,
Jambs Brown,
Nicholas Tanner,
JosKPH Carpenter,
John Butterworth,
Eldad Kingsley,
Benjamin Alby.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 57
The Catholic spirit of Mr. Myles soon drew to the
new settlement ou New Meadow Neck, many families
who held to Baptist opinions, as well as some of other
church relations, friendly to their interests. The oppo
sition which their principles had awakened, had brought
the little company into public notice, and their character
had won for them the respect and confidence of their
neighbors. The Rehoboth church had corae to regard Mr. Myles
and his followers with more kindly feelings, and, in
1666, after the death of Rev. Mr. Newman, it was voted
by the town that Mr. Myles be invited to "preach, viz. ;
once in a fortnight on the week day, and once on the
Sabbath day." And in August of the same year the
town voted " that Mr. Myles shall still continue to lec
ture on the week day, and further on the Sabbath, if he
be thereunto legally called."
This interchange of pulpit relations indicates a cordial
sentiment between the two parishes, which is in striking
contrast to the hostility manifested to the new church
but three years before, when they were warned out of
the town, and suggests the probable fact, that animosi
ties had been conquered by good will, and that sober
judgment had taken the place of passionate bigotry.
It is probable also that many dwellings were raised
near the humble church, as there are appearances of
several cellars in that vicinity now vacated. Mr. Myles'
house was near the present residence of the late Mason
Barney, Esq., at Barneysville.
It was fortified as a place of refuge in time of danger
f'rom the Indians, and was often called " Myles' Garri
son." It was one of the three defences to which the

58 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
inhabitants of Swanzey and Rehoboth resorted for safety
during Philip's war.
Previous to 1667, an acquaintanceship had sprung up
between Rev. Mr. Myles, Capt. Willett, Mr. Brown,
and others of the settlers, which had ripened into close
friendship, and the proposition was entertained between
them of securing for the Plymouth Court the grant for
a new township south of the Rehoboth limits. To this
end an application was made for a separate corporation
under the name of New Swansea. The name was sug
gested by Mr. Myles, in remembrance of his former
home in Wales, and its original orthography indicates
that the waters of the bay near the town were the favor
ite resort of this bird, and was called the Sea of. Swans,
or Swansea. This word has been corrupted to Swansey,
Swanzey, Swansy and Swanzy. Their application was
successful, as will be seen by the following :
GRANT OF NEW SWANSEA.
A true copy of the grant of this Township of New Swansea, lying
on Record at the Court of New Plymouth, 1667.
Whereas, Liberty hath been formerly granted by the Court of
the jurisdiction of New Plymouth, unto Captain Thomas Willett
and his neighbors of Wannamoisett, to become a township there if
they should see good, and that lately the said Capt Willett and Mr.
Myles, and others their neighbors have requested of the Court that
they may be a township there or near thereabout, and likewise to
have granted unto them such parcels of land as might be accommo
date thereunto not disposed of to other townships ; this Court have
granted unto thera all such lands that lieth between the salt water
bay and covering Taunton River, viz. : all the land between the
salt water and river, and the bounds of Taunton and Rehoboth not
prejudicing any man's particular interest, and for as much as Reho
both hath meadow land within the line of Wannamoisett, and Wan
namoisett hath lands within the line of Rehoboth, lying near the

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 59
south line of Rehoboth ; if the two townships cannot agree about
thom amongst themselves, the Court reserves it within their power
to determine any such controversy.
,gg„ C The Court hath appointed Capt. Thomas Willett, Mr.
C Paine, Sen., Mr. Brown, Mr. John Allen, and John But
terworth, to have the trust of admittance of town inhabitants in
said town, and to have the disposal of the land therein, and order
ing the other affairs of said town. The Court do allow and approve
that the township granted unto Capt. Thoraas Willett, and others,
his neighbors at Wannamoisett, and parts adjacent, shall henceforth
be called and known by the name of Swansea.
The entries above are a copy taken out of the Court Records at
Plymouth. Nathaniel Clarke, Sec'y.

The organization of towns and the establishment of
town governments is a democratic notion, and belongs
by right of origin to New England. The town was the
germ of the State. From Plymouth and Providence
sprang the Commonwealths of Massachusetts and Rhode
Island and Providence Plantations. The original settlers
formed a pure democracy with inherent rights for deter
mining the policy of the settleraent, the character of its
inhabitants, the officers who should govern them, and
the spirit of the laws which should control them. As
the population of the first settlement increased, the
nature of the government remained the sarae, while it
was changed from a pure to a representative republic,
where a few by the consent and choice of the many,
administered all the duties and offices which related to
the interests of the whole coraraunity. This was the
leading characteristic of the New England policy. In
this sense, towns were never known or established before,
and the success of the State and the nation is primarily
due to this system here introduced.

60 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
As was noticed in the town grant, Capt. Willett and
Mr. Myles were the founders and leading men in estab
lishing New Swansea. The history of the church of
which Rev. Myles was the pastor, is therefore insepara
bly associated with the civil history of the town, and
the two elements are united in the legislation of the
inhabitants. Indeed it may seem to some from what
has already been written, that the town was created for
the sole purpose of affording a corporate and legal exist
ence to the Baptist church, which had been founded at
Wannamoisett, and of securing a more sure protection
to its members.
While this result was secured, we are assured that a
broader platform than that of any church organization
was proposed, and to Mr. Willett, who was probably a
Pedobaptist, we owe the settlement of the following
principles, which have raade the history of our old .town
so worthy of preservation, and the character of her
population so worthy of commendation. On pages
three and four of the town records, I find the followina;
proposals, and the action of the church thereon :
CAPT. willett's PROPOSALS.
Whereas, Capt. Thomas Willett, shortly after the grant of this
township, raade three following proposals unto those who were with
hira, hy the Court at Plymouth, empowered for the adraission of
inhabitants, and of granting lots, viz. ;
1. That no erroneous person be admitted into the township as an
inhabitant, or sojourner..
2. That no man of any evil behavior, as contentious persons, &c.,
he adraitted.
3. That none may be adraitted that may become a charge to the
place. The Church here giithered, and assembling, did thereupon make

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 61
the following address unto the said Capt. Willett, and his associates,
the Trustees aforesaid :
We being engaged witlj you, (according to our capacity) in the
carrying out of a township, according to the grant given us by the
honored Court, and desiring to lay such a foundation thereof as
may effectually tend to God's glory, our future peace and comfort,
and the real benefit of such as shall hereafter join with us herein,
as also to prevent all future jealousies and causes of dissatisfaction
or disturbance in so good a work, do in relation to the three propos
als made by our much honored Capt. Willett, hurably present to
your serious consideration (before we further proceed therein) that
the said proposals raay he consented to and subscribed by all and
every town-man under the following explications :
" That the first proposal relating to non-admission of erroneous
persons may be only understood under the explications following,
viz. : of such as hold damnable heresies inconsistent with the faith
of the gospel, as to deny the Trinity or any person therein ; the
Deity, or sinless humanity of Christ, or the union of both natures
in him, or his full satisfaction to the divine justice by his active and
passive obedience for all his elect, or his resurrection, ascension to
heaven, intercession, or his second personable coming to judgraent;
or the resurrection of the dead, or to maintain any merit of works,
consubstantiation, transsubstantiation, giving divine adoration to any
creature or any other anti-christian doctrine, thereby directly oppos
ing the priestly, prophetical, or kingly office of Christ, or any part
thereof; or secondly such as hold such opinions as are inconsistent
with the well-being of the place, as to deny the magistrates power'
to punish evil-doers as well as to encourage those that do well ; or
to deny the first day of the week to be observed by divine institu
tion as the Lord's or Christian Sabbath, or to deny the giving of
honor to whora honor is due, or to offer those civil respects that are
usually perforraed according to the laudable custom of our nation,
each to other as bowing the knee, or body, etc., or else to deny the
office, use, or authority of the rainistry or comfortable maintenance
to be due to them from such as partake of their teaching, or to speak
reproachfully of any of the churches of Christ in the country, or of
any such other churches as are of the sarae comraon faith with us
and them."
" We desire also that it may be understood and declared, that this
is not understood of any holding any opinion different from others
many disputable points yet in controversy among the godly learned,
the belief of these not essentially necessary to salvation, such as

62 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
pedo-baptism, anti-pedo-baptism, church discipline or the like; but
that the minister or ministers of the said town may take their liberty
to baptize infants or grown persons as the Lord shall persuade their
consciences, and so also the inhabitants to take the liberty to bring
their children to baptism or forbear."
"That the second proposal, relating to the non-reception of any
of evil-behavior, such as contentious persons, &c., may be only
understood of those truly so called, and not of those who are differ
ent in judgraent in the particulars last raentioned, and may be there
fore accounted contentious by some, though they are in all funda
mentals of faith, orthodox in judgment, and excepting common
infirmities blameless in conversation."
" That the proposal relating to the non-admission of such as raay
becorae a charge to the town, be only understood so that it may not
hinder any godly man from coming amongst us whilst there is
accommodation that may satisfy him, if some responsible townsmen
will be bound to save the town harmless."
" These hurable tenders of our desires we hope you will without
offence receive, excusing us therein, considering that God's glory,
the future peace and well-being, not only of us and our posterity
who shall settle here, but also of those several good and peaceably
minded men whora you all already know are liked, though with
very inconsiderable outward accoramodation to corae among us are
very much concerned herein. Our hurable prayers both for our
selves and you, is that our God would be pleased to cause us to aim
more and more at his glory, and less to our own earthly concern
ment, that so we may improve the favors that hath been handed to
us by our honored nursing fathers to the advancement of the glory
of God, the interest of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the common
benefit both of the Township and Colony, wherein he hath provi
dentially disposed of us to serve our generation."
" Your brethren to serve you in Christ."
" Signed in behalf and in the name of the church meeting at Swan
sea, by John Myles, Pastor,
John Buttekwokth.'
The original records of the town, from the year 1667,
are still in good preservation. The first record therein
is a copy of the grant of the town. The "three pro-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 63
posals " of Capt. Willett, with the " explications and
reservations" of Mr. Myles and Deacon Butterworth,
follow in natural order. The mutual assent of town
and church to these articles is stated as follows :
The foregoing proposals, being according to the desire of the
church aforesaid, fully and absolutely condescended to, concluded
and agreed upon by and between the said Captain Thomas Willett
and his associates aforesaid and the said church, under the reserva
tions and explications above written, and every of them, it was
sometime afterward propounded at a meeting of the said town,
lawfully warned on the two and twentieth day of the twelfth month,
1669, that the said agreement might be by the whole town ratified
and confirmed, and settled as a foundation order to which all that
then were, or afterwards should be adraitted inhabitants, and to
receive lands from the town, should manifest their assent hy sub
scription thereunto, whereupon the following order, (the said Cap
tain Willett and his associates aforesaid being present,) was freely
passed by the whole town, ne'mine contradicente.
At a town meeting lawfully warned on the two and twentieth day
of the twelfth month, comraonly called February, in the year of
our Lord 1669, it is ordered that all persons that are or shall be
admitted inhabitants within this town, shall subscribe to the three
proposals above written ; to the several conditions and explanations
therein expressed, before any lot of land be confirmed to them or
any of them.
We whose names are hereunder written do freely upon our admis
sion to be inhabitants of this town of Swansea, assent to the above
written agreement made between the church of Christ now meeting
here at Swansea, and Captain Thoraas Willett and his associates,
as the said agreement is specified and declared in the three propos
als aforewritten, with the several conditions and explantions there
of, concerning the present and future settlement of this township.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed,
Thomas Willett, Caleb Eddy,
¦John Myles, John Myles, Junior,
John Allen, Thomas Lewis,
James Browne, Joseph Caepentek,
Nicholas Tanner, Robert Jones,
Hugh Cole, Eldad Kingsley,
Benjamin Alby, John Martin,

64

HISTORICAL ADDRESS.

John Browne,
Samuel Wheaton,
Thomas Barnes,
Thos. Estaerooke,
Richard Sharp,
Wm. Ingraham,
Thos. Manning,
Wm. Cahoone,
Geo. Aldrich,
Nathan'l Lewis,
John Thurber,
Jona. Bosworth,
Jos. Lewis,
Wm. Haywakd,
Jno. Thurber, 2d,
Gerard Ingraham,
Zach. Eddy,
Hezekiah Luther,
John Paddock,
Samuel Luther,
Obadiah Bowen, Sen.

John Cole,
Joseph^ Wheaton,
Nathan'l Paine,
Stephen Brace,
Gideon Allen,
John Diokse,
Wm. Bartram,
Joseph Kent,
Sam'l Woodbury,
Nehemiah Allen,
Sampson Mason,
Job Winslow,
Obadiah Bowen, Junior,
Richard Burges,
Jno. Butterworth,
John West,
Thos. Elliott,
Timothy Brooks,
Nathan'l. Toogood,
Jere. Child.

The leaders in the settlement of old Swansea were
thus careful in the admission of persons to the privilege
of citizenship, and to this intelligent care is traceable
the past and present prosperity and virtue of our com
munities. Men who could subscribe to the articles
referred lo were law-loving and God-fearing, and their
descendants cherish a similar adherence to the principles )
of their fathers. In order to secure a more effectual
application of the " three proposals," it was voted Feb
ruary 12, 1670, "to prevent the bringing in of such
persons to be inhabitants as may be to the prejudice of
the town ; it is ordered that whosoever hath taken or
shall take up any lot therein, and shall let out, give, of
sell the same, or any part thereof, to any person or per
sons whatsoever, without the consent of the town, or at

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 65
least the committee that are or shall be chosen for the
management of the prudential affiiirs of the town at any
time hereafter ; then the person or persons that shall so
let out or sell as aforesaid, shall forfeit their whole right
in such lot and buildings thereon, from them, their heirs
and assigns, to the use of the town forever."
THE FOUNDERS OF NEW SWANSEA.
The Brown name and families occupy a large space ?
in the New England General Directory, and exercised
a wide influence in Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay '
colonies and in the Providence Plantations. The ances
tors of these families originated in the south and west
of England, and emigrated to Boston and Plymouth
between the years 1620 and 1692. Peter Brown, the
first comer, was of Puritan stock, and came in the May
flower in 1620. He was young and unmarried at the
time of his arrival, but before 1633, the date of his
death, had married two wives, and two children had
been born of each. Peter settled in Duxbury.
John Brown was of English descent. He becarae .
acquainted with the Pilgriras at Leyden, prior to 1620. )
The year of his arrival in Araerica is unknown, proba- '
bly about 1633 or 1634, as we find him elected a free
man in 1634, and in 1636 an assistant, an office which
he held- by annual election for seventeen years. He was
at this time between forty and fifty years of age, as we
find his son Jaraes Brown admitted as a freeraan in
1636. Mr. Brown was a man of large intelligence,
great energy of character and deep and eamest piety.
He was a grand pioneer in the settlement of the towns
on the west of old Plymouth. In 1636 he was a resi-

66 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
dent of Duxbury. We find his narae among the pur
chasers of the tract of land called Cohannett or Taunton
in 1637, and he with Miles Standish erected bounds
around the purchase in 1640. Thither he had probably
removed with his family before 1643, for araong the
fifty-four males subject to military duty in that year his
name stands first, followed by those of his two sons,
John Jr., and Jaraes.
During the sarae year he was one of the company to
purchase Rehoboth, and his interest in that township
was the largest of any, amounting to £600.
Prior to June 9th, 1645, he had again removed to
Rehoboth, for we find his name first with six others,
who were chosen to order the prudential affairs of that
town for six months. His son Jaraes removed from
Taunton.with him, and his son John followed in 1647.
In December, 1645, Mr. Brown, Sr., became sole pro
prietor of the section known by the Indians as Wanna
moisett, which originally included probably, a portion
of the present towns of Rehoboth and Swanzey, with a
large portion of Barrington and the south part of See
konk and East Providence. His name appears on all
of the important committees of the town. Now he was
chosen to carry on a suit at the court, — afterwards " to
make diligent search to find out the most convenient
way between Rehoboth and Dedham," — then he with
Mr. Peter Hunt were ordered to go to Plymouth, "to
make agreeraent about the Indian complaints," and
various other records of public duties, which indicate his
prominence and ability as a citizen of the town and of
the colony.
His liberal sentiments on religious affairs are most

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 67
clearly seen by the following record in which, as a col
onial magistrate, he expressed his scruples as to the
propriety of coercing the people to support the minister
and offered. to pay all delinquencies from his own estates :
Whereas, a petition was presented unto the General Court at
Plymouth, the first of June, 1665, by several inhahitants of the
town of Rehoboth, whose hands were thereunto subscribed, desiring
the Court to assist them in a way according to the orders of other
colonies about them for the raising maintenance for their minister ;
the sum of the petition seemed to hold forth that those whose hands
were not subscribed, contributed nothing, or so little as was not
esteemed of, which petition occasioned some discourse about a forci
ble way to compel all the inhabitants of that town to pay a certain
sura every year, towards the maintenance of the minister. Where
upon Mr. John Brown, one of the magistrates then sitting in Court,
and being one of the inhabitants of that town, and not being raade
acquainted with the said petition until the naraes of the inhabitants
were subscribed ; to issue the said troublesome controversy, and
take off the odium from others, did propound that forasmuch as
those who~se hands were to the petition desired to subrait themselves
to a rate, that if the Court would send two of the magistrates unto
Rehoboth, to take notice of the estates of the petitioners, he would
engage hiraself in the behalf of those who were the inhabitants of
the said town whose hands were not subscribed to the petition, that
they should voluntarily contribute according to their estates ; and
if any of them fell short in this business, he would supply that want
out of his own estate, and this he would make good by engaging his
lands for seven years in their behalf while they stai(^, though he
himself should remove from the place, which was approved of, and
Captain Standish and Mr. Hatherly were then made choice of by
the Court to see it ordered accordingly.
In 1643, the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and New Haven, united in a confederacy,
styled the united colonies of New England, for their
common defence and welfare. Each colony sent two
coraraissioners to the meetings of this body. Mr. John
Brown represented Plymouth colony for twelve years,

68 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
and was associated in these deliberations with such men
as John Winthrop, Gov. Haynes, Gov. Eaton, jyir.
Bradstreet and Gov. Winslow. In this body he exer
cised a large influence and served the colony wisely and
faithfully. The locality of his residence at Rehoboth is not
known. In 1654, "it was agreed and voted that Mr.
Brown should have for his use four square rods of ground
to build a house on, something near the meeting-house."
The omission of the first name in this record renders it
impossible for us to discover whether the father or one
of his sons had his dwelling near the site of the Con
gregational meeting-house in East Providence.
Mr. Brown died at Wannamoisett, April 10th, 1662.
The following notice is given of him by Morton, in his
New England Memorial, pp. 295, 296, 297 :
"This year Mr. John Brown ended this life; m his younger
years travelling into the low countries, he came acquainted with,
and took good liking to, the reverend pastor of Leyden, as also to
sundry of the brethren of that church ; which ancient amity induced
him (upon coming over to New England) to seat himself in the
jurisdiction of New Plimouth, in which he was chosen a magistrate ;
in which place he served God and the country several years ; he
was well accomplished with abilities to both civil and religious con
cernment, and attained, through God's grace, unto a comfortable
perswasion. of the love and favour of God to him ; he falling sick of
a fever, with much serenity and spiritual comfort fell asleep in the
Lord, and was honorably buried at Wannamoisett, near Rehoboth,
in the spring of the year abovesaid."
His burial place is probably in what is now known as
the " Viall Burial Ground," on the Little Neck, in Wan
namoisett, at the head of Bullock's Cove. My reasons
for this belief are these : The locality is within the
limits of Wannamoisett, which he purchased of the

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 69
Indians, and also within the bounds of Ancient Swan
zey, which included a large portion of that purchase.
It was upon his own estate, where family burial grounds
were often located.
His widow, Dorothy Brown, was buried there, who
died at Swanzey, January 27, 1674, aged 90 years.
His daughter Mary and her husband, Capt. Thomas
Willett, with other descendants, were buried in this
ground, and the locality was forraerly known as the
"Brown Burial Ground."
Mr. Brown left three children — Mary, who married
Capt. Thomas Willett, John, Jr., who settled with his
father in Rehoboth, and James Brown, who was one of
the most influential men in the founding of Swanzey, as
well as one of the leading merabers in Mr. Myles'
church. His descendants are now among the most '
respectable families in Providence, Warren, Barrington,
East Providence, Swanzey and other towns far and near.
To those who love genealogical research, it would be a
rich treat to trace the families and the influences which
have sprung frora the patriarchal John Brown of Eng
land, Leyden, and Plyraouth.
Thomas Willett may most properly be called the
leader among the founders of this ancient town, and for
talent, energy, integrity and intelligence, is entitled to
honorable reraembrance by the present and future inhab
itants of this and other communities. Although several
of the adjoining towns lay claim to him as the principal
raan in their foundation, his history belongs most pro
perly to Swanzey, where he fixed his residence, spent
the last years of his life-, and where the mortal part of
him now rests. Mr. Willett was of English descent

70 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
and a merchant by profession, and like his friend and
associate, John Brown, becarae acquainted with the
Plyraouth adventurers while travelling on business in
Holland. The attachment which he formed for the Pil
grims, led him to spend much of his time with them,
while he was engaged at Leyden and Amsterdam, and
the mutual "good liking" led him to embark, while a
young man of nineteen years, to try with them the
hardships and strange experiences of the western world.
Although we know nothing of his physical appearance,
we fancy that he was resolute, ambitious and independent,
intelligent by reason of his business and travels, and
fluent in the use of the English and Dutch language.
Savage thinks that Mr. Willett carae in the ship Lion,
in 1633, frora Leyden to Plymouth. This date is incor
rect, for in Winthrop's Journal, vol. 1, page 322, he is
mentioned as being at Kennebec in 1629, the supposed
year of his arrival, and in a copy of "Alden's Collec-
"tion of Epitaphs," once owned by the Hon. Samuel
Davis, of Plymouth, a renowned antiquarian, is the fol
lowing marginal note in Mr. Davis' hand-writing : —
"Mr. Willett came to Plymouth about 1629, and lived
there until about 1664, then went to Swanzey, S. D."
His life in Holland had given him an intimate knowl
edge of the Dutch raanners, customs and language,
which made his services invaluable in the adjustment of
the difficulties arising between the English settlers and
the Dutch at Manhattan. With our present impres
sions of his character and business talent, it is easy to
understand why the people of Plymouth sent this youth
of twenty into the forests and among the savages of
Maine as their agent to superintend their business at

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 71
Kennebec. Coolness, energy and courage were needed for
such a duty at such a post, and he was equal to the position .
Mr. Winthrop relates the following singular anecdote of
him, while residing there. "At Kennebec, the Indians
wanting food, and there being store in the' Plymouth
trading house, they conspired to kill the English there
for their provision ; and some Indians coming into the
house, Mr. Willett, the raaster of the house, being
reading the Bible, his countenance was more soleran than
at other times, so as he did not look cheerfully upon
them as he was wont to do ; whereupon they went out
and told their fellows that their purpose was discovered.
They asked them how it could be. The others told
them that they knew it by Mr. Willett's countenance,
and that ihey had discovered it by a book he was read
ing. Whereupon they gave over their design." He
continued at Kennebec, as agent, for six years or a little
more, when he returned to Plymouth, and, on July 6th,
1636, married Mary Brown, daughter of John Brown,
then one of the Assistants in the governraent of Ply
mouth. From Plymouth he removed to Dorchester and
returned again to Plymouth between 1641 and 1646.
In 1647 Mr. Willett was elected to the command of
the military company at Plymouth, as successor of Miles
Standish. Since the settleraent at Plymouth, this brave
warrior and statesman had quelled the rising hostilities
of the natives by prompt and decisive action , and Stand
ish, who had never feared to face mortal dangers, now
resigned the sword to the no less brave and patriotic
Willett. The captaincy of the Plymouth militia was
no sinecure's office, and the duties were sterner than a
holiday parade. The leadership in such a time indjicates

72 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
a rank which in the times of the revolution might have
secured the victories of Saratoga or Trenton, or in the
Great Rebellion have achieved the glories of Vicksburg
or of Gettysburg.
In 165f, we find the name of Capt. Thoraas Willett
araong the assistants in the Plymouth Court, an office
to which he was annually elected till 1665, when other
business obliged, him to decline a position which he had
filled for fourteen years with great usefulness to the col
ony and with signal honor to himself.
The first evidence of his removal from Plymouth to
Rehoboth, is found on the town records, under date of
February 21, 1660, when in town meeting it was voted
" that Mr. Willett should have liberty to take up five
hundred or six hundred acres of land northward or east
ward, beyond the bounds of our town, where he shall
think it raost convenient for hiraself." In the same year
Captain Willett obtained consent of Plymouth Court
and the town of Rehoboth, to purchase a tract of land
of Alexander, son of Massasoit, which was called Reho
both North Purchase, now Attleborough. Massachusetts,
and Curaberland, Rhode Island, with a part of Mans
field and Norton. He was also the original purchaser
of Taunton North Purchase and several other tracts of
land in this part of the colony. He surrendered his
title to these lands to the Plyraouth Court in 1666, and
his name appears first among the proprietors of the
Attleborough lands. This four or five hundred acres of
the lands in the Rehoboth North Purchase were given
him by special grant. This land lies on the Seven
Mile River, and has always borne the name of Willett's
Farm.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 73
Capt. Willett's residence at this time was at Wanna
moisett, in the western part of Old Swanzey, and in
the southern part of the present town of East Provi
dence. In 1664 His jNIajesty sent Nichols, Carr, Cartwright
and Maverick as a coraraision, to visit the several col
onies of New England, to hear and deterraine coraplaints
and appeals in matters civil, military and criminal.
When they attempted the reduction of the Dutch at
Manhattan, Capt. Willett a(^companied them from Ply
mouth as a counsellor and interpreter, and he appeared
to have greatly recommended himself to the commission
ers by his activity and intelligence."
Colonel Nichols in a letter to Gov. Prince after the
surrender of the Dutch, requested that Captain Willett
might have such dispensation from his official engage
ments in Plymouth colony, as to be at liberty to assist
" in modelling and reducing the affairs in those settle
ments into cfood English." He also remarked that Mr.
Willett was better acquainted with the manners and
customs of the Dutch, than any Englishman in the
country, and that his conversation was very acceptable
to them.
In answer to this request of Nichols, Capt. Willett
was relieved from his position of Assistant in the col
ony, a post he had honorably held since 1651, and
entered upon the more difficult and responsible labor at
New York. The Dutch, whose hostility to the English
was very great, were to be reconciled, and the hatred of
the Indians, whose enmity had been excited by the
Dutch, was also to be appeased. He succeeded so well
in adjusting these serious difficulties, and harmonizing

74 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
discordant eleraents, that his popularity not only entitled
him to the title of "Peacemaker," but secured his elec
tion as the first Mayor of New York, after the organiza
tion of the governraent. Plis integrity and ability won
for him a second election to that oifice, and he was also
chosen as an umpire to determine the disputed boundary
between New York and New Haven colonies. As his
name occurs in connection with certain offices in Reho
both in 1664 and 1665, it is probably true that he
retained his residence at Wannamoisett, and his inter
est in town affars also, and that he returned from New
York prior to 1667. In this year, as we have previ
ously seen, his name appears first on the list of those to
whom " liberty hath been formerly granted to become a
township there (at Swansea) if they should see good."
The three proposals for citizenship were prepared by him
and adopted by his associates. That portion of Wanna
moisett on which his residence had been built was now
included within the town of New Swansea, and he with
John Miles, may be considered the fathers of the town.
It is not known in what year he built his house, but the
site of it is known to be same as that on which the
house of Mr. Samuel Viall now stands, in the south
part of East Providence. The bricks in the chimney of
Mr. Viall's house are the same ones used by Mr. Wil
lett, and were either raade by the Dutch in New York,
or imported from Holland. There are two doors in the
present house which were taken from the old house, and
which still preserve the somewhat fantastic and orna
mental painting of two hundred years ago. One of the
original doors taken from Captain Willett's dwelling,
and his sword, are in the possession of the city of New

HISTORICAL ADDKESS. 75
York. On the opposite side of the road from his house,
was a log house or fort, used as a defence from the
Indians before and during Philip's war.
He resided on his farra in Swanzey during the reraain
der of his life, and filled the highest offices of trust and
usefulness in the society. He died at home, August 4,
1674, in the 64th year of his age, and was buried near
his residence, on a point of land at the head of Bul
lock's Cove, and probably upon his own estate or that
of his father-in-law, John Brown. A thick, rough
stone marks his grave, on which raay be read, carved in
rude letters, the following inscription :
MDCLXXIV.
Here lyeth the body of the worthy
Thomas Willett, Esq.,
Who died August ye 4th, in ye Ixiv th year
of his age Anno —
Who was the first Mayor of New York,
And twice did sustain the place.
His wife, Mary Brown, died in 1669, and her remains
lie near her husband. His second wife, Joanna, the
widow of the Rev. Peter Prudden, whom Capt. Willett
married on the 19th September, 1671, died, according
to the inscription on her gravestone, in 1699, aged
sixty-five. Savage regards this as a mistake, as well as the words
" his only wife," which must be an error for " his second
wife. Capt. Willett had thirten children by his first
wife, several of whom survived hira. Their daughter
May married Rev. Samuel Hooker, of Farmington ;
Martha married John Saflfin, a merchant of Boston, and
afterward a resident of Swanzey and Bristol ; Sarah

76 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
married Rev. John Eliot, son of the Apostle to the
Indians ; Esther married Rev. Josiah Flint, of Dor
chester ; Sarauel, the youngest son, moved to Long Island
and was Sheriff of Queens County. His son Edward,
who lived to the great age of ninety-three, was the
father of thirteen children, one of whora, Marinus Wil
lett, of New York, was a soldier of distinction in the
Revolution, and afterwards was elected Mayor of New
York. Tradition says that he was also a worthy patri
arch of thirteen children. Hezekiah Willett, son of the
Captain, a young man of unusual proraise, was shot by
the Indians during Philip's war. Not aware of danger,
he was shot dead by three bullets near his own door ;
his head was cut off and his body left on the ground.
The family name has passed out of existence in the
town, but the descendants, as well as the narae, are
numerous in New York and other parts of the country.
The history of Mr. Myles has already been imper
fectly sketched, frora his horae in Swansea, Wales,
where he occupied a prorainent place among the Baptist
clergy of that country, to his new home in Swanzey,
New England, where he becarae a leader in the estab
Ushraent, not only of Baptist principles in Plymouth and
Massachusetts Bay colonies, but also in the grander and
broader notion of religious toleration. In these times,
when a liberal Christian sentiment pervades our comrau
nities quite generally, it is difficult for us to appreciate
the struggles and contests which the last two centuries
have witnessed to secure it. The men who could plant
churches in the wilderness in the presence of personal
persecutions, with a firm reliance on the Divine arm for
support, possessed the courage and sublime faith which

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 77
makes heroes. Certainly the various trials which Mr.
Myles and his associates endured, show that they acted
upon the instructions given to Joseph of old, "Be strong
and of a good courage."
The covenant of the church, already given, indicates
that Mr. ^Nlyles was a strong advocate of open com
munion, although while in Wales he was equally stren
uous in advocating close or restricted communion. He
also declared "that the ministry raight take the liberty
to baptize infants or grown persons as the Lord shall
persuade their consciences, and so also the inhabitants
to take their liberty to bring their children to baptize, or
forbear." True to his new convictions and desirous of
uniting the eleraents around hira in a harmonious and
flourishing civil as well as religious community, he raade
his church the abode of all who sought a pure worship,
untrararaeled by sectarian tenets. On such a basis, Mr.
Brown and Capt. Willett could build a hearty fellow
ship, and engage with earnest zeal with Messrs. Butter
worth, Tanner, Albj' and Kingsley, in the work of
settleraent of this plantation.
Mr. Myles' first residence in Swanzey was near the
residence of the late Mason Barney, Esq., at Barneys
ville. The bridge just east of his house, across the
Sowams, or Palmer's river, was called Myles' bridge.
His neiorhbors on New Meadow Neck were Deacon But-
terworth, Nicholas Tanner, Benjamin Alby, Eldad
Kingsley, and others.
In these early days of Massachusetts history, even to
times within an hundred years, the selecton of the rain
ister, the payment of his salary, and the question of his
removal, were a part of the business of the towns at

78 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
their annual meetings. While the larger number of
the first families of Swanzey were Baptists, several were
of the Congregational order. All, however, united most
harmoniously in the election of Mr. Myles as their pas
tor, for several years. His salary was small, and like
Goldsmith's minister :
" Was passing rich with forty pounds a year."
His compensation was increased by the use of certain
lands, denominated "pastors and teachers lots," set
apart in the first division of the town for the support
and benefit of the ministry. His congregation was
scattered over a wide extent of territory, and although
the raajority of the settlers had established themselves
on New .Meadow Neck, in the vicinity of the meeting
house and their pastor's residence, we find Mr. Willett's
and Mr. Brown's families travelling from Wannamoi
sett, a distance of five or six railes, and Hugh Cole and
his neighbors frora Kickemuit, a distance of three miles,
and other families still, a distance of four or five railes
from Mattapoisett or Gardner's Neck, to attend Mr.
Myles' preaching on the Lord's day.
His interest in matters of education was second only
to his desire to spread the Gospel. In 1673 the town
voted to establish a school " for the teaching of gram
mar, rhetoric, and arithmetic, and the tongues of Latin,
Greek and Hebrew, also to read English and to write.''
Of this school Mr. Myles was invited to be schoolmas
ter, at a salary of " forty pounds per annum in current
country funds." He accepted and performed the duties
of minister and schoolmaster until the settlement was
broken up by the Indian war.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 79
This school was kept in the several neighborhoods of
the town in different portions of the year, so that the
reverend schoolmaster not only enjoyed the privilege of
boarding among his school parishioners, but also of
carrying the means of a literary education from one com
munity to another over the town. Then, as now, the
clergy did not grow rich frora the people. Some of the
inhabitants saw no necessity of a schoolmaster, and
others argued against paying his salary as minister, and
between both difficulties, Mr. Myles secured but a lean
support. When Philip's war opened in 1675, Mr. Myles' house
was fortified, and was known as Myles' Garrison. Here
the troops collected at the first outbreak, and Mr. Myles
was probably among the foremost in the defence of the
infant settlement. At the close of the war, the pastor
found the membership of his church and society so scat
tered that he was obliged to seek a support elsewhere.
Boston, Providence and Newport were the only places
of safety and sympathy Of Baptist believers, and he
preached in Boston for a considerable tirae after leaving
his horae in Swanzey. At a town raeeting of the town.
May 27, 1678, "John Allen and John Brown were
chosen to draw up a letter in the behalf of the church
and town, to be sent to Mr. John Myles, pastor of the
church, and rainister of the town, manifesting their
desire of his return to them ; and Thoraas Eastabrooks
was chosen to carry the town's letter to Mr. Myles, at
Boston." On his return he found the settleraent nearly
broken up near his old residence, and a large increase
of inhabitants on the southendof the Neck, near Tyler's
Point. Here in 1678 and '79, a meeting-house was

80 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
built, and near it a house for the pastor. The house for
Mr. Myles was built before the new meeting-house, as
it was voted in 1679, " that Mr. John Myles shall have
the house built for him, to indemnify him for debts due
hira in the time of the Indian war, in full of his demands
against them, and accepted by him." Mr. Myles con
tinued his labors among this people for three years or a
little more after his return, and died February 3d, 1683,
between sixty and seventy years nf age and in the thirty-
eighth year of his ministry. He was a man of good
talents and education, with unusual energy of character.
He was liberal in his religious opinions, but not loose;
he was an apostle and not a proselyte. His sacrifices
f'or conscience's sake testify to his firm adherence to
truth, and his interest in civil society is evinced by the
labors which he undertook for its prosperous advance
ment. His burial place is unknown, but it is sujjposed
to be with many of his deople, near his home and place
of preaching, at Tyler's Point. Silence alone marks
the resting-place of this pioneer and - founder of our
ancient plantation. The narae of his wife, Ann Humph
rey, is all that is known of her. John, Susannah, and
Samuel, were their children. John, Jr., probably lived
and died in Swanzey. Samuel was at College at Cam
bridge in 1683 ; graduated in 1684 ; went to England,
received A. M. at Oxford, took Episcopal orders, settled
as minister of King's Chapel, Boston, in 1689, and
died in 1729. SWANZEY RANKS.
All the lands of the town, which had not been dis
tributed among the proprietors of Sowams and Matta-

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 81
poisett prior to 1667, were under the general control of
the inhabitants and subject to its legislation, as we have
already seen. We come now to consider a most extra
ordinary and novel method of dividing the lands of the
town among its citizens, a plan which was practised in
no other town in Plymouth colony, and so far as I can
learn in no other colony in New England. The inhabi
tants were divided into three ranks or classer, according
to their character and influence, corresponding in some
sense to the three Roman orders, the Patrician, the
Equestrian and the Plebian. The power of ranking the
inhabitants was exercised by the five persons appointed
by the Court to regulate the adraission of the sarae, in
1666, and was afterwards assumed by comraittees
appointed by the town. Capt. Thomas Willett, Mr.
Paine, Senior, Mr. Brown, John Allen, and John But
terworth arranged the ranks at the first. Promotions
and degradations were raade from one rank to another
according to the authority and judgment of the commit
tee in charge.
A portion of the legislation of the town with refer
ence to this subject, was as follows :
Swansea, February Oth, 1670.
It is ordered, that all lots and divisions of lands that are or here
after shall be granted to any particular person, shall be proportioned
according to the three-fold ranks underwritten, so that where those
of the first rank shall have three acres, those of the second rank
shall have two acres, and those of the third rank shall have one;
and that it shall he in the power of the selectmen for the time
being, or committee for adraission of inhabitants, to adrait of and
place such as shall be received as inhabitants, into either of the
said ranks a.s they shall judge fit, till the number of three score
inhabitants shall be made up, and that when tho said nuniber of
three-score is accomplished, the lands that are already bought shall

82 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
be divided and proportioned according to the said three-fold ranks ;
that in the meantime, the said selectmen or committee shall have
full power to grant lots unto such persons as may not be placed into
any of the said ranks, until further order provides ; the grants not
to exceed nine acres to a raan.
The said first rank are only such as are in these colurans :
Capt. Thoraas Willett, Mr. Richard Sharpe,
Mr. Nathaniel Paine, William Ingraham,
Mr. .James Browne, Mr, John Myles, Pastor,
Mr. John Allen, Sen., A Pastor's lot,
John Butterworth, A Teacher's Lot.
Mr. John Dickse,
The above second rank are only such as are in these colurans :
Sarauel Luther, William Howard,
Robert Jones, Gideon Allen,
Zach'r Eddy, Thomas Lewis,
Hugh Cole, Jonathan Bosworth,
John Myles, Jun., Anthony Low,
Nicholas Tanner, Obadiah Bowen,
Benjamin Alby, Thomas Eastabrooks,
Sampson Mason, William Bartram,
Thomas Barnes, George Aldrich,
John Cole, William Salisbury,
Joseph Carpenter, John Brown,
Gerard Ingraham, A Schoolmaster.
The said third rank are only such as are in these columns ;
Hez. Luther, John Martin,
Joseph Lewis, Isaac Allen,
Caleb Eddy, Eldad Kingsley,
John Paddock, Samuel Woodbury,
Nathaniel Lewis, Joseph Wheaton,
Samuel Wheaton, John Wheaton,
Thomas^Blsennlng, John Harding,
William Cahoone, Jeremiah Child.
In 1681, Mr. James Brown, Senior, Mr. John Allen,
Senior, and John Butterworth were the committee for the
admission of inhabitants. They granted to Capt. John
Brown, Ensign Thomas Estabrooks, Sergeant Samuel

, y-fs-

f...

%

•^aW" '^*,,

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 83
Luther, Sergeant Hugh Cole and Mr. Nicholas Farmer,
their heirs and assigns forever, " the full right and intent
of the highest rank," &c.
The establishment of ranks had already created a
landed aristocracy ; this act of the coraraittee proceeded
a step further and made the rank hereditary. The
inhabitants of the town tegan to understand the tend-
ency of their extraordinary rules on this subject. Al
though great dissatisfaction had been caused by the
several assignments of ranks and the promotions and
degradations from one rank to another, they had not been
led to see the purely undemocratic tendency of their
regulations, until the further singular action of the com
mittee occasioned a unanimous protest on the part of the
town, and a declaration that the act was utterly void
and of no effect. Frora this time, the ranking systera
was wholly neglected, and this element of feudal tyranny
enjoyed but a short life in our old town.
Turning; from the sober duties of legislating for the
foundation of a prosperous town, — duties so new and
untried to these pioneers of a new order of civilization,
and performed with wonderful sagacity and skill by
these earnest, godly men, — let us for a few moments
draw aside the veil which conceals their daily life and by
the aid of our imagination, look out and in upon the
scenes of their secular toils. We have seen how well
they legislate. Do they farm as well ? They have come
to this new country to found homes and society, — the
good old New England home, and society, — than which
there are and have been none purer and holier in the
world. The banished colony, few in numbers but valiant in

84 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
purpose, have selected for their plantation the lands
lying about the head of what is now known as Hundred
Acre Cove. Their horae lots and meadows have been
surveyed by the proprietors' surveyor, Henry Smith of
Rehoboth. All the new comers have been tried by the
severe test of citizenship, and have been admitted as
inhabitants of the new town. Their first interest is to
erect dwellings for their protection. The pine logs are
soon wrought into shape by the sturdy planters' axes,
and the little settlement about Burial Place Hill soon
numbers a dozen log houses. One condition of their
reception into the town is that of building a suitable
dwelling withiu one year from their admission as inhabi
tants. Benjamin Alby, Nicholas Tanner, Thomas
Barnes, Bosworth, Aldrich, Sanford, Parson Myles and
Walker have located in the neighborhood of the Cove.
Farther down on New Meadow Neck are John Butter
worth, Ingrahara, May, Thurber, Childs, Woodbury,
Peck and Howard. Across and on the east side of
Sowaras River are the horaes of Mason, Paine, Wheaton,
Bowen, Luther, Eastabrooks, with Caleb Eddy aiid
Hugh Cole on the Kickemuit. At Wannamoisett have
settled John Brown, Capt. Willett and Mr. Paine.
With ready hands they help each other in the erection
of their rude but comfortable dwellings, which contained
a single room f'or kitchen, sitting-roora or parlor, with
one or two sraaller rooras for lodging, and the rough,
unfinished attic for older boys. The huge stone chira-
ney is built, by no raaster raason, at one end of the
house, and its ample proportions admit the four feet logs
within the ponderous mouth of the fire-place opening
into the main room of the house. Within it too, they

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 85
huild the stone oven for their baking, where the pump
kin pies received their delicate brown, and the brown
bread its healthy relish, and its Yankee title. The
blacksmith is abroad, in this new land, for the iron
crane with the pot-hooks and trararaels suspending iron
bake pan, griddle and dinner-pot, hang over the blazing
fire, ever ready for and inviting to daily use. The
cooking utensils have all been brought from the father
land across the Atlantic, save such as the skill of hus
bandry could fashion from wood and wrought iron, and
the scanty furnishings of the pantry and closet told of a
market three thousand railes away, with but little raeans
to draw fi-om its costly stores. The single round table,
serving so many purposes, a few wooden chairs, and a
huge straight-backed wooden settle were the principal
articles of furniture which stood on their neatly sanded
kitchen floors. Their beds, filled with straw or hay, or
rushes, and seldom surraounted by one of feathers, and
covered by homespun linen sheets and coverlets, invited
to healthy sleep after the day of honest, wearisome toil
from sun to sun.
While Goodwives Dorothy Brown, Mary Willett, and
Ann Myles superintend the household duties and teach
their older children the merry music of the spinning-
wheel and flax-wheel, and the heavy clatter of the
looms, and sing sweeter music to the little sleepers on
bed or settle, Goodman Brown and Capt. Willett and
Parson Myles and Hugh Cole, with their neighbors, are
abroad in the fields, building their five rail fence which
divides Rehoboth from Swanzey, or fencing their garden
plat, clearing the land, or planting, hoeing or harvesting
their crops of potatoes, corn, beets and beans for their

86 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
annual support. Their oxen and horses, few at first,'
are either harnessed with rude tackling to their ruder
implements of agriculture, or are abroad in the common
fields and woods with the cows, whose whereabouts are
discovered by the tinkling bell and lowing call to their
mates. The sheep are turned away to excellent common
pasturage on Towesit Neck, purchased by the proprie
tors for this purpose, and often called " The Sheep Pas
ture." Brooks' Pasture, the site of the town of War
ren, was used for the same purpose for sheep, young
cattle, fattening stock and swine, and here they prepared
their daily and yearly stores of fat lambs, mutton, beef
and pork. No butcher's stall furnished their tables, and
the best brands of Gennesee, St. Louis and California
flours were slumbering beneath the rich exuberance of
the unknown western prairies. The butchered fatling
was divided between their nearest neighbors, and these
mutual exchanges and purchases was the simple market
style of two hundred years ago.
The yearly season of sheep washing and shearing fol
lowed the spring planting, affording business for men
and lots of fun for the boys. The fleecy flocks are
driven to the wash-pen on the river-side, where raen,
boys and sheep together enjoy their flrst suramer bath
in the warm June waters. The youngsters now have
sweet revenge on the old buck, who now atones for
many provoked buttings by equal duckings in the run
ning stream. A week or ten days of warm sun dries
the cleansed fleece and the busy sheep shearers clip the
jackets from the wooly tribe, and with the owner's mark
stamped upon their back or a cut or a slit in the ear,
they are sent down to Towesit Neck to enjoy with the

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 87
frolicsome lambs a suramer of undisturbed repose by the
seaside, where vexatious dogs and voracious wolves
seldom or never come.
After sheep-shearing came the washing, carding, spin
ning and weaving, and many are the tales of wondrous
industry and alacrity in changing the woolen coat of
the sheep to the woolen coat or gown of some household
wearer. It is even told us that the wool which was on
the sheep*s back in the morning was ready made in
clothing for domestic wear before the day's sands had
run out. What say you, blushing grand-daughters of
to-day, to such feats of handiwork of your great grand
mothers two hundred years ago ! ! They spun their
fireside yarn to a better purpose, if not with equal dili
gence, to those who spin street yarn in city or country
life, two hundred years later.
Besides these domestic and farm duties, other business
oi public importance raust be attended to. Surrounded
by the people of another race, though now at peace with
them, they know not how soon jealousy, hatred and
revenge may stir the passions of savage hearts to burn
their dwellings and to inurder their children. They
have built their fence across Mount Hope Neck to pre
vent the depredations of their cattle on the lanfls of King
Philip. They now propose to build a log fort near their
own settlement, where in case of threatening danger
they may all gather for mutual protection and defence.
At the north end of New Meadow Neck, called by the
Indians, Chachacust, the men asserable, select a location
for their house, and build a stockade fort, and in honor
of their minister, whose motto seems to have been, "In
time of peace, prepare for war," it was called " Myles'

00 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Garrison." They knew that the good Massasoit, the
peacemaker, and Winslow, the diplomatist, were dead.
Little did they dream as they bent their energies to the
erection of such a defence, that within five short years
there would be such sore need for seeking its friendly
enclosures, teaching a lesson to us as well as to them of
the folly of putting our confidence in princes.
Our ancestry of two centuries agc) were a church-
going people, and in the raidst of hardy toil, they reraem-
bered the Sabbath day to keep it holy. We have already
mentioned the fact that in 1666, a rude edifice was
erected on New Meadow- Neck for the purpose of relig
ious worship. Go back with rae in iraagination to a
June Sabbath in 1670. You look out upon the little
settleraents at Wannaraoisett, New Meadow Neck and
Kickerauit, and there is no appearance of business or
pleasure. It is the Puritan Sabbath. The fields are
green in their summer garments, the forests are bright
with their new foliage, the waters of Sowams Ifiver and
the beautiful Narragansett are unstirred except by the
gentle winds of the morning. Quiet and repose rest on
Nature, and God's works proclaim His glory. It is the
delightful rest of a Puritan Sabbath ! There are busi
ness men * and women in those rude houses on yonder
hills and by the quiet waters, but their business to-day
is to worship God, and in His service is their delight.
By and by the stillness is broken, not by the Sabbath
bell, but by the morning drum, which tells that the
hour of service draws nigh. From our stand-point on
Burial Place HiU let us note the congregation as they
come up to worship. Frora New Meadow ]\eck come
whole families on foot along the well-marked bridle way

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 89
through the woods and clearings ; good Deacon Butter
worth, his wife and children among them. The young
men and maidens form a goodly company as they
come in groups, with now and then a group of only
t'wo, whose hearts and thoughts are evidently bent on
devotional subjects, and though the way were twice as
long, would still be twice too short for their enjoyment.
Along the path from over the fording place near where
Barneysville now is, come two on horseback, a lady and
a gentleman, with a child in front. Two walk beside
thera. The two on horseback are Goodman and Good-
wife Luther and child. Mr. Hugh Cole owns the horse,
and rode upon it, with his wife upon the pillion, until they
reached neighbor Luther's, when they dismounted to
walk, to enable their good neighbors to ride. Hugh
Cole has come five railes, over streams and through
woods, and would have gone double the distance had
there been the necessity. From the west over Bowen's
Bridge River come Mr. Paine's family and the Brown
and Willett farailies from Wannaraoisett. These two
ride by turns on saddles and pillions, for there are no
roads now and no carriages, and we must wait yet many
years for the first " calash " to stir up a " wonderment "
among the people. The nimble boys and girls are going
to meeting barefoot, and the young misses are carrying
their shoes and stockings in their hands and will put
them on when they get near the meeting-house, and will
put them off again on their return home. It's a pity
there are no smooth roads or sidewalks for those femi
nine feet to walk on ; but never mind, they have roughed
it all the week, and they had much rather soil or scratch
their feet than those shoes just purchased. Only the

90 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
sick stay at home to-day, and those who nurse them.
Some, probably, are spurred to duty by the Plyraouth
law, which declares " that if any lazy, slothful or pro
fane person in any of the towns neglect to corae to the
public worship of God, they shall forfeit for every such
default, the sum of ten shillings, or be publicly whipped."
The congregation on horseback have dismounted by
aid of the horse-block in front of the meeting-house
door, and their horses have been fastened to the nearest
trees. After enquiring concerning the health of family
and friends, they enter the sanctuary of which, if they
could not exclaim " How amiable are thy tabernacles,"
they could join with the royal poet raost truthfully,
" The sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a
nest for herself where she may lay her young, even
thine altars, O, Lord of Hosts, my King and my God."
Worthy Parson Myles enters, and the whole congre
gation rise in token of respect for their pastor and
teacher. He reads an hymn from the only book there
is in the parish, and hands it over the pulpit to one of
the Deacons, who reads a line, which the congregation
unite in singing, and after the slow ones are through,
reads another line and sings it, and so on through the
hymn. Parson Myles leads the congregation in a long prayer.
The word of God is read, and after another hymn, he
preaches a sermon by the hour-glass, unless his ideas
chance the sooner to run out. The benediction is pro
nounced, and the families eat their dinners about the
premises, and wait for the afternoon services and ser
mon, which may be a continuation of the morning's dis
course, with an " improvement " of practical thoughts at

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 91
the end. The afternoon exercises over, they scatter
again to their homes, the elder and more devout to study
the Scriptures, the youth to learn the Catechism and to
receive religious teachings from the Bible. Thus passed
the Sabbath of 1670 on Barrington soil. Tell, rae
friends, has the wisdom and experience of two centuries
found any better way to worship God, or to reverence
his sanctuaries. May we not fear that the truths of
Increase Mather's noted sermon, entitled "Ichabod, or
the Glory of the Lord is departing from New England,"
may yet dawn upon us.
Not only were the ancient settlers of these towns earn
estly devoted to religious concerns, but they also early
directed their thoughts to the training of the youth in
the ways of knowledge. Thirty years after the estab
lishment of Harvard College, and three years after old
Plymouth had voted a free school within her borders,
the people of this section liigislated as follows :
Dec. 19, 1673. It was voted and ordered, nemine contradicente,
that a school be forthwith set up in this town for the teaching of
Grammar, Rhetoric, and Arithmetic, and the tongues of Latin,
Greek and Hebrew, also to read English and to write, and that a
salary of £iO per annum in current country pay, which passeth
from man to man, be duly paid from time to time, and at all times
hereafter to the schoolmaster thereof, and that Mr. J ohn Myles, the
present pastor of the Church here .assembling, be the schoolmaster,
otherwise to have power to dispose the same to an able schoolmas
ter, during the said pastor's life and from and after his decease that
the school and salary thereto belonging during their respective nat
ural lives ; provided, nevertheless, that the said school and forty
pounds salary aforesaid shall be continued to the said John Myles,
and to the said succesive pastors for and during such tirae as he or
they, and any or every one of thera shall be contented to take their
ministerial maintenance by weekly contribution and no longer.
It is further ordered that said school shall be only free to such
children whose parents pay any rates towards the said school, and

92 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
to none other, and that the schoolmaster and successive schoolmas
ters thereof for the time being shall have liberty to take in any other
scholars they think fit, to be educated there, and every scholar at
first entrance shall pay twelve pence in silver towards buying of
books forthe said school."
Here are the rudiments of a thorough education in
good earnest, for in addition to the three Rs of more
modern times, we have Rhetoric, Latin, Greek and
Hebrew. ^ What say you, schoolmen within the limits
of Old Swanzey, are these ancient tongues taught in
your graded grammar schools of 1870, or has the Eng
lish tongue as such a place in your modern course of
studies ? and what say you, teachers of Wannamoisett
or Kickamuit, do your certificates of qualifications
embrace the ancient classics and the higher English
studies ? or shall we yield to the ancient dwellers on the
Sowams a higher standard of education than now pre
vails in the same quarters ? Parson Myles, the pastor
and teacher, now becomes John Myles, the schoolmaster
and pedagogue, and with his saddle-bags across his
horse's back, he starts for Capt. Willett's to commence
his two months' school service in that section. Board
and lodgings for man and beast are a part of the school
master's salary, and as there are no school-houses, he
rides up on Monday morning to the hospitable door of
his old friend, — the scene of his future labors. A
group of boys and misses is gathered to pay their defer
ence to their future teacher, and with bows and courte
sies they welcome him whom they have been taught to
reverence as their spiritual guide. The student and the
rogue are there, and the latter scans with mischievous
eyes and with prophetic spirit the ferule, and Solomon's
rod, which are to form a part of the school furnishings

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 93
of our ancient school-room. The saddle-bags contain
the little library of text-books, which are to be the com
raon stock for instruction and study. The spelling, the
grammar, the arithmetic and the classical books have
all been thumbed in English and Welsh homes, across
the Atlantic, and are now made to bear tribute to the
educational needs of this early civilization. Our school
room is an upper chamber, with a long rough table in
the centre of the room, and rude benches ranged around
its sides and elevated according to the size of the boys
and girls who are to occupy them. The raaster holds
the key of the storehouse of knowledge in his hands,
and with wise care unlocks and brings out his treasures
as his pupils seem to need. The ciphering book is their
slate, their black-board and their writing-book, and the
good round full hand of that elder day, and the artistic
skill of those early performers in penmanship often put
in the shade the efforts of more favored ones to-day.
For six days in the week the master and pupils ply their
school tasks, and we may well wonder when and where
our good parson finds time and strength to prepare the
manna for feeding his flock on Sunday, unless he has
already learned that there are two ends to every sermon
barrel. From Capt. Willett's, when his service ends,
he rides to Kickemuit, to Hugh Cole's, where a similar
two raonths of labor in teaching follow, and frora thence
back home to New Meadow Neck where he finishes his
annual round, and draws on the raters of the town for
his well-earned salary. Some of his parishioners, how
ever, think this forty pounds a full equivalent for his
ministerial as well as pedagogical services, and when
the contribution box comes round on Sunday morning,

94 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
they somehow fail to feel the force of its persuasive
presence. Suffice to say, good parson Myles, like many
other pastors and pedagogues, did not grow rich from
his people. But in that itinerant school they taught
and learned the graces of good raanners, forgetting not
the sage advice of an ancient sage, who spoiled the rod
to spare the child.
The boys are here preparing themselves as deputies to
the Great and General Court at Boston, as constables,
grand-jurymen, selectmen, surveyors, town clerks, tith-
ing-raen, schoolmasters, fence viewers, hogreeves, &c.,
&c., and the various other duties and offices of civil
society. Among them is Samuel Myles, the son of the
pastor, who entered Hajvard College from our grammar
school in 1680, graduated in 1684, received the title of
A. M., was appointed as rector of King's Chapel, Bos
ton, in 1689, and died in 1729, after an able ministry
of forty years over one people. And the girls, — well,
we know not how our intelligent grandmothers and
grand aunts would have figured in the world and how
different a figure we should have cut to-day, had it not
been for the schools and teachers of that ancient tirae.
In 1698, the selectmen met and treated with Jona
than Bosworth to be schoolmaster for the town for the
year ensuing and to teach school in the several places of
the town by course, and to have for his salary £18 per
year, one-quarter in money and the rest in provisions at
money price, and to begin teaching school the first month
on Wannamoisett Neck, the first second day of the week
next, being the 4th of April next ensuing.
In 1695 it was proposed and concluded that any part
of the town that neglects to provide a convenient place

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 95
for teaching school, that then the other part of the town
that doth provide and accommodate shall iraprove said
schoolmaster. In 1701 pedagogue Bosworth is still
teaching with his salary increased to £20 and his itin-
erantcy extends from Wannaraoisett to Bartruras, and
"he to satisfie for his diet out of his wages." In 1702.
the Court of Quarter Sessions at Bristol have fined our
old town for want of a grammar schoolmaster to the
sura of £5, and the selectraen are authorized to procure
a grammar schoolmaster with all convenient speed, and
in November, 1702, we find that they have agreed with
one Mr. John Devotion to give him £12, current raoney
of New England, to be paid quarterly, and the town to
pay for his diet, and they also allow him £20 to be paid
by the town for the keeping of his horse.
In 1703 it was voted that the schoolmaster's abode
shall be paid after the rate of 4s. per week in provisions
at money price, and the salary is raised four pounds
higher. A good coraraentary on the schoolmaster's
labors. In 1709, it was unaniraously voted that the
selectraen should agree with Mr. John Devotion, our
former schoolmaster, for his services for six years ensu
ing. In 1715 his contract expires. So happy are the
relations between master and people, that the selectmen
are again authorized to treat with Mr. John Devotion
" to serve the town for the terra of twenty years ensuing,
if he lives and remains capable to perform said service,
to teach our youth to read English and Latin and write
and cipher as there may be occasion, upon the several
conditions following, that is to say, said Devotion is to
diligently and steadily to attend and keep a school five
months yearly and every year during the said twenty

96 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
years, that is to be understood as the following, viz. :
October, Noveraber, Deceraber, January and February,
the first two years at or near his own dwelling on New
Meadow Neck, the other three months the said Devotion
is to remove his schooling to any part of said town, pro
vided he hath his board upon free cost and convenient
for the school by any neighborhood or any particular
man." We need not pursue this educational story further to
assure ourselves of the interest our fathers had in this
noble work. And with a teacher who has served them
for a dozen years, and is now engaged for twenty more,
we may safely leave the bo)'s and girls of that genera
tion and turn to the more stirring events of 1675, fol
lowing Philip's war.
The thriving settleraent on New Meadow Neck, start
ing with so fair prospects of success has been sadly
shattered by the desolations of a savage war. Scattered
farailies return to their former homes to find many of
their dwellings burned and their flocks and herds killed.
The sheep have been scattered and the shepherd has left
his flock for a safer fold in Boston. The southern part
of New Meadow Neck had already grown more rapidly
than any other section j and the demand now seems to
be, after adjusting the ravages raade by war, and secur
ing corafortable homes, either to remove the meeting
house from near Burial Place Hill or to build a new one
near the burying place at what is now known as Tyler's
Point. In October, 1676, it was voted according to a
former agreement, that ye meeting-house if removed,
should be reraoved to the lower end of New Meadow
Neck. For three years the question remains open

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 97
between the dwellers on upper and lower New Meadow
Neck, as to its removal or the building of a new one.
The following vote on the SOth of September, 1679,
decides the question :
It is voted and ordered that a Meeting-House of 40 foot in length
and 22 foot in bredth and 16 foot between joynts be forthwith built
and a Committee be chosen for ye letting out ye said work and fln
ishing ye same.
John Allen, of Wannaraoisett, Williara Ingrahara, of
New Meadow Neck, and Hugh Cole, of Kickerauit,
form this Committee.
In 1680, it was voted that "the meeting-house be set
up at the lower end of New Meadow Neck, and that the
Committee for said house appoint the individual place."
In the midst of their church-building plans and dis
cussions; Mr. John Allen and John Brown were chosen
"to draw up a letter in ye behalf of the church and town
to be sent to Mr. John Myles, pastor of ye church and
ye minister of the town, manifesting our desires of his
return to us," and Mr. Thomas Easterbrooks was chosen
to carry the letter to Mr. Myles, at Boston. Ye post
man of ye olden time saddles his horse, and with his
bags filled with four days' provision, starts for the
ancient Hub. On the second day Thoraas has accom
plished his journey, and has delivered his message. The
reverend parson reads, ponders and decides to return to
his loving flock ; for their appeals move his sympathies
and quicken him to duty. The town have already built
a parsonage for their minister on the southeast side of
the Neck, "on condition yt ye said Mr. Myles acquit and
discharge the town of all debts due unto him before and
in time of ye war, except nine pounds fifteen shillings

98 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
due to ye sd Myles from ye estate of Capt. Willett,
which said sum Mr. Myles gave to this town." In 1679
the town presents this house to Mr. Myles, and in return
he gives the following receipt :
Received of ye town, the full of all debts due to me from said
town from the beginning of ye world till ye 18 of June, 1679.
John Myles.
Here Parson Myles lived and labored until February,
1683, when death ended his toils, after twenty years of
service in Swanzey and thirty-eight in his Master's ser
vice, when he left his work for his reward. His narae
has perished from among the living, his grave is among
the unmarked mounds on Tyler's Point, but his life-
work, noble as it was, can never die, but as a disciple
of conscience liberty, never coerced, Myles stands out
as heroically and truthfully in history, if not as promi
nently, as Roger Williaras ; and the church he founded
was the ideal of Christian liberty and charity.
Elder Samuel Luther, the ancestor of the Luthers of
this section, was Myles' successor in 1685, and of two
events only during his rainistry have I time now to
speak. The liberal policy of Plymouth Colony had
allowed the Baptist church on New Meadow Neck an
existence, and the rights of conscience had been main
tained strictly to the terms of the act of incorporation.
The majority of the people were Baptists, but the Cop-
gregationalists coincided in the essential doctrines of
liberty of the Rhode Island Colony.
When Sir William Phipps brought the charter which
united Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay, in 1692, a
new order of things was instituted which interfered with

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 99
the ideas of our people on religious concernments. A
warrant from the Court of Quarter Sessions was read,
requiring the town to choose a minister according to
law. After some debate the meeting was adjourned for
half an hour. " Ye church by Lieut. Cole returned and
replied thus that they had a minister that they appre
hended was according to law, viz. : the Elder Samuel
Luther, and desired the vote of the town to see their
assent and approbation." Debate followed and then an
adjournraent for another half hour and then a consider
able debate and then another adjournment for two
raonths for time to consider to debate and to settle this
vexed matter. Puritan Massachusetts expects each
town to support by public tax the established order of
Congregational churches. Baptist Swanzey don't want
to, and don't mean to. They have supported their min
istry for forty years by free contributions, and they pro
pose to continue on the same plan.
The tithing-man had been an unknown officer among
us. At the October meeting the town again vote upon
the question, and elect Elder Samuel Luther, minister.
Four tithing^men were elected. They are careful to
select good Baptist brethren as tithers, and while the
letter of the law is fulfilled, as in the case of the choice
of a minister, its spirit is evaded. The number of
tithing-men varied from one to four ; the sarae men were
never rechosen and the voluntary system was maintained
by the independent townsmen. About the year 1700,
the increase of population in the direction of Myles'
Bridge and over Palmer's River, requires the removal of
the house of worship from Tyler's Point to a spot near
Masoil's Corners, in North Swanzey, in order to accom-

100 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
modate'.the majority of the congregation. During
Elder Luther's ministry he has seen fit to add certain
supplementary notes to the original covenant, with refer
ence to Baptism and Communion, which are not
relished by the Congregational element, and whether
intended or not, serve to establish the dividing line of
denominationalism between the hitherto united parties.
The removal of the church edifice from New Meadow
Neck seems to have been another element of separation,
and the question of the establishment of a church of
the Congregational order is now earnestly discussed.
The dwellers on Phebe's Neck added to those on New
Meadow Neck who favor the new organization, see no
way to secure this object but by the establishment of a
new town, wherein the tithes of the people, as in other
towns, shall support the ministry of the ruling order.
History is silent as to the various movements which
culminated in the following petition presented to the
General Court in Boston, on the thirtieth day of May,
1711: To His Excellency Joseph Dudley, Esq., Captain- General aud Oov-
ernor-in-chief in and oiier His Majesty's Province of the Massa
chusetts Bay in N. E., the Honorable Council and Representati'ves
in General Court assembled at Boston this thirtieth day of May:
The petition of us the subscribers, inhabitants on the westward
end of Swansea, most humbly sheweth, that among all the outward
and external blessings with which the God of all mercy blesseth
any people w;ithall in this world, that of the House of God is among
them; the Gospel purely preached and the ordinances of. Christ's
kingdom duly administered and fathers and children settled under
pastoral watch, care and government, under pious learned orthodox
ministers being in our esteem the greatest.
And we, your petitioners, being under the deplorable privation
thereof, do most humbly and earnestly petition this honored Court
that some methods may be taken (as in wisdom may be thought

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 101
best) for our relief, we being well assured of this Honorable Gen
eral Court's power and good will to help in such cases, from their
repeated acts of the like n.aturc, do the raore freely open our malady
which bespeaks pity and euro. Not to mention the ill circumstan
ces, which our different opinions (in raatters of religion from our
neighbors) brings our estates under, in whose power they are in all
taxes (though bad enough of itself) is yet little and light compared
with the bitterness we feel at present, and fear for the future for the
very mention of no settled minister, learned and orthodox, no
church of Christ settled in order, no pastor to feed Christ's lambs
among us ; this as we believe is au uncomfortable thought unto all
the holy and reverend ministers of Christ that know our state. So
is it a heart-breaking thought to us to think, that when we are called
out of this world to consider in what state we leave our posterity
exposed to a ruinating enticeraent frora pure gospel and gospel ordi
nances. All which sorrow and misery either felt or feared, if the
Honorable General Court do in mercy and pity prevent by granting
us a township according to the limits of Capt. Samuel Low's mill
itary company in Swansea, thereby enabling us to settle and main
tain a pious, learned and orthodox rainister for the good of us and
our posterity, God will be glorified, Christ's kingdom enlarged and
will oblige your raost hurable petitioners ever to pray.
Signed, Samuel Low, Daniel Allen, Jk.,
Daniel Allen, Obadiah Pettis,
Benj. Viall, Elisha May,
Israel Peck, William Corbett,
Samuel Humphrey, John Toogood,
Zachariah Bicknell, Samuel Jay,
Nathaniel Peck, John Rogers,
James Smith, Joshua Phinney,
Benj. Carey, Wm. Salisbury,
Ebenezer Allen, Wm. Salisbury, Jr.,
John Chaffee, Jonathan Phinney,
Josiah Ticknor, Ebenezer Tiffany,
Simon Davis, Thomas Tiffany,
Thomas Turner, Jonathan Viall.
Joseph Chaffe,
On the 7th of June, 1611, this petition for a new
town and a new church is read in Council, and it is
ordered that the selectmen of Swanzey be served with a

102 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
copy of this petition, and that they be heard thereto
upon the second Wednesday in the next session of this
Court, if anything they have to say against granting the
prayer thereof.
They have very much to say, why the prayer should
not be granted, and the selectmen. Carpenter, Anthony
and Mason, issue their warrant to Elisha May and
Pelatiah Mason, constables, to warn a town meeting of
the people of Swanzey, to meet on the 7th of July,
1711, to consider the earnest prayer of the seceders.
The town meeting is a full one, as one might suppose on
such an occasion, and after due consideration "it was '
purposed and put to vote, if they would comply with
the said petition, and it passed in the negative almost
unanimously." Our petitioners either did not attend or
did not vote. It was then voted that the town remain
as now bounded, one town as it is and hath been enjoyed,
and the selectmen are chosen to defend, vindicate and
maintain the town as it is now enjoyed. Voluntary
subscriptions are taken in the town's behalf to raise
money for the selectmen to manage this affair, and Wil
liara Anthony receives £l2- The following remon
strance goes up to Boston from the Swanzey selectmen :
To IUs Excellency, ^c. :
Sorae humble reasons from all the Antient and first proprietors
and inhabitants of the town of Swansea now living, and the pos
terity of the first proprietors which are deceased and other inhabi
tants of said town, who settled here upon the same encouragement
as the first, (being all freeholders) shewing our minds referring to
a petition frora some of our neighbors, preferred to your Excellency
and Honored Court. Ahd we having received a copy of said peti
tion which that said petitioners request that they may have a town
ship granted them out of our town, by dividing said town of Swan
sea, and the Honored Court have been pleased to grant to said

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 103
petition a hearing, and that our selectmen should be served with a
copy of said petition, in order to answer therewith, &c.
Which said petition informs us that our neighbors complain that
they have no Gospel minister, no Church of Christ, and that a
township may be granted them that they may be enabled to settle
and maintain a minister among them and reasons of the like nature.
To which we answer it seems very strange to us considering that
there was care taken in the foundation settlement of this town, how
the minister should be raaintained in this town of Swansea by a
mutual agreement made and confirmed by those gentleraen that tbe
General Court of Plymouth impowered and the Church of Christ
then gathered and assembling in said town, and confirraed by all the
proprietors of said town to prevent all troubles and discords arising
for the future of this nature (a copy of wliich is hereto annexed.)
One foundation article thereof is that a comfortable maintenance
was due to the ministry from such as partook of their teaching, so
careful was the first inhabitants to lay such a foundation that might
effectually prevent all present and future disturbances ; that if any
person denied any particular in the said agreement, they should not
be admitted an inhabitant in said town : and according to the said
agreeraent the worship of God is and hath been maintained in this
town and in that part the petitioners would have be a township,
without any assistance from said petitioners by compulsion but by
free contribution, and accordingly we have been at considerable
charges in building and repairing meeting-houses for our own con
veniences (and constantly attending the worship of God in them)
and our neighbors, the petitioners, always enjoying the same lib
erty according to covenant have no reason to complain. But likely
said petitioners may not he acquainted with the foundation settle
ment of our town (being none of them the first proprietors nor but
a very few children of the first, being mostly strangers, several of
them lately come to town, and not all town dwellers), which if they
had made the town acquainted they might have been informed. But
if our neighbors expect assistance from other societies that uphold
the worship of God among them as aforesaid in our town or others
with them, it cannot but tend to great dissatisfaction, it being con
trary to the grant given us which we and our forefathers have
enforced more than forty years, and we desire so to continue. We
see no advantage in breaking our town, hut increasing a charge to
no profit; our township being small and granted by the General
Court for our township. We desire that it so remain and every
concies person may enjoy their liberty and just rights according to

104 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
the said grant, and the covenant and agreement pursuant thereunto
which we hitherto have done.
Furthermore we desire your Excellency and Honorable Court,
that we may enjoy our rights which we greatly prize without further
interruption upon this account. So we subscribe your humble and
obedient servants, the inhabitants of Swansea.
July ye 9, 1711.
Samuel Luther's name heads "the column ofthe ancient
first proprietors," James Brown stands at the head of
"the column of their posterity, though many of them
have deceased," and Johu Wheaton heads the " list of
new comers." Total remonstrants, 78.
The Council at its session on the 24th of October,
1711, passed the following order :
That this Court see no reason as yet to divide Swansea into two
distinct towns, but approve the good and laudable inclination of the
petitioners to encourage religion in that part and recoramend to
them the establishment and support of a learned orthodox minister,
of good conversation and to endeavor by subscription for his com
fortable and honorable maintenance.
Again in 1712, our petitioners for a new town show
their earnest persistency by renewing their efforts before
the General Court, and again the selectmen of Swanzey
come gallantly and successfully to the defence of the
unity of their town.
For the next five years the establishment of a Con
gregational church in accordance with the advice of the
Court engages their attention and the petitioners are
silent. Probably the organization was speedily formed
and public services first held on New Meadow Neck, for
how long a time we know not. Neither do we know
when the first house of worship was built, as there are
no records extant either of town or church to establish

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 105
its history. The flrst meeting-house of this church of
which definite knowledge can be obtained, stood on the
corner lot on the south side of the road which leads by
the residence of Lewis T. Fisher, Esq. The date of
its erection is unknown. But the new church does not
flourish at the outset as its friends hoped, and on the
14th of May, 1717, the town are called to consider of
" a petition presented to ye town to have six score pounds
raised to support ye ministry or to have said town of
Swanzey divided, or a precinct, by some of the inhabi
tants on the west side of New Meadow River."
Say the records, after reading the petition and the
foundation settlement of said town, and "after a consider
able fair and loving conference with said petitioners upon
the premises, it was agreed, voted and concluded that
all the inhabitants of the town of Swanzey should enjoy
their conscience liberty, according to the foundation
settlement of the town, and are obliged to uphold, main
tain the ministry and worship of God in the several
churches or congregations where they respectively belong
or assemble, and not obliged in any other church or
congregation but where they partake of the teaching as
it is expressed in said foundation settlement."
The troublesome body on "the west end of Swanzey"
still vexes the old town by its suit, again presented at
the Boston Court in November, 1717, and the select
men, Messrs. Mason, Anthony, Carpenter, Chase and
Allen, must again answer the arguments for a division,
by the reasons preferred in 1711.
As " a faint heart never wins a fair lady," so faintness
of spirit in town, state or church is an element of weak-

106 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
ness, a characteristic not manifest in either party. The
third attempt succeeds, and the Court announce after so
long a struggle the birth of a new town, which shall
comprise the lands embraced within New Meadow and
Phebe's Neck. November 18, 1717. >
In Council. 5
Upon a full hearing had before the whole Court upon the petition '
of Josiah Torrey, Z. Bicknell and Sarauel Humphrey, &c., agents
for the society in the west part of Swansea,
Resolved, That Phebe's Neck and New Meadow Neck within the
town of Swansea be, and hereby is, erected into a township by the
name of Barrington, and the inhabitants thereof are vested with all
powers, rights and privileges that other towns within this have or
hy law ought to have and enjoy.
Sent down for concurrence.
In the House of Representatives.
Received and concurred.
The selectraen of Rehoboth and Barrington establish
the bounda, "which begin at the southwest corner of
Re — h, being a sraall freshet of water running into the
salt river, thence easterly on the line of a stone set up
and marked with R. 1734, where the stump of the tree
stood at the place where Capt. Willett made a bridge,
and from thence to a white oak tree southerly of Nathan
iel Paine's house to a pine stump burnt with fire, and a
stone set up at said place marked with R. 1734, from
thence to a point of upland in the salt meadow near to
the river formerly called Sowams River."
The child town is called Barrington, so it is chris
tened by the Honored Court. Why, let us see.
If you will turn to the map of the British Isles, and
look on the south of Wales, you will find, Swansea, the

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 107
town whence Myles and his band emigrated. Glance
across Bristol Channel to the south, forty miles in width,
and you will note the county of Somerset in the south
west of Encrland. Note the farailiar naraes which meet
the eye as you roam over thia old English fatherland.
Here is Bristol and there Taunton, Somerset and Bridge-
water, Barnstable and Plymouth, Exeter, Dorchester,
Truro, Falmouth, and other names which have been
transplanted to American soil. Sometimes in distinction
from the old town from whence they came, the settlers
in the new world prefixed the title New, to indicate its
lineage as well as its minority in organization. New
England, New York, New Bedford, New Hampshire,
New Jersey are familiar examples. In the case of small
towns no confusion would arise as to which was meant,
and hence the name was transferred as a reminder of
the land and the towns whence the settlers came. They
still loved their English homes and birth-places, and
when they crossed the waters they brought all they could,
which would stand in New England as souvenirs of the
old England they still held dear. Few can measure to
day the griefs of parting from the home soil and stock,
and exiles alone can tell how they clung to the very
household names which street, parish and town bore
where they lived. In Somersetshire, thirteen railes from
Taunton, four from Ilminster, and ten from Ilchester,
(all of which places are mentioned in the records of
Myles' church, in Wales,) is the little parish of Bar
rington. Who of this company can tell whether the
Humphreys, the Tiffanys, the Martins, the Smiths, the
Pecks, the Aliens, the Vialls, the Lows, the Bosworths,
or the Bicknells were once dwellers in this litj:le parish,

108 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
neighbors to our good Taunton and Bristol emigrants,
and that by the attractions of their stories and letters
frora the new land, the ancestry of these families were
drawn to this new country and this favored town. I
leave the thought to the lovers of genealogical lore,
hoping that some one will be terapted to prove the truth
or error of my suggestion. Of one of these families,
however, I am fully satisfied.
The edict of separation has gone forth, and Ancient
Swanzey must part with that section which has given
her her ancestral renown. The new-born town west of
New Meadow river unclasps the hand frora the younger
settlement on the east of the river. For fifty years this
people have braved the hardships of frontier life, and
have borne its burdens manfully and heroically. The
romance of their real life was truer and stranger than
the fiction of our days. Their common joys and toils
are a coraraon heritage to both towns, and we shall
never forget them. Good-bye, old Swanzey. Two
paths lie before us. Let us walk thera in harmony and
brotherly love, and strive to honor the coramon ancestry
which bore us, and by our zeal only "provoke each
other to faith and good works."
As the new town of Barrington was established and
separated on account of its religious needs, its ecclesi
astical affairs claim our first attention. The first minis
ter of the Congregational Society, of whom we know
little except his name, was Rev. James Wilson, who
had left prior to the establishment of the new town. At
the second town meeting of the town held on the 21st
of April, 1718, Mr. Timothy Wadsworth, Moderator,
the inhabitants of Barrington did then and there choose

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 109
Rev. Mr. Samuel Torrey to be the minister f'or the said
town. " Voted to give one hundred pounds as a settle
ment, and seventy pounds a year as a salary for the
labor, so long as he continues our rainister, the said sura
to be collected by the constable, paid to the town clerk
and by hira lo be paid to Rev. Mr. Samuel Torrey."
"Whatever money that was given in that was not
marked should belong to Rev. Mr. S. Torrey, over and
above his salary. Zach. Bicknell, Janies Adams and
Sergeant Peck are a committee to treat with Rev. Mr.
Samuel Torrey about what the town has voted with
respect to himself, and to make report to this raeeting ;
and adjourned this day forthnight at 5 P. .M., at the
house of Mr. Z. Bicknell." This house where the town
meetings were held stood where the residence of Jere
raiah Remington now stands. On the 4th of August,
1718, "Rev. Mr. Sarauel Torrey appeared at the town
meeting, and signified to the town that he accepted the
call the town gave him to be their rainister for the futor,
in accordance with the voats of the town."
In 1725, Mr. Torrey asked for an increase of salary,
which the town would not allow. In 1726, a commit
tee, consisting of Sergeant Peck, Samuel Kent and
Samuel Humphrey were chosen to go to Mr. Torrey to
see what his demands were, and to report ; and in
August the town again refused to unite with the church
in raising the minister's salary, and still further it was
voted that the town concur with the church in dismissing
the Rev. Mr. Torrey from being their rainister, provided
a council agree to it. Rev. Mr. Sarauel Torrey is dis
missed, and a career of candidating for a new rainister
1 0

110 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
for the town commences. November 16, 1726, they
have tried Mr. Whitmarsh, and after trial vote that the
town see cause to hear another minister, and that the
town raise forty pounds and order it into the deacon's
hands for the defraying the necessary charges of paying
a minister or rainisters which raay be eraployed by the
town to preach the Gospel, and John Torrey and Josiah
Humphrey were chosen a Committee to procure a min
ister. What there was in this action of the town unsat
isfactory, we cannot tell, but a month later, a town
raeeting was held, which declared the acts of the last
void, and "it was voted that the town raise forty or rather
fifty pounds for the support of the rainister, and that
Jaraes Adaras, Benjarain Viall and Zachariah Bicknell
be a Committee to supply the pulpit."
In March, 1727, a call was given to Rev. Moses
Hale to be their rainister, at an annual salary of £100.
The records are silent as to the reply, but Mr. Hale did
not becorae their rainister. Mr. John Wadsworth
receives the town's call, with a salary of £100 and a
settleraent of £200. Mr. Wadsworth declines. Then
comes Mr. John Sumner, and the proposed salary goes
up to £110 and a £200 settleraent. Mr. Suraner
replies in the negative.
May 27, 1728, the town assemble to elect a minister,
and now the choice has fallen on Mr. Peleg Heath, of
Roxbury, with the same salary and settlement as above,
the latter to be paid in two years. Lieut. Adams,
Lieut. Peck, Mr. Viall, Mr. Tiffany and Mr. Bicknell,
all of whom have had experience in making proposals,
are a Committee to report to Mr. Heath and to the town.
In August, they increase the salary to £120, to be paid

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. Ill
quarterly, and on Sept. 9, 1728, Mr. Heath's answer
is read to the town, as follows :
Whereas, you, the people of God in this place, havo given me an
invitation to labour in the Gospel among you ; having taken it into
deliberate consideration, as it is a call of God, I do therefore in his
strength engage therein, and desire your prayers that I may be
directed, assisted, succeeded and accepted. Peleg Heath.
September 9, 1728.
In 1737, the town voted not to build a new raeeting-
house ; also voted that the treasurer should hire the
money, the church minister should pay out of Mr.
Peleg Heath's salary. In February, 1738, the town
passed a vote that the Rev. Mr. Peleg Heath should
preach at Mr. Edward Bosworth's dwelling-house, until
the town shall build a meeting-house for the town. Mr.
Bosworth's house was near where Mr. Allen C. Mathew-
son's house now stands. Messrs. Adams, Bosworth and
Smith are a Committee to acquaint Mr. Heath with the
vote of the town.
During his ministry, the meeting-house was taken
down and removed to a lot occupied by the present Con
gregational meeting-house, which was given to the town
by Joshua Bicknell. Difficulties arose during his rain
istry, which, after the lapse of a century and a quarter,
we raight present and discuss without prejudice to either
party did time and place allow.
On the 21st of November, 1740, the town voted to
concur with the church in Mr. Heath's dismissal, and
he retired after a twelve years' rainistry araong this peo
ple, to his farm pursuits, at the house and farm now occu
pied by Mrs. Mary W. Heath, and died, aged 49 years,

112 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
in 1748. His son Peleg lived where Nathaniel Peck
now lives. His grave is with us unto this day, and his
descendants are araong our most valued citizens. A
grandson of his, Mr. Jabez Heath, was borne to his
grave a week since, at the ripe age of ninety years ; a
man whose public and private character were above fear
and without reproach. His great grand-children and
their sons and daughters are with us, to bear his name
and to commemorate his virtues.
Mr. Heath's successor was the Rev. Solomon Town-
send, who was born in Boston in 1715, graduated at
Harvard College in 1735, and entered the ministerial
work in 1741, commenced his ministry among this
people in 1743, and died December 25, 1796, in the
eighty -first year of his age, and the fifty-fifth of his min
istry. As old " Father Townsend," as he was called,
is reraerabered by one who well knew hira, (and who is
present with us to-day in his eighty-fourth year, ) he was
over five feet and six inches in height, of a spare frame,
thin in flesh, plain in dress, and scrupulously economical
in habits, as the times and salary demanded. He wore
long grey hair, was bald-headed and possessed the proud
distinction of a large nose.
He wore in sumraer (says another), a gay colored
chintz morning-gown and a cocked hat and short breeches
with knee buckles. In winter he wore green small
clothes and a long coat, and at his death was laid out in
a black broadcloth suit, purchased by the people. Soon
after his settlement, the town of Barrington, with the
whole of Bristol County, was set off into Rhode Island
Colony, and the town system of church support and
tithing was given up, and the nnnister was supported by

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 113
free contributions of the people. Silver and gold they
had but little to give, and the products of the farm were
annually sent to replenish his oft-times empty stores and
larder. His wife Martha died when young, and Mr.
Townsend never married again. His house was kept
by Miss Betty Renuff. One day, towards noon, as
Betty was cooking a kettle of clams for dinner, she saw
old Dr. Stiles of Connecticut, riding up on horseback to
the front door. " What shall wc do ? What shall we
get for dinner?" said Betty, as she thought ofthe frugal
repast of clams, bread and butter for so distinguished a
guest. "Dr. Stiles has come to dine with us." "Never
mind, Betty," said Fsither Solomon. " Clams that are
good enough fbr me, are good enough for Br. Btyles.^^
Without apology, Mr. Townsend invited the Doctor to
sit down to a Rhode Island dish, which was not only a
rarity, but a luxury to his Connecticut friend. They
visited the grave of Willett together, and Mr. Towns-
end was about to rub the moss from the stones. "Don't
rub it off," said the good. Doctor. " That's sacred
moss." In conversation with some students on raoral philoso
phy, Mr. Townsend told them that he studied such a
philosophy. When asked to explain, he said that his
philosophy was to pull off his boots, if he did not want
them on. It is said that he often went into tears, when
telling the value "of this precious book, the Bible."
His prayers contained raany gifted thoughts and he often
quoted and used the sarae expressions. He prayed for
those who travelled by land, for a horse is a vain thing
for safety. Also for the sons of Zebulon, who went
down upon the sea, and who did business on the mighty
waters.

114 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
In the sumraer he preached two serraons on the Sab
bath, and in the winter, only one. There was no Sab
bath school and no Sabbath or week-day prayer-raeet-
ings. In the preparatory lecture, he was assisted by
neighboring ministers. Although the records of the
church have been lost for that raeraorable half century
of Mr. Townsend's pastorate, and the town records have
no hints as to church affairs, probably no period of our
history was more interesting since our foundation, and
none so full of peace and progress. The records of that
ministry were written upon the hearts of the young and
old of this community, and though we cannot read the
written page, we can behold the more ineffacable monu
ments of truth, piety and order which such a life and
such teachings established. /Si quceratis ¦monumenta,
circwmspicite. "If you seek for memorials, — look
around you."
At the ordination of his successor. Rev. Samuel Wat
son, February 28, 1798, the Rev. Dr. Hitchcock, of
Providence, gave the charge to this people, and paid the
following tribute to the meraory and character of this
venerable man :
May much of the spirit of your good old Elijah descend and rest
on the young Elijah who succeeds him in ofiSce. The name of
Townsend will long be dear to you in this place. His memory will
long be venerated in the churches, and never will be obliterated
from the minds of his acquaintances. Happy in his ministry for
fifty-five years, you still feel the good effects of the s.ame. Your
best testimony of respect to his meraory, will be to preserve that
order and harmony in your proceedings which do you so much
honor, and to transfer your affection to his successor in office.
With a mind most pure, placid and patient, and a character unex-
ceptionably good and estimable, he was interred with every mark of
respect by an affectionate people.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 115
Rev. Thoraas Noyes, pastor of the second church in
Needhara, at the installation of the Rev. Luther Wright,
speaks of the " faithful and evangelical Townsend, who,
through a long and successful ministry, was an orna
ment to his profession and a glory to human nature."
His people passed the following eulogium upon him,
when they erected the slab to his memory in yonder
cemetery : SACRED TO THE MEMORY

Rev. SOLOMON TOWNSEND,
Who died Dec. 25, 1796, aged 80 years ;
ALSO,
REBECCA, HIS WIFE,
Who died July 24, 1773, aged 55 years.
Mr. Townsend was born in Boston, Oct., A. D. 1716 ; was graduated
at Harvard College, A. D. 1735 ; was ordained pastor of the
church and congregation in Barrington A. D. 1743, and
continued faithful in his charge 55 years, when death
put a period to his labors, and his remains were
consigned to this tomb.

Beneath this sculptured stone and mouldering heap,
The reverend teacher rests in quiet sleep ;
From youth's first dawn he trode the sacred stage.
To the dim twilight of declining age ;
He taught the soul in virtue's path to stray,
AUured to brighter worlds, and led the way.
In 1798, Rev. Samuel Watson succeeded to the pulpit
made vacant by the death of Townsend. Mr. Watson
was a native of Barrington, being the son of Matthew
Watson, Jr., and the grandson of Matthew, Sr., of

116 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
whom we shall in another place have occasion to speak.
He graduated at Brown University in 1794, studied the
ology, and was ordained over the Congregational church
in 1798. He was a talented and able preacher, and the
people were very harmonious and united. At his ordi
nation, he lived with his father on the estate and in the
house now owned and occupied by his nephew, Sterry
Watson. After his ordination, he exchanged pulpits
with his classmate Miles, of Grafton, and saw in his
congregation on a stormy Sabbath, in a neat, plain
dress, a young lady, with whom he fell in love, sought
an introduction, courted and raarried her. Her narae
was Martha Turpin Bicknell, of Attleboro'. After his
marriage his grandfather bought the Richard Greene
place, afterwards the ministerial place, and moved the
house from a cellar in front of Mr. Kinnicutt's to the
site of Mr. Staples' residence. Mr. Watson preached
two serraons in suraraer and one in winter, on Sundays.
He taught private pupils and boarded sorae of them at
his house. His habits of thought were such that he
wrote rapidly, even in corapany. He walked across his
farm and back to his study on the mornings of the days
when he wrote his sermons. He kept a sideboard,
which was the ministerial fashion at that day, and treated
himself, as well as his friends, to the best liquors the
town afforded. He was held in high estimation among
his people, and died lamented.
I have thus hastily sketched the lives of those who
have preached to this people prior to the remembrance
of many of those now living. I need only mention
their successors by name. Their biographers shall be
my successors in the centennial adddresses of coming

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 117
centuries. For their benefit I will mention their names
and leave their virtues for others to review :
Rev. Luther Wright, from 1817 to 1821.
" Erancis Wood, from 1823 to 1826.
" Thomas Williams, from 1835 to 1838.
" Benjamin R. Allen, from 1838 to 1842.
" Charles Peabody, from 1843 to 1846.
" Eorrest Jefferds, frora 1846 to 1850.
" Silas S. Hyde, from 1851 to 1855.
" Rev. Francis Horton, frora 1856 to
Returning to civil affairs we find tlie new town orga^
nized under the following officers, who bore off the first
honors of Barrington, in March, 1718 :
Town Clerh. — Samuel Humphrey.
Assessors. — Benjamin Viall, Zachariah Bicknell, James Adaras.
Constable. — Jaraes Brown, Jr.
Surveyors of High-ways. — Zachariah Bicknell, John Bosworth.
Tithing-Men. — Timothy Wadsworth, Joshua Kent.
Felice Viewers. — Phebe's Neck — ^Jfathaniel Peck, John Chaffee ;
New Meadow Neck — Joshua Kent, Ebenezer Martin.
Town Treasurer. — Samuel Humphrey.
Sealer of Leather. — Recorapence Tiffany.
Grand Juror. — Elisha May.
Representative. — James Adams.
Jury of Trials — Ebenezer Tiffany, Jr.
And they are engaged by the selectraen. Their sal
aries are not raentioned, but it is supposed that the peo
ple had become so thoroughly imbued with Rhode Island
principles, that they rejoiced to bear the burdens for the
sake of the honors.
Jan 2, 1720, Nathaniel Peck is to have fifteen shil
lings to provide the town with a good pair of stocks,
and all things suitable for thera, and bring thera to the
meeting-house forthwith. Whether to discipline the

118 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
unruly church raerabers, to develop their faculties for
prayer and praise as in the case of Paul and Silas, or to
treat civil offenders in an uncivil way, is not expressed
in the records.
The Rehoboth people have refused to pay taxes on
salt meadows in the town of Barrington, and Zachariah
Bicknell is appointed an agent to go to Boston to pros
ecute a memorial, and is to have five pounds if he suc
ceeds, nothing for his time and charges if he fails. We
iriost earnestly recommend this plan to Congress and to
State Legislatures in their Commissions and Committees.
In 1722 the selectmen were authorized to see that the
town be provided with a schoolmaster to teach to read,
write and arithmetic, for four months from the first of
November. In 1723, twenty pounds was raised to pay
Mr. Andrews for keeping the school twelve months.
In 1724, £25 was voted for the encourageraent of a
schoolmaster for a year. In 1729 John Webber became
the schoolmaster, to be settled near the centre of the
town. Nathaniel Peck was allowed fifteen shillings for
keeping school in his house that winter. 1730, John
Webber is again hired for nine months, at £5 per
month ; and so the educational work went on. And so
town affairs moved on with little of noteworthy interest
to the writer or his audience, until Rhode Island Colony
steps in, deraands her ancient rights and territory, and
sets up the banner of Roger Williams over the whole of
what is now Bristol county, and the towns of Tiverton
and Little Compton in Newport county, and Attleborouo-h
Gore, now known as Curaberland.
The act of incorporation raade two iraportant changes.
First, the transfer from the jurisdiction of Massachusetts

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 119
Bay Colony to that of Rhode Island, where they had
long had their sympathies and wished to be, as expressed
by a vote in 1741, " their unanimous wish to corae under
the Rhode Island government, as wc do apprehend we
do belong there." A more important change is expressed
in this part of the act. "That part which has heretofore
been a part of Swanzey and Barrington, with a small
part of Rehoboth thereto adjoining, with the inhabitants
thereon, be incorporated into a township by the name of
Warren." The history of Barrington now becomes
merged with that of Warren for twenty -three years.
For thirty years, from 1717 to 1747, Barrington has
held an honorable corporate existence, but the territorial
limits of the two towns favors the union, and the Gen
eral Assembly so decree.
Mr. Matthew Allen and Mr. Sarauel Miller are the
first deputies of this new copartnership town, and our
history raay now be written by a Warren historian.
The two towns were not very unequal in area or popu
lation at this period, and we share with our sister town
the honors of that history, whatever they may be.
While Barrington, in narae at least, is thus under the
eclipse, allow me to speak of one of her most noted
citizens of venerable age, of varied enterprise, of unus
ual wealth, and of remarkably exemplary character, —
Matthew Watson, Esq.*
" Coming events cast their shadows before," and the
separation of the old town of Barrington from the town
of Warren may be* prophesied, frora the feelings of
uneasiness which the people on New Meadow and Phebe's
Necks feel in the distribution of town oflSces and the
*Sce Appendix.

120 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
management of civil affairs. Barrington has already
enjoyed the sweet experience of an independent exist
ence, and now to become subject to the privations and
inconveniences of carrying on her public business with
a coraraunity from which she was separated by a gieat
rivei , and the only communication by an uncertain ferri
age, was a troublesome matter. Besides, the whaling
interests, the West India trade and the consequent
activity of ship-building had increased the wharves and
the storehouses and trade of the growing town across
the river.
The ship-building interest on the. south and east side
of New Meadow Neck, begun by the Eddys and con
tinued by Moses Tyler, near Kelley's Bridge and by James
Martin and John Martin, on Barrington river, was still
continued, but the craft were coasters, such as sloops,
schooners and brigs.
The depth of "water on the Warren side of the river,
the nearness of the. harbor to the bay and their facilities
for trade made the advantages of ship-building and
comraerce now wholly on the side of the settlement at
Warren. Rapidly increasing in wealth and power, our
neighbors over the way may have shown a conscious
pride in outstripping their fellow-townsmen on the west
side. Their whalers were bigger than our coasters, and
consequently their wealth, prosperity and population
increased in a ratio which undoubtedly awakened the
jealous fears of the western settlement.
The following agreement expresses in a few words,
the main points in the case, and anticipates the petition
for a division, which had undoubtedly been earnestly dis-
pRSspd :

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 121
Warren, November 6th, 1769.
We whose naraes are hereunder written, freeraen of the town of
Warren, being desirous for the future to live in peace and mutual
fellowship with our fellow-townsmen on the west side of the Great
River, and all others, do agree and promise for ourselves and all
others we can persuade to come into the same mutual agreement,
that the freemen on the west side of the Great River do nominate
their proportion of officers in the town meetings (provided they are
agreed in such nomination,) they allowing us the same privilege,
and we will use our endeavors to carry the same into prosecution,
each using other with mutual friendship and freedom,
Signed, Sylvester Child, William Easterbrook,
Wm. T. Miller, Martin Lcthee,
Shubael Burr, John Child,
Ezra Ormsbee, Edenezer Cole.
Feeling has awakened discussion, and discussion has
resolved itself into a petition, presented at the May ses
sion of the General Assembly, 1770, for dividing War
ren into two towns. The petition is received and the
town served with notice, and cited to appear at the June
session to answer it (if they think fit.) Warren is astir,
and a remonstrance by many inhabitants to rebut the
petition goes in, and a committee are appointed to repre
sent the town in opposition to the Barrington move
ment. Josiah Humphrey, James Brown and Samuel Allen
press the interests of the separatists, and they succeed
in satisfying the General Assembly of the wisdom and
propriety of their proposed plan, and on the Uth of
June, 1770, it was enacted that the town of Warren be
divided into two distinct and separate towns, and that
the bounds between them be as the river between Bris
tol and Rumstick extends itself northerly to Miles'
bridge, and that the township so divided from Warren

122 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
shall be distinguished and known by the name of Bar
rington. James Brown is to call a meeting of the free-
meen to elect officers ; and Nathaniel Fales, Thomas
Throop and Daniel Bradford, Esqs., all of Bristol, are
to settle and proportion the debts and poor of said town.
" God save the King !" So say the records.
The old town emerges from the eclipse of twenty-three
years, obscured in name as well as in fame, by the
growing enterprise and prosperity of Warren. As we
bade good-bye to Ancient Swanzey forty-three years
before, so now we leave our sister town to her career of
usefulness and wealth, and embark anew with our old
and new town in her competitive rivalry among the then
twenty-three towns of Rhode Island. We shall claim
part of the honors in the establishment of Brown Uni
versity in Warren, in 1765, and will leave the pleasant
task to our historian friend. Gen. Guy M. Fessenden,
who writes with an irapartial pen, to tell us what other
credit is our due. Bristol divided the debts and paupers ;
let us here to day appoint our able neighbor to divide
with us the honors of our mutual success.
1717 was a good year for Barrington to be born in.
The date jingles on the ear like sleigh bells, and the
boys and girls can easily remember it. 1770 was a
capital year for our second birth, for the mystical sevens
have a merry chime, though a limping rhyme. 'Twas
a good tirae for town and colony to say for the last time
to His Majesty George III, God save the King, with a
royal grace, and to bow with reverence before his minis
ter, Lord North.
It was a brave time, for just now the Boston massa
cre had disclosed British purpose and Massachusetts

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 123
pluck, and the little affray in King street had stirred a
commotion throughout the whole of the old thirteen
colonies. The very name of Boston was dear to every
American heart, and when her peaceable citizens were
shot down in the streets, the thrill of sympathy and the
outburst of indignation was like the discharge of a
mighty electric battery. It was time "for the country
folk to be up and to arm ;" to look after their powder
and lead, and to pick the old flint-lock for the day of
need. Another affray nearer home stirs the blood of
patriots in the towns along the old Narragansett. On
the 9th of June, 1772, Capt. Lindsey left Newport in
his little packet, bound for Providence. The dwellers
on the bay saw in pursuit the schooner Gaspee sailing
the British flag. They pass Nayatt in close chase, and
by dexterous management, Lindsey grounds the Gaspee
on Namequit Point, opposite Bullock's Point. Provi
dence men are wide awake by day and have owl's eyes
at night ; and a little boat-load run down the bay, board
the vexatious rover, capture the captain and crew, and
set fire to the vessel. The flames lit up the darkness of
our western horizon , and kindled anew the fires of patri
otic indignation in the hearts of our people. The citi
zens of Barrington hear the tidings with an aroused
sentiraent of opposition to British espionage and tyranny,
though they may not unite in justification of the act.
The town send Col. Nathaniel Martin and Capt.
Thomas Allen to represent them in the General Assem
bly, and to express their sentiments concerning the
steady infringement of American liberties.
In June, 1774, they hear of the Boston Post Bill, an
act, so say they, scarcely to be paralleled in history.

124 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
of taxes forced upon an unwilling and unrepresented
people. On the 30th of June, the people of Barring
ton, in coraraon with those of the sister towns, meet on
a day set apart for public fasting, prayer and supplica-
cation to beseech Almighty God to grant us sincere
repentance, "to avert every threatened judgment from us,
and restore us to the full enjoyment of our rights and
privileges, and particularly that he would appear for the
relief and recovery of the town of Boston from their
distressed situation." Mr. Townsend with characteristic
calmness, moderation and firmness, preaches upon the
manifold sins of the people, and the manifest injustice
of the King and his Court. Had Lord North sat in the
old meeting-house on that June day, he would have heard
sorae unwelcome truths perhaps, but salutary advice.
War preparations follow, and the Colony distributes
to Barrington twenty-six pounds of powder, forty-two
pounds of lead and one hundred and sixty-eight flints,
as its proportion from the State supply, and Mr. Thomas
Allen is appointed to receive and distribute the same to
the military company of the town. Swords, muskets
and knapsacks, with other accoutrements, are either
bought new or brought out for the first time since used
under Capt. Peck, now Major in the French and Indian
war, and an inventory of the town stock is ordered.
The town and private stock shows fifty guns, and twenty-
four more out of repair ; thirty- three bayonets, four
hundred and eighty ffints ; fifty-one and three-fourths
pounds of powder ; ninety pounds of lead, and one
thousand nine hundred and ten pounds of lead in bullets
made by patriot women, as well as men, in those stir
ring days.

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 125
In common with other towns, they resolved, as well
as acted, and among the stirring sentiraents of the peo
ple of Barrington in their town-raeeting on the 21st of
March, 1774, are the following: First a resolution of
loyalty to Great Britain ; then one of syrapathy with
the sister colonies ; then an article on the intentions of
the British East India Corapany, in their iraportation of
tea, subject to duty in the colonies, when none was
iraposed in the mother country. The fourth resolution
I give to you as they gave it to King George :
"That we will neither sell or receive as a gift, any dutied tea, nor
have any dealings with any person ut persons that shall buy, sell,
give, receive or trade in said tea, directly or indirectly knowing or
suspecting it to be such, but will consider all persons concerned in
introducing tea into this town or any town in America, as enemies
to their country, and unworthy the society of freemen."
"James Brown, Samuel Allen, Josiah Humphrey, Edward Bos
worth, Nathaniel Martin, Moses Tyler and Thoraas Allen are a
committee of correspondence, and to attend to all that relates to
the liberties of America, and if any of the obnoxious tea should be
brought into this town, or any other attempt made on the liberties
of the inliabitants thereof, the coraraittee is directed to call a town
raeeting forthwith, that such raeasures raay be taken as the public
safety may require."
They also pledged their lives and fortunes to these
principles, which so clearly foreshadowed the Declara
tion of Independence. It was a sraall town that thus
acted, but its voice went to swell the grand chorus which
proclairaed from mountain to sea the key-note of uni
versal freedora. Her voice and acts helped to forra that
public sentiment which prepared our Bill of Rights May
4, 1776, two months before the action of the Continen
tal Congress, and which proclairaed at that early day,
instead of " God save the King," " God save the United
Colonies."

126 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
Ninety-five years ago to-day was fought the first
actual battle of the Revolution. The news of the affairs
at Lexington and Concord have spread through the coun
try, and aroused the people to prepare for wai. On the
13th of June, four days before the battle of Bunker
Hill, as these letters* testify, Capt. Matthew Allen of
Barrington commanded a Barrington company at Rox
bury and Dorchester heights, on the right of the Ameri
can lines under General Putnam. His brother. Captain
Thomas Allen, afterwards Colonel and Brigadier Gen
eral, commanded troops on the island and at Tiverton
during the movements of the British by land and by sea
in that quarter.
Men and money were freely given in response to the
calls of liberty. The women prepared the wool, spun
the yarn, wove blankets, stockings and clothing for the
men in the field and in camps or hospitals. Mrs. Salis
bury, one of those brave souls, lived to the venerable
age of 105 years, and her devotion to the cause inspired
more than one George to do honorable duty in such
noble service. Those who had been slaves enlisted and
fought by the side of their former masters for freedom
and independence. Wives and daughters of Barrington
soldiers toiled and suffered as women never before, to
aid in the work. They managed and attended to farm
affairs while the men were away, and encouraged by
word, acts and letters to deeds of noble daring. How
much the daughters of liberty aided her loyal sons is a
part of the unwritten history of that time, which can
only be justly appreciated by a reraembrance of what
the loyal and disloyal women of America wrought and
suffered in the late rebellion. It was the heroic period
* See Appendix.

HISTORICAIi ADDRESS. 127
of our historic life, and hours rather than moments are
needed to tell you the Barrington story. One victim of
the old Jersey prison ship lies interred in yonder ceme
tery, — Winchester Bicknel) . But chains , imprisonment,
prison ships, heavy financial and physical burdens, with
the weight of anxious care and depressing exigencies of
war, enemies at home and abroad had no power to
repress the heroic endeavors of our patriot ancestry, or
to stay the steps of the good Goddess of Liberty as she
claimed America as her own.
I have written enough to weary your patience, and
enough, I trusl>, to prove our descent from a godly and
time-honored ancestry. They were tough, iion-sinewed
men, and brave, virtuous women. They had their
faults and their noble virtues. In love we will not bury
the latter, nor in charity will we exalt the former.
Could they look out upon our days, as we do upon
theirs, they might challenge us in vain to their standard
of Christian citizenship and a Christian State. Could
Standish or Prince, from whom these heights are named,
stand on thia hill-top to-day, how strange would be the
contrast with that elder day. With wondering surprise
would they exclaim : " What hath God wrought !'*
Savages greeted them on the soil where now the best
forms of civilization have been developed. The untu
tored Indian had no skill in letters, possessed rude speci
mens of handicraft and a few implements for fishing, for
cultivating the soil, for pounding or grinding their grain
and for securing their game. The farmer turns np with his
ploughshare, stone pestles and mortars, the hatchets,
chisels and arrow heads of those old days, and while he
muses on the condition of a people, of whose^industries

128 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
these are the symbols, he wonders not that their jour
neys are towards the setting sun, driven before the great
tidal wave of a civilization, whose intelligence, enter
prise and courage know no bounds or barriers. Could
Willett and Myles revisit their homes by the Sowams,
or at Wannamoisett, instead of the winding bridle path,
they would travel by straight and well-fenced roads, in
carriages whose ease and lightness add grace and beauty
to our fashionable establishments. The old log-house
has long since gone to ashes, and over its site tasteful
horaes have been reared, with rich furniture and the
coraforts and conveniences which raodern life suggests.
The spinning-wheel, the flax-wheel and the looras have
given way to the sewing and knitting-machines. The
spinnet of a later day stands as a relic in the corner to
show off the splendid success of Chickering and Stein-
way. The wooden plates, spoons and castors have been
replaced by the finest china, porcelain and silver.
The whole wedding suit and outfit of our great
grandmothers would not equal in value the silver pre
sents these expectant young ladies before me dream of,
for their bridal day, and their whole household furnish
ings would no more than fill an ordinary sitting-room.
Through the fields which their wooden coulters vexed,
run the smooth steel points and the subsoil ploughs,
while their heavy hoes are superseded by the lighter
tools and the aid of the horse hoe and cultivator. The
mowing raachine with the gentleman driver in white
pants, mows the very acres before breakfast, which five
men in olden tirae slashed down with their heavy scythes
in a day, with refreshments at the end of the swarth.
The shrill scream of the locomotive, with its burdened

HISTORICAL ADDRESS. 129
train awakes the dwellers on Brooks' sheep pasture, and
crosses the old train field on New Meadow Neck, near
where the we verend pastor lies, and winds about over
near Bullock's Cove, as near to the slab where worthy
Willett sleeps. How would they wonder as their eyes
beheld the morning or the evening news fresh frora the
east, the west, the north and the south, — England,
France, China, Egypt, all within speaking distance of
this ancient settlement. B[ow would they gaze with
amazeraent at the dress, the custoras and the fashions of
these later days, and what, dear ladies, would they call
that modern invention, — a fashionably dressed woman?
While they told us of the exploits of Myles Standish,
the Puritan Captain, who could write and fight, we
could tell them of Grant, who could fight and then
write. When they had told us of the brave men who
followed Philip's trail among the Nipmucks, we should
be inclined to tell them in turn of our brave Barrington
boys who followed on the war path from Bull Run to
Petersburg, and of some who sleep in the valley, as
sacrifices to freedom. Honor, all honor to the pilgrim
stock from whence we sprung. They contended nobly
in their day with toil and privations to plant a tree, "the
leaves of which should be for the healing of the nations,"
and under whose wide-spreading branches their sons
and son's sons might rest in peace. Patiently and
prayerfully did they labor, peacefully die. Their graves
shall be honored by votive offerings, their memories by
heart memorials, which never die.
The sands in the hour-glass have run out, and my
work is well-nigh done. Sons and daughters of Bar
rington, we enter to-day a new era, a new century, but
none of us wUl see its close. Let us so live as not to

130 HISTORICAL ADDRESS.
be forgotten. We shall write our own histories and
inscribe our own epitaphs. The historian of 1970 will
only gather up fragments as I do to-day.
Venerable men and women who sit around me to-day,
the representatives of two and even three generations :
We rejoice in your presence as the living bond of union
with the past. Tears fill the eyes and the utterance is
choked when the memories of your early days press
upon the mind. We cheerfully accept, in raature iife,
the trust you irapose upon us and will guard with jeal
ous care the landmarks our fathers have set up. Ere
your life-work closes, may your best benedictions rest
upon the heads and hearts of this people. May you
late return to Heaven to enjoy the rewards of earthly
toil. Young men and woraen ! Take up cheerfully, trust
ingly, heroically, the duties and responsibilities of the
hour. The future lies in your hands. Mould it as
raaster workraen " under the Great Taskraaster's eye."
Children and youth, the bright hope of all our homes
and hearts ! Remember those who have left to you so
valuable a gift as this civil and religious liberty and
these time-honored observances of the fathers. These
men laid the foundations of a noble edifice. Shall you
and we build strongly, firmly, grandly, so that in the
ages coming, others shall look on our work and pro
claira it good ? Thus shall the opening century be filled
" with sweeter manners, purer laws."

A POEM

DELIVERED AT

BARRIJVGTOJV, JUJVE 17, 1870,

HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH, Esq.

AN HUNDRED GOLDEN YEARS 1

When Israel stood by Moab's fruitful mountains,
And sung their lofty psalms.
They told the tale of Meribah's sweet fountains.
Beneath the waving palms.
They saw the land in peace and plenty growing.
Beyond the Jordan fair,
But called to mind the fiery pillar glowing
Amid the desert air.
We meet upon these pleasant hills, my brothers,
As they 'neath pastoral palms ;
We, too, may turn frora present scenes to others,
And sing our thankful psalms.
'Tis ours to tell the paths of self-denial
Through which our fathers trod ;
'Tis ours to mark upon a lengthened dial
The finger of our God.
0 time ! O change ! how have these green hills altered,
Since those dim, distant days,
When, lost in beauty, olden voyagers faltered
On yonder stormless bays, —
Since, on yon tides the weary Northmen drifted,
Safe havened frora the seas,
Aud Verazzano 'neath the hillsides lifted
His ensign to the breeze, —
12

134 POEM.
Since exiled Williams wandered faint and weary
Amid the winter glooms,
And holy men from Cambrian mountains dreary
Slept on the summer blooms 1
'Tis mine to tell, not conquering hero's glory,
Nor laurelled statesman's praise,
'Tis mine to tell of godlike men the story.
Who toiled beside these bays, —
Who prayed to God in time-worn cities, alleys,
Where far-off rivers rolled,
And here directed, brought these hills and valleys
An hundred years of gold.I.
Hard by the Cambrian hills that throw
Their shadows on the sea,
There dwelt among the valleys low,
A pastor, pure and free.
He walked with God, like men of old,
Amid the mountains calm.
And preached the word where ocean rolled
Its everlasting psalm.
His spirit gre-*^ in love to men,
And caught a holy flre,
When Cromwell grasped the sword and pen
And Milton struck the lyre :
He there foretold, 'tuid praise and blame,
That days would brighten earth,
When man should own his brother's claim
To every right of birth.
He gathered thet-e some little flocks
Erom hamlets by the deep,
And worshipped near the rugged rocks
Where havened waters sleep.
The stirring days of Cromwell passed,
And fell the statesman great.

POEM. 135
The time-worn edict came at last
That wedded Church and State.
And then that pastor wept and spake : —
" I go to shores untrod ;
These hands may toil, this heart may ache.
But not disown my God.
Par from thy stormy rocks, O sea,
Far from thy crags, Llewellyn,
The Western wild shall shelter me.
And God provide a dwelling !"
He leads his flocks across the main,
And, firm in purpose still,
He comes to yonder open plain,
He builds on yonder hill.
And there, mid summer woods aglow.
Mid streams in winter iced,
Beyond a world of pomp and show.
He speaks the truth of Christ.
He slumbers here — the peaceful bay
Where he reposes smiles ; —
Let tender memories give to-day
The tribute due to Mtles.
II.
From distant Leyden's airy homes.
And from the Harlem-Meer,
Another exile comes to make
His forest altar here.
And he, a lover of his race.
Of freedom and the free,
Had trusted God beside the Maas
And by the Zuyder Zee.
To Plymouth's hills with holy men.
His steps uncertain bent,
But his unfettered spirit felt.
E'en there a discontent.

136 POEM.

" I, too, will seek a way," he spake,
" By pilgrim feet untrod,
And /will build where man may make
An equal shrjne to God."
He struck the lonely forest path,
O'erhung with autumn's gold ; —
Perhaps along the darkening pines
The fiery pillar rolled.
But this we know — he trusted Him
Of wisdom's gift the Giver,
And stood at last upon the rim
Of yonder shining river.
And there he met a savage race,
And there his faith he planted,
And built beyond each time worn place
By persecution haunted.
And there with ardor in his heart
That beamed on every feature,
He said : " The Living Fountain flows
For every living creature 1"
I stood upon the river's side,
I marked his place of sleeping ;
The moss was on the crumbling stone,
The fern was round it creeping.
O friends, some graves have ye forgot
That worthy history numbers ; —
Forget ye not that lowly spot
Where liberal Wlllett slumbers !
ni.
Here, too, the Plymouth pilgrim comes
A broader church to found,
And share the equal rights of faith
Upon the equal ground.
And here, beside this sunlitbay.
These clouded hills of pine,

POEM. 137
The Baptists preach, the Quakers pray
Around a coraraon shrine.
He hears the breeze breathe through the trees :
" The truth hath raade thee free 1"
The mellowed deeps of air and seas :
" We give our peace to thee !"
Sweet sing the men from Harlem-Meer,
With exiles from the Severn,
And feel a comraon Presence here,
And seek a common heaven !
We legends read of Church and State,
Of wars in lands decaying, —
The banner of the cross in hate
Uplifted o'er the slaying.
A better legend lingers here
In stainless history given : —
Sweet sung the men from Harlem-Meer
With exiles from the Severn.

Such were the men who sought the path of duty.
Like saints and sages old ;
Such were the men who brought these hUls of beauty
An Hundred Years of Gold.
Such were the men ! — Beyond the world's derision
They walked by faith — alone —
Like him who saw bright angels in a vision
When pillowed on a stone.
Such lowly efforts raised the clustering steeples
In all the shining air.
And yet shall carry to the earth-worn peoples
The blessings that we share.
The all-embracing faith that Vane defended
With Cromwell side by side,
The common rights for wliich he here contended
And o'er the waters died.

138 POEM.

To-day fulfil the visions of the martyr, —
His dim prophetic dreams.
When his persuasive voice had won the charter
Of these fair lands and streams.
Then tell me not of arts that came
From Hellas classic streams.
Nor mythic heroes' deeds of fame
In olden poet's dreams ;
But name me heroes such as these
Who stood mid storm and shock
Who spake sublime by Celtic seas.
Who built by Plyraouth Rock ;
Narae me the names of little space
On history's storied pages,
Whose worthy efforts bless the race,
And bring the golden ages ;
And when ye speak of Harlem-Meer,
And memories that enhance it.
Name me the men who labored here,
Beside the Narragansett.
But lighter themes than these demand my singing.
To lighter themes I go,
To tell the story of the town upspringing
An hundred years ago.
The pleasant cottage 'neath the maple shadows,
And on the river's arms.
The fragrant orchards and the waving meadows
Of harvest-happy farms !
The rural home, the art-embellished dwelling
That on each hill appears,
With eloquence that touch the heart are telling
An hundred golden years.
I.
The hills are calm, the rivers run
Among the breezy pines,

POEM.
And, over all, the noontime sun
With steady lustre shines ;
On scenes as fair the sun looked down,
When freemen met to pay
Their honors to the new born town,
An hundred years to-day !
IL
They met, — but not as now we meet.
Though nature sweetly smiled ; —
The house of Brunswick then controlled
The rugged western wild ;
And in old Boston's thriving town,
Had been a bloody fray.
That weighed the patriot's spirit down.
An hundred years to-day 1
III.
The broken forest then revealed
The marks of progress cheering,
The sturdy home beside the field,
The school beside the clearing, —
The elm tree throws its shadows stilj
Across the public way
Where rose the spire above the hilj.
An hundred years to-day !
IV.
And near the rustic bridge that bore
The honored name of Myles,
Where breezy meadows line the shore
When open summer smiles.
The happy ships on waters fair
Lay havened from the bay.
And dropped their ensigns on the air,
An hundred years to-day !
V.
An air of comfort blessed each home
Upon that summer morn,
The girl was at her spinning-wheel.
The boy was in the com ;

139

14(0 POEM.
And, when, beside the accustomed place,
The father knelt to pray.
The peace of God was in his face,
An hundred years to-day I
VI.
And true, these freeborn men were found,
When rose the tide of war,
On native shore, on distant ground
In patient camps afar, —
First in the ranks of freemen when
Begun the bloody fray.
And faithful to the last, those men,
An hundred years to-day !
VIL
I need not tell you that they fought
The Jersey's hills among,
I need not speak of him* they brought
When life was fresh and young,
From strife upon the perilled seas
To die upon the bay.
Hard by the shades of native trees,
Some fourscore years to-day.
VIII.
Those times have gone, — the forest fell.
And rose the homestead fair,
And rolled the music of the bell
Upon tbe Sabbath air.
Those men have gone — and calm and still
The shaded waters stray
By those old graves on Burial Hill,
Where they repose to-day.
JX.
And recent years — I need uot tell
Their record — it is here.
On fruitful hiU, in cultured dell
Ou villas, far and near ; —
Some sing of lands of old renown,
That gave to heroes birth ;
?Winchester Bicknell.

POEM. 141

'Tis ours to sing A Christian town.
The dearest spot on earth.
X.
To-day our common mother stands
Among the summer blooms,
And stretches out her liberal hands
And opes her bounteous horaes.
Then welcome to the household shade.
Ye children of the Bay,
Nor blush to own the town they made
An hundred years to-day.

|ppendix.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE PROCEEDINGS

RELATING TO THE

C;eitt£n;ni;al dreklTrali0n at §arrmglon,

JUNE 17, 1870.

The citizens of Barrington, who were familiar with its early his
tory, were aware of the fact that prior to the year 1717, the present
town was a part of the old town of Swanzey, Mass, — that a division
was made in that year by which the western part of Swanzey was
incorporated as a separate town under the name of Barrington, in
Massachusetts, — that in the year 1747 the town of Barrington was
united with another portion of territory set off" from Swanzey, and
with this section was incorporated under the name of Warren, and
with other neighboring towns was set off to Rhode Island, — and
that in the year 1770 the western part of Warren, which was for
merly Barrington between the years 1717 and 17i7, was again
declared a separate corporation, under its former title of Barrington.
During the Autumn and Winter of 1869-70, the minds of the people
were refreshed with these facts, and an interest was awakened in
the plan of celebrating the one hundredth anniversary of the^ last
incorporation of the town, by suitable public ceremonies and fes
tivities. As the time drew near, the subject had been very generally
discussed, and such au interest was manifested in the matter, that

144 APPENDIX,
it seemed almost the unanimous desire of the people to honor the
event by such services, as would become a prosperous and patriotic
community. As the season of the Annual Town Meeting approached
it was proposed by various prominent citizens of the town that the
matter should be presented at that time for the consideration of the
people and for the decision of the tax-payers as to the expediency
of making an appropriation for defraying a portion of the expenses
connected with such a celebration. The expressions of the people
had previously been so strong and hearty in regard to the proposed
festive reunion, that the School Committee in their annual report to
the town seemed to consider the plan as virtually decided by popu
lar consent, and used the foUowing language with reference to it:
" There is one thing, out of the usual course, lo which we would invite special
attention. As this year is the hundredth of the town's history, and may therefore
secuie some pubhc observance, it has seemed to us suitable that our schools
should participate in whatever advantages such a civic celebration may afford.
In the absence of other imposing organizations, we have here material of justthe
sort to form a pleasing part of the procession. The pupils can march, and they
can sing, and otherwise mingle in the festivities of the occasion, with as lively an
interest as others, at least; and will remember the year and the day long after, to
speak of it as a proud one for the good old town. As Barrington is just entering
upon its second century, let it be with a harmonious face to the front, forgetting
all local feuds and rivalries, and aiming mutually to improve the future. In no
way, perhaps, can this more conveniently be done, than by such a process as shall
give prominence to our educational concerns.
If a High School could be estabhshed here, providing for instruction and train
ing somewhat select, it might be the richest memorial the people could rear. But
as that may not be practicable at present, otherwise than as prompted by individ
ual enterprise or voluntary offerings, the next good thing we can now suggest, is
that already indicated. Let each District School have its beautiful banner, with
such device or motto aa its givers may choose, all wreathed with emblems of
purity and peace, and be prepared to bear a part in honoring the centennial of our
prosperous town. Inasmuch as the youth and children of to-day are to be the
men and women of a period not far future, let us incite them as far as possible to
exalted aims, and welcome them to the privileges right at hand. As they shall
listen to the chronicles of foi-mer times, aud hear good report of their fathers
who subdued the wilderness, and laid the foundations for popular intelligence
and prosperity, will they not be inspired with dispositions and purposes to leave
as fair a record for themselves ? Whatever, indeed, of healthful influence, either
moral or mental, the faithful historian may have to impart, the young in years
will be likely to remember as incentives to a noble life. Nor will they less enjoy
a grand holiday in June, when the fields wiU be bursting into beauty, and flowers
will be blooming on every hand, than those who have borne the heat and burden
of the day. It is our hope, accordingly, that when the town shall conclude to
celebrate the centenary of the season, it will give place in its arrangements to our
pubhc schools."
The following Preamble and Resolutions, which had been previ
ously prepared, were presented by the Rev. Francis Horton, and

APPENDIX. 145
after a few very appropriate reraarks by him, were unanimously
adopted, by the vote of the town ;
"Wheebas, The month of June, 1870, will commemorate the one hundredth
anniversary of the history of Barrington since its corporate organization in 1770,
the one hundred and liily-third since its first separate existence as a town in 1717,
and the two hundred and seventh since its &xnt settlement by the Pilgrims in
1667, a period of time, worthy of our sincere thought and regard as a people, and
filled with events which are fitted to inspire a patriotic interest in us, their descend
ants, for the lives and memories of an honored anct^stry ; therefore
Resolved, First, That the people of this town will unite in a celebration of this
important event in our local history, in u manner fitting its interesting character,
and its rare occurrence, and that the 17th day of Jime, 1870, be set apart as a day
for such public services and festivities as may fit such an occasion.
Resolved, Second, That a Committee of the town, consisting of persons,
be appointed to take charge of all matters connected with such a celebration, and
to make all arrangements necessary for honoring this memorial day in our town's
history. Resolved, Third, That the sum of dollars be, and is, hereby appro
priated to defray the expenses of such celebration, and the Committee are
hereby authorized to draw on the Town Treasurer for the amount herein specified.
Resolved, Fourth. That a Committee of thi-ee be appointed by the Moderator
to choose a Committee of persons, to take charge of all matters connected
with said celebration, and to make all necessary arrangements.
After a short discussion with reference to the amount of money
necessary for carrying out the purposes of the Town in regard to
the celebration, it was voted that the blank in the third Kesolution
should be filled with tho words jive hundred dollars, and that the
blank in the second and fourth resolutions should be filled with the
word tieenty. On motion, a special Comraittee was then appointed
by the Moderator, J. B. Huraphreys, Esq., to nominate to the town
a Comraittee for the Centennial Celebration. This Committee, con
sisting of Messrs. B. Martin, E. C. Potter and T. W. Bicknell
reported the following names of gentlemen, who should serve in
this honorable capacity :
COMMITTEE ON CENTENNIAL OELEBKATION.
Kev. Francis Horton, Earl C. Potter,
S. Brenton Shaw, D. D., Allen Bowen,
Rev. Francis Wood, David A. Waldron,
John B. Humphreys, Charles E. Smith,
Asa Peck, Nathaniel Peck,
Benjamin Martin, Joseph Bowen,
Lewis T. Fisher, Allen C. Mathewson,*
* B«fu8ed to serve.
IS

146 APPENDIX.
Nathaniel C. Smith, H. H. Richardson,
Benjarain F. Drown, Leonard S. Bosworth,
George R. Kinnicutt, Lewis B. Sraith.
It raay properly be stated here, that the date fixed upon for the
Celebration, June 17, 1870, was not on the sarae day of the month
as the passage of the decree by the General Asserably, which estab
lished our town, naraely, the 1 1th of June, 1770. Several reasons-
led to the choice of the 17th of June ; among them was the patriotic
one of uniting our festivities with the occasion which celebrates
the first great struggle of the Revolution at Bunker Hill; another
was the consideration that on this year the 11th fell on Saturday, a
day for raany reasons too near the Sabbath for so important observ
ances. The choice of the town and the comraittee as to the date,
need not establish a precedent for the inhabitants of Barrington in
the centuries to corae. Wisdom seemed to direct this choice now,
.and equal or greater wisdora may suggest the correct date under the
differing circurastances of future Centennials.
The gentlemen of the Centennial Committee entered upon their
interesting and responsible work with unusual alacrity and energy.
The committee met at the residence of the Rev. Francis Horton, on
the evening of April Sth. There were sixteen members present.
The organization was perfected by the election of the Rev. Francis
Horton, Chairraan, John B. Huraphreys, Esq., Secretary, and sub
sequently the lion. Lewis B. Smith, Treasurer. The first business
transacted after the organization, was the passing of a vote that a
historical address should form a part of the proceedings of the cele
bration ; and it was unanimously voted, that an invitation be
extended to the Hon. T. W. Bicknell to deliver such an address.
D. A. Waldron, Esq., was appointed a Comraittee to extend the
invitation. He reported at the next meeting, by presenting the
following correspondence ; Babeington, April 11, 1870.
Dbab Sir : — At the last Annual Town Meeting of the town of Ban*ington, it
was voted and resolved tbat the Centennial Anniversary of the inauguration of
the town be observed by an appropiiate celebration of the same, and a committee
was appointed (of which the writer is a member,) to make the necessary arrange
ments. At a meeting of said Committee held April 11, 1870, it was voted unanimously
that Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell be invited to deUver an oration upon that occa
sion, and the undei signed was delegated to extend to you the invitation on behalf
of said Committee, and report at the earliest practicable period the result. In
performance, therefore, of the dnty assigned mo, I respectfully request that you

APPENDIX. 147
will inform me at your earliest convenience whether or not it will bo agreeable to
you to comply vdth the wishes of said Committee.
The undersigned avails himself of this occasion to oflTcr Mr. Bicknell renewed
assurances of his highest consideration. DAVID A. WALDRON.
To Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell,
Barrington, R. I.

State op Bhodb Island and Pbovidence Plantations, .
Depariment of Public InsirucUon, >
Peovidknob, April 11, 1870. '
D. A. Waldron, Esq.:—
My Dear Sir : Tour very polite note is received, in which in behalf of the
Committee of Arrangements for a Centenmal Celebration in Barrington, you
extend me an invitation to deliver an Oration upon that occasion.
"With you and many other citizens, I feel a just pride in the past history as well
as the present prosperity of my native town, and notwitlistanding the reluctance
I feel, from inability, rightly to perform so honorable a task, and from the pres
sure of ofiicial duties, I shall accept the duty as a debt I owe to the memories of
our common ancestry, and as a pledge of my constant and continued interest in
the welfare of our common heritage.
Extend my sincere and cordial thanks to the Cominittee of which you are a
member for the honor conferred.
While I remain, as ever, yours most sincerely, T. W. BICKNELL.
The Committee proceeded to perform the duties entrusted to their
charge in an active and energetic manner. It was decided that the
principal features of the celebration should consist of a salute of
one hundred guns on the morning of the day, a procession, intro
ductory services at the tent on Prince's Hill, an address, a poem,
and a Khode Island clam bake. The following Sub-Coraraittees
were appointed to carry out the details : —
To procure a Poem. — Messrs. Waldron, Shaw and Richardson.
To issue Invitations. — Messrs. Wood, N. C. Smith and Hum
phreys. To select Location and provide Tent. — Messrs. Potter, Bosworth,
N. C. Smith and A. Peck.
To furnish Music and Salute. — Messrs. Potter, Richardson,
Drown, N. C. Smith and L. B. Smith.
To provide Dinner. — Messrs. Potter, A. Peck, L. B. Smith and
C. E. Smith.
Finance. — Messrs. Waldron, L. B. Smith and Fisher.

148 APPENDIX.
To invite the Public Schools of the to-wn to form a part of the
Procession. — Messrs. Horton, Shaw and Richardson.
To select Toast Master. — Messrs. Waldron, Humphreys and L.
B. Smith.
To prepare a Programme. — Messrs. Waldron, Richardson and
Potter. To organize a Military Company to perform escort duty. —
Messrs. Humphreys, Sraith and Fisher.
On Cavalcade. — Messrs. Huraphreys and Richardson.
On Pioneers. — Messrs. N. Peck, C. E. Smith and Bosworth.
On Domestic Industries. — Messrs. Kinnicutt and Bicknell.
On Representatives of States and Goddess of Liboiy. — E. C.
Potter, Esq., and Mrs Amelia D. Bicknell.
On Agricultural Implements, Ancient and Modern. — Messrs. L.
B. Smith, Drown and A. Peck.
To provide Official Reporter. — Messrs. Waldron and Bicknell.
These Committees having attended to their respective duties,
reported as follows : — The Comraittee to procure a Poem reported
that they had secured the services of Hezekiah Butterworth, Esq.
The Committee to extend Invitations reported the following circu
lar, which was adopted :
BARRINGTON CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION,
June 17Ta, 1870. Barrington, May 6th, 1870.
On the 6th day of April, 1870, the citizens of Barrington in Town Meeting
assembled, resolved that the approaching Centennial Anniversaiy of the incor
poration of the town, which occurs on the 17th day of June next, be observed in
a becoming and proper manner. Therefore, we send greeting, to the Sons and
Daughters of Barrington, their children and children's children, to meet with us
at that time, to commemorate the One Hundredth Birthday of our Town, and we
extend a cordial invitation to all thoae connected by ties of consanguinity, friend
ship, or local attachment, to unite with ns in this reiinion of hearts and hands.
The principal features of the Celebration will be a Procession ; an Historical
Address ; a Poem ; Music, and a Dinner, with after-dinner Speaking, by distin
guished guests and citizens.
The dinner will consist of a Rhode Island clam bake, fish and clam chowder,
which will be furnished at seventy-five cents for adults, and fifty cents for children
under twelve years of age.
A meat dinner will also be provided for those who may prefer it.
FRANCIS WOOD,
NATHANIEL 0. SMITH,
JOHN B. HUMPHREYS, Committee on Invitations.

APPENDIX. 149
They were also instructed to extend invitations to the following
gentlemen, viz. . Former clergymen who had oflJciatod in the town
for a certain length of time ; His Excellency the Governor of the
State, his official and personal staffs ; His Honor the Lieutenant
Governor; Heads of State Departments; the Senators and
Eepresentatives iu Congress from this State ; President and Vice
President of the United States ; Judges of the Supreme Court, and
Judge of Court of Common Pleas ; Ex-Governors of the State ;
Speaker of the House ; Mayor of the City of Providence ; Brig.
Gen. Barton ; Selectmen of the town of Swanzey, Mass ; Town
Council and Clerk of Warren ; Town Council and Clerk of Bristol ;
Senator and Representatives of Warren ; Senator and Representa
tives ol Bristol; High SheriflF of Bristol County; President and
Superintendent of the Providence, Warren and Bristol Railroad, and
Superintendent of the Boston and Providence Railroad.
The Comraittee on Looation and Tent reported that they had
secured the lot on Prince's Hill, and the mammoth tent of Baker &
Prince of Boston. The Committee ou Music and Salute reported
that they had secured the services of Gilmore's Cornet Band of
Pawtucket, and that a detachment of the Warren Artillery had
kindly consented to fire the salute, while the entire command would
join the procession. The Committee to provide a Dinner reported
that they had contracted with that well-known and justly appreciated
caterer, Hiram D. Maxfield, Esq., to furnish a Rhode Island clam
bake, with the usual accompaniments. The Committee to organize
a Company for escort duty succeeded most satisfactorily, and the
Company, composed of the young men of the town, performed that
duty in a most efficient manner. All the Sub-Committees reported
promptly and favorably, thus enabling the Committee having charge
of the Programme to present it in due season for consideration and
adoption. Hon. Lewis B. Smith was elected as President of the Day, and
the following Associate Vice Presidents were chosen : — Kev. S.
Brenton Shaw, D. D., Dr. J. B. Chapin, Messrs. Allen Brown,
Benjamin Martin, John B. Humphreys, Ellis Peck, Nathaniel C.
Smith, Asa Peck. David A. Waldron was elected Chief Marshal
of the day. Isaac F. Cady was selected as Toast Master, and the
President and Vice Presidents were appointed a Committee of
Reception for invited guests.
The following is the Programme, as adopted by the Committee :

150 APPENDIX.
1770! BARRINGTON!! 1870!

CE3L,E!BRA.TION"

FIRST CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
OF THE INCORPORATION OF THE TOWN OP
BARRINGTON, R. I.,
Friday, June 17, 1870.

The Committee op Arrangements announce the roLLOWiNG
ORDER OF EXERCISES.
A Salute of One Hundred Guns will be fired at sis o'clock A. M., at Prince's
Hill Training Grounds by a detachment of the Warren Artilleiy. The Bells of
the Town will be rung during the firing.
A Procession will be formed at ten o'clock A. M., at Drownville, under the
direction of D. A. Waldron, Esq., Chief Marshal, in the following order;
Marshal.
Aids. Aids.
Gilmore's Cornet Band of Pawtucket.
Military Escort by the Ban-ington Light Infantry under command
of Captain George L. Smith.
Warren Artillery, under command of Col. L. J. Crowell.
Committee of Arrangements, in Carriages.
President and Vice Presidents of the Day.
Orator. Poet, Toast Master and Chaplain.
President and Members of the Town Council oi Barrington.
Town Clerk and Town Treasurer.
Town Sergeant, bearing the Standard of the Barrington Infantry, ith Company
of the 4th Eegiment of Rhode Island Miltia.
His Excellency the Govemor of Rhode Island, and his Personal and
Military StaflT.
His Honor the Lieutenant Governor, Heads of State Departments, Senators and
Representatives in Congress. Mayor of the City of Providence, Judges of
the Supreme Court, Ex-Govemors of Rhode Island.
Former Clergymen of the Town.
Senator and Representative of Barrington.
Senator and Representative of Warren.
Senator and Representatives of Bristol.
Selectmen of Swanzey, Mass.
Town Council and Town Clerk of Warren.
Town Council and Town Clerk of Bristol.

APPENDIX.

151

Other Invited Guests.
Pioneer Society.
Representatives of States and Goddess of Liberty.
Cavalcade, Ancient and Modem.
Carriages representing Domestic Industry, Ancient and Modern.
Oflicers of the Post Offices,
Post Boy of ye olden time.
School Committee, Teachers and Pupils of the Public Schools,
Citizens and Sti-augers.
The Procession will move by the most convenient route to the Mammoth Tent
on Princess Hill Training Grounds, where they will take position for a photo
graph, by Hurd, after which they will enter the tent, where the following Order
of Exercises will be observed :
The Assemblage will be called to order by the President of the Day,
Hon. Lewis B. Smith.
Voluntary by the Band-
Singing, " Welcome Home," by the Children of the Public Schools.
Address of Welcome, by Rev. Francis Horton.
Music.
Reading of the Scriptures by S. Brenton Shaw, D. D.
Prayer by the Chaplain, Rev. Fraucis Wood.
OratioUj by Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell.
Original Hymn, (Tune Boylston). All are invited to join in singing.
Poem, by Hezekiah Buttei-wortb, Esq., of WaiTen.
Singing, ** Auld Lang Syne," by the Assembly, Band Accompaniment.
Benediction, by Rev. Dr, Shepard of Bristol.
Music.
Blessing, by Rev. Dr. Shaw.
Dinner. Music.
Toasts, by Isaac F. Cady, Esq., and responses by distinguished
Guests and Citizens.
Music.
The Mihtary Process'ion will again form and escort the invited guests to the
Barrington Depot, where they will be dismissed.
The various organizations will report to the Chief Marshal at Drownville,
promptly at 9^ o^clock, and will take positions as may be assigned.
The head of the column will move at 10 o'clock, precisely.
Persons arriving by Railroad who do not intend to join the Procession, will
reach the grounds most conveniently from the Barrington Station.
COMMITTEE OF ARRANGEMENTS.
Rev. Fraucis Horton, Earl C. Potter,
S. Brenton Shaw, D. D., AUen Bowen,
Rev. Francis Wood, David A. Waldron,
John B. Humphreys, Charles E. Smith,
Asa Peck, Nathaniel Peck,
Benjamin Martin, Jeseph Bowen,
Lewis T. Fisher, AUen C. Mathewson,
Nathaniel C Smith, H. H. Richardson,
Benjamin F. Drown, Leonard S. Bosworth,
George R. Kinnicutt, Lewis B. Smith.

152 APPENDIX.
The generous invitations of the Committee of Arrangements, and
the intelligence, ability and earnestness with which they had sever
ally discharged their duties, and had extended the knowledge of
the approaching celebration, had awakened an interest far and near
iu the festive reunion which was soon to occur in our quiet and
beautiful town. The people of the town vied with each other in
such services as would add to the interest and success of the occa
sion. Old men and maidens, young men and children alike con
tributed by personal labor, by generous gifts and loans, and by
active sympathy and encouragement to render this Centennial
worthy of remembrance for a hundred years at least. Interest
heightened as the historic day approached, and the citizens of coun
try and city, of town, county and State had a generous thought and
a hearty good-will forthe old town of Barrington on the anniversary
of her one hundredth birthday. The spot chosen for the exercises
of this grand civic celebration was one of romantic beauty, com
manding the prospect of hills and valleys, green fields and rural
homes, the bright waters of bay and river, and the extensive land
scape views stretching away over the farms and forests of many
adjoining towns. Prince's Hill, near the exact geographical centre
of the town, was a goodly site for the great gathering of the sons
and daughters of Barrington.
The programme of exercises for the occasion led all, both at home
and abroad, to anticipate a day of peculiar social and literary
delights, and a deep impression prevailed that these memorial ser
vices were appointed to commemorate the deeds of a noble ances
try, and that the tribute should be worthy of the descendants of
Pilgrim stock, yet fair and flourishing, after a planting of more than
two centuries. We give place to the foUowing account of the day
and its proceedings, as given by E. R. Gardiner, Esq., of Provi
dence, our able special reporter for the day :
BARRINGTON CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION,
June 17, 1870.
For months past the topic of thought and conversation in Bar
rington and adjacent towns has been the celebration of the Centen
nial anniversary of the goodly town of Barrington. The Commit
tee of Arrangements had well performed their duties, and with
excellent judgment had prepared a programme for the day's exer
cises which did themselves credit and the occasion honor. Every
thing seemed to have been complete, and each one of the committee

APPENDIX. 153
had llis special duty well in hand, nnd was able to execute it promptly
at the appointed time.
Early in the morning a salute of one hundred guns by a detach
ment of the Warren Artillery, under command of Major Charles
Kelly, wakened the morning sleepers, and told that the day's festivi
ties had begun, and with the ringing of bells, made merry music for
an hour or so. At Drownville, flags were displayed in abundance
from trees and residences, which gave a thoroughly holiday appear
ance to the usually quiet surroundings, while the busy citizens
flitted to and fro in preparation, all seeming imbued with the spirit
of the day, and each doing their part.
A procession was formed at Drownville station, under direction
of Capt. D. A. Waldron, Marshal of the Day, assisted by H. H.
Richardson, E. L. Walker, C. E. Sraith aud John B. Humphreys as
aids. On the arrival of the 10.15 train from Providence, with dis
tinguished guests and Gilmore's Cornet Band, of Pawtucket, the
places in line were assigned to the new-comers, and so well had the
Marshal and aids performed their duties that no time was lost in
this proceeding, and the procession moved promptly in the following
order : Marshal and Aids.
Gilmore's Comet Band, Pawtucket, William E. Gilmore, leader, 21 pieces.
Barrington Ceuteunial Escort, Captain George L. Smith, 1st Lieut. Walter Earle,
2d Lieutenant James Franklin — 32 muskets. Uniform, blue blouse and
fatigue caps.
Drum Corps of the Warren Artillery.
Warren Artillery, Col. Luther Crowell, Lt. Col. WilUam Church, Major Charles
Kelly, Capt. John Livsey, Lieut: Andrew Wilmarth, Adjutant John
Maxwell — 25 rifles. Uniform, blue pants with red trimmings,
red jackets and fatigue caps.
Carriage containing Committee of Arrangements.
Carriage with President of the Day, Hon. Lewis B. Smith and Vice Presidents.
Carriage with Chaplain, Orator, Poet, Toast Master and others.
Carriage containing the Sheriff of Bristol County, John B. Pierce, aud the Town
Sergeant of Barrington, George E. Kinnicutt, bearing the standard (80
yeai'8 old) of the 4th Company of Barrington Infantry of the 4th
Regiment of Rhode Island Militia.
Carriage containing His Excellency Govemor Padelford, Secretary of State John
R. Bartlett, Adjt. Gen. E. C. Mauran, and Judge Advocate General
John Tumer.
Carriage containing the personal staff of Gov. Padelford.
Carriage containing Ex-Govemors Hoppm and Dyer, Hon. Francis Brmley, of
Newport, and State Auditor Joel M. Spencer.
Carriage containing Col. C. D. JiUson, Lieut. Col. Augustus Wright, Quarter
master N. J. Smith, Commissary H. E. Metcalf, Assistant Paymaster Orray
Taft, Jr., Assistant Surgeon E. Knight, Armorer Varnum Eichardson, of
the United Train of Artillery, Providence, in full uniform; Lt. Col.

154 APPENDIX.
Elisha Dyer, Jr., Capt. E. G. Meade, Jr., Lieut. Wm. E. Gushing;
Lieut. Stephen Tripp, of the Providence Marine Corps of Ar
tillery, in full uniform; Capt. N. T. Sanders, of Gen. Tur
ner's staff; Gen. Nelson Viall, Col. Wm. Viall, of
Providence ; and Messrs. D. K. Munroe, of Bris
tol, and H. A. Howland, of Providence.
Carriage containing Rev. Dr. Shepard, of Bristol, and Rev. Mr. Pease, of Boston.
Carriage containing Town Council of Bristol, Wm. J. Miller, President, W. T. C.
Wardwell, Isaac F. Wilhams, H H. Spooner, E. W. Bronson; T. P. Bo
gert and James M. Peck, Representatives to the General Assembly
from the towns of WaiTcn and Bristol respectively.
Carriage contaimng Town CouncU of Warren, President, CharlcsR. Cutler; Ezra
M. Martin, Wm. B. Lawton, Luther Cole, Obadiah Chase; Town Clerk,
H. H. Luther.
Carriage containing David Gardiner, aged 81 ; David Drown, aged 77 ; Mrs. PoUy
T. Ingraham, aged 73 ; and Mrs. Nancy Gladding, aged 78, with motto,
" Where shall we be a hmidrel years hence ?"
Carriage with Christopher Blanding, aged 81 ; Allen Bicknell, aged 83 ; and Alfred
Drown and wife, aged 73 each.
Carriage containing Widow Susan A. Kent, aged 75, and Ebenezer Grant,
aged 74.
Carx-iage containing the Goddess of Liberty, in costume, represented by Miss
Juha S. Peck, ¦with the different States represented by young ladies,
dressed in white, with red, white aud blue sashes, wreaths,
flowers, &c.
Ancient and modem Cavalcade. Ancient, consisting of a gentleman dressed in
continentals, with top boots and cocked hat, while behind him, on a pillion,
rode a young lady, also dressed in ancient clothes and ample straw
bonnet. The modem was represented by a young lady
and gentleman on horseback, in the present style
and costume, presenting a marked contrast.
Team containing spinning wheel, flax spinner and other ancient articles of manu
factures ; also a sewing machine of the flrst pattern and one of the latest.
In this carriage rode Mrs. Ehza Cook, aged 71, chief engineer of
the spinning wheel.
Carriage containing many relics of antiquity.
Post boy of ye olden time, with his horn and capacious mail bag, from which he
distributed freely of its stores to the citizens.
North District School, with banners inscribed, "Educate us properly, and the
Union and Constitution will be safe forever," and " The pen is mightier
than the sword;" Miss Gertrude Morse, teacher — 45 scholars.
South District School, with banners, "Excelsior, and "Tall Oaks from Little
Acorns Grow;" Mrs. E. A. Kenyon, teacher — 50 scholars.
East District School, with banners, " God and onr Coimtry ;" Miss Louise Bishop,
teacher — 30 scholars.
Among the ancient curiosities and relics of years ago, were tlie
following :
A chandelier originally owned by Rev, Robert Rogerson, of Reho
both, and used by him at weddings and other similar important

APPENDIX. 155
occasions. This was a simple unpainted iron upright shaft, ahout
four and one-half feet high, resting on an iron tripod, with a
movable straight bracket, with two arms, at the end of whieh was
a shallow iron cup, which looked as if it might have been in
tended to contain a candle. It may have done good service in its
time, and many a youthful pair have, doubtless, in years long agone,
looked forward anxiously and joyously to the time they would stand
up together by the "parson's chandelier," but our modern couples
would hardly consider it sufficient on such similar important occa
sions. Bang Philip's iron kettle, used by that renowned warrior in hia
camp and wigwam. It was taken by Col. Church at Mount Hope,
after the storming of the fort, and kept by him as a trophy during
his life. After his death some of his personal property was sold at
auction and this kettle was bought by General Philip Wheeler, of
Rehoboth, who gave it to his daughter Martha, who married Sylva
nus Martin, Esq., of Rehoboth. She kept it till her daughter
Martha was married to Colonel Christopher Blanding, of Rehoboth.
At her decease at the age of ninety-five years, she left it to her son,
who bears the honored surname of each of his ancestors through
whom it was passed to him. Colonel Wheeler Martin Blanding, in
whose possession it now is. This kettle is a highly prized relic of
the olden time, having been kept by the above mentioned persons
for above an hundred and eighty-four years. It ia enclosed in a
handsome black walnut cabinet.
Flax wheel and spinning wheel, contributed by Hon. T. W. Bick
nell; ancient powder horn; a picture, "The Second Lesson of
Life,'" an hundred and twenty years old and originally belonged to
Ellis Peck; a painting, "Winter Scene," two hundred years old,
and belonged to Joshua Kent ; powder horn, ninety-five years old,
elaborately carved and inscribed "Elisha Graham, liis horn," made
in the camp in Cambridge, November, 1775 ; Indian stone mortar,
probably centuries old, taki^ from a wigwam situated on land adjoin
ing premises of Josiah Martin, probably brought from Connecticut,
as no such stone is found in thia State ; stone pestle, the property
of Josiah Martin ; old gun-lock, dug up at Eort Hill, supposed to
have been there since the Revolution; pair of scales, one hundred
and twenty-five years old, the property of Capt. Solomon Peck —
beam and cups of wood and weight of stone ; Bible, printed in 1758,
owned by Joshua Ingraham ; shuttle, one hundred years old ; shoe
maker's tools, of great age ; shot gun, seventy-one years old ; cane
one hundred years old ; table, one hundred and twenty-five years

156 APPENDIX.
old ; stand, one hundred and fifteen years old ; horse pistol, seventy-
flve years old ; two clock reels, one one hundred and the other one
hundred and twenty years old ; New Testament, one hundred and
nine years old, and originally owned by Daniel Davis ; pair of pow
der horns, one hundred and fifteen years old, property of Asa Peck,
originally belonging to Solomon Peck ; pewter platter, one hundred
and twenty years old, and a pewter mustard pot, one hundred and
twenty-nine years old, both the property of Mrs. Nancy Gladding;
arm-chair, one liundred and twenty-five years old ; book of speeches,
one hundred and eighty-one years old, belonging to Mrs. N. W.
Ingraham ; hatchel, one hundred years old ; Bible, one hundred and
three years old; old-fashioned castor; musket, one hundred and
ten years old, used in the Revolution by Moses Tyler, of Tyler's
Point, grandfather of David Bowen, of Warren. Tyler lived on the
site now occupied by Jesse Davis, of Barrington ; ancient pipe box,
made by Abel Brown, of Rehoboth, for Col. Christopher Blanding ;
ancient plough, which constrasted strangely with the one of the
latest pattern, with which it was coupled; ancient cartridge box;
sewing machines, the first patent and the latest improved ; mortar,
one hundred and fifty years old, all of which doubtless awakened
many memories in the minds of the older ones as they looked upon
them, and carried them back again into the distant past, while to
the younger they only created wonder, surprise and merriment.
The procession, which was very long, presented a very fine
appearance, and proceeded by the nearest road to a mammoth tent
which had been erected on Prince's Hill. Along the way many of
the houses were adorned with flags, and the yards were full of
people to greet the cavalcade as it passed. Especially to be noted
was the house of Rev. Erancis Horton, from the top of which floated
a flag ; upon the front was an evergreen harp, and over the door a
sliield framed with evergreen, bearing the words, " Sweet Land of
Liberly." A long line of carriages followed the procession, and many of
the citizens walked along with it, while at various pleasant places
along the route, crowds had collected to witness the procession, and
add their presence to the day's celebration. The body guard of the
Goddess of Liberty furnished sweet music, singing patriotic songs
with fine eff'ect. As the procession reached Prince's Hill Training
Grounds, the hill presented a lively aspect. Near the centre stood
the large pavilion, 180x85 feet, for the remaining services, and
around it were smaller tents for various uses in preparing the din-

APPENDIX. 157
ner. In every direction and all over the hill were people, on foot
and in carriages, scattered and in crowds, all dressed in Sunday
best, and all apparently happy. The procession was grouped in
rear of the pavilion, for the purpose of having a photograph taken,
after which it moved into the tent, and the crowd followed, filling the
capacious enclosure completely full. The inside of the tent was
gayly decorated with flags of all sorts, and the tables, which occu
pied but one-half the space, were well arranged and freely decked
with flne bouquets. The stand was occupied by the officers of the
day and distinguished guests, the gay uniforms of tho military gen
tlemen mingling in happy contrast and giving life to the more
sombre citizens' dress.
Thus far the day's observance had been an entire success, and if
the remainder was not, it certainly was not the fault of the commit
tees. During the morning dark, threatening clouds had been seen
lurking around the horizon; but when the procession started the
sun came out clear and beautiful, and with its bright rays dis
pelled the clouds from raany anxious faces. Yet the common lot
of humanity, disappointment, blighted the brightest hopes of a
pleasant day, for scarcely had the immense gathering, safely esti
mated at more than three thousand, got under the shelter of the
canvas, and the exercises commenced, when the shower, which had
been threatening for half an hour or more, burst forth, creating
some confusion, and though the tent did noble service as protection,
the rain would creep through, here and there a drop, making lively
movements in securing bonnets and fine clothes from the wet. The
assemblage was called into good order by the President of the Day,
Hon. Lewis B. Smith, and a voluntary given by the Band, assisted
by an unexpected and effective electric artillery accompaniment.
"Welcome Home." was very finely sung by the children of the
public schools, under direction of E. L. Walcott, Esq.
WELCOME HOME.

Welcome home I a cheerful greeting
Here receive, nor longer roam;
While we all in friendship meeting,
Shout a cheerful welcome home ;
While we all in friendship meeting,
, Shout a cheerful welcome home.
Hearts with joy are full and swelling.
While we clasp the friendly hand,
Welcome, friend and brother, welcome,
Welcome to thy native land ;

158 APPENDIX.
Welcome, friend and brother, welcome.
Welcome to thy native land.
Hark I ^vith manhood's notes of pleasure,
How the tones of childhood swell;
||: Every voice is raised to welcome
Those they prized and loved so well. :||
Through the long-drawn vale resoimding,
Hear them swelhng sweet and strong!
||: Hearts that glow with love and friendship,
Find a ready voice in song. :||
Feast and song shall be your welcome.
Music is the feast of soul;
||: What in all our land would greet thee.
Like the sounds that round thee roll ? :||
Give thy hand, then, friend and brother,
Give thy word no more to roam ;
||: Where are hearts so true and friendly.
Where the. spot so sweet as home ? :||
Rev. Francis Horton then delivered the following cordial and ,
kindly address of welcome to the brotherhood of Harrington, and'
tbe guests generally :
Fellow-Citizens, Ladies and Gentleiiien: — Rare occasions, like the pres
ent, require but few words of introduction, and those from the heart more than
from the mtellect. At the close of this century of our civic history, it seemed to
us suitable to mark the date by some such observance as would render it mem
orable. Hence, the people of Barrington, at their aunual town-meeting, voted to
celebrate this day, assigning an appropriation, and gave it in charge to a commit
tee of twenty to make arrangements for the purpose. That duty has been attended
to according to the discretion of parties employed, who here report themselves in
this goodly gathering.
Letters dispatched in various directions, have brought together a fair propor
tion of the non-resident members of our town, and a considerable nuraber of dis
tinguished guests. All these, with the multitude who have come by public invi
tation, it is my privilege to welcome to these festivities. Whether they visit this
agreeable spot to refresh their memories with scenes and sentiments of "Auld
Lang Syne," or come as representatives of friendly fellowship from towns around
us, or in their ofiicial relations to either the State or the Nation, do us the honor
of their presence at our Centennial, we greet them all and severally with our
heartiest good-will. Kight glad are we to share their sympathies in this family
. festival, rejoicing in the assurance that the brotherhood of Barrington was never
larger or more cordial than now. With us, then, who dwell in these suburbs of
Providence, and along these beautiful borders of Narragansett Bay, let our friends
participate in whatever of social or historic benefit the day may afford, as well as
the physical banquet provided. Rural recreation is sometimes as desirable as
" the freedom of the city;" and when it comes, as now, iu connection with what
purposes to hallow the past, it seems all the more agreeable and useful. How

APPENDIX. 159
delightful, as well as decorous, to render what is due to a virtuous, and Iioroic,
and honored ancestry t
Remembering that we are in the State of Rhode Island, and entertaining not a
fgw of its public oflicers whom we respect, it is inevitable that the clam-bake
shouid hold its place among the provisions of such a feast. Traditionally, indeed,
has this repute all the way from our shores to Plymouth. Yes, it is written among
the chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, that some of them in their extremities,
thanked God lor " treasures hidden in the sand." Nor less grateful would we be
for all the bounty which His hand has so hberally supplied. And^ we invite our
numerous friends who are present to join with us iu thanks^vicg for the same-
Yet there is to be withal a large portion of this repast which we trust wiU not
perish with the using. We would have this u memorial day which will report
itself favorably to the future; for posterity has an interest in what is now passing.
What shall be said and done on this historic occasion will both create and per
petuate impressions that are to survive us. While much that is superficial will
soon subside, there are vital elements of tiiought and feeling, wliich will hve and
propagate themselves, who can tell how long ? The discourse to which we are
about to listen, as well as subsequent addresses at the table, will doubtless be
replete with materials of proflt, no less than of pleasure, for a period fai- beyond
the present. Let us rejoice in the thought, that after us will be those who will
enjoy these memorials more, it may be, than ourselves. For them, indeed, would
we sow some seed which will be ptoductive of blessings when we are gone. As
other men labored, and we are entered into their labors, thus receiving unmeas
ured benefits from the past, so would we contribute to generations to come. M.a-y
theirs be an inheritance richer even than om" own, with the fruits of pure and
undefiled religion, and the social intelUgence and prosperity tbat succeed.
As this, however, is our opportunity, we would improve it as it passes; for
steady as may be the procession of the seasons, and regular as may be the revo
lutions of yeare, ccntmies do not repeat themselves to us iu the flesh. A day like
this is only once in a hfetime to the same people. Here, then, and now let us
keep the feast which is fitting to the joyous hour that has struck. May the occa
sion be fihed with benefits to the brim, and with grateful offerings to the King of
kings. Fellow-townsmen and friends, we greet you again as at home in this tabernacle.
Good cheer may you have in what is to come. Welcome, all welcome, thrice
welcome to the place, which you favor by your presence as the scene of our His
toric Celebration. And let the cbildi-en who mingle in our festivities, and delight
us with their songs, feel that they have a large interest in these proceedings, and
a prominent place always in our hearts and our hopes. Here let them aspire to
honor aright their noble ancestry and their God.
After music by the Band, Rev. S. Brenton Shaw, D. D., read
portions of Psalms 44, 89 and 102, followed by prayer by the Chap
lain, Rev. Francis Wood. PRAYER.
O, Thou great and eternal one, who art Sovereign in all worlds, whose favor is
life and whose loving kindness is better than life, we pray that thy smiles may be
upon us on this deeply interesting occasion. We acknowledge our dependence
and thy claims upon us and upon all we have. Thon art the author of all being and
the fountain of all light. Give us clear views of the great object of the present
Ufe, and may we be led in the way in which this object shallbe gained. Grant that

160 APPENDIX.
while we are steadily moving on towards that world of realities, which multitudes
who have gone before us have already entered, we may be quickened to live witl
greater interest and fidelity inthe way which thou hast appointed, and in con
nection with which, only true peace and our highest good can be found. In oju
various places of abode may wc have the character of true friends to thee and to
our fellow-men, and finally receive a reward as such.
May life with us be only a journey to heaven. May we feel that Ihe stead j
passing away of time will soon bring us to the last hour of our probation, wher
the reward of our work will be given us. While this is the first and will be the
last occasion on which we shall all be together in this world, may it be an occa
sion of profitable and joyful intercourse aud review. May thy special blessing be
granted to all present; to those who are rulers among the people; to our chiei
magistrate the governor, and to all joined with him in authority; to our law
givers, and to all who execute the laws. May thy blessing be granted to aU in
every condition and relation in life. O, that the thought might abide with us that
we shall hereafter make a part of an asserably, to which the largest on earth will
bear a most feeble comparison, and that things will be witnessed there, which wil]
disclose the divine character in all its infinite beauty and loveliness.
O Lord, forbid any of us to allow possessions, honors or pleasures to occupy
the place which belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ, aud to His cause. May the
powerful motives presented in thy word, urge us on in a daily approved use of
all that we are and have. Our existence in this world, all our blessings and all
out hopes in regard to a world beyond this, are from thee; for in our lost and
undone condition thou didst prepare a way of restoration to thy favor, and, place
us in a condition to secure a kingdom of light and glory, when our season of
changes, labors and trials have an end. May we have a deepening conviction ol
the privilege of living in an age of the world, when such wonderful events are
occurring; when systems of oppression and injustice are dying; and when free
governments are multiplying among the nations, and benevolent and religious
institutions are spreading to bless the x>eople of every color and tongue.
May the present uncommon joyous occasion be one of candid inquiry vnth each
of us, whether or not in our various callings and circumstances, we are doing the
full sum of service which we ought to perform to honor our master, and through
his blood become prepared to join the glorious company that will be seated at hia
right hand in heaven. O Lord, though the length of time that we have to remain
here is to us a matter of entire uncertainty, yet may no one of us leave it a sub
ject of doubt whether or not when the time of our departure from this world shall
come, we shall become the inhabitants of a world of light aud glory. By thy
grace may our popterity have occasion to feel that we performed au important
part in securing tbe changes for good to the human race, that took place in our day.
O Lord, we plead no merit ; we are by nature, lost, undone sinners ; but we havo
hope, through the great provision made, and ask mercy on that ground, this hour,
If any of this assembly have not settled the controversy between themselves and
their offended God. may they do this without delay, by a cordial reception of an
Almighty and Divine Redeemer. O Lord, may all things connected mth tho
observance of this anniversary be such as shall meet thy approbation, and be con
nected with saving, enduring good to all here assembled, and to God, the Father]
Son and Spirit be glory and dominion forever. Amen.
The children then sang* 'Freedom's Sons, Come Join in Chorus,"
with an unlooked-for effect, the line " Praise the skies now smiling

APPENDIX. 161
o'er us," repeated in the chorus, causing on the part of many, an
involuntary looking toward the dripping tent-covering, with a smile.
FREEDOM'S SONS, COME JOIN IN CHORUS.

Freedom's sons, come join in chorus,
Pi-aise this favored spot of earth;
Praise the skies now smiling o'er us,
Praise the town which gave us bhth.
Though our sky is often frowning,
Though our land is rough and sear;
Health and peace our labors crowning,
Bless the cheerful spirits here.
Here are equal rights defended,
Riches fill the busy hand ;
Then be welcome kind extended
To those loving household bands :
Let them come and join the chorus,
Let them praise this spot of earth;
Praise the skies now smiling o'er us,
Praise the land which gave us birth.
Freedom's sons of every station
Here a hearty welcome greet,
WhUe no haughty tyrant frowning.
E'er iuvades our dear retreat;
Come and help us swell the chorus,
Praise this hallowed spot of earth;
Praise the skies now smiling o'er us.
Praise the town -which gave us birth.
The orator of the day, Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell, was then
introduced, who delivered an excellent oration, which contained
many interesting historical facts. In its delivery the speaker was
obliged to exert himself greatly on account of the difficulty of being
heard; yet his manner was forcible and eloquent, and it is to be
regretted that so inauspicious an occasion deprived the audience of
a greater part of an interesting address.
The asserably then joined with the select choir of youthful voices
In singing the following Centennial Hymn, written for the occasion :
A CENTENNIAL HYMN.

Tune: Boylston.

We gather here, O Lord,
Within this curtained tent.
Thy name to praise, whose Temple vast
Fills all the firmament.

1 62 APPENDIX.
Its roof the bended sky.
Its borders are the seas.
Its pillars are the lofty hills.
Its aisles, the forest trees.
In thy grand Temple, Lord,
'Mid summer's beauteous show.
Where we are met, om- fathers stood.
One hundred years ago.
Here, with a steadfast tmst.
They wrought in hope, and grew ;
Building, hj' Christian love and faith,
Far " better than they knew."
Their work, O Lord, is done;
But ours is yet to do.
Wilt Thou, in the far distant years,
Crown ours mth glory, too ?
Owing to the lateness of the hour and the earnest call for dinner,
by vote of the audience the reading of the Poem was postponed for
a season, and after the Benediction by the venerable Thomas Shep
erd, D. D., of Bristol, the exercises were closed for a tirae, and atten
tion was directed to the Ehode Island clam bake. This part of the
programme was under the direction of Hiram D. Maxfield. Over
one thousand persons were fed with the various requisites of a clam
bake, in the large tent, and there was enough and to spare, while
many more, unfortunately not fond of clams, were supplied with
meats of a different kind in a smaller tent. It was feared the rain
might interfere somewhat with Hiram's cooking arrangeraents, but
the fears proved groundless, for the clams made their appearance,
done just to a nicety, and their praise, as well as themselves, was ir
everybody's mouth.
Dinner over, the band discoursed music in abundance till the
assembly were ready for other enjoyraent, when General John Tur
ner read the poem written for the occasion by Hezekiah Butterworth,
Esq., of Warren. The poem was well written, the first part being
of a historical cast, following admirably the oration.
It was deemed advisable to omit the toasts, which had beer? pre
pared by Isaac F. Cady, Esq., and the President of the day thankee
the assembly in a happy manner for their kind attention and aid ii
making the celebration a notable one. The Band played a medley
of patriotic airs, closing with " Auld Xang Syne," and the companj
separated. The military formed a procession and escorted the
invited guests to the Barrington depot, whence they left for theii

APPENDIX. 163
various homes, and the public exercises of the day closed, to the
satisfaction of all, as far as human power was responsible.
Thus spoke the chronicles concermng an event towards which the
people had looked with a peculiar interest, and from which they
departed with a cheerful satisfaction Before the day closed, the
clouds rolled away, the sun shone out upon the retreating rain
drops, forming bows of promise for the future. At a special raeet
ing of the Centennial Committee held subsequent to the celebra
tion, a Committee consisting of Messrs. Kichardson, Humphreys
and Waldron, presented the following Resolutions which were
unanimously adopted : RESOLUTIONS.
Resolved, That the Committee hereby tender thanks
To Gilmore's Comet Band of Pawtucket, for the excellent music discoursed by
them on the occasion of the Centennial Celebration.
To the young men comprising the Barrington Light Infantry, who, at the
request of the Committee, orgamzed and trained themselves for escort duty, and
performed that duty most efficiently.
To the Warren Artillery, for the salute of one hundred guns, which was kindly
volunteered, and also for assistance rendered by the company in paying suitable
honors to our other guests.
To the Hon. Thomas W. Bicknell, for the eloquent and highly interesting ora
tion deUvered by him. Regai-ding the addi-ess as a valuable contribution to the
early histoiy of the town, the Cominittee earnestly desire that it may be put in
some enduring fonn, and with this view the author is requested to furnish a copy
for publication.
To Hezekiah Butterworth. Esq., for the pleasing and appropriate poem written
by him for the occasion, a copy of which for publication, is respectfully requested.
To the venerable men and women composing the Pioneer Societj', who kindly
yielded to the solicitations of the Committee, and honored the procession as fitting
representatives of a past generation.
To the young ladies who represented the Goddess of Liberty and the States of
the Union, for the successful accompUshment of a very beautiful feature of the
celebration. Tu the teachers and pupils of the public schools, and to their musical director,
E. L. Walcott, Esq., aU of whom by their singing added much to the interest of
tlie occasion.
To the ladies and gentlemen composing the cavalcade, to the post boy, and to
aU persons who loaned their treasured rehcs of the past, or articles iUustrating
the domesuc industry of ancient or modem times.
To Prescott Post No, 1. G. A. R., of Providence, for the generous loan of their
uniform for the use of the Barrington Light Infantry.
To H. I>. Maxfield, Esq., for the satisfying manner in which he fed the clam
orous multitude. /
Xo the superintendents of the 3oston apd Providence, and the Providence,
Warren and Bristol railroads, for courtesies extended to the Committee.

164 APPENDIX.
Resolved^ That under the direction of the Secretary, these resolutions shaU be
communicated to the persons named therein, and that they shall also be published
in the Providence Daily Joubnal.
The following letters of interest, which were addressed to the
Committee, and which would have been read after dinner, are here
printed for the benefit of our readers :
LETTERS. VicB President's Chamber, i
Washington, June 8, 1870. )
Dear Sir : I regret that, pubUc duties having a prior claim on my time, I
could not possibly accept the invitation to your Centennial, with which I have
been honored. In great haste, respectfully yours, SCHUYT.ER COLFAX.

United States Senate Chamber, )
Washington, June 8, 1870. )
Mv Dear Sir: I have yours of the 6th, inviting me to attend the celebration
of the Centennial Anniversary of the town of Barrington. I take much interest
in these historical commemorations. They freshen our recollections of past excel
lence, and incite us to make the future worthy of it. I regret that my engage
ments here will not permit me to attend this pleasant occasion.
Faithfully yours, H. B. ANTHONY.
John B. Humphreys, Chairman.

Washington, June 7, 1870.
John B. EumphreySf Esq.,, CommiUeey <£:c. —
My Dear Sir : Your kind note of invitation to be present at the hundredth
anniversary of the incorporation of the town of Barrington is before me. So
much busines will be thrown into the closing days of the session of Congress as
wiU prevent an absence even for a day, unless from the utmost necessity. Pre
sent my best acknowledgments to the other members of the committee for this
attention to me, and express to the good people of Barrington my best wishes for ,
their prosperity and happiness. Very respectfuUy yours, W. SPRAGUE.

FoBTT-FiHBT Congress United States, v
House of Representatives-, >
Washington, D. C, June 20th, 1870. ^
If. H. Richardson, Esq, —
Dear Sir : Your letter of June 6th, inviting me to be present at the Barring
ton celebration on the 17th, reached Washington while I was at home on a short
leave of absence, and was detained here till my return, which happened to be on

APPENDIX. 165
the day of the celebration. I could therefore neither accept your hivitation, nor
acknowledge the receipt of your letter before the event. I regret very much that
I was unable to be present on so interesting an occasion.
Respectfully yours, T. A. JENCKES.

Providence, June 17, 1870,
John B. Humphreys, E^q., and others. Committee on Invitations —
Dear Sm : I hoped until a few minutes ago to be able to join you to-day in
celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of your good town,
but find myself, very much to my regret, detained here by an imperative business
caU. I sincerely hope you may have a most joyous reunion.
With high regard, I remain, gentlemen, very tmly yours,
A. E. BURNSIDE.

Providence, June 14, 1870.
Dear Sir : With thanks for your cordial invitation to be present at the cefe-
bration of your one hundredth anniversary, on the 17t]i,inst., I am obliged to say
that my official duties here ynW compel me to decUne the same. I will, endeavor,
however, at a suitable time, to make the party caU (usual on such occasions,) on
your gallani' Uttle town; and if I am so fortunate as to be remembered at your
next Centennial, I will, by no engagements of my own contracting, fail to be
there. Sincerely yours, W. S. BURGES.
To J. B . Humphreys, Esq.,
For tJie Committee of Arrangements.

Providence, June 11th, 1870.
John B. Humphreys, Esq.:
Mt Dear Sir: Your very friendly invitation for me to be present and par
ticipate in the ceremonies celebrating the Centennial Anniversary of the incorpo
ration of the toAVTi of Barrington was duly received. I have delayed my reply to
you, hoping that I might see a luU in my professional labors that would enable
me to anticipate joining with you and other good people in Barrington on that
occasion. The luU has uot yet appeared, and I am compelled to say that it may
not be compatible with my duties for me to join with you then. Should it be
otherwise, I assure you it wiU give me great pleasure to disprove by my presence
the intimation I now make to you that I cannot come.
There are many incidents in the history of Barrington that might weU invite
the emulatiou of other towns in the Stale; and as you reach the first great mile
stone in the path of time, stones set a hundred years apart, you may weU revere
her history and take pride in what she has done. And may those who celebrate
the next* Centennial, find as much in the next period of her history for laudable
pride as you may now enjoy.
With much respect for your Committee, I am, yours truly,
W. W. KING, Surgeon General.

166 APPENDIX.
Mayor's Ofpiob, City of Providence, June 16, 1870.
Dear Sir : I regret that I am unable to accept your polite invitation to be
present at the celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of
the town of Barrington, on the 17th iust. Matters requiring my presence in this
city will prevent me from joining in the interesting ceremonies on the occasion.
Tbanking yourself and tbe members of the Committee for their courtesy and
trusting that your town may continue to increase in population and wealth,
I remain, respectfully your obedient servant,
THOMAS A. DOYLE,
Mayor of the City of Providence.
John B. Humphreys, Esq.,
Committee., tfie, c&c, Barrington,

TOMPKINSVILLB P. O,, Stateit Island, N, Y. Judc 8, 1870,
John B. Humphreys, Esq., Sec'y, cfec, Barrington-^
Deae Sir; Your kind favor is just received, "requesting a sentiment" for
the occasion. Be pleased, therefore, to accept the following : " Town of Barring
ton — my own revered birth-place, and the final resting-place of my maternal
ancestiy, and, although but a quarter of a century my elder, yet, patriis vertuti-
bus, shall I ever hail thee. Venerable! aye, Venerable I not inyears, but in social
attributes and progi-ession. Honored be thy name I" With my cordial wishes
for your success, believe me, my dear sir.
Very truly yours, &c., J. MAURAN.

Philadelphia, June 14th, 1870.
To Rev. Francis Wood, Hon. Natlianiel C, Smith, John B. Humphreys, Esq,,
Qeneral Oomniittee, <&c. —
Gentlemen : I thank you most sincerely for your kind invitation to partici
pate in the " Bamngton Centennial Celebration " on the 17th instant, and also for
the honorable position which you had assigned to me in the festivities of the day.
I assure you that it has cost me a gi-eat sacrifice to decline both the pleasure and
the honor, for I am free to confess that I most earnestly long to be with you. My
professional engagements, however, are such that I cannot leave the city.
To me, Barrington has charms which I trust wiU be appreciated as long as life
shall last. I love her beautiful groves; her pleasant drives; the waters which
wash her shores ; the old parish church where for nearly two centuries your ances
tors, those stm-dy men of old, and you, their descendants, have worshipped Al
mighty God; and I love her people, young and old, who, with each returning
summer, have extended to me and mine a welcome, the memory of which will
ever fill my heart with sentiments of the deepest gratitude.
Although I am not a native of your town, yet as you perhaps may know, my
" better half" is, and, if I may reveal a family secret, she glories in the fact. We
both hope to be with you, at least in spirit, at your Centennial, and though bo far
distant, yet if permitted to behold the Ught of that day, as we assemble to offer
up our moming sacrifice, one of our most fervent petitions wiU be, " God bless
the good people of dear Barrington."

APPENDIX. 167
Agreeably to your request, I send a volunteer toast, and romain with benti-
ments of high regard, Your most obedient servant, HORATIO GATES JONES.
Volunteer toast by Horatio Gates Jones, Esq., of Philadelpliia :— "Tlie Land
of Roger WiUiams and the Town we love; dear to those native to the soU and
deal* to her adopted chUdren."

State op New York, }
Rome, Oneida County, June 13, 1870. '
Messrs. Francis Wood, Hathaniel G. Smith and John B. Humphreys, Commit
tee, d-c:
Gentlemen— I have received your invitation to assist in the commemoration
of the one hundredth birthday of the town of Barrington on the 17th of this
month, — the town in which I was bom about eighty yeai's ago, and where I lived
as a boy. I regret that the infirmities of age prevent me from taking so long a
joumey. As a sou of Barrington, permit me to wish that peace and happiness
may forever dweU within her habitations, and her prosperity never be lessened.
RespectfuUy, your obedient servant, FRANCTS BICKNELL.

Epsom, N. H., June 9th, 1870.
Rev. Francis Wood, Nathaniel G. SmitJi, John B. Humphreys, Committee :
Dear Sirs — It would afford me great pleasure to be present on the occasion
of June 17th in Barrington, with many old personal friends there whom I hold in
kind remembrance, so complying with your cordial invitation to participate in
the services of the one hundredth anniversary of the organization of the town;
but my engagements for this month of June are such as to prevent. The anni
versary is weU worthy your notice, and no doubt you will have a pleas^^nt and
profitable day. The town must have very many precious reminiscences trans
mitted from the past to the present time. With a revival of past histories and
biographies, and a review of the incidents that wiU occur, the present citizens of
the place, the children of tbe fathers and mothers who sleep in the dust of the
earth after their worthy labors, must feel a proud gratification and be stimulated
to a close imitation of their virtues, and even to improve while they have still
greater advantages than their predecessors enjoyed. You have my best wishes
for your great joy on the occasion of the 17th, the Centennary Anniversary of the
organization of Barrington. Yours, very tmly and kindly, CHARLES PEABODY.

Boston, June 2d, 1870.
To the Committee of Invitations to attend your Centennial Celebration, June Vlth,
1870:
Dear Brethren— I highly approve of your anticipated Celebration, and it is
my prayer to God, that his blessing may attend you in aU your arrangements and

168 APPENDIX.
preparations, that it may be an interesting, joyous and profitable occasion to all
that shall be present, and especiaUy to the good old town of Barrington where
some — yea, I trust, many of my choice Christian friends dwell. Please accept my
thanks for your very kind invitation. I only have to regret, that the state of my
health is such, that not the least prospect can be entertained of my attendance.
I have not been out of doors for several months.
Yours, cordially, FORREST JEFFERDS.
Francis Wood,
John B. Humphreys,
Nathaniel C. Smith.

Providence, June 15th, 1870,
John B. Humphreys, Esq., representing Committee of Arrangements, Barring
ton Centennial Celebration:
Dear Sir— I am in receipt of your favor of the 13th inst., inviting me in behalf
of the Committee of Arrangements having in charge the Centennial Celebration
of Barrington, to be present on the 17th iBst., to partake of the hospitalities and
to participate in the ceremonies of the occasion. It would give me great pleas
ure to join in this interesting celebration, as my reminiscences in connection with
your town and the other towns of Bristol County are of the most pleasant charac
ter. I can never forget observing in my frequent youthful excursions to ancient ,
Warren, via what I then deemed the circuitous and labyrinthian Providence road, -
the cheering aspect of the antique Munroe Tavern, the stately and sombre Shore
Cfhurch, and the wild rush of Barrington river through the narrow passage of the
old bridge. Nor can I forget the virtues and attainments of your late venerable
townsman and sound Judge, BickneU, or the social and genial feelings of jour
townsman and my old schoolmate, the late Edwin Harris, Esq., tlie eminent
angler and sportsman. And I also bear in mind your present worthy State Sen
ator, whose debut as a Representative in the Assembly is fresh in my recoUec-
tion. Hence I sincerely regret that my engagements made previous to the
reception of your letter, will prevent me from availing myself of this opportunity
to renew my associations and make the acquaintance personaUy of your leading
citizens. With much respect for the gentlemen of the Committee,
I am, very truly yours, CHAKLES JACKSON.

Elmira, N. Y., June 7th, 1870.
Messrs. Francis Wood, Nathaniel C. Smith and John B. Humphreys, Committee:
Gentlemen— Your favor of the 24th of May, inviting me to participate with
the citizens of Barrington in your town meeting assembled, on the occasion of
the approaching Centennial Anniversary of the incorporation of the town, has
been duly received. I cannot express to yon how gladly I accept your kind invi
tation. But so great a pleasure is denied, and I am reluctantly compeUed to con
tent myself with the assurance of the deep interest I feel in your assemblage,
and my fervent wish that in all respects this reimion of the sons and daughters of
Barrington, with their children and children's children, may be happy in its pro-

APPENDIX. 169
ceedings aud beautiftil in its results. Ho who does not venerate and love tho
home of his childhood lacks the essential clement which makes the whole world
kin. I have now passed the meridian of life and time has not failed to mark its
impress on my footsteps ; but to walk in die midst of such an assemblage would
give certain uprightness to my carriage and seem to add perceptible inches to my
stature. ,
More than half a cf-ntury has now passed away since I was numbered with your
population; yet my chief pride to-day is that I am a son of New England, and
that I am privileged to claim Barrington as m> native town. For the last forty
years I have known something of other States and other towns, and though I
have uniformly met with the utmost personal kindness and have never been with
out the usual belongings and comforts of Ufe, yet my heart is still loyal to the
spot of my birth, and I stUl revert with constant pride to its remarkable freedom
from the vices and temptations with which so many towns of the country are
beset. For many years there was neither a groggery or a tavern in the town, and
its health so good that there was no occupation for a physician. But there are
other ties of attachment to my native- place. It is now fifty-four years since that
dark wave of death swept over the town, leaving in sad soUtude so many widows
and children and suddenly changing tho condition of so many happy families.
With others it brought a change to myself, from that of a happy child of eight
years, enjoying all the feUcities and blessings of parental love aud domestic care,
to that of a fatherless and motherless orphan. My father and mother withiu
three days of each other were bome to the grave; nine orphan children and a Ufe
of unblemished purity and Christian devotion were the hevitage they left ta the
people. I may be pardoned for this brief tribute to the memory of parents of
whom I knew so Uttle, yet to whom I owe so much. That terrible epidemic, sad
, and afilicting as it was, brought to me, ever I trust to be appreciated and remem
bered, the boundless kindness and Christian sympathies of the early settlers of
your town. These people with heroic fortitude watched over the sick and dying
with unceasing care, braving every danger and aUowing no single victim to be
neglected. Their names are recorded in your cemetery, and on the tablet of my
memory are indeUbly inscribed. There by the side of those whose names I wiU
ever cherish, rest the mortal remains of my father, mother, brothers and sisters.
What honor is due to tbe memory of a people Uke this I
But I am extending this communication to too great a length. I will, however,
tmst in your patience and believe in your power to pardon, as I believe in your
virtiies and goodness. I have been glad to note the spirit of enterprise which
characterizes your town at the present time, especially that though tfuhiess which
leads to the beautifying of your cemetery, and the wise zeal which you are mani
festing to elevate the social, religious and literary condition of the people. Theae
must be felt in thQir influence upon your children and your children's chUdren for
generations yet to come.
' Assm-ing you again of the interest I feel in your gathering, wishing you and all
a most abundant happiness, and repeating my regret ou account of my unfortu
nate inabiUty to be present,
I remain, very truly and respectfuUy yours, WILLIAM VIALL,
15

170 APPENDIX. Providence, October 4th, 1870,
Dear Sir: Your circular notice of the publication, by the Providence Press
Company, of the valuable and interesting Historical Address and Poem, deliv
ered on the 17th of June last, at the Centennial Celebration in Barrington, is at
hand. I shall deem it a privilege to secui-e one of the limited number of copies
pubhshed. I avaU myself of this favorable opportunity of congratulating the
Committee and yourself on the liberaUty and efficiency of their arrangeraents
which would have rendered the occasion one of the most agi-eeable and raemora
ble nature. The violent storm, which came so suddenly in its threatenings and
duration, alone prevented the consummation of the greatest gratification and
of interesting associations. Appreciating and acknowledging the courtesies ex
tended to me, I am, very respectfuUy yours, ELISHA DYER.
Thomas W. Bicknell, Esq., Providence. TOASTS.
The following are the toasts, prepared forthe Barrington Centen
nial, and the speakers selected to respond :
1st. The United States of America — The land of liberty, the land of hope;
consecrated at an earlier day by the blood of our patriot father, made doubly dear
by the more recent sacrifice upon her altars, of many of the bravest and noblest
of their descendants. May she never cease to be irradiated by the "Holy Light
of Freedom," and may "Virtue and Pi'osperity" attend her sons and daughters
to the latest generation of recorded time.
Hon. WilUam W. Hoppin, of Providence, Rhode Island. /
2d. The State of Rhode Island — The honored pioneer in the cause of true soul-
liberty; we love her not the less while we love nur common country more. She
is uniformly fortunate in the choice of her Governors.
Hon. Seth Padelford, Govemor of Rhode Island*.
Mr. President : -The town of Barrington is one of the finest located towns in
New England. Nayatt, Drownville and the banks of the inlet by your beautiful
church are scarcely surpassed as sites for summer villas. Its long water front may
yet be used for manufacturing purposes and for commerce and the arts, as it was
used for marts of trade and for commerce one hundred years ago. It is always for
tunate for a tovra to have within its borders a good material for building purposes;
it possesses an inexhaustible bed of clay, furnishing its citizens and all the neigh
boring towns with an article rarely surpassed in quality. It has been a subject of
thought with us how Barrington took its name. Names are usually given for
special reasons. When Roger Williams landed within our borders, he had' suf
fered many perUs by sea and by laud aud among false brethren, and he caUcd the
place of settlement Providence, as a token of the divine presence and sup
porting care which had constantly foUowed him. Westerly was so called by being
the most westerly town of the State; Stonmgton, by the nature of its soil. It being
very stony. Boston, Taunton and many other toyvns were named by the settlers
after their old homes iu England. Your town, sir, has borne many good things,
but it has not borne a prison, a work-house, a jaU, nor will it bear a dram shop.

APPENDIX. 171
Nor does it bear what many consider as desirable, a lawyer or doctor, but it has
two churches and faithfhl pastors; it funiished for many years in Dr. Chapin, an
accompUshed State Commissioner of the PubUc Schools, aud is now furnishing in
your worthy orator of the day, a faithful, conscientious and most efficient worker
in their behalf. Barrington has always bome that which constitutes a town or
State— men. May you be a prosperous and happy people, and govemed in the
future as you have been in the past, by a love of Freedom and a high and elevated
tone of moral and religious sentiment.
Sd. The town of Bai-rington.
Eev, B. R. Allen, of Marblehead, Mass., former pastor of the Banington Con
gregational Church,
4th. A distinguished poet has said
"Lands intersected by a nan'ow frith, abhor each other."
We are glad to point to an exception, in the tOAvn of Warren. Her relations to
Barrington, notwithstanding the " narrow frith " which separates the two, are of
a character most amicable and kind. So may they ever remain.
Hon. Thomas G. Turner, of Warren.
5th. The town of Swanzey— honored in the past; may her future be always
prosperous and bright.
AUen Mason, Esq., Chairman of Board of Selectmen, Swanzey, Mass.
6th. The town of Bristol^May her Hopes never be blasted, and may she ever
stand strong as her own honored Mount, in virtue, inteUigence and prospeiity.
WiUiam J. Miller, Esq., President of the Town CouncU of Bristol.
7th. The Pilgrim Fathers — honored in the past; revered in the present. May
their virtues descend as a perpetual benediction upon the heads of their descend
ants. Rev. Thomas Shepard, D. D., of Bristol,
Mr. President: The history of this town, as narrated by the orator of the
day, brings us into intimate relationship with the PUgrims of Plymouth. Its soU
was trodden by their feet, and a- portion of it was theirs in fee simple. The
graves of their immediate descendants are found in your cemeteries, and their
Anglo-Saxon blood cu'culates to-day in our veins. Why should we not look to
the Rock whence we were hewn I Why not follow up the stream to its source,
that we may duly appreciate the sacrifices and self-denying toUs of the fathers and
mothers of the Mayflower as they landed on the memorable rock in mid-winter
to encounter the hardships of founding a new State in which they might enjoy the
privUege of worshipping God as they were forbidden to do in their native laud, as
conscience and the Bible taught them.
Do we, as the descendants of those noble, self-sacrificing pioneers in the cause
of civU and religious Uberty, realize at what immense cost this inheritance was
achieved? Strange as it may seem to the present generation, having breathed
the free air of an open Bible, an elective magistracy and free toleration of Chris
tian ordinances aU their days, the time was, and that not many generations gone
by, when fines, imprisonment and death in its most teirific form, awaited those
who presumed to read the Scriptures, to pray, or to join iu the worship of God in
manner and form, differing from the straightened formularies prescribed by a
falUble and bigoted magistracy.
Tnie, there were those that came over and identified themselves with the first

172 ' APPENDIX.
settiers of New England, who had not wholly shaken off their educational attach
ment to the coercion of penal statutes in those religious concernments which
increasing Ught has taught us, ought to have been left to the decisions of individ
ual conscience in the fear of God. The result was, certain intolerant acts of legis
lation and execution which mar the early history of these colonies. But the Ply- ,
mouth Pilgrims by the grace of God were far in advance of their age. They
never persecuted; they were tolerant. They fully carried out in practice the
counsels given them by their pastor. Rev. John Robinson, in his parting discourse
on their embarkation : " I charge you before God and his blessed angels, to follow
me no farther than I have followed Chirst. If God shall reveal anything to you
by any other instrument, be as ready to receive it as'ever you were to receive any
truth by my ministry. I am very confident that the Lord has more truth and
lieht to break forth out of his Holy Word." Thus taught, they laid' themselves,
their -wives and children on (Christ's altar ; they sacrificed e vei-y worldly considera
tion and committed themselves to live and die in a savage wUdemess, for the sake
of founding the principles of civil and reUgious freedonl as they had learned them
from the word of God. They did a great work by the most humble instrumen
tality. They deserve and will receive the gratitude of their posterity down to the
remotest generation. I close by offering the following sentiment.
Our PUgrim Fathers — Honest, intelligent, self-denying men, chosen of God to
lay the foundations of a new empire of civil and religious freedom, not by con
quest and blood, but in faith and prayer. While we cherish their memoiy, may
we imitate their virtues.
Sth. All honor to the venerable Chief who was, from the beginning and never
ceased to be tne firm friend of the Pilgriras— Massasoit,
Rev. Francis Wood, of Barrington.
9th. The Old Baptist Church of Swanzey.
Rev. A. F. Spalding, of Warren.
10th. Our Public Schools— The foundation upon which rests the safety and
prosperity of our free institutions.
Rev. S. Brenton Shaw, D, D., of Barrington.
Mr. President : After listening to the prolonged exercises of this occasion,
I presume that it will neither be expected or desired that I should occupy much
time in speaking upon the proposed resolution, nor is it necessary at this period
in the history of Rhode Island and in this presence, that I should advocate the
importance of education in general, or of our common school system in particu
lar. For, although they lie at the very foundation of our civU and religious privi
leges and social enjoyments, tiie pubUc mind both at home and abroad fully appre
ciates their worth, and new plans are yearly developed for their improvement.
Moreover, as this is a Barrington Celebration, the resolution to which I hav^been
requsted to respond, evidently has exclusive reference to the district schools of
this town. For although a native of this State aud, although my classical aud
professional studies were pursued within its borders, I am wholly ignorant, except
from reports, of the condition of its common schools. Nor, indeed, ara I pre
pared byj^a coraparison of the present state of our own schools with what they
were half a hundred years ago, to say whether they have advanced or retrogaded
whether they have profited by the increased facUitics of the present time for edu
cational purposes, or whether with the English Lord of a former generation, the

APPENDIX. 173
idea is prevalent that the tlu-ee Rs represent all that should be tanght, or learned
in these nui-serics of useful knowledge, namely : " Reading, 'Riting and *Rithme-
tic." Comparing our schools, however, with those in Massachusetts, of which,
with others, I had tiie oversight between thirty and forty years, I am Iiappy in
being able to say that they do not suffer in the comparison. If, indeed, comfort
able school-houses, faitiiful and competent teachers, tbo most approved text
books, punctual attendance on the part of scholars, and an evident interest in
their studies, added to constant supervision, are essential elements in the forma
tion of good schools, then do ours deserve that distinction, and the liberal support
of those for whose benefit they were established. Although, in the estimation of
Horace Mann, we are yet far behind tiie national schools of Germany and Prussia,
the day, we trust, is not far distant when our district schools will attain a degree
of perfection wliich will commend them as models for the whole world,
11th. The Legal Profession — Indispeusable to the preservation of justice and
order, and to the maintenance of our common rights and individual interests.
John Tumer, Esq., Judge Advocate General of Rhode Island.
12th. The DaUy and the Periodical Press—
" 'Tis to the pen and press we mortals owe
All we beUeve, and almost aU we know."
Rev. Sidney Dean, Editor of the Providence DaUy Evening Piess.
13th. The city of the Golden Gate — The Ultima Thule of the Iron Horse, the
Orient Queen of our New Occident.
A. N. Drown, Esq., of San Francisco, California.
14th. The Orator of the Day — Lofty iu stature, in genius, in enterprise and
character, Barrington is proud to claim him as one of her noblest sons.
Hon. T. W. Bicknell, Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island.
15th. The Poet of the Occasion — Whose pen can add romantic charm and grace
to plain historic tmth, as well as give
" To airy nothings a local habitation and a narae."
Hezekiah Butterworth, Esq., of Warren, Rhode Island.
16th. Our Invited Guests.
Hon. John R. Bartlett, Secretary of State of Rhode Island.
Ladies and Gentlemen; It ^ves rae great pleasure to unite with the citi
zens of Barrington in celebrating this second Centennial Anniversarj' of the set
tlement of your ancient town. It is an occasion in which the present generation
should feel an interest; and itis gratifying to observe, from the large number
I see present, that not only your whole community, but large numbers from the
adjoining towns have come to take part in your festivities.
The custom which is becoming so popular with the people of New England, to
commemorate the settlement of their cities and towns, is a most excellent one,
and it is to be regretted that it had not been adopted in the last centui y, or, in the
first hundred years after their settlement. It is a curious fact that while so many
of our old towns are now celebrating the second century of their settiement, none
ever celebrated the first. This may, in a raeasure, be accounted for by the unset
tled .condition of the country from the year 1740 to 1790, a period during which so
many of the towns in the State saw the first hundred years of their existence.

174 APPENDIX.
During this period was the war between Great Britain and France, which termi
nated with the taking of Quebec and the faU of the great French empirein North
America. In this long war the New England Colonies took an active part.
Rhode Island, limited as her population then was, furnished her quota of soldiers
for the several expeditions against Canada, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. On
the sea she was even more active, for it is recorded that at one time during the
French war, we had no less than fifty privateers, which were picking up French
merchantmen from the Gulf of St. Lawrence to the West Indies; but her field of
operation was chiefly in the West Indies. Then came the war of the Revolution,
and the exciting events which immediately followed connected with the adoption
of the Constitution of the United States. It is not surprising then, that our ances
tors of the last centuiy had no time for such pleasant gatherings as the present
one. I may add, too, that the schoolmaster had not then been abroad; common
schools were unknown; and if the statements of travellers who visited the colony
a hundred years ago are true, that religion, morals and education were in so low a -
condition, it is not strange that the people had no taste for such interested and
elevated gatherings as this.
But times have changed. From our degraded condition a century ago, Rhode
Island has become the richest community iu proportion to its population in the
United States; our manufacturt's are unrivalled in their extent and their excel
lence, while our educational system is unsurpassed in the world. We have now
the time and the means to enjoy the social summer gatherings on the shores of
our beautiful bay ; or we cau take pleasure in the more elevated meetings for such
purposes as have now brought us together, to talk over the events of the last two
hundred years.
Similar centennial celebrations are taking place in all parts of New England,
and have been attended with ceremonies of the most interesting character. But
this custom is not peculiarly American; we are only following the footsteps of
our English ancestors. With them the custom has prevailed for centuries, and
even on the continent we occasionaUy read accounts of meetings to commemorate
the five hundredth or the thousandth anniversary of the founding of some ancient
city or university. In 1836, Providence celebrated the second century of its
founding; but with this exception, I io not remember that any other town has
had similar celebrations. I trust that this Barrington celebration, which hasbeen
so successful, may induce other towns in our State to foUow the example.
17th. The Ladies of Barrington— Whenever they find their appropriate sphere,
they never fail to fill and houor it.
Rev. J. C. Stockbridge, D. D., of Providence, Rhode Island.
The following letter was received as a response :
Providence, June 15, 1870.
Isaac F, Cady, Esq. :
My Dear Sir — Yours of the 13th instant is received. In reply let me say that
my engagements are such that it will not be in my power to be With you at the
interesting sei-vices which }ou propose to have in Barrington on the 17'th. Possi
bly I may go down in the afternoon and spend an hour with you, but this will be
too late to participate in the more public exercises of the day.
The subject which your Committee has assigned to me — " The Ladies" — is one
upon which I might, perhaps, say a few words. At least, I might speak a good

APPENDIX. 175
word in behalf of one native bora " lady " of Ban-ingtou witii whora I have beeu
somewhat intimately acquainted for thirty years. If tiie Scripture declaration be,
as I beUeve it is, a true one, " By their fruits yo shall know them," then, judging
Arom this one fr^it, in which personaUy / am so much interested, your goodly
town mnst rank high among the towns of this commonwealth, Let me say also
that there are some other " ladies of Barrington " for whom I feel a special regard.
More yeai-s ago than perhaps they would like to have me mention, they were my
pupils. All my memories of them are pleasant. Upon the one lady to whom I
have referred as a Barringtonian, for whom I have a special affection, the ladies,
once my pnpUs and now, grave and sedate raatrons, I presurae — yea, upon aU the
ladies of your pleasant town, I invoke every blessing which a kind Providence
can bestow.
With my best mshes for the succes- of the festive gathering which caUs together
so many of the sons and daughters of Barrington,
I am, truly yours, J. C. STOCKBRIDGE.
18th. The Prince of Caterers : Hiram D. Maxfield, Esq. — His servants dig for
hidden treasures with unfailing success, and his draughts (iu the sea) are always
honored. May his banks never cease to discount, and his nets never become
broken. 19th. Music — ^AU times, aU seasons, own its magic power.
The Band. MISCELLANEOUS.
The Rev, Dr. Rufus Babcock having been solicited by the Cora
raittee to furnish the train of remarks whicli he would have offered,
had circumstances permitted, has sent the following outline :
I would have offered a sentimeut commemorative of the indebtedness of our
New England municipalities to the ijijfuence of The Common School and
Parish Church, in jnoulding and cultivating the intelleduul and moral senti
ments of all the people.
I came to this town fifty-three years ago to teach a common school, and for
three successive winters was engaged in that honorable service. Part of this
time, at considerable inconvenience to myself, but also with some incidental
advantages, I was accustomed "to board round," among the famiUes of the
parents of the chUdren I was teaching. To that, in part, certainly, it was owing,
that a mutual acquaintance and confidence were secured between us of the most
salutary character. These parents confided in me as one seeking the best aud
highest good of their chUdren, and the pupils, catching the trustful spirit of their
parents gave me their confidence and love. Some of them were naturaUy very
lovely, and where it was otherwise, the teacher easUy and soon leamed that the
untoward influences by which they were surrounded at home, had been the mar
ring cause of the unpropitious result. He contrasted the early home influences
to which he had been indebted, with the lack of it which these cMldren experi
ence, and was induced by this reason, not only to feel au enhanced obUgation to
the favoring Providence which cast around him its protection and guidance, but
also caUed into Uvely and constant exercise just that sympathy for chUdren

176 APPENDIX.
deprived of such favors best calculated to insure his most eamest efforts to
bestow on them a compensating influence.
Nor were these advantages entirely on the side of the school. The teacher
shared them in an equal degree. What a fleld for the study of humannature was
here opened before hira. In the intimate intercourse with twenty-five or thirty
famiUes, he must be a very duU scholar who would fail to acquire a more intimate
and thorough knowledge of mankind and womankind as well, uot in their holiday
dress alone, but in the working-day habUiments and interior view which this
family residence discloses.
The cooperative influence ol parents vrith the teacher for the success of the
school was also essentially faciUtated in various ways. Very well do I remember
the effect of a single remark of a judicious mother, let fall where the teacher
would be sure to hear it, siraply affirming that her children now seemed just as
eamest in their desfre to get their lessons and improve generaUy by their school
opportunities, as they used to in the days of a former favorite teacher. That
teacher's praises were everywhere uttered; when therefore, very early in my
endeavors, this judicious, truthful mother bore such testimony of my success, it
was an encouragement to my efforts to do well of most cheering character and of
happy efficiency.
No marvel, surely, that schools thus favored by influences within and without,
at home and abroad, became beneficently influential. Two or three such in very
smaU towns like this, and three times as numerous in those proportionally larger,
secure a mighty but silent and alraost unnoticed power for good. From them
went forth a quickening leaven, inciting tbe young in the pliant and formative ¦
period of their earthly existence to a raore elevated aim, and to purer, brighter
character and achievements. Even some measure of seeming severity where in
a few instances it waa manifestly desei"ved, was not without its salutary influence.
In those early days the rod was not altogether excluded in the discipline of the
joung; yet in all the three years, I think nothing more than a light ferule was
ever employed, and that only in rare instances of disobedient disorder, whereas
it was never needed or used as au inducement to study. One case only of expul
sion occuiTed in this whole period. It was a large, stubborn, wayward boy,
whose persistent untruthfulness and insolence seemed to bid defiance to the mUd
means of correction expended on him, and he was bid to take'his books and go
home, till I should have the opportunity of conferring with his father what to do
with him. The poor conscience-stricken renegade ran away from his home the
same forenoon, and did not retum to town again while the school lasted. So
powei-ful was the influence of the public sentiraent in favor of the school, that he
was ashamed to be seen in the town, and he left it for its good, certainly a great
relief by this riddance. Nor is it easy to estimate the influence of such an inci
dent, talked of and generaUy approved thi-oughout the community. Besides,
therefore, the intellectual advancement which the common school diffuses
and secures, its wholesome govemment as well, becomes a power for good
of wide, far-reaching influence. On this point, too, it is not unworthy of remem
brance that in those early days there was no question raised as to the fitness and
desirableness of reading a brief portion of Scripture in the school each day, and
teacher and pupils bowing together in fiUal, reverentprayer before that Heavenly
Father from whom cometh every good, and whose gi-acious promise is, that those ,
who ask shaU receive. No child or parent, if sick and ready to die, was forgotten
in those humble prayers. No uncomraon blessing or calamitous affliction but came
into appropriate remembrance. But without more than hinting at the influence

APPENDIX, 177
of such schools, let us glance at the other topic named, — the power of the parish
church. When I came here, and for long years afterward, there was but one for the
entire town, though a few famiUes of the denominations which have since set up
tiieir banners, were found mingled ivith the inhabitants. Asa to«i7i, however,
they may be tnithfuUy represented as " of one heart and one way." For a long
time they were very united. Rev. Mr. Watson, a native of the town, I think, a
graduate of the neighboring universitj' of the class of 1794, had been for nearly a
score of years their beloved pastor. And when my acquaiutance in the parish
commenced, his praise seemed to be tbe common staple of remark. His lamented
death led to the settiement in the following year of the Rev. Luther Wright as
pastor, who weU and faithfuUy fulfilled the duties of his office. Besides this, he
kept a few boys with him in a family school. Then, too, the management of
society affafrs made requisite certain other officials, deacons, trustees, treasurer,
secretaiy, with such committees as from time to time were deemed necessary,
AU these fulfilUng their respective duties of office, and the people acquiescing in
their services, formed a kind of embryo Commonwealth, and exercised the com
munity in tbe bestowment of their appointments, and receiving in turn the
repoi-ts of those to whom their interest had been intrusted. Then on the Lord's
Day, the people were with one accord in one place. The rich and poor meeting
together, recognizing a common God and Saviour, bowing together in prayer and
singing in unison sweet hymns of praise to the Author of all good. The teach
ings of the pulpit in such a community furnished the mental pabulum of the peo
ple, guiding and stimulating the thoughts of aU classes. The exchange of
neighboring ministers, which were frequently occurring, to vary and increase the
interest of the congregation, became matters of prime importance, in communi
ties so dependent on what was, once a week, heard from the pulpit.
How weU I remember one of these, the Rev. Shearjashub Townsend, a native
of the town, and the great grandson, I think, of their early pastor,— a graduate
of BrovPD University, and a Tutor also greatiy beloved and respected, and whose
praise was handed down as a kind of heirloom in successive classes of students.
His parents were Uving tn my school district, with whom I had boarded. How
my heart rejoiced in the anticipation of his coming I How tiie people, young and
old, from far and near, thronged the sanctuary to hear him, disproving in this
case the proverb, that "a prophet is without honor in his oivn native place.'*
Then how beautifully natural, simple, yet profoundly impressive and important
were his sermons ; and how pleased a select company were in the evening of that
Sabbath, to gather at the Ferry, to attend along vrith him, the accustomed Sun
day evening prayer-meeting. Perhaps the services of this mimster were the
more interesting to me, because at the anniversary of one of the Uterary societies
of the University, he had just before been the orator, and pronouuced an oration
on " The Aids to Genius,^' or some such topic, which was thought worthy of pubU
cation, and some of the leading thoughts of which, in their beautiful simpUcity
and clearness, remain in tbe storehouse of memory to this day.
Funerals, too, were sometimes attended in the house of God, and failed not to
stamp a sacredness and awe on tiie young mind and heart peculiarly deep -and
effective, and sometimes eminently salutary. Here, too, marriages more rarely
gathered a wondering and admiring crowd. If such consummation of wedding
nuptials were oftener impressed with the sacredness of the sanctuary, who knows
whether it might not impress a salutary awe and sacredness upon the mind, con
straining all classes to award a higher degree of binding and permanent obUga

178 APPENDIX.
tion to these holy vows, and thus do something towards rendering them more
inviolate. Benevolence and sympathy of the people towards thefr pastor, and of those in
comfortable circumstances toward the poor, the sick, the afflicted, is another
exercise of the parish church, eminently conducive to the best ends. But the
time and your patience would fail to enumerate or expand these benefits more
fully. After a public life by no means brief, and with opportunities of observa
tion extended through raost of the States of our Araerican Union, I ma}' be allowed
to testify my decided conviction that the benign influence of the common school
and the parish church on any and all of our municipalities, cannot be easily over
estimated. ContrastiQg those communities where, for a series of years, they have
existed, in most healthful, uninterrupted course, with those where thefr influence
has been wanting, cannot fail to demonstrate thefr preeminent value.

INTERESTING STATISTICS.

Population of Barrington from 1774 to 1870.
1774  601 1830  612
1776  538 1840  549
1782  534 1850  795
1790...  683 1860  1,000
1800  650 1865  1,028
1810  604 1870  1,111
1820  684
Area of Barrington in square miles, 9.3; population to square
mile in 1865, 110.5 — in 1870, 119.3; number of dwelling-houses in
1865,171; whole number of families, 1865, 186; persons to each
dwelling, 6.01; persons to each family, 5.52. Male population,
582; female, 446; total, 1,028. Persons born in Barrington, 404;
persons born out of Barrington and in the United States, 384 ; per
sons born in foreign countries, 240 ; total, 1,028. Number of per
sons between 5 and 15 years of age, 172. Whole number attending
school during the year, 182. Number of steam engines, 5; horse
power, 100; number of steam boilers, 5. Water power, 1.
Number of acres of land plowed in 1865, 7.16 ; mowing land, 968 ; |
pasture land, 1,481 ; unimproved, 1,123. Value of farms, including
buildings, $533,750; value of stock, $38,776; value of tools, 615,-
430. Tons of hay, 1 ,015 ; bushels of rye, 881 ; Indian corn, 5,040 ;

APPENDIX. 179
oats, 1,823; potatoes, 10,694 ; barley, 374 ; onions, 18,085 ; carrots,
16,752; strawberries, 1,570 quarts. Sheep, 29; cows, 216; oxen,
56 pairs. Butter, 11,112 pounds. Eggs and poultry produced,
$3,052. Whole number of farms, 117 (one farm, 505 acres). Salt marsh,
271 acres; salt hay, 231 tons; sea drift, 1,285 cords. Fish caugt
for food, 7,510 pounds. Value of shell fisheries, $2,313. Clams,
962 bushels ; quahogs, 457 do. ; oysters, 1,000 do.
Number of manufacturers, 9 ; capital stock, $236,900 ; value of
raw materials, $9,045; total value of products, $125,300; hands
employed — males, 196 ; females, 14 ; total, 210.
Post-offices in Barrington, 1870, 3; Barrington P. O., George R.
Kinniqutt, Postmaster ; Nayatt P. O. , William Winslow, Postmaster ;
Barrington Centre P. O., Charles Bassett, Postmaster.
Population of Barrington in 1870, 1,111; number of dwellings,
209 ; number of families, 210 ; number of persons to each dwelling,
5 ; number of persons to each family, 5 ; — showing an increase of
39 dwellings, 24 families and 93 persons in five years.

THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.

Of the early history of the Congregational Church in Barrington,
very little is known with certainty, as no records of its organization
exist. There are good reasons for believing that the church was
established between the years 1711 and 1717. The broad and Cath
olic basis of the Baptist church which was formed on New Meadow
Neck in 1663, and which maintained its worship near Burial Place
Hill and at Tyler's Point, until 16 — , drew to its fellowship all
denominations of Christians in the community. It may fairly be
questioned whether it was a Baptist church at all, save in name, or
whether Parson Myles was not as truly a CongregationaUst as a
Baptist. Certainly the old Church Covenant and the ordinances as
administered by the good Elder would be accepted as fair Congre
gational doctrine at the present time, and certain it was, too, that
Parson Luther felt the need of making certain amendments to that
noble instrument of conscience liberty and Christian brotherhood,
in order that he might be able to distinguish and separate the flock
of the true Baptist fold. From the fact that Mr. If^Ulett, Mr,

180 APPENDIX.
Brown and other prominent men of the first settlers were not Baptists
and also from the early usages of the church, it has been inferred
and clairaed that the Congregational church dated its history from
the settlement of the town. This view, however, is not sustained
by the facts in the case, and we may safely assert that no distinct
church with a thorough Congregational polity was established until
after the year 1711, and prior to 1718.
Tradition says that the first house of worship of the Congrega
tional church stood on Tyler's Point, near the Burial Ground, and
north of it. Of this we have no satisfactory evidence. Certain It
is that the Baptist meeting-house stood there, but after its removal
to Swanzey, on the east side of Palmer's river, it is not probable
that the Congregationalists built a house of worship, for no church
of that denomination, as I believe, was formed until later than 1711,
and it is not probable that a Baptist town would have built a Con
gregational meeting-house, when, as yet, no church or society of
that order existed. Those who may read the account of the separa
tion of Barrington from old Swanzey will, I think, arrive at the
same conclusion.
The first house of worship of the Barrington church, of which we
have any record, stood on the main road, just south of Maxfield's
corner, on the south corner lot formed by the road leading by the
house of Lewis T. Fisher. It was probably a house of small pro-
tensions in an architect's view, but served the times for the purpose
of gathering the little church in a temporary fold, and for securing
a shepherd of the flock. In the year 1734 this house was taken
down and was rebuilt on the site now occupied by the present church
edifice, the lot having been previously given to the town for that
purpose by Joshua Bicknell. The removal from the first location
was doubtless owing to the increase of population in the north part
of the town, and was the cause of serious opposition by those who
lived in the vicinity of the old site. Mr. Heath, the minister, was
absent at Bristol on the day of the removal of the house from the
old to the new location, and on liis return was asked by the remon
strants why he allowed the house to he taken down and carried
away. " Ah !" said he, " the Israelites under Aaron made a golden
calf while Moses was in the Mount, so this people have done this
work |n my absence, and I know not the reason for it." Undoubt
edly the reverend pastor's sympathies were with the majority, as
the repioval shortened the distance more than one-half from his own ,
house to the place of worship. His own house is now occupied by
the widow and heirs of Wilmarth Heath, his grandson.

APPENDIX .

181

The third and present house of worship was built in 1805 and 6,
on nearly the same spot as the previous house, and though not as
unique and humble as its predecessors, had the universal features
of square pews, galleries, and a sounding board. This house was
remodelled and repaired in 1861, when the old fashion of the inte
rior gave way to the more modern style which it bears to-day.
The first minister of the church, of whom anything is known,
was the Rev. Mr. Wilson ; but of the date of his settlement, the
duration of his ministry, and the time and circumstances of his dis
mission, or death, there is no discovered record.
His successors, Rev. Mr. Torrey, Rev. Mr. Heath, and it is pre
sumed. Rev. Mr. Townsend, were settled, and supported by the
town as such, the Church taking the usual preliminary steps.
The support of Rev. Mr. Torrey was a settlement of one hundred
pounds, which should be his, if he remained the minister of the
place ten years, otherwise it should be refunded to the town. In
addition to this, he was to receive an annual salary of seventy
pounds, the inadequacy of which, however, led to his dismission
before he could hold his settlement.
Rev. Mr. Heath received for a settlement two hundred pounds,
payable one-half in one, and the other half in two years. To this
was added an annual salary of one hundred and ten pounds, which,
considering the time when it was paid, compares very favorably with
the support of country pastors at the present time.
Of Rev. Mr. Townsend's peaceful ministry no records have been
preserved, which is a matter of deep regret. He was a good man,
and his memory, with that of his successors, is blessed.
List of the Pastors, with their Term of Labor.

1. — Rev. James Wilson 
2. — Rev. Samuel Torrey 
3.— Eev. Peleg Heath 
4. — Rev. Solomon Townsend..
5. — ^Rev. Samuel "Watson 
6.— Rev. Luther Wright  ,
7. — Rev. Francis Wood 
8. — Rev. Thoma? Williams. ...
9. — Rev. Benjamin R. Allen . ,
10. — Rev. Charles Peabody ...
11, — Rev. Forrest Jefferds 
12.— Rev. Silas S. Hyde 
13. — Rev. Francis Hortoii 

Date of
Ordiua. or
Inst.

Date of
Dismissal.

Term of
Labctr.

1718 1728

17261740

8 years.
12 "

1743

*1798

66 "

1798

*1816

18 "

1817

1821

4J^ "

1823

1826

3% "

1836

1838

iX "

1838

1842

4

1843

1846

3J< "

1846

1860

4

1851

1855

4

1858

16

* Date of deatii.

182 APPENDIX.
ST. JOHN'S CHURCH, BARRINGTON.

This church originated eleven years ago in the desire of a few families nurtured
in tbe Episcopal church, to secure for themselves and children its privileges. It
has met at different times with severe trials, and sustained great losses in the
death or removal of a large number of ita members. It was planted in the midst
of a sparse population, whose religious views were moulded by the denomi
nation which for more than a century had exerted a controlling influence over the
town. Its location, moreover, only one mile from WaiTcn, where many of the
people find it more convenient to worship, is in many respects unfavorable to ita
growth. But notwithstanding all these obstacles to its increase, it has beeu sus
tained and its prospects for the future are encouraging, as the attractiveness of
this beautiful maritime town is annually increasing its numbers and resources.
The parish owns a very neat and tasteful brick church, a Sunday School hbrary of
four hundred and seventy-six volumes, and more tban $3,000 were given, (a large
portion from abroad,) for the erection of a parsonage. It contains, moreover, a
sewing circle, a book association, a Sunday school of about fifty members, and
fifty-four communicants. Its several Rectors haye been: The Rev. Francis War
ner, A. M., Union (College, from December, 1858, to September, 1862; The Rev.
Robert Murray, A. M., Williams College, from January, 1863, to July, 1865; The
Rev. Gilbert Haj'den, A. M., from October, 1865, to August, 1866; The Rev. S.
Brenton Shaw, A. M., Brown University, D. D.,- Norwich University , from Feb
ruary, 1867, to the present time. Dr. Shaw is a native of this State, was thirty-
four years Rector of St. Luke's, Lanesboro', Mass., until the loss of sight caused
by cataract obhged him to suspend his labors. A successful operation enabled
him to resume the duties of bis profession.

UNITED CONGREGATIONAL SOCIETY, BARRINGTON.

The charter of this Society was gi'anted by the General Assembly of this State
in May, 1797, and by its terms Nathaniel Smith was made the first President,
Joshua Bicknell, Treasurer, and Solomon Townsend, Secretary. Prior to this
time, the business interests of the church and congregation had been managed by
the town at the annual town meetings, or by committees appointed by the church.
The salaries of the ministers had either been raised by a tax upon the ratable
property of the town, and paid by the town treasurers, or by voluntary subscrip
tions of the people, collected by annually appointed solicitors. Funds for church
building and repairs had also been raised by a town tax, by lotteries licensed by
the General Assembly, or by private contributions. After the formation of the
Society and the grant of a charter, a fund was raised by the contributions of
various benevolent individuals, the proceeeds of which were to be used for the
support of the ministry. This fund amounts to about $5,000, secured by gifts and
legacies. The Society is now in a very floui-ishing condition.
The following gentlemen have been officers as indicated :
PRESIDENTS.
Nathaniel Smith, from 1797 till 1807 ; Ebenezer Tiffany, from 1807 till 1821 ; Jo
siah Humphrey, from 1821 till 1828; Sylvester Allen, from 1828 till 1829; Eben-

APPENDIX. 183
ezer Smith, from 1829 till 1839; Jabez Heath, from 1839 till 1860; Benjamin Mar
tin, from 1850 till 1862; Ellis Peck, from 18S2.
VICE PBKSIDKNTS.
Asa Bicknell, from 1797 till 1799 ; Ebenezer Tiffany, from 1799 till 1800 ; Elkanah
Humphi-ey, from 1800 till 1807; Ebenezer Peck, from 1807 till 1816; Benjamin
Martin, from 1818 till 1818; Joseph Bicknell, from 1818 to 1828; Allen BickneU,
from 1828 till 1860; Ebenezer Tiffany, from 1850 till 1859; George R. Kinnicutt,
from 1869. TBEASUBBBS.
Joshua BickneU, from 1797 tiU 1837; Ebenezer Tiffany, from 1837 tUl 1860;
Henry Smith, from 1850 till 1853; Lewis B. Smith, from 1863.
BBCBQTABIES.
Solomon Townsend, from 1797 tiU 1798 ; Thomas Allen, from 1798 till 1799 ; Kent
Brown,, from 1799 tiU 1823 ; Nathaniel Brown, from 1823 till 1824 ; Ebenezer Tiffa
ny, from 1824 till 1837; Nathaniel Brown, from 1837 till 1838; Emerson Hum
phrey, from 1838 till 1846 ; Anthony L. ViaU, from 1846 tiU 1860; Rev. Francis
Wood, from 1850 till 1856; Ebenezer Tiffany, from 1866 tiU 1864; Rev. Francis
Wood, from 1864.

TOWN OFFICERS OF BARRINGTON.

TOWN 0LEEK8.
Samuel Humphrey, 1718-19-20-21-22. SamuolWatson,1808-9-10-ll-12-13-14-15.
Edward Luther, 1723. WiUiam AUin, 1816-17-18-19-20-21-22-23-
Josiah Torrey, 1724. 24-25-26-29.
James Adams, 1725. Josiah Humphrey, 1827.
Josiah Humphrey, 1726-7-8-9-30-1-2-3-4, John Tyler, 1827-8-9-30-1-2-3-4-6-6-7-8.
1740-1-2-3. Ebenezer Tiffany, 1838-9-40-1-2-3-4-6-6-
Ebenezer Allin, 1735-6-7-8-9. 7-8-9-60-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-60-1-2-3-4.
Samuel AUen, 1794-6-6-7-8-9-1800-1-2-3- Francis Wood, 1865-6-7-8-9-70.
4-6-6-7-8. TOWN TBEASUBEE8.
Samuel Humphrey, 1718-19-20-21-22. Kent Brown, 1814.15-16-17-18-19-20-21.
Benjamin ViaU, 1723-5-6-7-8. Enoch Remington, 1822.
James Adams, 1724. Ebenezer Tiffany, 1822-23-24-25-26-27-
Josiah Humphrey, 1729. 28-29-30, 38.
Samuel Allen, 1730. John Kelley, 1831-2-3-4-6-6-7.
Ebenezer Allen, 1731-2-4-5-6-7. Hezekiah Tiffany, 1839-40-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-
Zachariah BiekneU, 1733. 8-9-50-1-2-3-4-5-8-7-8-9-60-1-2-3-4-5-6-
Matthew AUin, 1738-9-40-1-2-3-4-5-6-7. 7-8-9-70.
N-ithaniel Heath, 1794-6-6-7-8-9-1800-1-
2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12-13. DEPUTIES AND BEPEESENTATIYEB TO THE GENEEAL A8SEMBI.T.
Josiah Humphrey, 1771, 8, 85-6, 90. WUliam AUin, 1806-6-7-8-9-10, 16-17-18-
Samuel AUen, 1771, 8-9-80-1-2-3-4-5-6, 19-20-21.
8-9. James Bowen, 1807, 27, 1832-33, 6-7-8-9-
Nathaniel Martin, 1772-3-4-5, 87. 40.

184

APPENDIX.

Thomas AUin, 1772-3-4-5-6, 81, 91-4-6-6-
7-8.
Edward Bosworth, 1776-7, 9-80-1.
Moses Tyler, 177B-7.
Paul Mumford, 1787.
Peleg Heath, 1777.
ViaU Allin, 1783-3-4, 7.
Asa BickneU, 1784.
Joshua Bicknell, 1787, 9-90-1-2-3-4-6-7-8
1802-3-4, 7-8, 23-4-5.
Matthew AUin, 1788.
Ebenezer Tiffany, 1788.
Josiah Humphrey, Jr., 1791-2-3-4, 9-
1800-1-2-3-4, 6, 22-3.
John Short, 1791.
James Martm, 1794-6-6, 1806.
Jeremiah Bowen, 1737-8, 1800, 1808-9-
10.
John Kent, 1798-9, 1801.
Solomon Townsend, Jr., 1806.
Ebenezer Tiffany, 1806.
Joseph Rawson, 1808.
Nathaniel Smith, 1809-10-11-12, 26-7-8.
DELEGATES TO CONTENTION TO FOBM A STATE CONSTITUTION. *
Emerson Humphrey, 1841. Nathaniel Brown, 1842.
Lewis B. Smith, 1842. SBNATOES TO THE GENEEAL ASSEMBLY.
James Bowen, 1843-4. Benjamin Martin, 1866.
Emerson Humphrey, 1846-6. WiUiam H. AUin, 1856-7-8.
Henry Smith, 1847-8-9. AUen Brown, 1869-60.1.
Allin Bicknell, 1860-1-2-3. AUen C. Mathewson, 1862-3-4.
John Cooke, 1854. Lewis B. Smith, 1865-6-7-8-9-70.

Ebenezer Peck, 1810-11-12-13-14-15.
Sylrester AUen, 1813, 1816, 21-2-3.
John W. BickneU, 1814.15.
Asa Smith, 1816-17-18-19-20, 22.
Jeremiah S. Drown, 1821-2-3-4-5-6-7-8
40-1.
John Kelly, 1828-9, 35.
Benjamin Medbury, 1829-30-1-2-3.
Samuel R. Martin, 1830-1, 3.
John Tyler, 1832-3.
Josiah Kinnicutt, 1834-6-6.
Lewis B. Smith, 1841-2-34-5.
AlUn BickneU, 1842, 6, 9.
Stilhnan Welch, 1847-8.
Pai-don Clark, 1850-1-2-3.
Benjamin Martin, 1864, 60-1.
Nathaniel C. Smith, 1856, 1869-70.
William H. Smith, 1856.
Henry Staples, 1867-8.
Thomas W. BickneU, 1869.
Benjamin F. Drown, 1862.3-4.
Lewis T. Fisher, 1865-6-7-8.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.

MATTHEW WATSON.
The father and mother of the subject of this sketch immigi-atcd to Boston from
Londonderry, Ireland, with five children, in the early part of the eighteenth cen
tury, prior to 1712. Presbyterians in belief, they were severely persecuted by the
Catholics, and were forced to escape from fanatical mobs by flight to America.
From Boston the family removed to a farm in Leicester, Mass., where the father,
Robert Watson, was killed by the falling of a tree. Matthew, the second of
seven children, left homo and lived with a famil}' near Boston. His employer
proved an excellent friend and taught Matthew, Arithmetic and other branches,
and probably instructed him in the art of brick-making. At the age of twenty-
five we find him engaged in making brick upon the farm of Mr. John Read, of

APPENDIX. 185
Ban-ington. He had examined the clay, and had found it to be of excellent
quahty, and wood could be procured for two and sixpence per load. At that time
Newport was the market for all the bricks not needed in Barrington, Warren and
Bristol. In 1733, Mr. Watson married Betliiah Read, only daughter of Mr. John
Read, who at the time was opposed to tho union, bocuiise Bethiah was about to
' throw herself away upon a ^'little poor Irishman." The parents and friends lived
long enough to change tiieir minds on this subject. lie was soon able to purchase
the farm of his father-in-law and continued the manufacture of brick until he
amassed a great property for that time, amounting as I have been told, to over
$80,000. He built a large brick mansion and set out many shade and fniit trees,
the fraits of which his childi-on and children's children have enjoyed. His life
was one of great energy, activity and usefulness, and wortliy of imitation. He
sustained the office of a Justice of the Peace for many years, and was one of the
Judges of the Co\irt of Common Pleas for Bristol County. He was always a
friend to the friendless, and assisted the young who were virtuous aud frugal.
His wealth and hospitality were alike proverbial. His integrity he held fast
throughout his life and in a great and good old age descended to his grave in
peace *' like a shock of corn fully ripe." Mr. Watson was born in 1696 and died
in 1803, and of few men can it be related as of him, that he was bom in the sev
.ipnteentb, lived through the eighteenth and died in the nineteenth century, at the
remarkable age of 107 years. He was a member of the Congregational church
of Barrington between seventy aud eighty years.
AVINCHESTER BICKNELL
An extract from the narrative of Captain Bring, Commander of the Privateer
Chance, captured by a British Cruiser off Long Island, May 11, 1782.
" The prisonei-s were put on board the Jersey, May 19, and were released after
a close imprisonment of two months, dm-ing which time seventeen had died, aud
nearly all the others were dangerously sick of diseases contracted on that loath
some prison-ship. One of our number who was thus seized by the fever was a
young man named Bicknell, of Barrington, R. I. He was unwell when we left
the Jersey, and his symptoms indicated the approaching fever; and when we
entered Narragansett Bay, he was apparently dying. Being informed that we
were in the Bay, he begged to be taken ou deck, or at least to the hatchway, that
he might look once more upon his native land. He said that he was sensible of
his condition ; that the hand of death was upon him ; but that he was consoled
by the thought that his remains would be decently interred and be suffered to
rest among those of his friends and kindred. I was astonished at the degree of
resignation and composure with which he spoke. He pointed to his father's
house as we approached it and said that it contained all that was dear to him on
earth. He requested to be put on shore. Our Captain was intimately acquainted
with the family of the sufferer, and as the wind was light, we dropped our anchor
and complied with his request. He was placed in the boat where I took a seat
by his side in order to support hira, and with two boys at the oars, we left the
sloop, in a few minutes his strength began rapidly to fail. He laid his fainting
head upon my shoulder, and said he was going to the shore to be buried with his
ancestors; that this had long been his ardent desire; and that God had heard his
prayers. No sooner had we touched the shore, than one of the boys was sent to
inform his family of the event. They hastened to the boat to receive their long-
lost son and brotber; but we could only give them— his yet warm, but lifeless
corpse."

186 APPENDIX.
JOSHUA BICKNELL.
Joshua Bicknell, son of Joshua and Jerusha Bicknell, was born at Barrington,
January 14, 1759, and died December 16, 1837, at the age of 68. His grandfather,
Zachariah BickneU, came to this town from Weymouth, about 1710. Born and
bred to a farmer's life, Joshua made a good use of the limited educational privi
leges of his day, and by reason of good natural abilities, energy and iutegi-ity,
became a useful man and an honored citizen. He entered public life when but a
youth, and through his whole life served the town, county and State in the various
offices which he filled. He was a Deputy to the General Assembly for several
years, and served as an Associate Justice ofthe Supreme Court from 1794 to 1801,
and from 1811 to 1818. He was first Treasurer of the Congregational Society from
1797 to 1837. His farm was the chief source of his support, and he was especially
fond of fruit culture, to which lie devoted himself witb a zeal unusual inhis time.
He was a member of the Congregational church, and held the office of Deacon
for many years. EMERSON HUMPHREY.
Emerson Humphrey, the subject of this sketch, was born in Barrington, Octo-
bcf 24th, 1792. He was the fifth child aud second son of John and Elizabeth
(Bullock) Humphrey. His school education was of that limited character which
could be obtained in the common schools of those days. Yet with a strong mind
and active intellect, he overcame in a great measure the lack of more liberal
school facilities. His whole life was devoted to agricultural pursuits, residing
upon and cultivating the same farm and living in tlie same house in which his
mother was born, and in which she lived and died, presenting in this instance, a
marked contrast to the restless and migratory character of New England's sons.
He was uo seeker of office, 3'et his fellow-citizens bestowed upon him a number,
of trust and honor. He was a member of the Town Council in 1826 and 1834; a
member and President of the same eight years, from 1838 to 1845. He was chosen
Moderator of the annual town meeting in 1839, and waa annually elected to that
office- with one excitptiou, until 1856, when he voluntarily retired. He was a
mtmber ofthe State Convention to frame a Constitution for the State in 1841,
and was elected Senator to the General Assembly forthe years 1845 and 6;
while through his long life, he took a deep interest in local and State affairs, and
was ever ready by his example and with his means, to piomote all enterprises for
the improvement of the interests of this town. He was married in 1819 to Hul
dah Peck, daughter of Ebenezer and Huldah (Brown) Peck, who survived him
four years, dying in 1869. By her he had six children, five of whom survive him.
He died in 1865, after a most painful and distressing illness of more than a year's
duration, aged 72 years. JAMES BOWEN.
Jaraes Bowen was the son of Jereraiah and Lillas Bowen; born January, 1773,
and died Ot tober 27, 1856, at the ripe age of 83 years. His father was a sea cap
tain, and Jaraes commenced a sailor's life at the early age of ten, and continued
to follow the seas for thirty years. Before his twenty-fifth birthday, he com
manded a merchant vessel with officers and crew younger than himself. His
school education was verj limited, owing to the reverses shared by his family in
time of the Revolution, yet his close observation and careful study of men gave
him a clear insight into business and a sound judgment in practical life. By for
tunate risks, careful attention to business and a wise economy, he gathered a

APPENDIX.

187

goodly share of wealth. His townsmen honored him with many public offices,
among which was that of being the first Senator from Barrington in the General
Assembly. Mr. Bowen was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas for Bristol
county for several years. Captain and Judge Bowen lived to be respected and
honored, and was lamented at his death.
ALLEN BICKNELL.
, Allen Bicknell, the oldest son of Judge Joshua and Amey Bicknell, was born
in Barrington, April 13, 1787; was brought up in and devoted himself to a far
mer's hfe. He joined the Congregational church in Barrington with about seventy
others, in June, 1820, and maintained a consistent Christian walk aud character
for fifty years. He succeeded his honored father, Judge Bicknell, in 1839, as
Deacon of tlie church, and held thia office till his death. Various offices in the
town were confided to him, and for several years he was choseu to represent the
people in both branches of the General Assembly. His prudent and temperate
care, in the exercise of Godly virtues, bore him on the even tenor of his way and
carried him beyond the bounds of fourscore years. He died a peaceful, happy
and triumphant death, Monday, August 22, 1870, aged 83 years, 4 ifionths and 7
days, and was buried with his fathers at Prince's Hili Cemetery,

BARRINGTON CENTENNIAL ESCORT,

Captain, -
1st Lieutenant, -
2d Lieutenant,
1st Sergeant,
2d Sergeant,
David Gardner,
John Richmond,
Robert Watson,
Albert Bowen,
Thomas W- Comstock,
Albert Cahoon,
Peirce Doran,
Jerry Fleming,
William Kirby, ^
Arthur Lewis,

CORPOBALB.
John Whittemore,
Frank Lewis,
WilUam Heath,
PRIVATES .
Edward Mai*tin,
William Martin,
Charles H. Martin,
Andrew Medbery,
Edward Marks,
G. J. Martin,
Herbert Peck,
DRUMMER.
Levi Greene.

George L. Smith,
Walter U. Earle.
Jame8 Fbankland.
WALTER R. D. Vaughn.
Benjamin Martin.
Robert Tob^n,
Henry N. Granf.

Alpheus Peck,
Albert H. Smith,
Willie Smith,
George Taft,
Albert Titus,
Lewis Wilcox,
Patrick Ward.

GODDESS OE LIBERTY AND STATES OF THE UNION.

The following are the names of the young ladies in costume, representing the
Goddess of Liberty and the States of the Union, at Centennial Celebration, 1870 :

188 APPENDIX.
Goddess of Liberty, Miss Juliette L. Peck.
Helen M. Burt, Maine; Amanda S. Richmond, New Hampshire;
Ellen F. Richmond, Vermont ; Lucy J. Kenrick, Massachusetts ;
Annie Allen, Rhode Island; Arabella L. Peck, Connecticut;
Olive E. Clark, New York; Hattie E. Bowen, New Jersey;
Emma F. Kinnicutt, Pennsylvania; Ella C. Cornell, Delaware;
Lillie P. Smith, Maryland; Lizzie H. Smith, Vh-ginia;
Mary R. Cady, West Virginia; Ida M. Reed, North Carolina;
Julia M. Martin, South Carolina; Mary E. Martin, Georgia;
Rachel Tiffany, Florida; Cordeha H. Campbell, Alabama;
Carrie S. Bosworth, Mississippi; Lottie M. Gladding, Louisiana;
Lila A. Fisher, Texas; Mary E. Noble, Tennessee;
Rachel A. Cooke, Kentucky ; Louisa M. Bowen, Ohio ;
Hattie V. Bowen, Indiana; Emily F. Mason, Illinois;
Cornelia M. Goff, Michigan; Ada L. Seymour, Wisconsin;
Laura Wood, Minnesota; Ella Thayer, Iowa;
Edith I. L. V. Ryan, Missouri; Isabel T. Cooke, Arkansas;
Eola Shaw, Kansas; Addie S. Bowen, Nebraska;
Augusta L. Bowen, Oregon; Mary Humphreys, California.
Annie K. Heath, Nevada ;

1870. CENTENNIAL FUND. 1970.

The merabers of the Centennial Committee, wishing to establish a memento of
their harmonious action in their relations to each other and to the town in this
celebration of 1870, held several meetings in the capacity of citizens, for the pur
pose of creating a Fund to be used by the citizens of Barrington for a Centennial
Celebration in the year 1970. It was proposed tbat each member of the Commit
tee should contribute (me dollar towards such a Fund, which should be put, at
interest under proper conditions and safeguards, and as the Committee numbered
only nineteen, the name of T. W. Bicknell was named to fill the vacancy. A
Special Committee, ccmsisting of H. H. Richardson and T. W. Bicknell, was
appointed to draft a plan, which should embody the purposes of the gentlemen
interested. At a meeting of the members of the Committee at the Town Clerk's
office, September 30, 1870, the following plan for the creation, management and
disposal of the Fund was reported, and after careful consideration and discussion
was unauimously adopted :
We, the undersigned, citizens of the Town of Barrington, County of Bristol,
State of Rhode Island, with a view to promote and perpetuate an interest in the
history of the town and the times in which we live, do, on this thirtieth day of
September, A. D. 1870, give the sums affixed to our names, which sums shall
be the foundation of a fund to be known as " The Bartington Centennial Fund."
This Fund shall be placed and kept at compound interest under the charge and
direction of a Board of Trustees consisting of five persons, who shall be chosen
from our number, and they and their successors shall give such bonds for the
faithful performance of their duties as may from time to tirae be required by the
Trustees of the Rhode Island Hospital, at Providence, Rhode Island.
Whenever any vacancy shall occur in the Board of Trustees, such vacancy
shall, within sixty days thereafter, be filled by tlie remaining members from

APPENDIX. 189
among the persons qualified by law to hold offices of trust in tbc town of Barring
ton, or in such other corporation as may then stand in the place of said town ;
and within ninety days after the occun-euce of such vacancy, the Tmstees shall
give notice in \vriting to the trustees of the Rhode Island Hospital of the occur
rence of such vacancy and of its having been filled, together with the name of
the new Trustee.
Whenever any person, being a member of the Board of Trustees, shall become
ineligible to offices of trust in the town of Barrington, or in such other Corpora
tion as may then stand in the place of said town, then such person shall cease to
be a Trustee of this Fund-
The Fund herein provided shall reraain at compound interest mitil the year
1970, and if during that year there shall be held within the limits of the present
town of Barrington, and imder the direction of the said town, or such coi-poration
as may theu stand in the place of said town, a pubhc celebration commemorative
of the two hundredth anniversary oi the incorporation of the town, then the inter
est which may have accrued upon the orierinal fund, or so much of it as
may be required, shall be applied to the payment of the expenses of such public
celebration ; and the principal or the sum originally given, shall continue at inter
est under the same charge and conditions as before, until the year 2070, when the
whole araount then having accrued shall be applied to such work of pubhc and
general utility as the citizens of the town or other corporation then existing, may
by their votes determine.
If, however, the year 1970 shall elapse without there havhig been held within
the limits of the town, and under the direction of the town or other corporation
then occupying its place, any public celebration commemorative of the two hun
dredth anniversary of the town, or if at any tirae any vacancy whieh may occur
in the Board of Trustees shall not be filled within sixty days, or if notice shall not
be given as hereinbefore required, then the interest which may have accrued at
that time shall be paid into the treasury of the Rhode Island Hospital, while tho
principal shall remain at mterest as hereinbefore directed.
But If there shall be held such celebration during the year 1970, and if the inter
est then accrued shall be more than sufficient to defray the expenses of such cele
bration, then whatever sura shall remain after the payraent of such expenses ,
shall be applied to the providing one or more Free Beds in the Rhode Island
Hospital, for the use of any persons who may be residents of the town of Bar
rington. There shall be made three copies of this Instrument, each of which shall be
signed by all the subscribers to the Fund, and either copy shall be regarded as
the original. One of said copies shall be deposited witii the Town Clerk of the
town of Barrington, one with the Trustees of the Rhode Island Hospital, and one
with the Tmstees of the Fund, and the custody of the last mentioned copy shall
belong to that member of the Board of Trustees who shall have been last chosen.
Rev. Francis Horton, Earl C. Potter,
R. Brenton Shaw, D, D., Allen Bowen,
Rev. Francis Wood, David A. Waldron,
John B. Humphreys, Charles E. Sraith,
Asa Peck, Nathaniel Peck,
Benjamin Martin, Joseph Bowen,
Lewis T. Fisher, H. H. Richardson,
Nathaniel C. Smith, Leonard S. Bosworth,
Benjamin F. Drown, Lewis B. Smith,
George R. Kinnicutt, Thomas W. Bicknell.

190 APPENDIX.
Done at Barrington, this thirtieth day of September, A. D. 1870, and each of
the persons above named paid to the Tmstees one dollar, the whole amounting^
to twenty dullars, to constitute the Centennial Fund herein provided for.

H. H. RICHARDSON,
B. F. DROWN,
C. E. SMITH,
N. C. SMITH,
ASA PECK,

- Trustees.

LETTERS OF THE REVOLUTION.

The following letters written by Captain Matthew Allin to his brother, then
Captain, afterwards Colonel and later Brigadier General, Thomas Allin, of Bar
rington, are the only manuscript papers of that period which I have been able to
find in the town : Rode island Camp, Govenare Barnard Seat, j
June 13th, A. D. 1775. i
LovBiNG Brother:— I Received your Letter and was Very glad that you
under Value your self as to Rite to me. I hope these Lines will find you and
your wife and all your family well as they Leave me. Brother Viall is well and
all my Company Except William Andrews ; he lias been Very Poorly this sum
time But is Now getting better so that I am in hopes that he will Be able for Duty
again very soon. We hear that there is four hundred Light horse Come over and
A Number of Troops But how many I Don't know. We Expect a Battle Very
soon and I Long for the Time to Corae : when they landed their horses they were
seen to take twelve Dead horses out of their hole : Sur as to What you Rote to
me About Major Gray tbere is No truth In It all But I shall Not Pretend to Clear
the matter up But if mr Childs will Let you know the thruth of the story, it may
Be that Annother man will give you more satisfaction than if I Rote myself as
he was one that t? as in my Company all the time. So no more at present but I
Remain your Loveing Brother Matthew Axlin.
Roxbury, Rhod island Camp, June 19th, A. D. 1775.
Mt Dear Wipe : These few hnes Come to let you No that I am well In good
health at present and hoping that thay may find you so and all my friends.. Last
friday night we began to intrench on Dorchester hill and the next moming the
Reglars began to fire on onr people. Then we ware ordred to march to Roxbury
Town when we got there we sent a party to Intrench doAvn Near the Line at the
same time the Briggade ware Drawn up Below the Meetting house the !5eglars
Begun to fire upou our Senterers at the Line and at us on the hill and from the
Block house they fired on Dorchester Neck at A party of our Men that were
there But hurt none of them. At Roxbury the Cannon Bois com prittee thick
But Did No great hurt onely wounded one man belonging to Connetecut and he
Died the Next moming and as soon as the sun was Down than they Begun to
throw Bums at us aud held on all night they wounded one man and that was all
We Retumed back to our Camps this Morning. The Reglars At the same time

APPENDIX. 191
Begun to fier on Conl Putnam aud Continur til this Day and I Du not think that
it will sese until tis setled one way or the orther. We have Nuse that there is a
number of Reglars killed but how many we Du uot No there was five hundred
Reglars Brought In Wounded wich ware seventy of them offesers and the Num
ber of our man we can Not tell that was killed.
Roxbury, Rhode island Campt, June 20th, A. D. 1775.
Dear Brother : I Received your Letter Last Night and I am very glad to
hear that you and all friends are well aud I hope that These few Lines will find you
and your wife aud all my friends well as They Leave me. I have No News to
Rite to you Except servcrral of the Men of war is gone of but where they are
gone I dont know but we think they are going to Newport. We have got a Foort
Built at Roxbury and we are Building severral Brest works iu order to stop them
from Coming into the Country. Ther is More or Less guns fired between our
people and them Every day. * * * wr^ must Put our trust in God it
may Be that he is Ordering It for the Best for he is A wise Bing. it may Profet
our soul8 if it dont our Bodies. We raust put aU our whole trust in God all
Though things seem very dark on our side yet I know if we put our trust in God
he vnR help us. Remember my Coind Love to aU your family Boath White and
Black. I Long to see them all But I shall Not till fall if I ever see them. So
no more at Present But I remain your Loveing Brother untill Death.
Matthew Allen.
I have heard A great menny guns fireed while I was writing this Letter which
I suppose to be Putman paying a salute to the Reglars.
Roxbury, Rhode island Camp, July 23d, A. D. 1775.
Loveing Brother : I hope few lines comes with my Coind love to you to let
you know that I am well hopeing that these will find you and your wife and all
my friends well as they Leave me. I ara A going to move next Tuesday over to
Camebridg ou Prospect hill it is within two hundred yards of the Reglars. But
that is not the worst of it for its Very hvely there. But go we must: for Gen'l
Washanton sayes that there is No solders here But onely the Rhode island forces.
I Remember my Love to all my friends Both white and black. Matthew Allin.
Prospect Hill, August 2, A. D. 1775.
My Dear Brother : I take this opportunity to let you know that I am well
at present and T hope that these will find you and your wife and all your family
all well. We have had several small Battels with the Reglars and they kllld two
of our men and we kllld About thirty of them and took About thirty More and
Bumt two Scoonera Belonging to the Reglars. Pray send me a Letter as often as
you can. I Remeraber My Love to all friends at home. I am in great hast ao
No more at Present But I Remain your Loveing Brother untill Death.
Matthew Allin.
Prospect Hill, August 16, A. D. 1775.
Dear and Loveing Brother : These few Lines Comes to Let you know
that I am well at present and I hope these will find you as well as tbey leave me.
By your Letter I find that you Begm to think of Disaplineing your Company But

192 APPENDIX.
I Never saw such A Warrent as that you had sent to you it seems to me that the
Cornel had Better first Serve as A Corpril But in fact I think that he is hardy fit
for tbat. If one Coi-pril was to Make such A Dreadful! Piece of work About
anything that he was sot About in the army he would Be Broke and set in the
Ranks. I was Last Night on gard down at the Lines and the Reglars fireed A
^i umber of shots at us sum Come Very Near But hurt Noboddy. My Dear
Brother I understand that you talk of Coming down I would Be glad if you would
Come for I want to see you Very much here is surathing worth A Comeing to see
I would Be glad if you would Rite to me as often as you Can. I want to know
how my orchard is Like to yeald for I shall want sum syder to drink wheu I get
home. Remeraber me to all enquireing friends so No More at Present But I
Remain your friend untill Death. Matthew Allin.

PROPRIETORS' AGREEMENT. A.

The first original agreement of the Proprietors under their hands upon the
Grannts of the Court conceming each ones part in the lands at Sawames and Mat-
tapoysset. Dated ye 7th March, 1652.
The names of those whom by order of Court and agreement of the purchasers
met at Plyraouth to make purchase and divitione of the Lands as are at Sawames
and Mattapoysset, the seventh of March, 1652, whow are to have their severaU
pts or moyeties layed out the places above pressed and are to make & satisfie the
purchase and all other charges arriseing there upon according to their severaU
proportions. Their names are as foUoeth .
Mr. William Bradford, one moyety. Thomas Clarke, his half pte.
Mr. Thomas Prince, one half pte. Experience Mitchell, his half pte.
Mr, Edward Wiuslow, all his portion, Mr. Thomas Willett, his pte.
John Adams, his whole portion. Mr. White, his pte.
Mr. Cushman, his whole pte. Mr. Miles Standish, half pte.
Mr. John Winslow, all his pte.
We whose names are above expressed doe hereby engage our seines to make
good what euer charges shall arise on the further prosecution of the premises
above mentioned, it being brought in upon account.
Witness our hands ye day and year above written. '
William Bradpobd, John Winslow,
Thomas Prince, Experience Mitchell,
Thomas Willett, Knelm Winslow,
Edward Winslow, Resolved White, ) by our
Thomas Cushman, Peregrine White, ' father.
Thomas Olark, Mtles Standish, Sen.

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