Don D'Amato's History of Warwick
Conimicut Village (and its environs)
By Don D’Amato
Introduction
Conimicut, a thriving and picturesque area
along Warwick’s shore, is one of the villages that can trace its
history back to the founding of Warwick in 1643. The story begins with
Samuel Gorton and his followers and their quest to find a safe haven
where they could practice their beliefs without persecution. Samuel
Gorton, Warwick’s charismatic founder, was one of Rhode Island’s most
fascinating and enigmatic characters. To characterize him as a
controversial and quarrelsome figure borders on understatement.
Upon
arriving in Massachusetts in 1637, he quickly antagonized an impressive
list of influential and powerful persons in 17th century New England.
Gorton, a brilliant, but unorthodox, self proclaimed, preacher severely
criticized the religious doctrines of the Boston and Plymouth Puritans
and opposed their right to rule in Massachusetts. According to his
biographers, Gorton was born to a working class family in England in
1592. Lacking the opportunity to get a formal education, Gorton managed
to obtain a most unorthodox accumulation of knowledge. He not only
could read English, but became proficient in Greek and Latin, and
before being in America very long, had mastered the Indian language.
Like many of his contemporaries in the new World, his main interests
were in Scripture and in English Common Law. Without the benefit of
formal training, he memorized some of the obscure biblical passages and
interpreted them without seeking established ecclesiastical authority.
This was not uncommon at the time, but Gorton often carried his beliefs
to the extreme.
He classified himself as an Ultra-Puritan. He
felt as many others did that there was no necessity for bishops to act
as intermediaries and believed that people were guided by God’s spirit
directly. He preached that all should be able to worship as they
pleased and that all men and women, not just the Elders or the
ordained, had the right to preach. For this, and for his insistence
that there should be a separation of church and state and that the New
England Colonies were not correct in their practice of English Common
law, he quickly incurred the wrath of the Puritan Elders in Boston and
Plymouth. For a time his brilliance and appeal were tolerated, but as
he challenged all authority he was banished from Massachusetts and
eventually made his way to Providence. His views on government and
legal rights soon led him to quarrel with a number of leaders in the
community and he made enemies, among whom were William Arnold, William
Harris and other founders of Pawtuxet village, now shared by the Cities
of Warwick and Cranston.
Mainly because of Arnold, Gorton's
attempt to be admitted as a freeman in Providence failed. William
Arnold, one of the five "disposers," as the men were called who handled
such applications, strongly opposed Gorton, and was successful in
keeping him from becoming a citizen of Providence. Arnold, on May 25,
1641, wrote that Gorton, "showed himself an insolent, railing and
turbulent person."
Even Roger Williams, usually a tolerant man,
found Gorton troublesome. Roger Williams, in a letter to Governor
Winthrop, dated “Providence 1640” says, "Master Gorton having abused
high and low at Aquidnick, is now bewitching and bemadding poor
Providence, with his uncleane and foul censures of all the ministers of
this country...and also denying all visible and externall ordinances..."
Williams
and a few others refused to admit Gorton as an inhabitant with town
privileges. Despite this opposition, Gorton's followers grew, causing
Williams to remark to Winthrop, "Yet the tide is too strong against us,
and I feare it will force me to little Patience, a little isle next to
your Prudence..."
The differences between Williams and Gorton
were not on religious grounds but on the question of the concept of
government. Gorton, in 1641, again attempted to be received in "town
fellowship" and again he was refused. The man who most strenuously
opposed Gorton's application at this time was William Arnold, who
asserted that Gorton was had divided Providence "into parties aiming to
drive away its founders...."
The bitter feelings that grew between
Arnold and Gorton lasted for the lifetime of both men and were
responsible for many of the disturbing events of the early period.
Gorton
and his followers moved into the Pawtuxet area, three of the original
Pawtuxet purchasers, William Arnold, Robert Cole, William Carpenter, as
well as Benedict Arnold, William Arnold's son, offered themselves and
their land to the protection of Massachusetts in Sept. 1642. This move
was to keep Gorton from settling in Rhode Island.
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Warwick’s
Villages & Historic Places
By Don D’Amato
This handsome sign has been added near the Brayton Cemetery to greet visitors as they enter Apponaug from Cowesett. Soon after the sign, a number of historic houses, Apponaug’s four corners, and the City Hall become visible. |
Apponaug Village
Apponaug is one of Warwick’s most important villages. Located
at a key point in the Old Pequot Path (now Post Road) it has been
at the center of much activity from the time of the Native Americans
to the present. This is the first of a series on the village.
The Indian Heritage
After King Philip’s War (1675-76), the Gortonites were able
to expand to the west from Conimicut Village and Warwick Neck. The
area most in use in the last part of the 17h century was the 4-Mile
Common, the excellent meadowland between Conimicut Shore and Apponaug
Cove. By the turn of the century the second generation of settlers
had occupied much of the land around the cove in the area the Indians
had occupied for many centuries.
The Indians at Sweet Meadow Brook, Apponaug
Nearly 2000 years before Roger Williams established his
colony at Providence, the Apponaug section of Warwick was inhabited
by sub-tribes of the Narragansett Indians Nation. Williams first
trod the old Pequot path (Post Road) through Apponaug on his journey
from Providence to the trading post at Cocumscussoc, near present
day Wickford, in 1636.
Place of the oyster
Williams, speaking of approximately the same area we today refer
to as Apponaug Four Corners, commented on this crossroads of the
Indian paths. He said the Indians called the place, "Oppenenauchack,"
which he defined as meaning, "oyster." Shellfish were
plentiful here and Indians traveling through the paths were welcome
to take all they needed. As early as 1663, there is reference to
Apponaug by other early writers who often spelled it "Aponahock"
or "Aponake."
Sweet Meadow
While Williams, Samuel Gorton, William Harris and other settlers
give us a picture of Indian life style in this historic period,
excavations by the Narragansett Archaeological Society help provide
a picture of life around the cove in the prehistoric period. In
1954 and 1955, archaeologists worked at an area called Sweet’s
Meadows. In a very well documented report, written by the late William
Fowler, one time director of the Bronson Museum in Attleboro, Mass.,
we learn that the Indians encamped, "On the northerly side
of the town of Apponaug...along a small spring fed brook, which
empties into Apponaug Cove." Fowler surmised that at one time
the body of water in that area was larger because of a beaver dam
at its mouth.
In his report, Fowler noted that, "many beaver incisors occurred
in the shell refuse on the site..." The area contained remains
of oysters, quahaugs, sea clams, small clams, scallops, whelk, and
razor clams. The site, we are told, gave early man a favorable location
for a camping place with fresh water conveniently near. Fowler's
report adds, "The sand ridge along the westerly side would
have provided suitable protection from the prevailing wind. This,
together with other advantages, must have made this location a favorite
place over a long span of years." It is estimated that the
camp was occupied from approximately 100 B.C. to 1600 A.D.
In 1685, after King Philip's War had removed the Indians from the
area, a man named Sweet came in possession of the property and the
sandy meadow was known as Sweet's Meadow. In time it changed to
Sweet Meadow, the name commonly used today.
The Stone Bowl Makers (100 B.C.-500 A.D.)
The earliest discoveries at the site indicate that at one time people
lived here who ate very little or no shellfish and made no clay
pottery. Fowler's well-documented report says, "Instead, evidence
shows that they made stone bowls. Fragments of at least three bowls
have been found, one of which," we are told, "...was beautifully
finished by scraping and was thinned to an unbelievable 3/32"
in some places.…" The discovery of these fragments at
Sweet Meadow enable the archeologists to present a picture of life
in this prehistoric period.
Fowler's report tells us, "The Stone Bowl makers not only fashioned
bowls from stone but made stone pipes...The industry was male dominated,
with the floor cleaning of the quarries performed by women. There
is now reason to believe that women carried burdens on their heads,
and continued to do so through early ceramic times...." The
report also says, "From the time when they commenced to make….eating
vessels,(of stone) liquid foods had been added to their diet….The
Indians, however, apparently had not developed a taste for shellfish,
for they left behind no shellfish refuse.…"
The Clay Pottery People (500 A.d.-1600 A.D.)
By the time the first settlers reached Apponaug, the Indians there had traded for some iron tools. Early settlers may have seen a native dressed as in this photo, getting ready to cook his meal. |
It is believed that by 500 A.D. the Stone Bowl makers began to
gather and eat shellfish, and soon after learned how to make pots
from clay. The vast amount of shellfish gathered in this area after
that date has served to aid the archeologist as the lime leaching
from the shells over the years has helped preserve organic bone
remains as well as fragments of pottery. As a result, seven burial
sites were discovered. The earliest was that of a "fairly large
wolf dog" and was found in the Stone Bowl Period zone in the
excavation site.
One of the most interesting finds, dating to a later period, was
the skeletal remains of a 20-year-old woman who lived in approximately
950 A.D. From the shape of the skull it was concluded that she had
a "life long custom of carrying burdens on the head."
This grave also revealed a custom of "votive food offerings."
The archeological report tells us this food was placed in front
of the skull and consisted of "the remains of a shoulder of
venison and the breast of a wild fowl. The latter item apparently
had been cooked." William Fowler and his fellow archeologists
discovered that, "This food was covered for protection from
the sand by nine oyster shells, 8 9"long." The report
notes, "They were stacked one over the other like shingles...."
Archeological insights into the early culture
The refuse pits showed not only shells but "bone fragments
mostly from deer, while in one pit were the remains of a bear."
The various types of pottery found showed "aesthetic modifications...sufficient
to indicate the same human impulse at work, as found the world over,
to create ever better and more beautiful products."
The archeologists at the site uncovered a number of triangular hoes,
which suggest the presence of agriculture. They concluded that,
"These implements perhaps more than any other evidence indicate
farming activities. Here, as at other sites, agriculture first appears
with the coming of pottery making, following termination of stone
bowl manufacturing."
William Fowler, in the conclusion of his report on Sweet Meadow
Brook says, "Sometime before 1600 A.D. ...Sweet Meadow Brook
site was abandoned..." Fowler says the location, "...
evidently was not occupied by the Narragansetts during historic
times...." As Roger Williams did not arrive in the area until
1636, this was the obvious conclusion.
Apponaug's pawwaw cove and Drum Rock
In 1642, when Samuel Gorton and his followers came to the area we
today call Warwick, the natives had already abandoned the Sweet
Meadow site in what is today's Apponaug section. With the exception
of the discoveries made by archeologists during the 20th century,
there are, unfortunately, but few reminders of the long tenure of
occupancy by the Indians.
Pawwaw Cove
The individual who tells us the most about the Narragansett Indians
living in Warwick is Oliver Payson Fuller. His excellent 19th century
History of Warwick, while lacking some of the sophisticated research
of 20th century authors, remains one of the best sources available
for our local history. Fuller relied upon stories handed down from
generation to generation for his material, especially on deriving
the origin of place names. According to Fuller's 1875 account of
Apponaug, the "arm of the cove...is known by the name of pawwaw
cove." He tells us that in earlier times the cove was very
deep at that place and an "Indian priest or pawwaw was drowned
there while attempting to cross it.…"
During the 19th century, long before the archeological digs at Sweet
Meadow, a number of bodies of Indians were found in the Warwick
area when cellar holes were dug. Fuller tells us of one such discovery
"a couple of miles east of the village of Crompton." He
says the bones of two persons were found there and, "The high
cheek bones, the absence of all signs of a coffin, and the position
of the bodies, indicated their race."
The Drum Rock
It was during the late 19th century that a great deal of curiosity
arose over a number of "Drum Rocks." Speculation on their
uses and their value to the Indians grew and interest in the large
rock at Apponaug attracted the attention of geologists and local
historians. In 1839, an eminent geologist, Charles T. Jackson, wrote
the following, "In Apponaug, in the township of Warwick, there
is a curious mass of rock delicately balanced upon two points, so
as to be moved with great ease by the hand, and it is said it's
even rocked by the wind.…" He goes on to say, "...by
rocking it a sound is produced audible to a great distance, and
I was informed it could be heard during the stillness of night to
the distance of 6 or 8 miles..."
A signaling device
Fuller's History of Warwick, mentions a Drum Rock "...situated
south of the residence of Gen. Alphonso Greene, and not far from
Walla Walla pond, (Gorton’s ? Pond) in the southeast corner
of what is familiarly known as drum rock pasture. He describes the
rock as "about eight feet long by three wide, weighing several
tons, and so poised on another that a person of ordinary weight
standing on one end of it will cause it to come down upon the under
one with a considerable sound...." Fuller concludes that these
"Drum Rocks" "...were probably used by the Indians
to give alarm in time of danger and to call the people together
at their pawwaw gatherings."
Today the rock, which is located approximately 6/10ths of a mile
from the Post Road entrance to Cowesett Hills, just before Building
16, is silent. Most residents of Warwick are unaware of its existence
as the once famous landmark is difficult to see from the road and
is almost totally obscured by the apartment buildings in the vicinity.
In 1984, an attempt was made to enrich Warwick's heritage by getting
the rock to "boom" again and by replacing the plaque that
once marked the rock. The plaque, which had been removed because
of vandalism, dates to 1908 and tells us this was once a "trysting
signal and meeting place of the Cowesett Indians and their kindred
Narragansetts."
A different point of view
At the time of the ceremony and re-dedication, John Brown, Narragansett
tribal historian on archeological matters, took exception to the
interpretation on the plaque and asserted that the rock was not
used by his tribe. He is quoted as saying in August 1984, "Our
oral history and oral tradition says nothing about this rock. It
has no relevance to us at all." Brown added that while tribal
history includes some signal rocks in the Warwick area, he did not
believe this was one of them.
Almost immediately following Brown's statement, a number of local
historians, including the late Dorothy Mayor, defended the concept
that the rock was used by the Indians.
Paul Robinson, as chairman of the state Historical Preservation
commission, commenting on why the Drum Rock site was not placed
on the national Registry of Historic Places, noted, "We found
local historical accounts and newspaper articles, but those were
mainly the 19th century. There was no literature from the 17th century...."
Robinson feels, however, that the Drum Rock in Apponaug should be
set aside and protected as a "piece of local history."
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As the municipal center of Warwick, Apponaug was also the center of the early police stations. Whenever old-time Warwick residents gather, colorful stories of the early fire and police departments are told. Time and time again, the names of Forrest Sprague, Theodore Andrews, Elias Cranston, Albert Izzi, Amasa Sprague and, of course, Apponaug’s Lynch family, are cited. For over sixty years now, members of the Lynch clan have had a profound effect on law enforcement in the city.
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Warwick’s
Villages & Historic Places
By Don D’Amato
Pontiac Village
Change comes to the historic mill at Pontiac
Warwick, a modern and dynamic city, is constantly growing and changing. Fortunately, in the last few decades while changes have been inevitable to keep pace with modern needs and wants, enough concerned citizens and leaders have taken pains to ensure that the city's heritage not be forgotten. This is especially true in the effort to keep the historic fabric of our villages as alive as possible.
Now, in the first decade of the 21st century, the village of Pontiac is undergoing a great deal of new development. In addition to the modern shopping malls that have made Warwick a leading retail center in Rhode Island, we are seeing the construction of a modern 161-room hotel on the site of the historic Pontiac Mill.
The mill has long been a landmark in Warwick that remids us of the time when the "Fruit of the Loom" textiles were the most famous in the world and when immigrants from England, Sweden, French-Canada and Italy came to Warwick to find work and a new way of life. Today as the work begins to demolish part of the mill structure, plans are being made to retain the most impressive section of the complex.
A Village of many names
Despite the changes of the 21st century, Pontiac is one of the villages in Warwick that has managed to retain much of its 19th century identity. Dominated by the Pontiac Mill, the village has been the home of a number of ethnic groups that came to Warwick to seek employment in the cotton mills and made a positive impact on the town. Pontiac, while having a number of unique features, is an excellent example of the mill villages that abounded in Rhode Island.
In 1852, at about the time that the mills were thriving in Crompton, Centreville and Apponaug, the B.B. & R. Knight Company acquired the mills of John H. Clark. They also decided to change the name of the village from Clarkesville to Pontiac. Oliver Payson Fuller, in his 1875 History of Warwick notes, "No one of the villages on the Pawtuxet River and its tributaries has been designated by so many different names in teh course of its history, as the one we have now come to." He traces the names back to May 10, 1662, when Warwick records show that it was known by the Indian name of Toskeunk. The Records say, "Ordered that Goodman Hedger is apoynted to give notis to ye inhabitants of ye Towne to repayer ye fence at Toskeunk and he to oversee the work....."
Great Weir
Fuller, commenting on the Indian names for the area says, "Papepieset, or Toskiounke, as it was sometimes called, makes a very good mouthfull of language..." The English settlers in Warwick found the Indian names difficult and, as was their custom, renamed the village, calling it "Great Weir" as many fish, including salmon, shad and herring, migrated here and were caught with "weirs" or water traps. Fuller tells us that these early weirs consisted of:
...a wooden trellis-work, armed with sharp pointed sticks, and sunk upon rocks one or two feet below the surface of the stream, and as the middle of the river by being filled with large stones, was rendered too shallow for the upward passage of the salmon and shad, they plunged by necessity into the deeper water near the shore, where these concealed traps received them with a fatal welcome.
The Great Bridge at the Weir
The nineteenth century brought a great increase in the use of the river to power the cotton mils and dams and made the natural migration of fish impossible. As a result, the weir was no longer in use. Fuller wryly comments, "...the fish took offence...and finally abandoned their old nurseries..." As a result, he says, "...the weir...ceased to properly designate the place..."
The story goes on to say that later, when a bridge was built across the river, the people, "like a drowning man, who is said to 'catch at a straw'...re-christened the place as 'the great bridge near the weir'..." The man most closely identified with the bridge was Captain Benjamin Greene, also known as "Tobacco Ben Greene," as he raised large quantities of tobacco, according to Fuller. For a number of years the area was called "Capt. Benjamin Greene's Bridge."
Tobacco Ben
According to Henry Rousmaniere's 1859 "Letters about the Pawtuxet," Greene was a captain in the colonial forces in the 17th and early 18th centuries. He had a tannery near the bridge and had married Susanna, daughter of Randall Holden, one of the founders of Warwick. Rousmaniere tells us that, "During a high freshet in the Pawtuxet river it is said he saved his wife by taking her from the house in a boat. He soon after took that house to pieces and removed it to a more elevated location." Captain Benjamin Greene gave his land and homestead to his grandson, Benjamin Arnold.
Arnold's Bridge
The bridge eventually was called "Arnold's bridge". It became especially well known as an important area when Henry Arnold, son of Benjamin, kept a "most noted public house" or tavern there. He became even more famous for his mills when he acquired the Mumford holdings. Gideon Mumford owned land and water rights in the village in 1800. Mumford, according to Fuller, was drowned in teh river near his house and Henry Arnold, along with one of his brothers, Dutee Arnold, purchased Mumford's land and water power rights. The Arnold's erected a saw and grist mill along the river in 1810. Later, Dutee Arnold's son, Horatio, erected another mill and "carried on wool carding and cotton spinning...This building was also used...for the manufacture of coarse woolen cloth..."
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Warwick’s
Villages & Historic Places
By Don D’Amato
Knight Estate
Today, the Rhode Island Mall and the Community College of Rhode Island
occupy much of what was once the farm of the Knight family, the owners
of the Pontiac Mills and many of the most productive textile
manufacturing mills in the United States. These buildings and the
modern highway that is East Avenue today is a far cry from the "Knight
farm" that occupied the site during the late nineteenth century and the
first half of the twentieth century.
The change is so great and overwhelming that even those who used the
old East Avenue as a regular pathway have to pause to remember that
this section of busy road, with its huge brick and cement stores and
modern campus, was once a charming rural countryside. Automobiles,
lined row after row in black topped parking lots at the mall and the
Community College, have replaced prize short horn cattle in open
pasture land. Red barns, hay fields, a half mile of track for trotting
horses, and the beauty of a country setting are but a pleasant memory.
Looking back to earlier decades brings many fond memories of the way it
used to be. The "Knight farm" once covered over 500 acres and extended
along the Pawtuxet River beyond the present Mall, along Greenwich
Avenue, then down Tollgate Road and Commonwealth Ave. The large open
tracts of land are gone, but the magnificent house and many of the farm
buildings remain. From the highway, the Knight's house, and the tall
shingle style water tower that stands behind it, can still be seen.
The story of the land, the buildings on it, and the changes in their
use is comparable to the story of the growth and changes in Warwick
from the 17th to the 20th century. The land changed in ownership from
the rural farmlands of some of Warwick's early proprietors, to the
early industrialists, to the flamboyant and politically powerful
Sprague family, and then to the prominent and wealthy Knights.
It was the Knights who owned the Pontiac Mills as well as the mills at
Natick and Riverpoint and who were responsible for so much of the
paternalism which dominated these villages. The Knight Estate of East
Avenue was a symbol of the wealth and power of this family which
dominated for such a long period.
The story of the Knight Estate and the impact on Warwick then and now, will be continued.
This beautiful home, once owned by the Knights, now provides housing
for the president of the Community College of Rhode Island. It is
located on the once significant “gentleman’s farm.”
Photo Don D’Amato (1991)
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In 1875, when Oliver Payson Fuller wrote his excellent, informative History of Warwick, he commented, "To the east of Pontiac, a couple of miles on the Stonington railroad, a thriving little village has sprung up with the past ten years, in connection with the establishment of a new branch of industry."
He was referring to Hill's Grove, an area that was then becoming important as the home of the Rhode Island Malleable Iron Works, established by Thomas Jefferson Hill in 1867. During the next century, Hill's Grove would be changed to Hillsgrove and became more famous for the Elizabeth Mill (1875) and the State Airport (1929 31).
Today it is at the center of Warwick's fast developing industrial area.
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There are very few places in America that can make claim to the charm, uniqueness and heritage that can be found in the village of Pawtuxet. Hazel Wade Kennedy and Scott Avedisian, in their The Walking tour of Historic Pawtuxet Village. (1999), noted that, “Whether walking along historic Post Road or strolling through Pawtuxet Park, visitors will easily feel the Village’s sense of pride.
They were, of course correct as Pawtuxet is one of the most attractive villages in New England. It is unique in the fact that one section of the village is in Cranston and the other in Warwick. Unlike other Warwick villages, it is situated in an area away from the 19th century mill sites and 20th century major arteries of trade and traffic. Thanks to its location and a number of historically minded citizens, much of Pawtuxet exudes the charm and serenity of an early 19th century village. To make it even more special, Pawtuxwet has a number of fine Colonial dwellings and significant historical sites.
The picturesque sign at the bridge today, which simply states "Pawtuxet River-one of the bounds of Providence mentioned in the Indian deed", depicts a rather pleasant scene of Roger Williams being greeted by the Indians. The history surrounding the early 17th century settlement, however, tells us that the early years were far from serene. From the beginning of its long history, Pawtuxet was rife with controversy, deceit, forgery and even treason.
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by Donald A. D'Amato
A novel about the “otherwise minded” of this country’s smallest state to the time of the end of the American Revolution.
For many years now I have been writing about the Greene family of Warwick and of the history of Rhode Island in the Warwick Beacon and the Cranston Herald articles and in my books. It has become obvious in so many ways that the history of that family and of the state parallel each other and, as readers have suggested, now may be the time for combining the two in an historical novel. While the main characters are fictional, I have used actual episodes in the life of Rhode Islanders who have been significant in the development of the state.
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