Rhode Island History
Pubhshed by Th .. Rhod.. IsbnJ Hrsroncal Volume 46, Number 3 August 1987 <>oc ,..t)', 110 fkn lenl 'If""!, Prrwrdence, Rh Je leland. 01,,",,*. ..nd prmted by a gram trum the SUIl: 01 Rhode Contents 1~land ..nd Pwndence Planuunn~. Ed.....ard D. n,h"I". Gn\"l~ rn " r. KalhlCC'n S Connell, Secretarv 01SU le
Issued Quarterlv ,1 1 l'tn\·ldcn<,: e. Rhude Island , February, Ma~·. AU.(U~I .;ln.! Rhode Island and the American Nation da~§ November. Second fII> K",! Encson pr..,,,I..m Alden.\t And..r""n, VIC.. ptestdent A Day in the Life of Rogel Williams 95 "'tr~ . Ed..-m G fischer. 1'lCe messdem GLENN L AFANTA SI E Nancv fhhel Chu,hcutt fELLOWS tI, THI '>('<.IITY CMI Bnde nbaugh Sydney V lames Amolfle(le F Du wnm,i: Richa rd K, Sh"wm.1n rUlltlL"A H qAH lonarhan Slsk, ..dllm levee BUlclh o, graphICS cdnar Lcon ardl. t.cvm, COPI' t·J,/or Emily Gallard", designer W Paul Yal n , ..dirofl The Rhode bland H ht"t1~al StH;lel)' J~~ u mc~ no lesl'''nslb, ltt y lnr the ul'lm"n ~ ul co mnburors. RHODE ISLAND HISTORY IS pub h~ hc..,J In Pcbrua rv, M ;l y, AU.tU~I , and Nove mbe r b~' the Rhode Island UI'tonu ! St";'l'lY s..'(.".>OJ·clJo,~ fII"'lJo,i:e rald;ll Providence, Rhode bland S-ot: lely me mbers recei ve- each Issue .lS a mem ber..hlr benefit. lnstnunonal 1911 1 by The Rhode Island H I~ltlll(;l1 subsc nprnms 10 RHODE ISLAN D 11iSTORY and the Stll:lcty's quarterly newsletter ~ lS~Ul·S Socrc tv are SI annua lly. lndrvrdual CU P ICS 01cu rre nt and Nck are available from Ihc Socu: ly lor S~ OO ,..\,;tnU SCTl pl ~ ;lnd uther el"re~fII>oJern;eshuulJ be sent 10 lonathan IlHOPI I \ LA~ I> "'UOIlY l l \' ~ OO H-.ll'l l y! Srsk, w Ho r, ;l1 the StIL I.:ly Rhode Island and the American Nation Albert T. K1 yberg Pride am ong the American states, It would seem, benefit o f laser technology or antisep sis at the is a bountiful, natural resource whi ch defies th e drop of a hat-unless they arc of a Q uake r per laws of dcplcuon.State nicknames-the endless suas ion, in which case th ey do it with th eir hats C ui nncss race for first s, biggest , most cnd ur on. T he art of hair sp l i tt i n~ in Rhod e Island wa s mg-c-arc all part of American folklore. We all never raised to a productive enterprise like hair kn ow that virguua IS for lovers, that Nort h Caro cloth man ufac tu re. hu t was left lar~ely as a co t lma is a vale of humi lity be tween (W(I mountains tage mdusuv to be shown off, as it we re, like a of conceit. that Cahforrua is for dreamers, that prize preserve at 3 fai r during those frequen t and Kansas is wher e the West begins. We assoc iate incessant long dist an ce exercises of the lung and Ohio with buckeyes, Connec ticu t With nutmegs larnyx, kn own in Rhod e Island as town meetings. and consti tutions-the land of steady habits, and One might also nhSCTVl' that give n all of the so forth. Texa s seemmglv is affli cted with an ell bla ck crepe Rhode Islanders ha ve bedecked them lar ged go ite r of bra ggadocio, while Rhode Island selves over th e yea rs, th er e must be sumc sec re t sutlers w it h an infcnornv com plex despite its rnil honarres m that corner of the texti le ind us try. claim to be sole prop rietor o f the Atlannc Ocean. To the doubters, gainsayers, curmudgeons, At times of significan t anruversa nes. how and novitiate devotees of the muse Cho who ever, it IS not unseemly to ta ke stock, to make claim Rhode Island really wasn'e an entity until assessments, to observe crrcu rnspcc tlv, and to the Patent of 1f Ne ..... !cr-<)' bred . AI K I )' bc r ~ came to Rhode 1~land 101 ueth veat ~I Rhude IslanJ HIMUTl COlI Soclely. hc tea ches 10....101( college and graduate ~tudlc~ 10 OhIO an.! ....h c hl ~n the ~ I al ""s ht~ t or)' m e\'emn~ C'>\J ho('S at the Umversuv 01 While caulul:ulOl: manu"'f1rt~ 10 Ann Arb...r ·~ WIlham L Rhode Island and Providence Collcge_111l~ e~ ' ~ v was OfI!!: 1 Clements Llhrar y. he became a fan of Rhode lvlandces Na nally p resented a, the address at {he S'M;lcty 'S 1 <1 ~ f, annu al tha nael Greene and Oli ver Hazard Perry Nn ..... III hrs twen- mcenng. H3 RHODE ISLAND AND T HE AMER I CAN NAT ION native Narragansetts also a freeman of the whole vestors who might have cast their economic lot count ry- nothing else could explain the ease with this corporation...... ith wh ich he set up a trading post at Wick ford All dangers. internal flaws , and conspiracies or raised goals on Prud ence Island. Rhode Is not wnbstanding, however, Rhode Island survived land- whatever it s reversals in it s natal days of it s first century. At one point or another, every th e seventeent h centu rv-c-bcgan in th e spring of one of th ese aforementioned potential threat s r636 at th e spring of Providence. It is this begin materialized and challenged its existence (some nin g tha t we observe now three and one-half cen times more than once) and were overcome. The turies later. boundaries betwee n Rhode Island, Massachu Although my ma in th rust dea ls with Rhode setts, and Connec ticut were resolved in Rhode Island's contribution to th e Ame rican nation , and Island's favor. Its lac k of standing as part of the IS not a review of the historical turning poin ts of British Empire was corrected , not once, but three our state's history, nonetheless some attention times. Rhode Island emerged with enormous m needs to be pard to the incredible durabihty of dependent status. virtually a free and indepen thi s comrnunuv, this most unusual of soci al con dent republic, with guarantees and protec tio ns trac ts, the "lively experiment" whic h was a long particul arly in the area of rehgrous liberty that shut wager III the su rvival sweepslak es of the were pract ically unheard of anywhere else in the founding of American colo mcs . old, or new, world s. Although the mainland sett le That we are here ,~o years later is amazing ments were burned to the ground Juring King enough. never mind the shape we're in. Nu one Philip's War, the colonis ts rebuilt. And th e in thought Rhode Island wou ld survive as an entity. stab ility ste mming from a lack of a central, Even the ong ma l settle rs them selves were not powe rful government, as opposed to a loose asso really ce rtain about survival; the mos t optimism cia tion of indepe ndent towns, was eventually they could muster is expressed in the motto, rectified. "Hope." Rhode Island was a maverick interloper Massachusetts and Connecticut III their lodged between Connecticut and Massachusetts smug ce mtudc that they each were ordained by Bay, buffered somew hat by Massachusetts' cli God to be a beacon on a hill, to lead both the old em vassal, th e Plymouth Colony. Its existence and new world s to a righteous order, proclaimed challenged immediately by Massachusetts and th e advent of th e New England way-a model for Connec ticu t, and without standing or portfolio conducting community life. However, mor e of before the Crow n and Parliament, Rhode Island the attributes of the Rhode Island way of doing had to worr y that William s's delica te diplomacy things became the "America n way" than th ose with th e nati ves would not be upset by th e land of her siste r colonies. Som e of Rhode Island's in hungry members of the early commu ni ty hk e feriority complex may be laid to the campaign of William Harr is, who had a generous view of the ridicul e and vili ficatio n waged by her neighbors. upper reaches of the Pawtuxet River, Providence's Recent scholarship suggests th at in spite of this western bou ndary. If all this was not enough, the scorn and derision Rhode Island was probab ly very nat ure of the earliest settlers was to put it more of a part of than apart from New England mildly: unsc nhng. Fiercel y independent. sus than might have been previously appreciated. picious and hostile to au tho rity, possessed by th e Ait er all, argues Bruce Daniels, if Rhode Island period 's full repertoire of religious nostrums, this were truly so different from th e other New En was hard ly th e group one wou ld bet on to make gland colonies it would not have been much of a the comprom ises and accommodations necessary threat to th em , but because Rhode Island was not to foun ding a harmonious com munity. In the so different and because "Rhode Islandism " midst of all th e exte rna l threats to th e colony 's that is, religious toleration and participatory existence, the barely contained, perpetual. inter democracy- could be so att ractive, yes even se nal turmoil wou ld have wamed off potential in- duc tive, to ne .....come rs in Co nnecticut and Mas- 84 RUODE I"LAND AND TIiE. AME.RI CAN NATION sachusetts, these colonies worried that their pressed his msrght best in a letter to the town of inhabitants might be inclined to follow the prac Providence likening the community to a sh ip. tices of the Narragansett Country. This probably The captain has the nalu to summon passengers exp lains why the campaign to stamp out Rhode and crew alike to perform duties to keep the shi p Island was so intense. afloat in a storm and on course. But the captain, Strictly from a point of economic jealousy, wrote Williams, has no right to compel the pas however, Massachusetts and Connecticut belat sengers' attendance at ship's prayers. Be they edly recognized what a true garden of New En Protestant, Papist, Turk, or Jew, Williams saw no gland was to be had in the Narragansett Country. community need to subiect individuals to a reli While the Puritans in the neighboring colonies gious experience which goes against their tradi couldn't stomach Roger Williams's notions of tions or consciences. soul liberty, appa rently they had litt le difficulty Williams was not alone in this VICW. It was getting down the beef and mutton produced here. sha red by all the Rhode Island fou nde rs: Anne Car l Bridenbaughlikens It to the instance of Hutchinson, William Coddington, lohn Clarke, neighborly jealousy found in the Old Testament Samuel Gorton, and William Hams. It was part of the Bible, the envy for Naboth's meadow. ver of the Patent, part of the Portsmouth compact, razzano in 1,14 had been the first to recognize the great charter from C harles II. It was the cen the potential of the mild climate of Narragansett tral community tenet. Thus it was in 16H that Bay, the potential fruitfulness of the hay Islands Rhode Island's first governor, Benedict Arnold, and abutting mainland. It was because of this ag could reply to Massachusetts' demand that the ricultural adva ntage that the first Rhode Island Quakers in Rhode Island be driven away, "we ers survived. They didn't make their livi ng going have no law amongst us whe reby to punish any door-to-door selling religious pamphlets; they for expressing their own views of religion." Thus, were farmers and cattle raisers. Rhode Island's it was not rust a radi cal notion of Roger Williams, survival hung on nature's bounty. It became a gar but the policy of the colony to respect the "soul den of farms and a place of great trade. liberty" III all comers and to keep a wall of sepa Not all of this was "provident ial circum ration between the affairs of government and the stance," however. One of the reasons for Rhode funcriorung of religious bodies. This was Rhode Island's prosperity stemmed directly from its Island's earliest and perhaps the must import ant principles of religious liberty When Q uakers and contribu t ion to ou r nat ion . Jews were turned away from other co lonies, they Some historians have sought to deny Rhode were welcomed here. Both of these groups had Island this honor. They argue that the policy extensive trading contacts with their co-religion of Rhode Island was unique in its seventeenth ists in England, Europe, and South America. Reli century context, that it was unintluenrial beyond gious liberty in Rhode Island provided an avenue its time and boundaries. Historians of the drafters to economic independence; toleration paid divi of the United States Constitution have pointed dends in business advantage. Libert y of con out that whereas Williams sought to preserve the scie nce opened paths to a libe ral commerce. purity of religion from corruptio n hy the state, Rhode Island's example of religious liberty, of Th omas leffcrson was conce rned th at chu rch in the sepa ration of church from sta te, its toleration terference cou ld co rrupt the state. Our own in of difference, its tradition of respect for an indi vestigations satisfy us that Rhode Islandism was vidual's right to practice different religious ac not lust to the American tradition in the inter tions is a rnaior contribution to a fundamental vening century. Provisions for religious liberty in American tradition. To he sure, it was not always the charter of Carolina were granted by King done here without compromise, lapse , or insin Charles II two years after the Rhode Island char ceri ty, but neither has the record nationwide ter. The wording of the Rhode Island charter been unblemished. Perha ps Roger Williams ex - appea rs in documents Issued by co lonia l propnc- 8S R IIODE ISLAND AND T HE AMERI CAN NATION (, ~ 'jt .. ~1 1 1tfr:llD!!I \ 11- __.1..._ .. ,"_I-~ . ~ K ~ __ ...... r :l'I"""ll,o " 'G" _ '_-I- __.}-_ ~_ ...... _" _ _ .~ ..r "" ~' .... '. - . ,- ...._ - _ ( ~ ,,--.. ':q!.oo "- -.,,. ,- t.::: .._ ., .' ''-''.. f • ..:.., _.r-_.,_" ..~ ~ ~ ,....., ... _\ 1;_ .. I ...... ,....-• • '....1..- .. _. ,," .~ 4.'_ ". "'."...... p,.tt_ I .. .;. '" " •__ ro- , 'l.,'_"''''''_•• ~ ' .. ' ..' .._ t .... _ Ilf-o. .t".. _ .01 ~ .0:.-..( \ " .,~...... - • • \ ~..,. _' f.4~_ _ w ~ ..._ .~.. ..._ ~ __ .._...... _~rf.... , ~ .. __ ,.... _ • • ...... _ _ .._.... ;. . _. ~ ~.. _ 1 _ _ .. _ .•_ ..' '1_ _ _ ~_ ...""'- .. . . _. " .. , _ .,.. ~ ~ .. ~ ~ __"'__ 04 ._ _ "•• _~ _ _ ·f _ I l _ _ t · ~ _ ...... _ _ . __ _,,_' _ """• •.__.. -.... _ _ ~_ ...... r_ ,. _ ~ 1"__",_,,,,.. .".•_..,__.--- - , ""'"- _,..__ ~_- ._._.,.._ t"""_._, 'J . _ ''-_ ... . _ - ,_'"-f . , ,._,..• - ~-- - - _,~ 1 - ,_ - __ ..-.- 1 1_', t ' '"'I'"" .. \'.- ,.-- ....-.... ,_ , " ..--:f 'f"v P'" __ Ito', ' ~ .. _ 100 ,.... ~ ( .. ,.,1 _ -.,-.. , --- ,_.~-,....p.-. ~ l • ..... ~'w .. f. .. { ' • • _ , _ " '_ '-'" ~. _ -' . _ ----.. -; .:._ _- ~ ~_ __ .. _ .. . - _ _.(. ,,__~ - . . _ .t~- :::J:;,; . ; J '-_-.- _ _ · 1\0., _ _04 ; .. • _ J.. __• • . _ _ - - ~~ ') .- ,.:.- ,- -' "T _ ~ _ \. - - l""..;.~'f.: -... #.~ ,._"' ~ ,. _ ~ -- , ::.- _ _-,.-,_.__ . ~_ _ _ . _ ~ -"_ _.._ ._,.~ -_ ..- -".... . ' ~ ,-_ ~ The principle of religious liberty, so vital to AmeriCll's identity, first found legal expression in Rhode Island's charter of 1663, shown here in part. RIffS Colle ction (RHi Xf 228'1 ). tors: "T he Concession of 1664 of Ne w ler sev," Williams's princip les might even be more impor and the "Concessions of the Proprietor s of Ca ro ta nt now than their Impact on the Cons titution's lina of 1/1 6 ) ." The Fundame ntal Law s of West framer s two centuries ago. Ne w ler sey of 1677 provided " tha t no men , nor A second major area of contribution by Rhode number of men upon earth, hath power or au Islanders to th e American nation is in the visu al thority to rule over men 's consciences in religio us arts, aesthetics-both in fine gra phic arts, and in matters." Similar sentiments arc found in the cra fts ma nship of furn it ure and silver, of com me r Carolina Cha rter of 1661,1, in the Pennsylvania ci al des ign and, particularly, in arch itecture. If Fram e of Government of I ('i82 , Penn's Charter of one of Massachusetts's contributions was to give Privileges of 170 1, and th e Fundame nt al Consti Ame rica a ric h lit erary hentagc-c-t hc writi ngs of tutions of East New ler sey of 168 3. Adams, Alcott, Emerson , Dick inson, Frost , Haw There is no ev idence that Jefferson read Roger thorn e, Longfell ow, Melville, Par kman , and Tho Williams's " Bloudy Ten et of Per secution," but this reau-a veritable feast for th e mind, then Rhode pamphlet and others we re kno wn to John Milt on Island's cont ribution I believe is a feast for the and th e Engli sh Wh ig politica l ph ilosop hers like eye . I know man y w ill take up cudgels for Rhode Algern on Sidney and loh n Lock e wh ose ideas of Island authors like Lovecraft and Perelman and the rights of Englishme n influe nced Jeffer son and w ill not e that Edith Wh arto n, Henr y James, and Madison . Even more to th e point, the issue of man y ot hers prom inent in the field of American church and sta te being kept at arms length is as letters, such as Ezra Sti les and Bisho p Berkeley, current as the dail y newspaper. Public pro no unce spent creati ve periods at Newport , but I don't see ments by reli giou s groups today and prominent Rhode Island's contribution to Am eri can litera clergy comment ing on issues rangi ng from right tun: and intellectual life as exte ns ive, or im por to life, prayer in th e schools, the wi thho lding of ta nt, as the contributions of Gi lbert St uart or th e medical procedures, and religious sym bols on nine tee nth-cent ury landscap e painters. Indeed, pu bli c pro perty are some of th e key matter s of I would argue that the work of such artists as o ur time. Rhode Island's comme moration of Roger Alvan Fisher, Fitz Hugh Lan e, George Cha mplin 86 Il.Ht)DE I SLAND AND THE AM E RI C AN N AT IO N Mason, lohn Frederick Kensett, Martin Johnson range of work from Peter Harrison's Brick Mar Headc. John La Pargc, Thomas Worthington whit ket, Touro Synagogue. and Redwood Library to rregc, Alfred Th ompson Brichcr, William Trost McKim, Mead and White 's Newport and Na rra Richards, and others who created a Na rragansett gansett Casi nos or th e Rhode Island State House: Bay collecti on is nearl y as important as th e Hud The more than ten th ousand other structures in son River School of landscape artists. Rhode Island already placed on th e Nati onal Reg Furthermore, th e Newport furniture crafts ister of Historic Places-structures that span th e manship of the Townsend and Goddard families, economic spec trum from humble m ill cottages th e needlework school of Sarah Rogers and Mar y to palatial mansions-c-anese to th e range and rich Balch, th e silverwa re output of Sam uel Casey, ness of Rhode Island's archi tec tura l legacy. Our Sam uel Vernon, th e d ocks of Wilham Claggett lit erature is that of line not verse, th e visual ex and Ne hem iah Dodge place Rhode Island in the pression in brick and stone, not book and stor y. first rank of Amencan decorative arts. Few areas The growth of th e Gor ham Manufacturing 01the co unt ry have works whose prices ha ..... e Com pany to be th e largest produ cer of silverware held up so well or whose styles have been re in the co untry by the end of the ni netee nth cen produced so widely. tu ry as well as the tlounsh ing Ilf th e rewelrv in In American architecture, where else in th e dus try here IS but an extens ion of this conm bu nation, in one place can you exami ne the full tion. Aided and abetted hy one of th e best design schools in the co unt ry, Rhode Island cont inues to ! be a center for all sorts of artistic and design I acti vities far out of proportion to it s size and resources. More sobering, perhaps, has been Rhode Is land 's contribution to th e nat ion 's human misery. If ou r commitment to to leration and sense of eye contributed to higher. soaring, and uplifting as pect s of American life. these cont ributions were bala nced by Rhode Island's participation in the African slave trade and excesses that grew out of the creanon of the American factory system. There is no easy, or offhande d, way to acco unt for Rhode Island's con trib ution to the slave trade. At its peak, yo percent of all th e slaves brought to America were carried in Rhode Island vesse ls. The American slave trade and the Rhude Island participatio n in that act ivity were synonymous, one and the same . Because of the slave trade, one might say that Rhode Island's cont ribut ion to the world of American professional Sports, to Ameri can music, to the pre- Civil War Southern econ omy was great and substantial, but that is a bit like saying that th e Holocaust Improved th e rail system (If Europe. Rhode Islanders engaged 10 These examples of colom a! Rhode Islan d 's iur the slave trade from 1709 to 180 7 ; during this m une and decorative arts Illustrate a tradition of cent ury th ere were 9 H documented voyages ac crahsmansinp of the hlxhest quality. RIHS Col cc unu ng for transpornng lo6, Q 4 African s to th e lecncm (R ill Xl ~ 774 1. West Indies, the Carolinas , and Newport. That 87 R IIOI.)[ I SLAND AN D r u e AMlRI CAN NATION Workers lelJvillg the t'eace Dale Man ufactu ring Company. circa 1905. l'hoto f7 of the Hoxie CoJJeclion. uuux, ~27t) . slave tr adin g, like pn vat ccnng. was engaged in omy, and crea ted a livel ihood for millions. Child because more tra dit ional cargoes and more con labor which persist ed into this cent ury and th e ventiona l pursuits were no t ava ilable to Rhode Is exploi tatio n of wome n and immigran t lahor had landers, due to th e lack of local produ ct s of an y dire effects. For ma ny yea rs universal free educa great quant ity or value , hardly justifies traffick tio n was constrai ned by the pract ice of child la ing in human beings. The slave trade grew out of bor. the factory sys tem's impact on wor ker the West Indian trade, the desire on the African hea lth and safety, on family life, and on democ Coast for Rhode Island ru m, and the nee d in the racy in the nineteenth century was also severe. west Indies lor inexpensive labor. Recent st udies, however, suggest th at some The story of Rhode Island and the factory reasonable balance is necessary in assessing the sys tem has a much less suuste r cast. The first costs and benefits in human and ma terial terms. successful orgaruzanon of labor, capital, and rna Rhode Islanders-men, women, and children chmery on the banks of the Blackstone at Paw workmg the early mills were not much worse off tucket Falls was another maier comnbunon to than their counterparts working four teen or fif American life. Factory-made products in myriad teen hours en a family farm. Early Rhode Island form saved labor, provided case, built the econ- mill housing was substantially built, village 88 e u o n e ISLAND AND r n t AMERI CAN NAT ION life-though controlled by th e factory owner in Rubber and Devol l. The Hcrrcshoff Manufactur nearly all respects-was clea ner and healthier ing Company combined both aesthetic design than the cramped and crowded conditions of th e and precision manufacturing. Its contribution to huge sweat shops of the early decades of this cen the nation was keeping the America's Cup out of tury. Occupational hazards in the ea rly mills the hands of Sir Thomas Lipton by producing one were probably no worse than those faced by sea winning cup defender after another. The finn men, soldiers, or construction worke rs. For Rhode was as equally adept at producing steam yachts Island as well as the rest of the nat ion, man ufac and work boa ts as it was launching the graceful turing jobs attracted mi llions of im migrants to sailing yachts wh ose douds of canvas see med to our shores and contributed to a mi x of na tion ali catch all available air ..... hi le snatching the breath ties whose cult ura l benefits far outweighed th e away from all beholders. tea rs and turmoil caused by th e abra sive rub of An inventive spirit of see king solutions to the daily grind. problems im pelled someone like Zachariah Al Rhode Island became Ame rica's first indus tri len to create th e factory mutual insurance sys alized state; it also became th e one that perpetu tem because conventional mar ine and fire ins ur ally had the most diverse ethnic mix. The refu ance companies could not , or wou ld not, adapt to gee tradition begun by Roger Williams and Anne the requ irements of his industrial properties . Fi· Hutchi nson continues to Hispan ic and Southeas t nancial ins titutions of variou s kinds were created Asia n peoples today. Our history is full of in to solve observabl e needs: The Providence Bank stances of petty bias , disc rimination, and big [Fleet] is the nation's third oldest; the Rhode is otr y; but the amazing thing about Rhode Island land Hospital Trust Company lone of the first is that this society works at all. Anoth er contri trust companies in the country! was devised as a bution to Amenca-perhaps leas t measured, let financial service to support the community's alone understood-is that Rhode Islanders have hospital. The Federal Reserve Banking System achieved a viable community co mposed of more W3S largely the work of Rhode lsland Senator than twenty-one mater nationah ty grou ps. Ne lson Aldrich, who saw th e need to stabilize At its peak of manufac tu ring at the turn of the count ry's banks . Othe r Rhode Islanders like this century, Rhode Island's "five indus trial won Katherine Gibbs affected the cle rica l work of the ders of the world"-Cnrliss Steam Engine Com country hy raising sta ndards and consciousness pan y, Gor ham Manufact uring Co mpany (silver of sec reta rial and office workers. Scien ti fic man ware], Nicholson File Company, Brown &. Sharpe ageme nt ..... as aided hy th e n rne/motion studies of {machine tools), and th e American Screw Co m Frank B. Gil breth. Such co mmon phenomenon pan y- coul d boast of being the world's largest as th e modern day conve nience store result ed produce r in each of their respective indus tries. from the imagination and drive of Cu mbe rland This greatness rested on seve ral factors: a pre Farm 's Hascorcs Famil y. Hasbrc's G.1. Joe toys cocious entry into each of these fields, a crucial and Mr. Potato Head are household familiars inventive advantage, a venturesome spirit of risk across the country. Even disasters and dying in taking, and a dedication to precision manufactur dusrnes under the spell of Rhode Island kno w• ing and sincere product value. Rhode Island prod how were transformed mm the country's first ucts swept up prizes and meda ls at 311 the maier conglomerate, Royal Little's Textron. Imagina national and international tu de fairs from 1876 t ion, ingenuity, and living by one 's wits with lim to 1914. In addition to the above -mentioned ned resources have been the basis for many Rhode gian ts . Rhode Island factories ere leaders in the Island success stories and have served as a model manufact ure of stoves [Barstc l, fire safety equip- for othe rs. ment (Grinnellj, latex paint [Gun a Percha ], fas Less self-serving and less motivated by eco teners [Bostitch], pipes and valves for municipal nomic advantage has been Rhode Island's record water sys tems (B IFJ, and rubber product s (U.S. of patri oti sm in our nation 's wa rs. As a colony, R9 Kllllll!: I SLAND A N lJ 1 11 1: AMlRI CAN NATI ON General Nathanael Greene (1742- 1786} from an Oliver Haz ard Perry ( 17 8~ - 18 r 9 }, Engraved by cn j:ra \'i n j: based on the pailltlllg b v C W. Peale, J. R. Forrest from th e ongmal by J. \V. Ja rvis. RillS RIHS Collection (RH, Xl 1 ~ 6 )). Collection (RH l X ) S198 ), Rhode Island earned J reputation as a nest of pri Mud Island was raked hy cannon shot from all vateers. In the Revolut ion some of John Brown 's sides unt il, in th e words of Thomas Paine,"they pracuces may have seemed motivated by self had nothing left wit h which to cover th emselves, interest . There is no doubt, however, that his save their glory." Trenton and Princeto n were part wartime activities would haw put him at the end of Rhude Island 's laurels. Its forces depicted, the of a Bnusb rope. Rhode Island Kat behind-somc' General Assembly raised a complement of freed say m front oi-the Revolution in the purcha se blacks who fough t at Newport and III New York 01 war bonds and ce ruficares. Thc exploits of rn state until destroyed in ambush. Olney's Second dividuals like Nathanael and Christophe r Greene, Rhode Islanders withstood a galling battle of Nic holas Cooke, Silas Talbot, Simeon Thayer, Springfield, New Jersey, and administered a final Steph en Olney, and Wilham Barton were truly he stroke at Yorktown, Not surprisingly th e grave rOI C, Nathanael Greene served alongsidc, wa shm g yard at williamsburg's Governor's palace looks ton from th e first. He liberated th e Southern colo like a branch office of th e North Burial Ground. rues of Carolma and Ceo rgra and re-es tabli shed In the naval war, hotheads like Silas Talbot pi civil government. C hristopher Greene and the loted flaming su icide sloops into the midst of First Regiment of Rhod e Islanders braved th e win th e British fleet. United States marines were first tcr cam paign olga mst Quebec, and returned from landed from the decks of th e U.S.S. Prov idence Hntish Jails to stymie the Royal Navy's attack nn [loh n Brown's Kat y ), Philadelphia up the Delaware, Their little fort on ln the War of I H11 the Yank ee of Bristol cap- YO MH OU l I S LAND A N ll TH.I:. A M.lMICAN NATION tured nearly fifty ene my prizes, while Oliver Haz trier " and th en .1 "vital war zone ." PT boat and ard Perr y and his Rhode Island crews carved a ant iaircraft centers and fucl and ammunition fleet out of the forests of western Pennsylvania sto rage depots were added to th e in stallations at and sallied out to destroy veterans who had Fort Adams, the Naval War College, and the tor humbled Napoleon ."We have met th e enemy, and pedo firing range at Goat hiand. Protec tive gun they arc ours: two ShiPS, two brigs, one schooner, emplacements with ove rlapping fields of fire and nne sloop," he wrote to hIS army counter were established at Littl e Co mpto n and Point Ju part, General William Henry Harri son . Even in dith. Antisubmarine net s were stre tched across the days before elec tricity, th is news "electrified" the entrances to the bay. Quonse t Point and DaVIS the country. Perry 's brother, Matthew C. Perry, vill e were transformed from a minor summer later opened Japan for the u.s. lust as Captain camp for rese rvists to the largest mi litary/i n Robert Gray had ope ned Oregon for claim and dustrial port on the East Coast, with railroads, trad e by discovering the Columbia River. high ways, hangars. piers, run ways, and a hos t of In the Civ il War, mo re than twenty-five thou support facilities. Davisville factories produced sand Rhode Islanders volunteered in the army the "Quonset Hut ," not one of Rhode Island's and navy of the Union, making it unnecessary to most disnnguis hed architectural forms, but cer resort to J draft . Rhode Islanders served in every ta inl y ItS most widely distribut ed. conceivable area of the war. While military histo Elsewhere, at Cbopnust Hil I, highly sens r rians continue to argue over the relative merits of nve, powerful radio receivers were built so well Ge neral Ambrose Burnside's contributions, there th at they reportedly picked up th e transmission... are none who ques tion th e magnitude of those between Rommel's tank com manders in th e des rendered by th e Providence Marine Corps of Ar ert Ilf North Africa. That Rhode Island continues tillery. From the Benefit Street Armory of this to celebrate VI Day is not so surpnsmg to th ose privatel y organized unit came drill training that who lived through wartime Rhode Island or have influenced most of th e key New England arril read abou t wha t went on through Korea and Viet lery batterie s. Known as th e "Mot her of Bat nam Even in th e latest event s of Lebanon and teries," the Providence Mar ine Corps of Artiller y Grenada, Rhode Island suffered mor e casualties produced leadership for all of th e artillery units proportionately than any other state, from Rhode Island . More important, however, Finally, however, Rhode Island 's greatest con was the rapid fire drill perfected by the unit, mbution to th e Ameri can nation may he in the which gave the Union army a firepower punch. example it has set in the arduous task of over No one has yet measur ed th e impact of the cruel com ing adversity. In its history over the last three irony at Gettysburg, when th e lead elements of and on e-half cent uries, dealing with challenges, Pickett's attack ing force hit the one section 01 overcoming adversity, and survival arc a central th e Union line th at been trained to load and fire thread, if not the cnuca l strain, as I sec it, to th e twi ce as last as all the other units. In other Civil Rhode Island sto ry. I also happen to think that War related developments, th e Builders' Iron th e th eme of "the underdog beating th e odds" is Foundry became th e country 's thi rd largest pro cent ral to what is uanspmng in Rhode Island to ducer of heavy guns, and th e huge gear required day. It is Indeed n sk y for a stu dent of history to to turn th e turret of th e ironclad M Onitor was become a pundit or forecaster, but ann iversaries cast at Providence's Cor liss Engine Works. like th e \ votb are an occasion for verdict s of hIS In the Spanish-American War and World War I, tory, or surnmmg up, and mak ing sense of the Rhode Islanders responded. With signifi can t par· current scene . And, since "risk" itself is part of ricipauon In th e so-called Yank ee Divi sion . Per m y m int, I would like to vent ure the foll owing haps, however, it was World War II that saw some conclusio n. of Rhode Island 's grea tes t patriot ic contrib utions. Rhode Island seems poised. perhaps already Narragansett Bay first became a "m ilitary dis- entered, on a new era 01 prospcn tv and opti mism 9 1 RHUDE. I'i LAND AN I) r u e AME.k ICAN NAT iON -cone perhaps unparalleled since the mid·1920S. made a transition to a pos rmanutacrun ng econ Rhode Island see ms fina lly to have emerged fro m omy and ItS labor force iro m industry to the scr a fifty-year economic decline and sragnanon vice sector. Health ca rl', education, government, caused by the departure of ItS economic main and tourism arc the state's largest employers, fol stay-textile manufactunng-e-and for that ma t lowed by financial se rvice ins titutions and re ter, much of the rest of us once impressive manu ta ilers. The anticipated economic havoc caused facturing base , the rubber industry and machine by the partial pullout of the naval fleet in 1 9 7 ~ tools, foundr y work, and steam engine manufac was alleviated by the growth in to urism . Rhode ture. Some of this story of decli ne IS complicated Island Junior College , wit h only five hund red stu and made murky by exte rnal nat ional and inter dents in 194 5, has become the Community Col na tional events like th e Depression of th e 1910S lege of Rhod e Island with an enrollment of twelve and World War II. Some of It was affected by re th ou sand in I lJ 8S. Simi lar cha nges arc refle ct ed ~ i nnal developments in New England. However, at Bryant College , Roger Will iam s College, and we arc sufficie ntly dist ant from th e 1920Sand Rhod e Island College. Research and developme nt 19l0S to be able to repor t certain fac ts that see m prog rams suc h as the Brow n Medi cal School and Incontrovertible . the oceanog ra phic progra ms at the Uni ver sity of By my reckoning 10 1941 there we re ap proxi Rhode Island account for sigrufic am aspects of ma tely twenty-on e man ufact un ng firms in Rhode adva nced research in ou r state. Island that employed o ne thousand or more work The age of Rhode [slanders exceeds the na ers and forty-nine others that employed at least tional average. Many manufacturing workers laid five hundred. Forty years later. in 11)81 , only two ott when the mills closed nev er took new iobs . of the former remained; the other ni net een had they retired. For many years-until the 1980s closed, moved away, or disappeared. Of the forty Rhode Island suffered out-migration of ItS young. rune smaller firms, only seven we re left in Rhode who sough t iob opponuruucs unavailable m Island, and all of these su rvi vors were owned by their nat ive state . com panies th at we re directed and man aged from In th e past five yea rs, however, the dec line beyo nd the sta te 's bo rders. Of co urse in th e inter begun in the 1920S has halted and been reversed. veili ng forty years some Rhod e Island com panies T he sta te 's figures for unem ploym ent ar e now to n small to be counted in 1941 grew larger: A. T. am ong th e lowest in the country, though still Cross and Hasbro, for exam ple. Others, like Elec trailing other states in th e region. Real es tate tr ic Buat, moved into th e sta te. But by an y mea property values have soa red. Industries lik e to ur sure, th e number of large manufacturing firms in ism, employing more th an seventee n th ou sand Rhode Island decl in ed d ramatically during th is workers, have grow n year afte r yea r. Protect s like period. Now, 1941 IS a good year to use as a base the Ca pi ta l Ce nter and waterfront redevelopmen t to shew this dramatic decline in manufacturing. efforts-the most rece nt in a long se ries of tu rn It is a neutral yea r: most of the wea k textile firms around attempts dating to the rmd- rcvos-c-acru had already turned up their toes in the 19 30S, ally seem to he ab le to meet expectations . and the artificial growth Rhode Island's economy Rhode Island's comeback efforts may have would eniov from wartime manufacturing had dements th at other areas of the country can not rea lly hit ib stride. learn from, whether they be "ru st belt" or "sun Loo king back over these dec ades of enor belt." The cautionary word " may" has to be em mous decline 10 mater man ufacturing, se veral ployed because Capital Center and the waterfro nt observations are available. In Providen ce. whe re arc far from es tablished successes. Ca ution needs once th e largest em ployers we re factories, tod ay also to be expressed as to whether efforts to save they arc Rhod e Island Hospi ta l, Brown Univer Narragansett Bay, or to plan carefully for th e land sity, and th e sta te governme nt. Rhode Island ha s usc of our rural towns, or efforts to rescue ou r r RHOll[ '''LAND ANI) THE. AMilll CAN NATJO,," Festivals and parades have helped immigrants remember their roots while iniorming theu {l'/lOW clll zcns of disnnctive cultural backsrounds. A St. fohn the BlljJlJ\1 parade filled Clinton SUccI. WflfJIJ sock et. nn a rmny dar ITJ 1906. (Rill Xl 4197). aquifer from hazardous waste and build proper Rhude Islanders " cannot browse upon the past disposal facrhries Will hi: succcs..ful. In short, and become fat. \Vt: cannot live on inherited we 're not rhere yet . wealth, mhcnted traditions, mhcrned mcmones Rhode Isla nders sul l need to develop a more when WI.' should be gc mng together to crea te positive im age of themsel ves and a confidence In new wealth, to es tablish ne w tradmons and m cm their own abi liues. Con nnued efforts to rid the ones which posrcr it v may cheri sh." stare of organized crime intluencc and political Tht' lesson s of hi story exe m plified by th ose corruption will contrib ute positivel y to Rhode Is Rhod e Islan der s III the seven teen th century who land's image . History books that ignore these co nvened the bay Isla nds IIl W lu sh breeding pens blots on our record In the las t fifty years do no for sheep. or who exploncd trad ing opponuruues service . and only breed cynicism. Another maim III t he West Indies or Chma in the eighteenth, or step that needs to be taken before we ca n have a who nskcd their shi ppi ng profits to bu ild facto truly successful co m m uni ty, thou gh , is large ries in the ninet eenth art' the lessons of da ring sca le risk-tak in g by those who ha ve th e financial and en te rprise. They were nut ac ts of reckless res ources to invest III Rhode Island and attract ne ss or whim, but of in sight and ingenuity. I St't' new job -producing enterprises. A co m binat ion of ev ide nce that Rhode Islanders today still posses." Iairuhcan edness, suspicions about potential in that analyt ica l abil uv an d irnagmanon. The wis side r advantage. an d lus t old fashi on ed conserva do m to preserve essent ial environ ments is one tism doomed the Greenhouse Compact, hut the clue that Rhode Islanders have not lost the keen need fur adventurous risk-taking IS as tru e today sense of the mind's eye. Turning down an 011 re as It was in 191 ~ when Presid ent Willi am H.P, fine ry o n lam est own Island and organizing a Faunce o f Brown University obse rved that we Coastal Resources Man agement Counc il is one 9J • RlIOO!. ISLAND AND T ilE AMER ICAN NAT ION indication of this commitment; rejecti ng a nu tempest or other dange rs." He reported going into clear power plant in Charlestown is another. The the interior of the country and finding it "suitable refusal to sacrifice the state's central drinking for every kind of culuvanon-c-grain. wine, or oil. " water source to serve a highway is a thi rd. And He descnbed friendly and generous inhabitants. preserving the best of our built environment with The land was rich in foodstuffs,"so fertile that a College Hill histone district IS yet a fourth proof any kind of seed would produce excellent crops." of this continuing commitment. He noted the pleasant hills on either side of To some observers all of these developments the bay,"with many streams of clear water flow would see m to be steps to thwart "progress." This ing from the high land into th e sea." Verrazzano progress , however. in each case was a sna re and a called the harbor "RefugIO,"the refuge. A cent ury delusion that would have resulted in a loss of real later It became safe waters for people dri ven by qu ality of life. It is reassuring to note that while storms over religion. His vision of a place of trade Rhode Islanders rejected false advancement, th ey and for cult ivation is a wonhy one for toda y, as it also pursued forward decision making, notably was in 1524. His notion of bein g produ ctive and the Ca pital Center and the river rel ocation . enterprising with th e resources give n us [either Today, you see, as in Rhode Island's beginning, by nature's bounty or human legacy] is a ti mely the question is one of vis ion- not th at of a refuge reminder today- a final contribut ion from crea ted by Roger Williams (or those oppressed (or Rhode Island to the American nation. It is a conscience sake, but the- vision of the first en lesson learned by a community that has consis terpriser to step foot on our shores, Giovanni da tently opened its arms and heart to others and Verrazzano. For the kmgof France he descnbcd a has been repaid, In turn, by the best ideas of free great bay with five small Islands in it :"any large unfe ttered minds. Living by our wits and over fleer could ride safely among them without fear oj coming adversity is the Rhode Island way. 9-1 A Day in the Life of Roger Williams Glenn W. LaFantasie At the outset I should probably confess that this hi m to espouse th e princi ples {If religious to lera essay is overly ambitious. Any attem pt to recon tion and th e separa tion of church and state.1 str uct a Jay in the life of Roger Williams seems But what about th e man hi msel f? Wh at about doomed from the very start. Althou gh Rhode is the details of Will iams's personality and his per' landers ho nor Will iams as a founding fathe r, and sonal Hfe t What do we know about the contours though many Americans identify him as th is na of Williams's human temperament, about how he tion 's earliest proponent of religious freedom, we spent his time when he was not ba nhng Pun act ua lly know very little about him and even less tans in Boston or wnnng treatises In defense about how he lived from day [0 day. Historians of religio us tole ration! If we claim to know and biographers have satisfied themselves with Roger Williams th e founding father of Rhode chronicling Williams's most famous accomplish Island. what can we say about Williams th e ments and with analyzing his most profound father and husband or williams the fanner and Ideas . As a result, we have come to learn a great husbandman! deal about the events surrounding his banish " Not much" is the answer given most oft en ment from Massachusetts Bay in 16]6, his frie nd by Williams's biographers. Altbougb more brogra ship with the Na rraganscu Indi ans, and the Puri phil'Sof him have been wnnen than of any other tan dimensions of his ind ividual piety that led American figure horn before Ber uami n Franklin, Gk nn W. Laramasre, the SOClety's cdnor of pubhcatnms Ch urch and the SI 95 A DA¥ I N T HI Lif t. O f a o c e e w ILL IA M -, these wo rk s generally skun over the human Iac pcrcepuons ot what ....'C believe the physical at ets of his hfc that woul d help us to grasp the mbutcs 01 our true heroes should be.' 810"-; gleam o f his charac ter or the depths of h is human raphcrs and tither scholars thus have been forced ity. The fau lt , however, docs not rest enurelv on to descri be Williams's life and ti mes ..... ithout his biographers ' shoulders . As James D. Kn owlc.., having the faintest idea of h e, physical ap pea r Wil liam..'s fir st biographer. pointed (J ut in IS'4: ance or even lus physica l presence d uring so me " In m y further searc h for mtonnauon, I SOUll crucial moments in hi s ca reer.' N o wonder. th en , di scovered , that m an y persons, well acq uai nted th at these scholarly labors h,IVC so me times re with ou r early history, kne w very little of Roger sembled the stumblmgs o f befudd led hun ters try William ... In the books , I found alm ost every im 1Il~ to tr ack a shadow through an un ch arted po nant fact . concerning him, stated d ifferently. I wilderness. ....·as tlbh~ed to gather hints from disconnected So It IS wit h a grave appreciation of the pit ' documents. and to reconcile contradictory asscr falls and penls that have bedeviled William s's hi lions, and III fine, my la bor ottcn resembled that ographcrs in the past that I say that my d fort to 01 the m iller . who SIltS large masses of sa nd . to reconstr uct a day in hIS Ilk IS overly ambitious. I obtai n a few pa rticles 01gold./I) cannot describe with cc m rudc a typi ca l day III Wh at Know les was for ced to admit was t hat th e life of Rho de Island 's founding father or eve n the surviving doc ume nta ry record of Williams 's portray With exactit ude one pa mcul ar day III h is life is frusnaunglv sparse and incomplete. Al life from the extant docu men ts and records. With though numer ous do cuments have come to It,ght less prec ision than I would prefer. and With a since Knowles 's tim e, there ar c st ill grea t gaps conscious tr epi dation th at any h istorian must in williams 's lite !'>lOry that w ill prohably never feel whe n he moves beyond the do main of direct he filled. The gapm~ holes In williams's corrc ev idence, I have attem pted to sketch out ..... hat spondcncc and III other records of early Rhode one Jay in williams's li te might have been'like. Island make It impossible for us to view a com' My proposal to ass.ay a day 111 the life (If plerc pictu re of Wil liam s the man.' Roger Wilh am s could equally we ll ha ve been Othe r sources-or, rather , the lack of th em give n the title:" An Expcn mcnr in Biographical have compo unded the d ifficulty we ha ve III sec Paleontology." Rely ing as one m ust on scatte red in,g him clearly through the pnsm of the past. If references and incom ple te SOUrCl"S , the rccon th e documentary records tell us less than we srruc tion of a day or a seque nce of Jays in WIl· would lik e to know about him, pictorial so urces Iiams's life IS not unlike the work of a paleon tell us absolutely norhmg at a ll. There a rc. for tol ogist who, ha ving discover ed the fossilized ex am ple, no surviving po rtraits fIT sketc hes of remains oj an u nide nt iHahle la w ~on e , uses hrs Williams that ca n help us til know who he wa... knowledge of the geo logical pas t to h vpothcsrzc or what he loo ked hkc. Though romantic images the size, shape, and hving habits (If an entire am of Wil liam ... have hem produced III abundance hy mal from th e ...uli ta rv bone specimen he bas arusts o f va rvmg ta lents, all of these works have foun d. To be sure. t he de tails {If ... uch a rccnn been based on sheer comecru rc or o n the po pular snucuon may nut In l·very Ins tance he precise. 1. la n 1l' ~ [) . Knowles. Memm' <>/ U"XH W,I/wms \ Bu ~ t " n, 'i For exam ple. no wilhams letters have h...en found I", lit H !. XI the pcnod hom the eally ~prml: "I rtq r It , rho: summer nf 1. F", ;lll,·'.lllnl .rccount of th o: h l, 'nry ul Wllh am s 's 1'", . rl'> -t\ - the l"n~nt ~'IP In t he J"<:lIltWn!My record of WII· scmal papcrs s<:o: v.k-nn W. Lal-ant.t-ac "1 .1 1. . <:J~ . , The Co,,,, l l.lm' ·~ luc A~ J rO:Mllt. scholars have been forced to plo: n ' ."I'" ndl'llCt' <>1 ROXI" W,I//<,m l . 1 v"b IH.m"vl:f, NH, tu"cfhn trom vanou, scraps ot cvnlcnce the fact s behind hl~ lonh( um lnxl. I XI\'11 levu til~t ml"wn In England In t fou. ....hen h,' su ccesstullv pro -t. s':e SHim'V S RlJO:I . " An ImlliHy ("" n( O: 101O1:An Alleged cured J pat"m lor the Provldo:nl:O: I'lant.lIl<>n, col" n\' trum P"rtraLlul RUl:l'I \liLlham,." Rh,..I., '~/ 96 A DAY IN THE. L IFE. OF e o c e s W ILLIAM '> Williams's correspondence, I haw Sllu~t to con vey the essence of hi s lite by recons truc ting as full y as I co uld the hi storical context of h is life as he lived It. Somewhat m or e mrc roscopicallv, I ha w at tempted in th is essay til recons truct a day in Will iams's life by drawing upon one letter he wrote to John Win th rop, lr., III lunc I fq\l." To round out my rcconsuucnon. I have also relied 0 0 se veral other pnmarv an d secondary sources that help to reveal stxmficant dues about Wil liams's habits an d beha vior and that provid e us with useful details about what hfc was like III early New Englund. Neve rthe less. m y aim ha s been to use wilham s'slener to Winth rop as m y basic source text. It IS , in m y es timation, a fau ly typical example of the communiques William s sen t to the you nge r John Winthro p dunna the late H'q o~ and throughout the decade ot the If..sos. Ind eed, th e letter itself , which now reposes am ong the Winthrop Papers at the Massachusetts Hi S torical Soc ictv in Boston, is unremarkable an d innocuou s. But its prosa ic qua lity may be lust the ticket we need to transport us hack into the loan Winthrop Ir. (t 60(,- I(,76) frum The Winthrop depths of Roger Willi am s's world so that we may Pape rs, vol. J, 1611 -1 617. Reprinted by petmis glimpse, 10 the Irozcn moments (If the past, some sicn of the Mos sachuseus Historical Society. of the circumstantial details of his lite . Every effort to reconstitute the past - whether don e by pal conrclogist or luographcr-c-can never It wa s cloudy and wet wh en day brok e on he perfectly rendered . The re wi ll al ways be qu es Wednesday, 1\ lu nc [/14 \1 . For Roger Williams, the tions th at the fragmentar y evidence cannot rain was a good o men that promised the likch ans wer. hood of plentiful c rops a t har vest lime . Pro bably In Wil liam s 's case, it has been my desire as the weather kept hi m indoo rs m ost of tbc day, the ed itor of his corresponde nce til examine his allowing him to co llect his thoughts and wnre .1 wriu ngs with the eye (If a biographical paleon repl y ro thc latest batch of letters he had received rologtst . My task, as I de fined it for myself, was from lohn Winthrop, lr. ( I : 2\1 11. O the rwise, urs not sim ply to collect h is letters together, tran im possib le ttl kn ow preci sel y how he occu pied scribe them into clear text s, and explain archaic himself for the remainder of th is rai n y spring da y. and arcane passages in t he footnotes. What I ha w His letter to Winthrop gives us o n ly a few clues tr ied to do is to come to grips with Roger Will iams about h is ac tivities and al m ost no hints about hi m self , to reach an ap preciation for the man and hi s daily routine . the shape of his expcnencc. Out of the co rpus of But o ne fact Imparted in the lett er is stgmfi- 1'0 . The lencr, dated 1\ jun e 11'04", I ~ pnntcd m Lafantacu, Irom thl ~ kiter arc 10 Ihl' t,..hllon and ""111 ht: noted In the C R Vt'. I 1'/0- " 1. AII ..ubscqucnt rdert'n<:t's ,,, an"! quoratum.. It'xt hy r~"t' number... 97 A (JAY IN T HE LIFE O F kO GEk W IL LI AM !> •s • ~ • S.. • ::r ..~ \>.. ':.: ~, ~ O c '" 'u~, .."• fohn H. Cady's map 0/ Rhode Island's cbangmg boundaries in th e !irst years alter its settlement in cludes the Cocumscussoc Trading Pos t established by Roger william s 10 the late J630s. (RHJXj 855J. 98 .. A DAY IN THE LIFE OF R(Il:E-.1I. WI L LI AM" ca nt. Willi ams indicat ed that he wa s writing hi s persistent indebtedness." The year he spent in lines from Cocumscussoc. just north of the moo England obtainmg a parliamentary patent for ern village of Wickford, Rhode Island, where he Providence Plant ations had only pushed him had established .1 small trading post In the late deeper into poverty, for th e colony had failed 10 16305. The ex act location of the po st is not reimbu rse him for his expenses abroad." Upon known, though the matter has aroused so me his return from England . William s almost imme hea ted deba tes among local historians. Most diately turned his attention to reviving his Had likely Will iam s had set u p shop to trade wi th the ing acuvuics at Cocumscussoc. Apparently his Indians to the northeast of Cocumscussoc Brook efforts paid off: in later life he reported that his and close to an inlet that afforded easy access by trading ope ratum earned him a handsome an boat from Narragansett Bay. The extant his torical nual income of about £1 00, far more than he evidence suggests that he erected a rude and could have made as a pansh mnustcr in Puruan Simple structure on the site later occupied by England." Richa rd Smith's trading post, now called "Smith's But there were other reasons Williams spent Castle." seve ral months at a time at Cocumscussoc-c-that Alt hough the lccanon of Will iams's post re had little to do wi th his desire to free himself mains uncertain, there arc a nu mbe r of sources from debt. William s was a very private man who that ca n give us a prett y good idea of what Wil· cherished his solitude and used it profitably for hams's days ..... ere like at Cocumscussoc. We kn o....., spiri tual reflection and renewal." At Cocumscus for instance, that the place itself was remo te, far soc,William s found a place su rrounded by natu re removed from the colony's maier settle me nts at whe re he co uld retreat to pursue the intensive Providence, Warwick, Port smouth, and Newport, soul sea rchi ng and self cxarrunation that he and During th e late 16405 William s resided at Co other Puritans believed were the obhganons of cu mscussoc-c-and nut at his hom e in Provi every gotki Christ ian. T here, on the edge of the dence-for most of th e year, usuall y from late wildern ess, William s co uld delve deeply in th e su m mer to late spring. though occasio nally he spiri tu al recesses of hIs so ul. T here, with th e sea wou ld leave his post for brief spells to visit his and the forests hefort, him, he cou ld attempt to fam ily in Providence or to attend sess ions of th e find the hidden sec rets of man and God, rccstab colony's Ge neral Co urt in Warwick ." For the most lishing in rhc process th e bonds of his personal part, though, williams stayed close to Cecum rel.monship wirh God. There, ton, heyond th e scussoc and work ed hard to make his trading hubbub and confusion of th e everyday occ ur venture a going conce rn. rences. which in early Providence often erupted Indeed, it was financial hard ship that prob into conflicts and clashes among the townsm en , abl y caused him to devote so mueh of his tim e Will iams cou ld bnng order to his life. Seclusion and energy to th e trading post . His bani shment at Coc umscussoc placed him in command of his from Massachusetts Bay in 16,6 had brought dally co ncerns. treei ng himself from the strife of him to the hri nk of financial ruin, and ten years the world. lat er he was still tr ying to pu ll himself out of his T he political squabb les In I'rovrdc ncc and 1. Th~' mo" t au thorrt ..nvc Mudy, .... hrch rcvrc .... s cunthcnng M.I~".Io:hll ""II" Ray ""C the l-tllllln al ""Ie a"Ump3n)'m): hi" tht:une" ..huUI the J""''''' l"u1Ion ..nd ..n..lyres the J"Cnm.,.nt Ietl ~'r tu john Wlm hrnr , 1" (XI 11> \"; , m l.if..mass e. CR "' dlN,:Um.,.nury e viden ce, "B".... ard M . Ch..pm, The-Trading , " f'lHI uf RlJX'" w,lll • • A fl AY IN r u e L l ff: OF II l)(; lit Wll L IAM~ "The Lundinx of ROXl'r Williams. " published by loimson and Fry Company. New York. /866. (RHi Xl 844) . among various facuous throu ghout the colo ny vidc d the co lo n ists and pro vok ed new di sagree were enough 10 dri ve an y reasonable mall into ments among th em." Aftl'r having been swept th e shelter of th e peaceful woods. Williams's into till' vort ex of the upheaval happening around neighbors and fellow colon ists seemed unable to him, the co ns tant bickcnngs Hnahy took a heav y agree abou t unvrhma.The decade of the 1~40S 1011 on him. More than on ce during th e late reaos, was punctuated hy endless disputes ove r religion, Williams refused to take part in the turmoil an d politics, land, and backyard trivialities. Though reject ed appeals to arbn ratc the differences that wilharns must have hoped that th e colony's par had se t hi s fellow colonists against one anothe r. " hamen tar y pate nt would fin all y unite the Na T By I h49, he had Withdraw n himself almost cu m J a ~n sl,-tt nay sc n f..mcms o nce and for all , he wa s plctc lv fro m th e public affairs of hi s town and di sbcanencd when the documen t ac tua lly be co lony. At th e tradmg pos t, where he found ref came a political bsuc in itself that fur ther dr- uge from til t' dm o f politics and the corruptions 1\ Dcnm.. AII...n O 'T.." k. ' b ;ill:'" Retu"c~. and lamL·' . "Rhode Island Frnm C b ~ ~ lc ..1 Dt:-munacy 10 R"lI:UL"'. ThL- QUCM tor C Ivil Onkl In the TtI"'n ~ and Col Rm"h f'rnvtno.: e." Rhude tsland HI 100 E - A IlA Y IN T HE. L IF E. Of a o c e a WILLIAM S of mankind. Williams clung desperat ely to what he believed could only lead the Indians down the he called his " beloved Pn vacic." I' path of destruction." Yet it would be a nustakc to assume th at Indians, however, were not h is only visitors Williams so ugh t the hfc of a recluse at Cocums at Cocumscussoc. Richard Smith and lohn w.t C U SS( )C, wholly rem oving himself from contact cox had esta blished trading post!> ol their own with tither human beings. His desire to conduct a nearby, and williams must have cmoved their prosperous trade with the Nar ragansett Indians company h o m nmc to nmc." To keep up h is in meant that he co uld not and did not live at Co ventory of goods. Williams rched on the frequent cumscus soc In complete Isolation. Rarely, how visits of itinerant Enghsh and Dutch traders who ever, did he wander lar from hi s pos t unless cir phcd the southern New England wa ters from cumstanc e,' .. demanded It . Under the protocol that Salem to New Amsterdam. As a matter of fact , evolved In his dl:ahnJ:s with the Narragansens. Will iam s told Winthrop In his letter that John th e InJ1J,m. wh o wished to do busmess with him Throckmorton, nne of Providence's earliest set ca me to the trading post; williams did not have tlers, had recently stopped off at Cocumscussoc to make the rounds IIi Indian villages throughout to sell him some Ind ian corn and wheat that southern Rhode Island like a travchng drum Throckmorton had acquired at Long b land, The mer." From what we can tell. it appears that the price of this produce, he informed Winthwp, was huhan-, came frl'c1y and frequently to Williams's "Exrraordinan e deere"II : 2'} II, Other vis uors post to trade their wampum, pelts, corn , and also made their way to the trading post. A group other items lor En~IH,h goods, such as ke ttles, of Win throp's fri ends, who had amved In Rhode metal tools and u tensils, and cloth," Unlike less Island on a rnvswnous rmssron that Will iams J IJ scru pulo us traders. williams adamantly refused not d iscl ose, stayed for a few days wi th him .11 ttl trade guns llT liquor at h is po st , He late r ac Cocumscussoc. w ithams noti fied w in throp rh ar knowledged that he had sacrificed pro fit s by he had sent (h e men on (II Newport, where they scorning the hquor trade . hut his moral fiber an d we rt' assisted by the Reverend loh n Clarke and h is ~()oJ sense enabled him to carryon a pros ot hers II : acol." p t,'TO US nade without having ttl deal in goods that From time to urnc. williams's children ca me I ~ . Wll hMl1S I" lohn Wuuhrup, lr , 111 May I{,{,4, 111 La f'an III Had,' wnh lurn. though h." adrmncd that the sachem 1,ISI':, C RW, 1 ,n had .In:':I'I.:d numerous "Go" d , [and ] Mony etc." trorn lum Itl, The nu.mccs "f 11.I,hl1~ ptacttccs that de veloped he · own the year" lIlo:luJm.: ,OIllC cloth rhar w duams dehv t ween InJi.ms .111 .1 Europeans 111 southern N.:w EnJiland have ned to Canomcus on hr-, death !'oed. Sec Wilham ' III an As been Lir):d y overlooked bv scholars. though a handful of rc ,.:mbly "t Ctlm m ls" om 'rs, I? Nov Itl771, m Laf antasic, ec r ustu dl':s r"wI J ~' useful Jl'<:USSlllll' ot th.: impact 01tI,ld.: CR W, 1 7\1 nn nanvcs and scuk" durmg the con tact penod. See T I. C 17 Nil mvcnrorv slHv]Ves of the :;:lK,J, \v ilhams exchanged RIaS'C I, "The Cu ~ ' t a l A1.l:unklans. Peopl e "i the FilS! fron wuh rhe Indians, bUI hi' slllreh"use probably comam cd the tier," rn Eleanor Burk e Leacoc k and Na iKY Oc st rcrc b Lu ne, usual as"","}':11 1 " I m.mo facaurcd Item, peddled by other .:ds, N",II! AIIU'rK 101 - A Il AY IN 'r n e LIF EO F ROG ER WI L LI AM S to vtsu him at the trading post. Us ually only one renown throughout so ut hern Ne w England as a o r two of his six ch ild ren came at a ti me, presum skillful physician, to recommend so me compe ably so that Williams would not have to iuggle tent me n of medicin e in Massachusetts Bay who family responsibilities with those of runni ng h is might treat Mar y's ma lady. Unt il Williams re business. Occasionally his wife. Mary, may have ceived a repl y fro m Winthrop, which could take stayed wi th him, though the available evidence as along as a week or two, a ll he could do for indicates that she ordmarily rem ain ed in Provt Mary was to comfort he r and pray that her condi dence wi th most o r all of the children, struggling tion gre w no worse, Huddled together in th e tiny as best she could to man age the househol d and trading post , list ening to the rain pounding on ralSl' th ei r three boys and three grrls on her own. the roof above th em, Willia ms and his daughter Willi am s tried to keep in to uch wi th Mary by passed th e time interacting in ways we cannot writing her letter s, all of wh ich unfortunatel y possibly recapture, speaki ng word s forever lost. have peri sh ed, hut one winter, when their com Surely Williams was as attentive, as doting, as municanons had broken down, he was distressed any parent would be toward a sick child. Though 10 hear that she had nearly died from a prol on ged his letter tell s us little about th eir day and how illness. To comfort he r, he wrote her a lengthy th ey spent it together, it docs reveal in so me letter In wh ich he ins tructed her in th e proper measure the desperat ion and distress that ways she sho uld th an k God fur delivering her Williams fclt for Ins atlmg da ugh te r. The day, we from her afflictions . A few yea rs lat er, quite may safely assume, was probably a long one for pleased with the advice he had offered he r, Wil both of them. liams expanded the letter into a devotiona l t rea No doubt the day began for them, as it did for lise enmled Experiments of Sinm uol Life and most people who lived in thi s premdusmal sa ltealm . which he published as a pamphlet in cietv, when dawn's first hazy light ill um in ated Londo n 10 IfI~2 , " the trading post . As a good Christian, WilJiams BUI on the morning 01 1 '\ June, 1649, and perha ps his daughte r, too-must have gree te d Will iams awoke at Cocumscussoc with grea t th e morn ing with prayer and othe r devotional ex concern ove r anothe r member of hi s family, his ercises." Even though William s denounced th e eld est daughter Mar y, whu was staying w ith him congregational poli ty of the Ma ssachusetts Bay at th e trading post w hile suffering from, as Pu ritans, his ind ividual piet y differed little Irom Williams described It to Winthrop,"a fluxe of that of most Pu ritan saints residing in New En Rcume" that " m uc h affect ed her head and right gland and in th e mother country." For Williams, eye ."l! In reportin g Mar y's sic kness to Winthrop, as for many other Pu ritans, pra yer was a Chris Will iams infor me d him th at she "hat h taken nan duty to be performed "frequently, and con, much ph vsick and ben e let blood hut yet no stamlv." but at th e very least three times during change" ( I : 21) 1 1. The standard remedi es of th e eac h day : once upon risi ng, aga in at mid-day, and ume, in othe r words, we re not work ing. so fina lly before renting, a rout in e that foll owed th e William... appealed to Winthrop, who had gaine d exam ple of Kin g Dav id's dally supplica t ions to 11 Stt Wll1um ~ . Expum"'m, of !ipmlIJtlJ ute and H~a/ f h 1 \. On Purnan devotlunal I'raCllee~ sec Cordo n Stevens l ll,pl. In Complne \\"rlflnx ~ of RW. 1 .H - I I~ . esp. H - ~", WakefidJ, Purnan D~voll(}n It ~ Piau m th~ D r v e l opm ~nr of vv, 70. Cnnsnan PiI"f}"ILonJon, 1 9 ~ 1 1, f,1 -lll, C h.a. r1 ~ E. H..mbnck. ll. Wllh.am~ .3 1<;0 told Wlnthrup 11·1'111 th.31 hl~ d"m.dJ· Stow\", Th~ PfaCllU of Ptet v: Puntan l) ~v "1I 0n a1 Dl scl p/ln e ~ ret ,\ 1dry. ..'horn he ~;lIJ wu seventeen ye a r~ old. had noe In se vemeer uh Cemurv N~ ..... Enxland [Chapel HIli, N C, yet begu n 10 men~lTu.al e -a vuuanon he apparently as Iy lll!. l 102 A DAY I N THE L i f E O f ROGER W I LLIA M<; the Lord. Such prayers could not be simply ut the depths IIf lus spiruual comm u ment to Chnst tered or m indlessly recit ed. Hypocrites, Williams and the bowels of his own corruption that pre pointed out ," pray but in a form and lip-labour."1-' vented him from wal king more fully m the ways As a result, he rejected the belief. held by more of Christ. The co nt inua l war between flesh and moderate Purn an s. that th e Angli can Book of spirit required th e true child of God to admit his Com mon Prayer could be used as a prescription spiritua l failings and shortcommgs. and to cry out for daily devotions. True prayer, said Williams, to the Lord for help in the fight against sin, un was "the pouring out of the heart to C od, th e belief, passions, uncleanness, pride, and coveto us true breat hi ng of th e sou l to C od." Coming from ness. Through meditation and scl f-cxaminanon, the heart, prayers sho uld he th e extem porane ous Williams said, the good Ch ristian first m ust exp ress ions of one's innermost spmt, a soulful co me to know himself in order ttl asce rtain mort' speech to God ins pired by the language of the thoroughly the dimensions of hrs relationship Scriptures but cast in one 's own wo rds." with God. The process. he mamtamed, was like Priva te devotions were the co rnerstone upon gazing mto a "holy I(}()kmg · xlas .~ e to discover tn whi ch Willi ams had devised his own individual us our souls spots. &. blemishes. as also Ito find brand of Puritan worship. Having cut himself off its] sweet cordial [lowe rs. to refresh and incour from th e congregations of Massachusetts Bay and age our droopmg souits. "1~ Plymouth, and having even abandoned the small To conduc t such rigorous self-scru tiny, th e Baptist church in Providence he had helped to cs true Christ ian needed to achi eve nut only self tablish in th e late 16 lOS, Will iams's discipline of awaren ess hut also a mast ery of the Script ures, devotion depended entirely upon his privat e ce rn the pure wo rd of God against wh ich all men's ac municati ons with God and upon his n relcss tions must he measu red and weighed. Therefore. sea rch for purl' forms of worsh ip based upon th e Puritan daily devotiona l exercises typically in model of Cbnsr's primitive church, as set forth cluded lime devoted to private reading of the in the Books of the New Testament . According to Bible. The pages of Scrip tu re revealed to Puntans the senior John Winthrop, Willi am 's individ like Roger Williams the sta ndards of doctrine and ualis tic pie ty and radical religious ideas had led behavior specified by God for rhc USt· of lus sar r us. him to worsh ip with no one but his wife." Re It is difficult to determine how muc h ume wil flecting these Separatis t tend encies. Willi am s lia ms or other dedica ted Puritans spent each day emphasized that the good Christian, in hi s opin in private con sultation of th e Hiblc. In Williams's ion, should perform act s of godliness in secret. estimatio n, the ch ild of God should always dem Cod's children, he said, pray, and do good, and ons trate "a professed wiltingnes se to get more fast in sec ret, regarding no eye but th e eye of th e and more knowledg of thr s heavenly Father. 01 heavenly father upon them." his name, of his works. of his word. of his Christ, But prayer was only one of seve ral devotional of his Spun, his Saints. and Ordinances." w hich acnvtncs wrlhams would have unde rtaken on suggests that Ior Willi ams every effort to digest thi s June morning at Cocumscussoc. Every child the Scriptures could never be considered too of God was obliged no t only to pray, but to test much. III But it is also ha rd to know whet her WiI· vigorous ly the hea lt h of his soul through medi hams restricted his Bible readi ng to private dcvo tative sclf-cxanuna uon. Introspect ion was th e u ons or wh ether, with his ill dau ghter th ere mean s by whi ch th e true Christ ian could discern beside him , he suppleme nted his si lent perusal s IS SIX w ilha ms, Expenmeuts 0/ Sl'mtudl lute and Hedlrh / 6jO til r6 4 <}. cJ lames SAVa.i:C , 2U cd.• 1 v"ls·l!\nslOn. r~ \\ I , (11'\1.), In Com plete WIHlngs of RW 7: 701-7S. I : 369 , 16. SeC' W ll h a m ~ . R!Ot"ld,Y Ten enr Yet .lI,f01e BI(I()(/y ' I;,u l, 111. SeC" Wllh.lms. Expetunetuv CJ I :>plfllllul u fl" an d Health m Complete Wl/llnK ,~ of Rh· -I · IiS: Williams, Expenmentc IIf I l n ~ 21. In Camptete Wrtlltlgs of RW 7 7\ Spl1lrua/ u te and lI ealrh !16pl, In lh ld , 7 hO, n· 19. Ibid . 7 hO-f>1.70-7 1. 17. lohn Wmthrop, Thl' His uuv III Nt..., England trom \0. lbid., 7 eo 103 A ()A Y I N T HE L lfl:. 0 1 RO(;ER W I LLIAM S with rcadmgs out loud ot chapter and verse. Ii so, se rved on his family's tabl e. But so me other williams and. his daughter may have consumed a sources, gleaned from th e vast array of evidence ~ood pan of the murrnng reading to each other that documents the lives 01 early New England [rom the G {KxJ Book ." ers, SUAAest that Williams and his family must After these devotional exercises were com have dined primarily on some baSIC staples. such plct cd. Williams probably had plenty of small .1" bread and cheese, though It is likely that they chores to attend 1lI, Besides looking alter Mary, supplement ed their diet with fresh Hsh. small he must have taken care of the assorted lobs that quantities of red mea t and fow l, fresh fruit in sea cornpn sed his dally routine at the trading pos t "on. and various foods made from maize. Wil and that, as historians tell us, regularl y defined liams may have also introduced some Indian the lives of pio neers livi ng nn the fro nt ie r. With food!> to his family, including no-cak es, later Mar y sick In bed, Willi ams may have assu med known as lonny Cakes, made from corn meal. the responsi bili ty for pre paring their meals, a and perhaps a variety uf vegetables. suc h as peas. task to which he had ce rtainly grown accus squash, turnips. and parsnips, It is also possible tomed while fendi ng for himself at Cocurnscus that Williams, like so many early New En soc . The firs t meal would have occurred between glanders. savored a loca l dchcacv: ee ls boiled e leven in the rno rrnng and high noon; a second With herbs." meal , supper, would have bee n served between At so me point dunng the day, Williams must six and eight in the evcnmg, depending upon have gone outdoors. If only to fet ch fresh wat er many variables, mcludmg how closely williams trom a spring located ncar the trading post. The identified himself with the yeoman and mer wat er would have been used iOT coo kmg and pos· chant classes of England ...... ho generally took srbly for bathing, It was shunned as a bevera ge hv th eir supper early in the evening, or with th e most Nc ..... Englanders. Tn "lake their th irsts, th e xemrv who dined in th e later evening hours.II early settlers drank beer and. ale, wines of vario us Given Williams's partiality for the simple life, sorts, ciders ha rd and soft. mead. and other fer and the fact that he had only spent a few yea rs mented concoctions, and rum when they could hVlOR among the gentry prior to his em igrat ion ~e t it . U from England, It is a fair assumpt ion that he and O utside, Williams may have also checked his his family considered the mselves stu rdy yeo me n wood pile and perh aps toted so melogs inside to an d followed th e patterns that ty pified th e lives of dr y. Thou gh th e month of Jun e had pr obably middling farmers in bot h the old an d new worlds . brought warme r tcmpcnuurcs to so uthern Rhode We can only Ruess what William s chose to Island, an abundant supply of firewood was a prepare for the two meal s that J ay. Nowhere in year-ro und necessity. As any Rhude Islan d Williams's correspondence. or in any other of his Swamp Yankee wi ll attest, even summer breezes ex tant personal pape rs, did he mention the fare off Narraganscn Bay haw a nasty way of turrnng \I II Wmthr o p "" 104 A OA Y IN T HE. LIF E OF R t ) t ;E. R W ILLI AM \ damp and ch illy after sunset. Besides, the ea rly tory o f goods or pumng hi s business affairs in settlers of New England usually ke pt their o rder . Yet the su rvi ving documen ts sugges t thai kitchen fires bummg throughout the day, even he was a poor boo kkeeper ..... ho gene rally failed to du nng the wannest days of the summer, to let rnarmam a record of h iS busmess transa ctions or , ce rtain foods sim mer and to keep a ke ttle of hot tl he ••hd. managed so mehow to mi splace them .W water handy.' Rather than lotting down en tries o n ledger sheets, In faller wea ther, Williams 's time would have Will iam s pro ba bly expended h is lime rcadmg a nd bee n cons u med chopping wood OJ tending the w n n ng. As stated earlie r, WIlliams read the Bible vegeta ble ga rden, which he surely must ha ve incessantly; for him, the Scrip tures were a sou rce planted ncar the trading post. The post it self of spiri tual tulfillrnem '.lOJ a person al pas time, an must have required penodrc repairs from time to en te rtai n ing di version as we ll as a Ch ris tian oblt tim e. Some ev ide nce sugges ts that Williams re ganou. But Williams read other hooks as ..... ell. furbish ed and enlarged the building at Cocu ms virtually anything he co uld ,gt't h is hands 0 11. He CUSSll C or erec ted an entire ly new struc tu re there wa s a voraciou s read er. devou ring eve rythi ng soo n after h is return fro m England in 164 5.'" from political and reli gio us tr eat ises to scientific How sk illful he wa s as a carpenter is an ybody's and geograph ica l discourses. In the ..... ildemcss. ~uess , hut he m ust have lea rned-as many pio where pe rso nal libraries were a lu xur y for the neers d id-hy nuking his own m ist akes and we ll-he eled and where pnrucd works were at hest then correc ti ng them . Caring for any li vestoc k a rare commodity, William s relied on rhc good that he may have been rai sing at the pos t de graces of Winthro p and hi!'l ed ucated friends fur manded more of h is nme. though he d iscove red loa ns of hooks and other pubhcauons."· On thi s th e advantage of letting hi s sheep graze freely on d'ly, as he noted in hi s letter to Winthrop, he W ;1 !'1 a hn lc Island In the in let near Coc urnscussoc. " wanmg to receive so me pamphlets that Win th rop From season to seaso n, life on the frontier re had sent to h is house m Prov idence [I : 290-2911. qu ired the performance of other numerous tasks Presumably he had o the r reading material w ith upon which Will iam s 's survival an d livelihood h im at the trading post ro cduv hi .... vast hunger depended ." for kno ..... ledge. Inside the trading post , even o n ;10 inclement When he was no! rt'ad ing, Will iams co n day lik e this nne, Willi ams could usc hi s tim e su med hi s hours with h is ow n ..... tiring. Removed producnvclv, check ing and a rranging his inv ert- lrom the ce nters of activity in sout hern New En- \I On i"oJ prcparanon and kuchen tire' 'n' Laun: 1 CI'n/UrIC' "f F 1O ~ A Il AY IN r u e LIf E:. Of RO(.; l:.R WILLI AM S • " . > --- . ..' ... . ~ A later /ithoxraph of Cocumscussoc. aho known as Smith 's Cas tle. From The Homes of O ur Forefathers by Edwin Whitefield (B oM01J : Whitefield t'/) Crocker, rRR2). RIllS Ccllecuon (RH i Xj I/ Il). gland, Williams de pended upon lett ers as his pri At Cocumscussoc he also used his nmc mar y line of com munication wi th the outside alone to compose drafts of pol emical writings he world. H is circle of cor res pondents was ac tu ally hoped eve ntually wou ld be pu blished in England. qui te small, com prisi ng no more th an about on e We know, for ins tance, that at Cocumscussoc. be hundred friends and acquaintances on both sides fore he departed on a second diplomatic mission of t he Atlanti c. At th e cente r of this circle, to England in 165 I , he wrote an d revised a draft William s ke pt up a regular co m m un ica tio n with of on e of his most import ant works, an impus an eve n smaller ne twork for exc ha ngi ng ne ws sioned attack on the New England oligarchy en and opinions . He wrote lett ers to the tw o Win ti tled The Blood}' Tenerll Yet Mure Bksodv. He th rops, fat he r and son, and to other mem bers ot probably com posed drafts of othe r for ma l wr it th e net wor k to pass along intelligence about In ings th er e as well, for his solitude afforded him dian affairs or to discu ss the latest gossip about the circums tances and condi tio ns he needed [0 political and religious eve nts hap pening in Old immerse himself in int ros pec tion and to use th e and New England. His correspondence, including fru its of his self-examinations in formula ting his th e letter he wrot e on this day to loh n Winthrop, theological posi tio ns. '! 11. , thus mitigated his isolation from th e tem O n this day in June, however, his though ts poral world around him." seem to have been less focused on his philosoph - ~ I. PunIan nctwor k~ arc inlnr m.lI lvely Jj'~IJS~~J In wo rk "f rhc Seventeenth Ccr uurv," 1/1](/ . \I~ 1I \l~4 ), 1'1. I, C harles Edw ards Park, "Encndvlup a-, a Fallm In t he S<.:Hk· 1\1- \1 1>. m<.:IH " f r..1.1ssa<.:hus<.:I1,," Arnc ncan Anuquanan S(J<;kty, ('ro 4l . Sl"C Wil hams to lohn Winthrop, Ir., ca . ao June 11>\0, In cccdmgs, l ll l J<,l t lll, l't. I, 1 r-I> l ; Francis I. Bremer, "Increase Lafnntasre, CR W, 1 : ill> , and CdI'm, Mil/m"rMIl Piery. Math<.:r's Fncnds: The Tranv-Atlannc Congrcgunonal Net- qt.-H. 106 A DAY IN THE LifE Of ROGER WI LLIAMS ical and ideological differences with the New En throughout th e region . Meanwhile Williams gland Puritans than on his daughter's sickness hoped that If Winthrop heard any furt he r news and a troubling cnsis that was brewing between concerning thi s cnsis, he would "sigrufie in a the Narragansett Indians and the Connecticut line" II :2901. colony. The rught before, an Indian co urier had To men like Mason, whom Williams person brought him some letters that contained threats ally disliked and distrusted, williams was a naive of war from Captain John Mason, a prominent dupe of the Narragansctts. the most powerful In Connecticut magistrate and militia officer. Ma dian band in southern New England." True, Wil son's letters implicated Ninigret. the chief sachem liams did befri end the Narraganscns, and see med of th e Niantic Indians, and the Narragansett sa to take their sid e at times when fact s belied th e chems ID a plot to assassinate Uncas, the chief Indians' own prctestanons of Inn ocence, but tam of the Moh egan Indians, whom the English Williams himself believed th at th e Puritan colo settle rs of Conne ct icut valued and protected as a nies, out of their lust for land and th eir desire to trustworthy ally. According to Mason, Ninigret negate Narragansett influence In th e region, too and the Narragan sett sachems had hired a bum readily threatened coercion and military might, blmg Indian assailant who had tried unsuccess when tact and cautio us diplomacy should haw fully to kill Uncas with a knife. When that prevailed. As a result, Williams repeatedly found attempt failed, Mason said, the Rhode Island In it necessary to intervene on behalf of the N:IT dians resorted to witchcraft to put Uncas under a ragansetts in their often rocky relations with the fatal spell. luckily for Uncas. the Narragansett Puritan colonies. Although his letters show that so rcery also did not work." But Mason was con his attitudes toward Indians changed over time, vinced that the Rhode Island Indians would keep and that he became les s devoted to them after his on trying to ehrrunare Uncas until they found a own concerns demanded his attentions else method that succeeded . He cautioned Williams where, he nevertheless rnamtamed an abiding re that if Nimgret and the Narraganscns persisted spect for th e Narragansens' separate exi stence to in such attempts, the Connecticut colony would New England, and he often took It upon himself declare war against them II : 21,101_ to protect th eir interests." Williams took the warning seriously. He told What com pelled him to assume the role of Winthrop that Connecticut seemed set on a protector toward the Indians as a duty that could course of punishing the Narraganscns, and he not he shirked sprang from his sincere belief that quoted Mason as declaring that the Indians wen: all men, Indian and European, Christian and lew, "s ealed to Destruction." Hoping that Winthrop had been created equally in the eyes of Goo, and could intercede to maintain the peace, Williams that mankind's differing ways should be tolerated asked him to forward word of Mason's threats to with Chnsnan patience and understanding, not the next meeting of the United Colonies of New transformed by the laws or the swords of the England, as assembly of representatives from the dommant. But he also sought to preserve th e Puritan colonies that regulated Indian affairs peace in southern New England out of a more 4 1. The del,u b vutrou ndmg these In..han matters arc fur Wllham ~ t.. lohn MJls...n and Thomas t-reece, 22]unc 1f,70.ln th er spelled (l ilt m wrlhams to lohn Wlnthrop,lr" ca 7 Apnl Lafantavre, CRW,1 :h09 -20. 164 \.1, In LaFam asle, CR W. I : 277- 79; lohn Mas'm HJ th e 4 ~ . Th ere IS noadequate study til WlllLam,," atntudcs in Com rms sroncrs III thc Urntcd C"lonlcs, lunc 164\.1, m David ward AnJ hiS expcucnccs WIth the Imh,ln ~ "I sOUlhern Nl-W l'ulviter, ed., Act , o{ the CVl1I l1Il.HIOIH'n o( the Uniled Colo England. Nevertheless provocative mSI,l:ht s Into his reLltl< .n , fJJ t' ,~ of N.' w ETJX/ 107 . A IJ A YIN T" e L I FLO F It 0 i ; lit WI LLI A M S practical realizat ion of th e devastation tha i war held the same prope rties as oth er sudden sounds would bri ng. Livmg on th e frontier, su rrou nded in the wilderness by provoking exaggerated anxi by the dangers and uncertainties of the untamed ety among the settlers. In th eir world, one could wilderness, Williams understood the vulnerabil no t readil y substantiate or disqualify a rumor ity 01 the English settlements and of the lives of simply by sw itching on a television for an in the people who popu lated them. He seems to stant report or even wait ing for the morning haw reali zed that no Indian band, even one as newspaper to arrive. For Williams and his neigh powerful as the Narragansctts, could swoop down bors, rumors-like ommous noises-were to upon the English [Owns and drive the settlers to kens of the unpredictability that ruled their lives the sea, hut he also keenly understood that for on the frontier. But Williams's own fears and both Sides such a war would bnng pain and suf anxi eti es, which can be detected throughout his fenng beyond anyone's wildest expectations. In surviving correspondence, seem to have been in other words, williams wan ted to keep the peace tensified by his experience of having resided at as mu ch for th e sake of the colonists as he did Cocumscussoc, on the fring e of the wilde rness, for the protection of the Indians he had come to where his Isolation and solitude magnified the know as fncnds .... uncertainties of pioneer life. Th e fact IS that th reats and rumors became But he was not totally dcpnvcd of consola for hrm portents of disaster that could not be left tion. His personal courage and fortitude were to smolder unattended for fear the sparks might strengthened by his unwavering faith in his God . igrute mro a blazing inferno. Every threat needed It was th e heavenly father who held his life in his qui ckly to be silenced. ever y rumor run down hands, whose grand design in the end would de to expose its Truth or fallacy. To appreciate fully rerrmne th e fate of all mank ind. If, as Williams the impact tha t such menacing reports had on remarked in his letter to Winthrop, God chose to William s and his fellow colo nis ts, we must first permi t war and destruction to engulf th e region, understand th at the world of these ea rly New En neuher the "power nor poli cie of N.E. [New En glande rs was very differe nt from our own. Inhab gland] can stop his hand " !I : 290). That evening, it ing a world domi nated by the sounds of nature, enveloped in the haunting silence of th e forest, and uncluttered by the whi te noise to whi ch th e William s mu st have prayed in earnes t for God to modern era has grown accustomed in the back let th e light of peace break through th e clouds grou nd of our daily lives, Williams and his fellow th at hung so threateningly over New England. settlers responde d to omi nous noi ses, including Some of his prayers seem to have been an rumors and threats, with a different sens ibility swered. His daughter Mary, after experiencing than WI,.' would today." Sudden sounds that re months of discomfort from hcr sic kness, was fi vcrberared 10 the normally quiet set tle ments or nally cured by a Massachusetts physician, and along the tra nquil front ier prod uced a height ened she appea rs to have led an othe rwise healthy sense of anxiety in the colonists, for th ere were life." The Puritan colonies, aroused to fever pitch no other noises to muffle the unexpec ted crash hy th e various transgressions of Ninigret and the of th under overhead. the screech of a hurt anima l Narraganse tt sachems, did declare war against in rhc woods, or even the si nis ter crack of a brittle the Indians in tf>q, but the conflict fizzled out twig, breaking, from behind. A threatening rumor before any batt les could be fough t, and a fragile ..n. Sec ,"'llI lcr. Ruxt"T witha m s. " <,I - ~ n . Morl'.3n. RlIxe, .~ u m l.< and R..volurlfln d"e ~ Esw .v' on Ea,l.v Am..ncan ttn WII/w m <. 11n - 1<,1 ; WIIII..ms tn the Gcneu l COU" of ~"'~!>.lI ' rm .vjNew York ..nd l.ondon. 19" " 1. 7~ -9~ . On rumors ~ chusctrs ~y. ~ Oct I " ~ol , III uFanu~le , CRW. a : ..oil- I \ ..I..... C m Jon W AilJll>n ..nd Leo POMlT1.1n . The P.ychology01 ..., W..her IOn,. Th.. Pr..<..nee of Ihl' Word Some PIO Rum01j N..w York. "!I " ~ J. Tamorsu Shrbutam, I mprm' l ~d leKOm ,.na ffll ClJ/lutuJund #(. e/'KlflU.' U,uo,.vlr-: c....' Haven . Ne ..... ~ A St>c",/o/tlc-d1 SlUdv of Rum or INc..' York. 1',1"6). 1<,1 " 71. 110- u , 1>;I\' lC'C Wl lham ~ 10 john Winthwp. lr . SC ....'all." In 1I.r1!. rohn .'-' Mumn. ..nJ Thad WTate. eds., 10 NlW (f. ..<,I, In uhnu~le , CR y,;. 1 \02 lOx A DA Y IN THE LIFE Of 11 0(;£.11 WILLIAM .. peace was sustained betwee n th e tw o sides until the importance of Williams's da ily concerns hes the outbreak (If King Philip's War in 167 5.'. Wil· in recognizing the ex te nt to whi ch th e tronri er lia ms cont inued to co nduct his trading opera intlucnccd and shaped his acnvtucs and cha rac tions at Cocumscussoc unul i e s i . when he re te r. T hough Williams sought to find peace for luctantly answered a call to travel once more to himself and comfo rt for hrs soul by effec ting a England in the co lony's service. To pay for his more perfect union With Cod. his day!'. were voyage, he sold his trading post to Richard largely spent doing things that all pioneers must Smith." do: the arduous labors of su rvival. But surviving in th e wil derness requ ired so mething more, Havin g done my handiwork in recons truc t so me thing quite di fferent , than many of the early lOR. ;IS full y as I dare, this one rather gloomy day scn lc rs had anticipated. It is a wonder that 10 the life of Roger Wil liams, and having even Williams-a c ity hoy raised in London, educat ed tied up some loose ends 10 the storyline, it would at Cambridge, and a chaplain to the gcntrv 01 Es appear that my experiment in biographical pale' sex -managed 10 survive at all. Somehow, though, ontology has reach ed its end. But to say this he developed the skills and ta lent s to conquer much and no more about Roger Williams would th e hard ships of th e wilderness. Somehow he be st ill to offer a supe rficial sketc h of th e man mustered the cou rage to wnhsrand the uncertain and one filled with a good dea l of speculation at ties and th e anxieties that pervaded the front ier. that. My reconstruction of his day and his con I do not mean to sUAAest that Roger Williams ccivable activities does not reach to a dimension was a prototype of Amenca's legendary and that lays bare the significance of his quotid ian my thical frontiersmen. To be su re, w illiam s .....·as experiences. We may well as k w ha t possibl e rclc no Davy C rockett or Na tty Bum po. Nor was he vance Will iams's daily routi nes and com mon the sort of pion eer that Frederick lackson Turne r place activities have for us today. Com ing to ideali zed in hIS famous essay, "The Significance know a bit more about Willia ms rhc man may he of the Frontier III Amencan Hi story." " But satisfaction enough. but can an appreciation of Williams did manifest the spi rit of md ividuahsm him and the contours of hrs life help to broaden that ma ny scholars and commentators have iden our perspective of the past and en rich our unde r tified as a drs u ncnve Amcncan trait throughout sta nding of th e context of our own lives! Is the re a our nation 's histo ry. For Williams , as for ma ny ptn connection bet ween Williams's day-to-day experi ncers. th e frontier experience accentuat ed self ences and o ur ow n experiences as Ameri can s! sufficie ncy and inde pendent ha bits of thou gh t." I believe th ere is. The key to underst anding In his quest for spiritu al purity, in his desire til .. ~ For a bnct account ollhe shon-hved ''';IT01 11> , ...... , u Ray All en 811hnl:IOn, ..II" ..... the Frnnuci ~h ;l J'l:ll lh e rh c eduonal not e accompanvmg Wllhams's letter 10 the Gen Amellean Character," A m efl C 109 1 A DAY IN THE LI FE OF RO GER WIL LIAM S separate himself from the worldly pollutions sona l relationships with God and society." Like of church and mankind, in his friendship with wise, it would be misleading to imply that Wil the Indians, in his insist ence upon the moral liams's confrontation with the frontier com prin ciple of religiou s freedom, in his belief in pelled him to abandon all of the cu ltural traits th e sanc ti ty of eve ry man's conscience, Roger and attitudes that he and the other settlers of Williams made plain hi s individualistic responses New England carried with them from the Old tu the world around him and proclaimed, out World . Th e colonists were , after all , transplanted of th e wellspring of hi s experiences, how th e Englishmen who replicated English cu stoms and worl d co uld be made a better place. By com mg culture in the New World and who viewed th e to know and understand th e experiences that mother country affectionately and obediently as forged Williams's ideas and actions in the fron horne." tier world of New England, we may perhaps But it is also true that over time old attitudes discover in his exam ple th e very seeds of the and cus toms were replaced by new ones. Frontier Ameri can character. conditions helped to accelerate thc change. And It would be foolish, however, [ 0 claim that in time the frontier itself, soon sprinkled with th e frontier-and th e frontier alone-gave birth farms and villages, became a new homeland for to Williams's individualism . A number of other the settlers, a place where they learned through forces influenced hi s individualist ic thought and experience either to adapt th e patterns and ways beh avior, including the moral thrust of Rcforma of th e Old World or to discard them entirely." In tion pietism and th e particular th eological im this respe ct, then, the New World gradually pulse of Puritanism, both of which placed produced, as Crcvccocur observed in the eigh burdens on individuals to reconcile their per - teenth century, "a new man, who acts upon new t he pessumsr to personify Turn er 's model of the optterusuc rwo ap parently con thct mg schools of thought on cxccp pioneer. Cf. David M. Potter, "The Q uest for the Nanonal lion ahsm and the rcphcariun of Enghsh ways in Amc tlca sec C haracter," In Don E, Fehren bach er, ed., Hi.\lOry and Amert Paul Luca s, AmericLln Odyssey. 1607-/7119 IEng!ewuoJ can Society. EHay.~ of David M Potler (Oxford amI New ClltfS, N.J , 19841. York, 1971 1, nil-I'). 'i I Sec Perr y Miller, "The Shapmg of the Amencan C ha r ~ l, WLl llam G . M cj.oughlm, "Picnsrn and the Arnencan acter," New England Q uarrerly. 111 (19\ I I: 4 H - 14; Miller, C haracter," American Quallerly. 17 11 96 <; 1: I/q - fl6. See " Erra nd into the Wilderness: ' In Errand into the Wilderness also Ala n Macfarla ne, The Onginl of English lnds vrdu al [Cam bridge, Mass., r 9~61 , 1- I 'i, Oscar Handlin,"T he SI)I;I1 lfi o-m. The Famdy, l'roperry and Social Transition (New York, cance of th e Seventeenth Century," III James Mortnn Srrurh, 19 791, On Williams's mdrviduahsm see Richar d Martin cd., Seventeelllh-Celllu ry Am erica. ESlays in Colomal HH Remuz. " Sym bo lism and Freedom The Use of Biblica l w ry (C hapel Hill, N ,C , «,)I <,l l, 3- 12, M ill cr, " Fro m the Co ve Typ" lu,l;y as an Argumcra for Rchgi ou s Toleranun in Seven nant to the Rev ival :' in lames Ward Smidl an d A. Leland teenth- Cent ury England and Amenca" [Ph D. drss ., Umvcr lohnson, cds., The .~ h ap Ing of A m encan Re1Jfo:J(Jn , 4 vola. Slty of Rochester, IY(,7 1. 17\ - 11 4 ; Chupack. Ro}:er WIlliams, [Pn nce tcn, N.)" 1<,l (,I ), I : )11-611, Russel B. N yc, Thi .~Al I4'i - 4Y, mosr cnosen t'cople: E.uays III the H/.\rory of Amencan 54. O n the transfer en ce 01English culture and localism to tdeas [East Lansing, Mich., 19 (,6), 101!- II' Rodcrrck Na sh , Ne w England du nng the seven tee nth ce nt u ry sec T. H , Breen , Wild erness and the American Mind (New Hawn, Conn ., T'utJlan .~ and Advelllllrer~. Change and Persistence IT! Early 1\1 671; Pet er N Carro ll, PUtJlaIlHrIJ and Ihe Wiltfem ess. The America (Ncw York, 1911 01, l -2l, 6fl - 1!0; David G rayson tntellecusa l 5lgl1lficance of Ihe Ne w England Ftontun. /(,29 Alle n, In EnxlJsh Ways. The Movem ent of Souelle_~ lind 1700 INe w York, 1<,l 6 \1 1; Sacva n Bcrcovuch , The Puntan Cm. the Transieral of Enl(llsh Law and Custom In M a uudlU l e l/.~ gin.~ of the Amencan Self (New Ha ven , Conn., I<,l7 Sl; Carl Bay In the Sn'enleenth Cenrury [Chapel HIll , N.C , l y81 1i Bridenbaugh, " R I ~ t Ne w-Engla nd M en , or, Th e Adaptable Step hen Fost er, " English Puntanism and the Progress of New Puritans: ' Massachusetts Hi stori cal Society, Proceedmgs. 1111 Engla nd lnsntununs, 1630- 11>60," m Ha ll, Murrin, and Tate, (1\17(,1, l - rll; William G. Mcl.oughhn, Revivals, A wakenmgs: eds., SaInts and Revu]uriUntwes. 3- 37; Allen, " Both En· and Reform . An Essay In RellXltlll and Sonal Cha nge m Arner glands." In H 110 A nAY IN T HE LifE Of 1I.0GI:II. WILLIAM S principles."> If we can sec Roger Will iams in this begin to perceive more clearly the process by ligh t. if we can try-however imperfectly-to re which Ruger Williams the Englishman became cap tu re the mulntacercd contours of his life and Roger williams the Ame rican. the dive rse activities of his daily rou tine, we may \ f>. Ouored In M.J' Lerner. "The Ide.. of Amencan ClvllI th e Amencan, This New Man t" Amf"Tl can Ht vtuncal Re u lllln," In McGill en, cd , Cha rac ter o f Amcrlcans. 10 _On v/tw. 411 119",,1: 11\- 4.1 Crcvecoe ur see ..1...1 Arthur M Schlesmger, '''Wh..1 Then I.. III Book Review FaJJ River ()ulraxe : Life . Mu rder, and tueticc i ll Early lndustrial New England. By DAVID RICHA RD K ASSERM AN . (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylv an ia Press, 11.)80.2,4 pages. Biblio. $1,.00 cloth, $ 14·1.)5 papcr.] Wh en Lizzie Borden all egedly gave her parents began a lekyll and Hyd e co n nection that culm i some fony " w hac ks" with an axe in 1H9 2, the nated, the prosecution would charge, in adulte r suffocating publicit y obscur ed another murder ous inter course at a reli gious cam p meeting. inc ide n t of m uc h greater h ist ori cal im portance in Sarah Corne ll, lik e other s in the emerging C [;lSS the same Fall River, Ma ssach usetts, area. Six dec of factory operatives, found a degree of emot ional ad es ea rlie r in I Rp , the sus pec ted homicid e of a liberation in the Methodist ch u rch and the sec local " m ill girl" by a M ethodi st minist er from o nd great awakening in the United Stares. Fur Bris tol, Rhode Island, unlea sh ed a maelstrom of thermore, the Methodist s encour aged women to partisan passio n throughout lacksoni an Am eri ca. participate act ivel y in so me churc h affairs. Along David Richard Kassertuan. an anthropologist , side her reli gious enth us iasm Sarah Cornell also has retrieved the life an d death of Sarah Co rnell earn ed a reputation for promiscuity in a society from under the lon g shad ow of the Borden affair. th at crue ll y isolated those under "social suspi Fall Uiver Outmge: Life. A1urder. and tustice in cion." She em braced th e Methodi st expe rience Early I/HJ/l.~tr i(JJ New Eng/and dvnarnically and a confes sio nal relation ship with Rev . Aver y pla ces th e forgo tten murder in th e volatile frame as a red emptive catharsis for her illi cit behavior work of a society poised on the brink of indus and as a wa y to co ntinue her " wayward" behavior tr ial transformati on but with a cult ur al super at the popular camp rev ivals. As her sull ied repu str uc ture load ed with preindustrial baggage. The tation dogged her in the narrow soci al milieu of wr en ching change precipitated by worke rs who the times, she often change d her name and reset left farmlands and cott age industries for the new her industrial co m pass to th e many other points fact or y syste m crea ted fractures in the once on the New England factory circuit. Always, her idyllic yeo man wo rld of the Founding Fathers. benighted past seemed to follow her. The Rev. Sarah Cornell, a transient cot to n weaver Avery, once a sou rce of understan ing and com pas working in Fall River , was found hanged in a sion, rep laced the earlier letters of in trod uct ion farmyard in nearby Tivert on , Rh ode Island, on 2 I for Sarah with vi negar warnings to M ethodist s in December I Hj z.. An inquest di scl osed she was other towns. Her initial admiration exploded in pregnant. Authorities initially sus pected suicide hatred and a warped sexua l affair. hut an inc rim inati ng note found in her Fall Ri ver The Rev . Avery was tried for murder (and sus hoarding room read : " If I should he missin g en peered of attempted abort ion ) in Newport in the quire of the Rev Mr Avery of Bristol he will know su m mer of ISB. The longest co n tem por ary trial where I am Dec zo th S M Corn ell" [p. 9). An in in U.S. h istory cur dled for tw enty-one co urt days vestigation began that cent ered on th e relation and included 239 Witn esses, expert medical testi ship between th e murdered wom an and the Rev . mony, local bit player s, high-paid def ense law Ephraim Aver y, a Methodist preacher from Con yer s, sexual innuendo, and allegations of witness nc cucur who minist ered to a sm all co ngregation intimidation. Teasing ctrcurnstantial evidence on Rhode Island's East Bay. definitely implicated the minist er but the sensa The two met 111 Lowell, Massachusetts, and tional hearing ended in a con trovers ial innocent III B O OK e s vr e w verdict. The public trial bega n o nce the legal one sti ll cham pioned Cornell's virtue rf not the free ended 10 an atmosphere so me co m pared to the ma rket morality of the.' fac tory sys te m . The Provi Salem wi tch episode. The he art of th e issu e was, dence lcumol thus reassured Its readers in 1892 accordmg to an unusual sympathe tic female lour that "T hose were the days before the influx of nahst who too k up Cornell 's ca se nghr aft er the foreign operatives-Canadians, Josh and En trial: " Who was responsible for the moral de glish-in o ur m ills. The girls of our own New cl mc, and thus th e dea th, of Sa rah Co rnell!" England families were o ur mill worke rs . and they {p. 1 \\i. lost no caste thereby" II'rovJdence lou mal. Q T he Methodist defense had portrayed Sarah Sept. 1892). Cornell as a demented trollop, the product of an Professor Kasserman ha s em ployed his an alien factory sys te m that prostituted young thropological skills without rel yin g on the an women at th e altar of profit. Capitalists and fac noying buzzwords and overtaxed phraseology that tory workers alike, especially in the Fall River vi so often po llute the soci al sc iences these day s. ci nity, rebuked the charges and defended the new He ha s crafted a popular piece of sc ho larly re indus trial way of life and work. Mill interests, search that reconstruct s and int erprets th is la s with close tics to th e established Congregational cinanng tal e from a feminist per spective. The church, counte rattacked viciously. From pulpit industnal-rehgious di ch otomy is well fram ed but and press they excoria te d Methodi sm as a reli rema ins more suggestive than th e det ailed sub ~ I()US fift h colum n undermimng Am eri can in stant iation it deserv es. The author, to his credi t, stitutions and ways with Masomc-h ke intrigue obiecnve lv outlines th e protagonists careers by sucking wor ker s into an evangelical vorte x. without rend eri ng a verdi ct. Inst ead, Kasscrman The Method ist s de mons trably los t the public allows the reader to iudgc whether a heinous rela tions ba ttle. Aw ry was satirized in poems and m urderer ma ni pu lated a legal escape or a design play s, burned in effigy, and threate ned by mobs . mg mill rhornbird des troyed herse lf to incr imi He ~tnge rly left th e area for banishment to an nat e a befriending munst er in a co m plex, post Ohio farm in 1Rl 6 . The Methodists, according to mortem cons plTacy. the author,"could neither abandon him with honor nor maintain him with credit" (p. 2BI. University of Rhode J.d and Post cnty, at least at th e time of the Borden case, SCOTT MOLL OY A Dependent People: Newport. Rhode Island in the Revolutionary Era. By ELA I N~ FORMAN C RA N!.INe w York: Fordham Umvcrsttv Press, t9MS. xxx pages. $25.00 .1 Elaine Perman Crane's A Dependent People: nomi c polic ies aft er 176\. For a city that was Newport, Rhode lslond 10 the Revolutionary Era "co m pletely dependen t on the sea for suste nance offers a solid and decepti vely modest analys ts of and livelihood," lp, -pI and whose eve ry mem ber the Impact the Ameri can Re voluti on ha d on th e was 10 so me way mexmcablv tied to me rca nti le seaport town of Newport, Rhode Island.Crane endeavors, any thing that th reatened the eco argues that Newport's mhabnams profited irom nomic equilib rium might well prove disastrous , Great Britain's benign neglect throughout the eve n fatal. The co mma of th e war meant lus t seventeenth and early eighteenth cent uries. and th at . While everyone in th e town struggled to rc that they were progr essivel y damaged by th e turn to the good old days. some by es pous ing the mother country's increasingly intrusive eco- loyalist cause, others by moving with con sider- l iJ , HOOK REVIEW able reluctance to the pamot ba n ne r, noth ing whether the city was really more lawless than could stop the decline of a once prosperous mer other commercial centers, or If Rhode Island had chan t community. As Newport 's econo my wors a lower percentage of eligible voters than other ened, the religious. po litical, and ideological colonies. It is always tempung to ove rsta te the differences charac tenzmg Its he retofore cynically case IIf Rhode Island 's singulantv, and both con pragmatic inhabitants grew steadily more impor temporaries and historians have often been all tant, exacerbaung rbc tensions of an already frag 100 eager to dismiss it as the eccentric exception mcmcd and bc terogcncous comm uni ty. "Unrc to eve ry ru le. Most im portantly, Crane ma y well smctcd trade," Crane argue s,"provided the only have ove rem phasized th e im por ta nce of Bnush se tt ing in which mterpcndcncc and harmon y coloni al policy in creating the conditio ns for could flourish " in the island town [I'. lO71. Ne wport's dem ise. The re is cons iderable cvi Crane's basic argume nt is gracefull y and con deuce to indicate that th e growth of Provid ence, vinci nglv state d. She mak es exce llent usc of de an increasingly compcunvc com me rcial cente r r nographic da ta and econom ic sta tistics, man ag located on th e ma inland, wo uld have eccom mg to co mmunicate th at information clearly ,101.1 phs hed in a more lei surely fash ion what th e succinc tly so that even a layper son can under Revolution did in such short order. The Ame ri stand the charts and tables co ntaine d in the body can Revolution may, In ot he r words, si mply have 0/ the monograph . Her contributions to our haste ned , rather than caused, an Inevitable understanding of urban blacks and women of all process. classes IS both sohd and sugges tive . She manages Nevertheless this is a solid if much too bnct to extract the most from i ru~tJatln,gly meager effort. One assumes that the constraints of the sources, without claumng more than her eVI publisher, and nOI the paucity of available ma dence leguimatcly can tell us, as she explains te rial , ex plains the e tten cursory treatment of how minorities shaped and were shaped by the Crane's ranta hzmglv suggcsuve insights. Thc sub peculia r features of Newport 's soc iety. rcct deserves a deeper and more len gthy hear in g. Historians may well question cert ain of Crane's assertions . They may wonde r, for in Umversitv of Mi .~ .~i.~ .~iIlPI stance , if the slave tr ade was as central to New S H EILA L. SKEMI' por t 's econo my as she suggests. They may as k 11 4 .