~l I 1 4't . j: ~ ~ : Rhode Island History c - :*-'(AI .if) Pubhshed by The Rhode bland Hrstcncsl Volume 43, Number 3 August 1984 SoclelY, 110 Benevolent Sueet, Providence, Rhode bland, 0 1906, and printed by a ,;ranl Irom the Slate of Rhode 1~land and Prov idence PlantarlOns. Contents I lmeph Garrahy, Go~rnor . Suyn L. Farmer. Seueury of Su.te Jeffry Watson's Diary, 1]40 - I 784: lssued QlUnerly at Provjdence, Rhode Island , February, May. AUKUM . and Family, Com m unity, Religion and November Second da~~ ~ull:e p.lIldar Politics in Colonial Rhode Island 79 Providence, Rhode bland EDWARD M , COO K, J R, Sen . Roben I McKenn• . pre"denl Alden M AnderloOn. I'lce prendem .\"1> Edwin G FI!>Chcr, vIce preuaem Park Palmer. seer..t<lr y M Rachel Cunha, OUl.tUnI .euelory Stephen C. Wllham~ , treo sutet Alben Carlotll. Q.HI\t,JnI treasurer f(LLOW~ Of THE ~U(;ll TV Carl Bndenbaugh Sydney V. lames Amolnelte F Dowmn,; Richard K Showman I'UBIK"'TlUS~ C O M M I TT H Dr . Seeber! I, Goldnw~ky. chonman Gordon Allen Henry L. P Bc<:kwuh . lr Dr , Prancrs H, Chatce Robert Allen Green!' Pamela A Kennedy Leonard I Levin Alan Srrnpson wrn. Mc KenZie wood ward >TA n Glenn warren Lafanravre, ..dl!ot Maureen Taylor, pic/we ednur Len nard I Levin. copy I'JWl1 lean LeGWin, designer Glenn 0 , !lonon. ednonoi a.~'I~tun' The Rhode Island HIMurlCal Socrctv assumes no re1>f"-IOMblhIY f(>l the UpmlOn1> 01 comnbutorv. C 19 11 4 by The Rh,>de bland Hrstoncal S<:lClety Il.HO['J( ISLANll H IHUIIY Ils<N OOH "4t'1 191 l)UTCll ti 1 • J(' ,! , ,, , .? . _ ,; (".1 ~ t1" l li J • .\ ! .MII1"/.. ; 41 .1!::. ntlf : ~ . ,. 1 7 ~ • I~ • 'l:! : -··'PNr·....·'.. j ztJ i!-.-~..._- \ /', I : ' " J : . ' I~ ,i \ my,?;; :! ,, ,. ]I .. ~ , .:-" III ! , " : '" Jeffry Watson's Diary, 1740-1 784 : Family, Community, Religion and Politics in Colonial Rhode Island Edward M. Cook, Jr. From its beginning colonial Rhode Island has had the reputation of em­ Mr C.,ok l~ a member 0 1 the Depanmeru bodying social conditions that differed sharply from those in neighbor­ of HISlOTV. Unt\l,'alty vi Chicago. ing colomes of New England. Its early espousal of religious freed om meant that publicly supported churc hes co uld not develop as it ce ntral I Genealoltlcal mtormanon I" largeh' focus for local co m m unities. Its politics, after emerging from the state drawn trom Carolme E. Robmson. Th<, GarJlnl"rI 01 '''·a rra~un~efl IPTU ~· I Jen c e. of virtual anarchy that preceded the chartering of the colony, SI XIn de­ 1',111/ 1. irom Carde r Hcnrv Wh.atlq ··s tvpc ­ veloped a Iacnonahzed character that made the SUIC a by-word for par­ wr uten "warson Ge nc:.a!oK)' ''.at the Rho.,k I ~ l .and HlSwTlc.al Soc tetv. an d lrom n OI "' ~ tisan st rife du ring the later eighteenth century. Its small size and the In (he Jury It.ell sparseness of its resources, especially in the rural towns, suggested an egalitarian society that lac ked much of the wealth and SOCial dive rsit y of its large r and richer neighbo rs. What these aggregate charactensncs fail to make clea r, however, is how the patterns of local life in Rhode Island differed from those elsewhere in New England . How did Rhode Islanders exp ress their religious feelings without the pub licly sup ' ported framework that most colonials expected! How did politi cal par­ tisanshi p, so divisive at the state level, affect local rela tio nships 1 And finall y, what mechani sm s did local societ ies, lacking unifying influ ­ ences of common churches and commo n lands, evolve to give struc­ tu re and coherence to the desires of their members for socia bility and collec tive acn on 1 In answer to all three questions, a diary kept by Jeffry Watson of South Kingstown from 174 1 to 17 44, and intermittently thereafter un­ til hi s death in 1784 , provi des important clues. The diary went through th ree phases. The early phase recorded Watson 's activities on a daily basis and is the richest. providin g a wide variety of observations on the life of Watson 's family and on the social dynamics of his neighborhood . Duri ng the second phase from 174li unt il about 1761 th e diary takes the form of a journal of rem arkable occ urrences wit h notes on public Detail from a "Chart of th e Ray affairs and on Watson 's practice of religion largely supplant ing th e nat­ of Nattagan se tt. " by Charles ranve of local activities . Afte r 1761 the diary shifts abruptly into a rec­ Rla.d<owltz. 1777. showmg the lo­ ord of local deaths with only an occasional entry to suggest its earher cation of South Fetty in Sout h concerns. Kingsrown. Rh ode Island. Cour­ Jeffry watson. the dranst, was born August 3, 1712, the second son tesy of th e Rh ode Island Histor­ and fourth recorded child of John and Hannah watson.' John was .1 ical Socrery Librar y (RHi.q prom inent man in the public affairs of South Kingstow n, and was a 4 898). So JEFfRY WAT S ON ' SD IA RY, 1740 -1 7 84 a. Th e Perraquam ecor Purchase m­ man of great landed wealth through his mother Dor cas Ga rdner elu ded rnost or the: lat cf to wn 01South Kmgsrown. <liS well as pans II ! Non h Watson who had been an heir to John Porter, a partner in th e Petta­ Km p lOwn and bele! _The lands lohn quamscot Purchase of 1659. Jeffry's share in this patrimony was a farm Wal son gave to lC'iiry can be tr..ced In of 300 acres near MacSparren Hill in the northern part of South Kings­ Soulh Km RS l(lwn Land Evide nces. J : \ 81, '* JU. to '7'1. Town C lerk's Office, South town deeded to him in four installments between 1733 and 1757.J Kmgst cwn, RI During much of the period covered by th e diary, however, Jeffry rented J. john O. Austin, wnea/oglcd/ Drc­ !lunary o( Rhode Island, rev. ed. 1& 1t,­ out this farm [he refers to it as "r'o ther place"] and lived at th e "FeO)' more , 19&91. IIl J- 184. 11 7, Anna Farm " at South Ferry, whi ch he managed for several years. His connec­ AultUsta ..nd Ch.lrln V Chapm, A Hu· tion with th e Ferry was a natural outgrowth of hi s marriage in 1732 to lOry of Rhode Island Pernes. 1 640 - 192 j [Provrde nc e, 1 9 1 ~ 1. 250- 175- Bathsheba Smith. Bath sh eba was th e granddaughter of John Smith of " Wn !>OO 's children and then spousn Prudence Island, who in partnership with his brother Ierermah. had arc listed In his family Memorandum .11 the bac k oi th e diary rsee PP_111_1 16, be­ purchased 661 Iii acres In Boston Nec k and th e adiace m ferry from low]. MO${ arc also rnennoned In the lUlly FitzJohn Winthrop. By 1741 Bathsheba's father, also John Smi th, owned en rrtee. the northern half of the land and his father's half interest In th e ferry, while Jeremiah's southern share had been divided between his sons Ephra im and Ebenezer.' The diary is quite revealing about Wat son 's famil y life and about the larger kin network that enco mpassed his social acnvmes and dom i­ nar ed the neigh borhood . Indeed, during the years when the diary is full est Jeffry's dealings with neighbors and business cont acts dominate the entries. This focus clearly reflects his status as a household head. In the earl y modem conception of th e family, dealings with the larger so­ ciety were preeminently the provin ce of th e hu sband and father, while the internal managem ent of th e household was more properly th e sphere of the wife and mother. Jeffry observed this divi sion by saying little abo ut his immediate domestic life. That Watson's family excited strong emotions in him is clear from his moving eulogy to his daugh ­ ter, Dorcas (September I I , 174 1I, and from hi s obvious estrangement from his son Jeffry (Ianuarv 30, 1757 and March 24, 1757). But in his mind immediat e family affairs were not the proper subjects for regul ar treatment in a ma n's diary. Involvem ent in exte nded fam ily and community affairs was the ap­ propriate focus. Of his six siblings living in 1741, five (or their spou ses ] figure prominently in the diary. These were his only brother John Watson, Ir., "brothers" Ezekiel Gardner, Beniamin Allen , and John Lillibridge, and hi s younger sis ter Freelove, or " Filly." All lived in th e northeastern part of South Kingstown and within easy visiting dis­ ta nce. Among oth er kin were "Esquire" John Sweet, brother-in-law of "brother" Ezekiel Gardner, fath er-in-law John Smith and his son William, justices Ephraim and Henry Gardner, and cousin William Gardner. Relations with th e Gardner clan were intimate and complex, having their origin in the close assoctauon of Jeffry's grandfather, John Watson, with his Gardner in-laws, and receiving reinforcement through new ma rriages in each generation.