Flat Jane Austen in Providence: Shopping

Flat Jane Austen in Providence: In Which Jane Goes  Shopping 

(With a very brief peek into the not so far off future)

May 21, 1816

My dearest friends,

We headed out for a day of shopping and a look around the Town. The prices for dry goods are rather dear. I did not purchase anything. 

We travel down, down the hill (by carriage of course) to Broad Street to the Providence Arcade. A devastating fire destroyed 40 shops nearby on South Water Street in '01. The shopping district has been rebuilt in a more elaborate stile since then. This is the only indoor shopping mall in all of America! At this time it is also the first and only major commercial building on the west side of the river. Oh my heavens! This town is much smaller than London and even Bath but larger than the villages of Steventon and Chawton. 

It was built in the Greek Revival style with columns, granite walls and classical facades resembling a Greek temple. 'Twas modeled after the Burlington Arcade in London and arcades in Paris. 

Between two streets, a wide central walkway runs through the center of the building with a great skylight overhead admitting a flood of light over the building’s gracious cast iron balustrades and railings. 

This location is not so ideal. There is much dust, wind and rain, and frequently ladies are obliged to step off the side walks to pass by stones, timers laid there by masons and carpenters. If by chance they meet a hog or a chimney sweeper on the sidewalks, they must give way for them or receive a "dark rub." (Providence Gazette). 

Westminster Street entrance museum windows by RIHS

A copy of the theatre curtain from the first theatre in Providence, nearby on Westminster and Matthewson Streets, built not so long ago in 1795. The curtain was painted by John Worrall in 1809 and is used to entertain audiences between shows.

I shall attempt to copy this pencil, ink and watercolor sketch for the Westminster front of the Arcade drawn by architect Russell Warren. [c. 1828] 

There are two facades. One on Weybosset street designed by Joseph Bucklin and one on the other side [Westminster Street] by Russell Warren. [photo Weybosset façade c. 1865 and Westminster façade c. 1867]

Can you imagine the flooding from the Great Gale last year? [or perhaps in the future in 1954?]

Editor's note: Actually not built until 1828 but close enough! Technically the Burlington Arcade in London was not yet built when Jane Austen died either, but Flat Jane has to bend time a bit. The street was renamed Weybosset Street at some point later in the 19th-century. The 1920s theater we went to is at the other end of the street, for reference. The Arcade has had its ups and downs. In my VERY early childhood, in the early 1980s, it was still used as an indoor shopping mall. It fell into disuse as the suburban shopping centers and later modern malls became more popular. It was renovated recently and how houses a few shops and restaurants and the upper level has micro lofts for students at the Rhode Island School of Design and other young professionals. Windows by Rhode Island Historical Society.

We travel back home by way of Market Square to fetch produce for the household.  
Can you see where I am?

Blow up the photo to see where Jane is!

How about now?!

Cheapside! Yes there are warehouses nearby!

Yes, indeed, there is a Cheapside here in Providence. Cheapside is the major commercial center of this town.

Editor's note: While the buildings date to late 19th-century, I couldn't resist taking pictures of Jane in front of the Cheapside sign. Jane is at the Cheapside Block, built in 1873 in the High Victorian Gothic style. (Architecture nerds can click the link to read the Providence Preservation Society's report).

We visited Market House in Market Square, at the east end of Weybosset street, designed by Mr. John Brown's brother, Mr. Joseph Brown and colonial governor Stephen Hopkins. The original structure was only two stories high. Here they sell fish, meat and produce in an open storey on the ground floor. The second floor serves as town hall. In '97 another storey was added to house the first Masonic Lodge in Rhode Island. I know not who these Masons are or what they do, 'tis all a secret. 

Market House 

In this building, or near to it, the roguish colonists gathered to protest the King's tax on tea. They outdid those horrid Bostonians and burned the tea on 2 March 1775! The horror! Do they not know tea is expensive even in England? We keep it under lock and key! During the War for American Independence, the building served as barracks for the French Army. Those Frenchies! They sided with the colonial upstarts causing war between our countries, as usual.

Site of the little known PROVIDENCE tea party!
No wonder one can not find a decent cup of tea around here.

Here you can see the high water mark from a gale that blew through September last. 

High water mark for the Great Gale of 1815

The buildings along the waterfront were flattened, the city destroyed by flood as the water rose to over 11 feet. Astonishing! I have heard of such gales from Francis and Charles who have been on their ships the midst of such storms. I can not imagine the terror. Susanna just remarked, it was windy! On the hill they were safe from the flood. 

I am quite busy paying calls and seeing this town. I shall try to write again soon.

Yours most affectionately,
Jane

Flat Jane Austen in Providence

Flat Jane Austen in Providence
History of the Waterfront

Edior's note: Jane wishes to describe how much Providence has grown over the last nearly 200 years since Roger's day. We walked under the former Great Salt Cove to explore the growth of the town.

May 20,  1816

My dearest friends, 

You must allow me to educate you further on the geography of this town. It is quite unique to anything I have seen before. 

The Moshassuck and Woonasquatucket rivers flowed into the Great Salt River (Providence River) and Providence has grown on top of the three rivers. The Woonasquatucket River flowed slowly through a broad valley of salt marshes.

Providence in Roger's day

Three rivers converge at the Great Salt Cove. They could be traversed at low tide. Susanna's mother, grew up on the other side of the Wampanoag Trail in what was known as Seekonk and then Rehoboth (1644) in Plymouth Colony. There is a cove there too, Watchemoket.

Do you spy a familiar name of this map?
That is not Benedict Arnold of the War for American Independence but rather his great-grandfather, a president and governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations.

A better look at the house lots in Providence. 
Chad Brown was a minister and the great-grandfather of John Brown!

By 1700 the town had grown quite a bit. The cove covered several hundred acres and was deep enough to accommodate sailing ships. A drawbridge connected the East Side to Weybosset Point.

The first bridge across the Providence River was built in 1660. The first wharf behind Towne Street (South Main Street) had been built and the center of town was now called Mohassack Square. Market Square is located at the south edge of the cove and became the center of Providence (see next page). The town's growth was spurred by shipping and seafaring interests, textile manufacturing, bleacheries, printworks, foundries, ironworks, and machine firms. (Many owned by John Brown and his family).

The First Baptist Church in America was built in 1775, long after Roger Williams founded and then left the church. The market building and college edifice were built in 1770. I shall journey forth to see them all later.

Jane at the Weybosset Bridge 
Read the text of the sign

In colonial times, a bridge was built on the western side of town, called Weybosset. It provided a link between what is now Providence to the path to the Pequot lands in Connecticut. After only about a decade, in the 1670s, the bridge fell into disrepair. People and animals were forced to ford the crossing until 1711 when a new bridge was constructed. That bridge was destroyed by flood a few years later. The fourth was blown away by gale force winds in 1761. 

Jane at the site of the Weybosset Street Bridge
The newest, late 20th century bridge (1994) links the east side with 
downcity. 

In 1764 a drawbridge was built to accommodate the square-rigged ships carrying cargo from the West Indies. Providence was by then a major shipping port and more wharfs had been built behind Towne Street. THAT bridge disappeared in last year's gale (1815) and has been replaced by a fixed bridge, preventing sea-faring vessels from entering the cove.  

Providence 1790 by John Fitch 

The city was blocked by several hills and more land was needed. The Great Salt Cove was filled in beginning as early as 1780 in order for more wharves to be built. By 1792 the east side of the cove was filled in creating a new street called North Water (Canal) street.

Now here is a map from only a decade or so ago in '03. 

Both sides of the river have been developed since 1784 and new wharves built. John Brown built a new harbor on Narragansett Bay to accommodate his ships making the route to Africa for slaves and the West Indies for sugar cane and back home to collect rum for the return voyage. This place is called India Point after the shipping route. The Indians called this part of town Moshassuck. Shipping and commerce forced the center of town to move south and across the river. The merchant fleet consisted of 120 ships.

Looking towards John Brown's house
with his ships docked in harbor behind me

                                         

. 

A great gale blew through Providence September last and destroyed much of the city, including the drawbridge and sent ships flying into the structures along the waterfront. A new, fixed bridge, was built at Market Square. The cove has become a tidal lake.

Here is a view of what Providence looks like now. 

To the east of the Great Salt Cove where the city edges into the bay is Tockwotton (Foxes) Hill. When Mr. Williams first came it was wooded with many foxes running around. The Narraganset called the place Tockwotton, a word which hear means either "that which is frozen" or "steep ascent to be climbed." 

Behind Jane is Tockwotton Hill 
now known as Fox Point

In July of last year (1815), the town's harbor lines were extended to the lower harbor. The head of navigation became Weybosset, south of the cove. Providence is growing rapidly and there is much talk about a steamboat ferry between Providence and Newport (1817). They say steam engines are the way of the future and are more in use here than they are back home as yet.

I have much to do tonight but will write again tomorrow.

Most sincerely yours,

Jane

Editor's note: 

Take a closer look at the maps and bridges . Jane would like to thank the Rhode Island Historical Society for their signs;  41° North February 6, 2018/Winter 2018 issue for filling in more details; The College Hill Independent Dec. 5, 2014 issue for the history of Tockwotton. Read more about Fox Point before moving on.

Jane owes a debt of gratitude towards the editor's mother for the pictures of India Point and Tockwotton Hill (Fox Point). She's standing in East Providence looking west across the Seekonk river to Providence in the other direction from the period painting.

Flat Jane Austen in Providence Part III

 Flat Jane in Providence:

In which Jane continues to learn about the early history of Rhode Island

editor's note: A visit to the Rhode Island Charter Museum in the State House

May, 18--
Dearest friends,

I continue my exploration of the early history of this "lively experiment".

In fall 1636 Roger Williams drew up what he referred to as "a civil compact." It was adopted at a town meeting on 20 August 1637. The document states the government shall have authority over civil things, allowing for liberty of conscience and religious tolerance. This is the first time in America church was separated from state. 'Tis quite different from England where our king is head of the church.

Providence Civil Compact 1637

A fragment of the original deed of Providence

'Tis a scrap of paper, really, but quite important to the history of this town- the original land deed of 1638 signed by Roger Williams, Canonicus and Miantonomo. The sachems drew their "signatures" with in the symbols of a bow and an arrow. This document confirms earlier verbal and written agreements between the parties.

The new colony attracted people of diverse opinions and lifestyles! Truly I have never seen so many dissenting churches in one place. Later I shall attempt to sketch some for you. The colony was also home to Jews, Mohammedans (Muslims), Native religions and even NO religion at all! 

Order of the General Court of Elections for preventing
perpetual servitude or slavery, May 1652

In 1652 Rhode Island passed the first law prohibiting indentured servitude after 10 years limit and slavery. The law also said children indentured prior to the age of 14 should be freed at the age of 24. was, alas, not enforced due to Rhode Island being coastal. Rhode Island became the centre of the Triangular Trade, shipping rum to Africa in exchange for slaves and slaves to the West Indies to harvest sugarcane used in making rum here in Rhode Island. Mr. John Brown, his brothers and others like them participated in this insidious trade. (Yes I am aware of where we obtain the sugar for our tea. )

Jane and the Parliamentary Patent of 1643

While that dreadful Cromwell and the Puritans were in charge during the Civil War, Rhode Island was governed by a patent from Parliament granted in 1643. Roger Williams risked his life to travel back to England to obtain this document. Under this patent, the new settlements of  Providence, Portsmouth and Newport were united and named “the incorporation of Providence Plantations in Narragansett Bay in New England.” The patent prevented encroachment from neighboring colonies  (tho'  I am told Massachusetts and Connecticut both tried to incorporate parts of land claimed by Rhode Island). The patent also provided for self-government, and focused on civil laws. 'Twas the first document that conferred the right to settle here from Parliament. Parliament granted another patent in 1647 incorporating the new town of Warwick. At least the Cromwellians managed to do something good, at least for this colony at any rate.

Editor's Note: Read a transcription or view the original document

In 1653, dissenters in Newport were discontent. Newport, on the island that gives the state its' name, along with the town of Portsmouth and smaller neighboring island of Conanicut (Jamestown) were then under a separate government with a separate governor. Governor Coddington had obtained a commission in 1649 naming him governor and without a provision for elections, Mr. Coddington was governor for life. He lied to Parliament to obtain this commission. Coddington's commission annulled Roger Williams's 1644 charter.

The dissenters in Newport and Warwick felt a keen lack of support from their governor and encouraged Dr. John Clarke of Newport; Roger Williams of Providence; and William Dyer, of Portsmouth, to sail to England to get Parliament to revoke Coddington’s commission and affirm the 1644 charter. The dissenters wanted to protect their way of life as growing threats to their religious freedom from Massachusetts and Connecticut colonies.

John Clarke, a Baptist minister from Newport and Roger Williams traveled to London in 1652 to secure a new charter. Roger Williams returned two years later but John Clarke stayed behind for 12 years, pressuring Parliament and then King Charles II for a charter. In 1663 good King Charles agreed to grant the charter.  On July 6, 1663 King Charles II added his royal seal of approval.

Jane learns about the Royal Charter of 1663

John Clarke's charter of 1663 guaranteed freedoms of speech, religion and other liberties to residents of Providence, Portsmouth, Newport and Warwick. 

Jane and the Royal Charter of 1663. It is too large for one case.

“Our royal will and pleasure is that no person within the said colony at any time hereafter shall be anyway molested, punished, disquieted or called in question, for any differences in opinion in matters of religion.”

Editor's note: Read the full and annotated text at the Rhode Island Secretary of State's office online

Once again I have much to contemplate. I must leave off now for the night for the hour grows late and my candle is burned low. I do have much more to tell you though so I shall write more tomorrow. 

Yours,
J.A.

Flat Jane Austen in Providence Part II

 Flat Jane in Providence : In which Jane learns of the early history of Providence

My dearest friends,
This journey has been quite enlightening so far. I do not know what to think about this concept of soul liberty. 'Tis very different from England where most of us belong to the established church. While I contemplate the place of dissenters in society, my hosts show me the original settlement of Providence.

The Natives had a highway from Massachusetts Bay Colony to New York along the coast, the English named Towne Street. The West side of Towne street featured a freshwater spring that emptied into the Great Salt Cove. Mr. Williams built his house across from the spring. 

The cold water flowed forth from a wellspring just 30 feet west of here.

On this spot was the wellspring

Jane had to look into the future to see this monument, properly
known as the Hahn Memorial (1931-1933)

Other settlers soon followed and house lots stretched from the Great Salt Cove, over Towne Street and up the hill. Each settler received 6 acres of land, ensuring equality for all. 

A map of the home lots

The house lots marched uphill behind me

Roger Williams was buried on his property in 1683. I predict one day they will dig him up to build a memorial and his bones will be ashes to dust. Susanna thinks an apple tree root will eat his body! How droll! (Editor's note: Susanna time travels so she is aware of the story of the root that ate Roger Williams!)

This colony lacked an official authorized church and so Providence was not designed around a central church or meeting house, like those ghastly Puritans did in Massachusetts. The people worshipped outside or in each other’s homes. I can scarce credit these dangerous and radical ideas!

Two of the original nine lot owners were women, an uncommon an occurrence here as it is at home.

Alice Daniels was an apothecary, tobacconist, wine merchant and confectionary seller

The timber frame homes, known as stone enders, were made from local materials. The people resided in these primitive one to two story cottages with one room per floor,  a large stone chimney and fireplace at one end. They say the winters here are harsh and this type of cottage well protected the English settlers from the elements. 

Later they built proper wood frame homes such as this one. 

The Antram-Gray House c. 1730 + later addition

The Antram-Gray House has seen a great deal of history already in just 100 years. It will see many more changes in future.

Jane: Providence has grown a great deal in nearly 200 years!

Every home had gardens: a good English kitchen garden, a native garden growing maize, beans and squash (which the Indians call the "Three Sisters") and here I see a garden of plants native to Rhode Island. They must keep bees somewhere too.

I have much to tell you. My pen fairly flies across the page. I must leave off for now but remain

yours affectionately,

J.A.

Lean more about Roger Williams's trading post with Susanna! (photos)

Editor's Note: Flat Jane would like to acknowledge the Narragansett Indians on whose land the Roger Williams National Memorial now stands. She would also like to thank the National Park Service for their informative signs and website.

Flat Jane Austen in Providence

 Flat Jane Austen in Providence:
In which Jane learns something about the history of this town

"Oh brave new world. That has such people in it!" ~ Shakespeare, The Tempest; Act V, Scene I

May 16, 18__

My dearest friends,

Please excuse my long absence. I have been quite busy learning about this wondrous strange land of merchants, rebels and rogues. It seems that in the primitive backwater that is America, girls are educated to become bluestockings and on this visit I am becoming shockingly blue! Shall you recognize me when I return home? I take a trip with my host to visit an historian who regales me with tales of the early history of this fair city. 

I learn about "livelie experiment" known as Providence and how it influenced American government.

This colony, state  (I am shockingly forgetful of the independence of the American colonies), Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (plantations being the word for estate or large farm) was founded by an English lawyer, minister and freethinker in 1636. Like my father, Mr. Williams was ordained as a minister in the established church. Unlike my father Mr. Williams became disaffected with the Church of England and allied himself with those detestable Puritans. In 1630 he joined the Puritans in Massachusetts. Not being satisfied with their firm commitment to their "purity", he migrated from Boston to another town called Salem. While in Salem, he preached separatist ideas about the state being completely separate from the church. Mr. Williams also suggested the land was not freely given by the King but belonged to the Indians and as such they should rewarded. 

"Williams fled to the colonies to escape religious persecution and imprisonment. Along with other Puritans, his goal was to practice a Christian worship more “pure” than the Church of England’s. The Puritans settled land gifted by the King, even though Native people had lived there for thousands of years. Williams asserted that the Native people should be compensated for their land while many Puritans believed that the deaths of Native people from European diseases indicated God's favor toward Christian settlement."

Mr. Williams believed that the first four of the Ten Commandments are matters of individual conscience and should not be enforced as laws by the government. In October of 1635, Mr. Williams was charged with "new and dangerous opinions against the authority of the magistrates." I should think so! The Puritan government banished Mr. Williams from Massachusetts Bay Colony.

After trying to settle in Plymouth Colony, across the Seekonk River, near where Susanna's mother resided in childhood, Mr. Williams spent a winter with the Wampanoag Indians learning their language.

"From his 1631 arrival in Boston, Williams infuriated local leaders with his dissent. They eventually exiled him for his dangerous ideas. He believed government lacked authority to enforce the first four of the Ten Commandments, the ones between an individual and God. His 1635 exile to England would likely have meant imprisonment or death. Williams escaped into the harsh New England winter and, only with the help of the Native people, survived to the spring."

He became a trader, trading sundries with the local Indians and in spring rowed across the river to Narragansett Indian territory. Mr. Williams negotiated a land deal with the chieftains (their word is "sachem") Cononicus and Miantonomo. The Narragansett could come and take whichever English goods they wished.

"The Royal Charter of 1663, granted by King Charles II, declared the entire colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations a “livelie experiment” where no person could be punished for what he or she believed. Settlers enjoyed freedoms and rights unknown in other colonies."

Some trade goods: pots, toys, furs and a house with
a giant stone chimney at one end. 

Mr. Williams treated the Indians with more respected than most Englishmen. He even wrote a book about their language and culture. He believed the Indians were NOT savages as most believe and tried to find common humanity among people. He thought, perhaps the Indians were of Jewish descent, one of the Seven Lost Tribes of Israel and as such, should be treated as humans worthy of salvation. All right... this I can understand.

The system of government was quite different from anywhere else, not having a formal charter (more on that later) or settled form of government.  Once a fortnight the heads of households, men AND women, gathered to consider issue. All decisions supported by the majority were binding in civil matters. The government never collected taxes to support the church and matters of religion were left up to individual conscience. Thus this colony became a haven for those seeking "soul liberty". 

Roger Williams carried this compass and sundial to help find his way both literally and spiritually.

Editor's Note: Jane wishes to acknowledge her visit took place on the ancestral homelands of the Narragansett Indians, who are still here. Jane is indebted to The Roger Williams National Memorial, (run by the National Park Service) website and visitor's center "New and Dangerous Opinions" exhibit for her education. 

Was this "livelie experiment" a failure or success?

Roger Williams National Memorial "New and Dangerous Opinions"
National Park Service, Providence, Rhode Island

Today we are grappling with the legacy of our hero. Roger Williams believed in compensating the natives for their land and wrote a book, Key into the Language of America, the first book of Native American language and culture, in which he expressed common humanity among people. He argued against the prevailing belief Native people were “savages” and Europeans inherently superior. 

Roger's ideas of civil equality, government by the people, and separation of church and state influenced Thomas Jefferson and the framers of the United States Constitution. The Bill of Rights is inspired by Roger Williams's beliefs. The government of the United States is supposed to derive authority from the people with the Constitution guaranteeing each person be free to follow his or her own conscience, regardless of religious belief.

However, following the catastrophic King Philip’s War of 1675–76, the Natives attempt to reclaim their land, Roger presided over the sale of captured Natives into slavery in the Caribbean.

There are many questions to consider. Was he a good guy, a bad guy or an Englishman of his time and place In 2020 Rhode Islanders voted to remove "Plantations" from the state name given the connotations it brings to mind of enslavement.